More than a Methods Course: Teaching Preservice Teachers to Think Historically

In this chapter, we explore the potential of a dedicated course for undergraduate teacher education students focused on teaching and assessing historical thinking in elementary schools in Alberta, Canada. In the current K-12 Alberta Social Studies Program of Study, historical thinking is one of the six dimensions of thinking that teachers are charged with developing in their students. However, the conceptualization of historical thinking in the Alberta SS Program of Study is somewhat limited, and it is not clear the extent to which it supports teachers with a limited disciplinary background in history. We draw on research with preservice teachers enrolled in a course designed to enrich their understandings of historical thinking pedagogy in order to understand the role of such a course in preparing them for deepening elementary students’ historical understanding. Data include pre- and post-surveys focused on the preservice teachers’ beliefs about history and how to teach it, end of course reflections, as well as student work products completed in the course.