Kids don't know enough to 'do history' like historians

Consultants want history teachers to introduce students to primary sources, write Jon Bassett and Gary Shiffman on the Knowledge Matters Campaign site. But students can be overloaded with too many documents with too little context.

Thomas Nast cartoon satirizing Boss Tweed

Historians have lots of content knowledge and practice in inquiry and analysis, they write. Students can't "do history" like historians, because they're novices.

In one widely available curriculum, "a typical lesson requires middle school students to read and interpret five nineteenth century documents — in 20 minutes!," they write. "In another curriculum, students are expected to compare and contrast five documents from the 17th and 18th centuries in a single class period."

They developed 4QM Teaching, called the Four Question Method, to help students understand history, and have just introduced a U.S. history (1492-1877) curriculum.

Students start by asking: What happened?

Then they focus on the key people and ask: What were they thinking?

"Teachers dedicate an entire class period to helping students closely read and skillfully interpret a single primary source," they write. Students struggle to understand the point of view of historical characters. It takes time.