Linking Teaching for Understanding to Practice in a U.S. History Class

Abstract

The author reports findings from a study that explored the methods a U.S. history teacher used to promote students' higher order thinking and engagement. The teacher, Mr. Scott (a pseudonym), challenged his urban high school students to develop stronger understandings of history by enacting elements of the teaching for understanding (TFU) curricular framework (Perkins and Blythe 1994; Wiske 1998). This article describes how the teacher shared his learning goals with students, created interesting and engaging central questions and culminating group projects, and assessed students' performances. The findings illustrate the power of linking curricular frameworks such as TFU to practice and provide a model of what is possible (Shulman 1987) for practicing teachers.

Keywords:

• pedagogy
• secondary curriculum
• theory into practice
• teaching for understanding