Understanding the “Knowing How” of History: Elementary Student Teachers’ Thinking About Historical Texts

Abstract

Research on the teaching and learning of history has suggested the likelihood of a strong relationship between teachers’ ability to think historically and the development of their pupils’ historical understanding. However, inquiry into the nature of teachers’ historical thinking, especially in the context of their pieservice education, remains a relatively unexplored territory. Elementary history instruction, especially, invites closer scrutiny. First, inquiry into the historical thinking of experienced and preservice teachers is significant in light of the unclear status of history in the elementary social studies curriculum. Second, recent reconceptualizations of children’s capabilities in history necessitate a more robust understanding of teachers’ epistemologies of the subject and their translation into effective pedagogical practices.