Review

General Books

James Percoco states in his preface "most teachers...want books...to be teacher friendly and to include the nuts and bolts of how to accomplish teaching the lesson at hand." Divided We Stand, Teaching About Conflict in United States History is just such a book. Any experienced teacher or elder statesman of the practice of Clio has accumulated "tricks of the trade" over the years. Percoco, a recipient of numerous educational teaching awards, shows why he was named Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the Walt Disney Company. In Divided We Stand, Percoco shares not only his reportie of master teacher techniques but also exhibits his students' knowledge and expertise in learning United States History. Surveys have shown over the years that across America, for the most part, high school students rank history as their least liked subject. None of these students obviously matriculated in any of Mr. Percoco's courses. His Applied History course, from which this book draws much of its material, is filled with all types of exciting resources, strategies, simulations, and thought-provoking questions and projects. Poetry, paintings, music, feature films, field trips, genealogy, and re-enactors are a part of a litany of potential teaching ideas used by Percoco and his students that can be found in Divided We Stand.	1
After an introductory chapter devoted to understanding "the Challenge of Conflict," the author chronologically moves through six case studies of conflict in United States History – the Revolutionary War, Custer's Last Stand, Race, the Civil Rights Movement of 1954-1968, Gender and Viet Nam. Each chapter contains a comprehensive list of resources especially videos which are heavily utilized in his classroom and examined in his work. The author never refers to a textbook and probably never uses one because he has developed his own materials over the years, materials based on personal experience. Unfortunately, too many of today's classroom practitioners are "textbook learned" and probably haven't read a journal, monograph, or attended a conference since they left undergraduate school. Percoco, a true historian-teacher, obviously practices his art and allows his students to do the same.	2
Of special interest is Percoco's use of students work to illustrate his points or to explain a project. Here the real teacher-historian can be found. He teaches students history, not history to students. His students are actively engaged in the learning process along with their mentor, whether they are recreating the 1963 March on Washington or using Civil Rights Trees to study the movement. The appendix offers a variety of unique teaching tools such as a film analysis sheet, video guides, Viet Nam worksheets, and Rubric reference pages. Assessing students' work is always a challenge but the author not only understands his trade but also his art. Divided We Stand should be a must for any teacher methods course in undergraduate school but it will also assist the experienced educator who might not have thought of some of the pedagogical ideas displayed here.	3
Maryland Center for the Study of History James F. Adomanis

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