Thesis
Students as historians: History teachers' attitudes toward using primary and secondary sources
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2005
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/405
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore secondary history teachers' attitudes towards the use of critical literacy pedagogy via primary and secondary sources within their curricula. Interviews with eleven Washington State public school teachers who used multiple sources within their curricula, of whom four were observed, yielded data that emphasized the influence that two recently adopted statewide assessments and their students' varying reading levels have had on the design and implementation of curricula containing textual and visual multiple sources. The second set of themes that surfaced identified two factors that influenced how teachers judged the utility of multiple sources: personal values and high-stakes assessments. There are three implications of this study: (1) Teachers report that the majority of their students experience reading and/or comprehension difficulties when reading multiple sources. Publishing companies should produce primary source textbooks and other history multiple sources with symbolic cues. (2) Some teachers report personal and/or departmental confusion in how they should aid students in the reading/comprehension of multiple sources when many students read below grade level. Teachers must research and utilize literacy strategies within their history classrooms. (3) High stakes testing within Washington State llimits many teachers' uses of nontextual multiple sources within their curricula. Students, as future adult citizens, must be literate in textual and symbolic communication.
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Details
- Title
- Students as historians
- Creators
- Sean W. Marmion
- Contributors
- Dawn M. Shinew (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Education, College of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525046501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis