Review

General Books

The twelve chapters in this book are written primarily for teachers and teachers in training in England and Wales who are required to use the statutory requirements for history outlined in the National Curriculum Orders (NCO). According to the authors, the standards are currently under review, and are due to be revised in September 2002. Beyond the applicability of these ideas to specific geographic regions, the book contains creative ways to present skills which all teachers could incorporate. It is necessary, however, for the presenters to be as well-prepared and knowledgeable about history as possible for any of these methods to be successful. The authors maintain that once the teachers have acquired the proper training, they must "develop the ability to make clear to pupils the purposes of school history, and to persuade them that the study of history is useful, worthwhile, and interesting." (p.24) Therein lies the challenge and the purpose of this book. There are some effective graphics for teachers to refer to such as how to construct a lesson. (p.44) If a lesson conforms to all of the offered suggestions, then it will probably meet its objectives and students will learn about history in a meaningful and relevant mode. Other considerations which must be evaluated are items such as selecting teaching methods which are appropriate for the particular students. (p.67) The authors introduce a series of strategies to appeal to students with diverse ability levels so that every member of a class can be challenged successfully. Evidently there is some concern that students have a very vague concept of time and chronology in general, and the authors believe that another challenge for teachers is getting students to develop historical understanding. In order for isolated events to make sense, students must understand cause and effect sequentially and see repeating patterns of events over time. Questions such as "Why does history repeat itself?" should be discussed in the classroom. Effective teachers must demonstrate historical links to the past, present, and future to make history relevant. They must also instruct students about bias so that they will be able to view history from many points of view. The chart which appears on page 138 entitled "Why might interpretations differ?" might be very useful for all teachers to review and share with their students.	1
After explaining the importance of keeping an open mind in the classroom and presenting multiple perspectives, the authors devote time to a discussion about inclusion. Evidently, in England and Wales, pupils identified with learning disabilities are categorized as having Special Educational Needs (SEN). These authors emphasize that every student's ability to learn can be inhibited by any number of factors, so the challenge of mainstreaming can be a daunting task. Sometimes students are not identified right away as having a learning or emotional problem, so it is critical for teachers to be knowledgeable about how to detect these learning difficulties and adapt lessons to meet different learning styles. This chapter also presents strategies for teaching gifted or able pupils who often get overlooked as having special needs too. One way to meet the varying degrees of student ability levels is to incorporate the use of more technology in the classroom. Information and communications technology (ITC) can provide a means for teachers to find websites for their own professional development and to learn about strategies for teaching lessons that have been developed to meet curriculum standards and have incorporated technology. The authors close out this section by emphasizing that, " ...what matters most is how effectively you are able to use new technology to improve the quality of your lessons." (p.202) A segue is then made into an examination of the importance of selecting and using resource materials, especially primary source documents, effectively and frequently and incorporating field trips whenever appropriate. This section of the book does not really offer any new ideas to educators, but encourages them to think about the usefulness of every piece of resource material and its potential effect on the learning of history.	2
Educators are still struggling with how to test a student's depth of knowledge and there really is no consensus about methodology. Like most education bureaucracies, however, there are progressive levels or goals for each academic year in areas effected by the NCO. Similar to Bloom's Taxonomy, the chart on page 235 is constructed to show a progression of very easy skills to more complex or sophisticated levels of development. The burden of how to assess is still primarily in the hands of the individual instructors for most of the academic year, or at least until a regional or exit examination, such as the GCSE, is given. Strategies similar to "teaching to the test" ideas are listed on page 273, but the references on how to prepare students for each level would be a mystery to anyone not familiar with the British system. The very last chapter, which probably should be the first chapter, discusses teacher certification, applying and interviewing for a job, and getting as prepared as possible to meet the challenges of a job. Although many ideas throughout this book are international in scope, it is really written for an educator audience who will be following the standards and administering the examination only in a specific region of the world. The moral of the work is that no educational system is perfect and every teacher faces the same challenges no matter where they reside.	3
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Senior High School Karen Ferris-Fearnside

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