Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past (Critical Perspectives On The Past)

For a book that is 15 years old, this has aged quite well. Sam Wineburg has expanded upon his original ideas and now has a major education project going at Stanford University. Right now he is working on the ways that studying history can assist in reading comprehension with his Reading Like a Historian program as part of the Stanford History Education Group. I like this book because Wineburg was one of the first to challenge the older methods of history education. Since the publication of this book many teachers have begun to change their pedagogical philosophy. Unfortunately that is not the case for most college professors because they are still relying upon lecture to inform students. The book is practically a must read for anyone who wants to teach history at any level. He explains why the study of history is important. It really is. Just watch the current presidential election and the mangling of history going on by all candidates, some more so than others. It is evident that history education has not seen many gains in a century and that has a lot to do with the way it is taught. Wineburg addresses the challenges students and teachers face in learning about history and how to confront the challenges and overcome them. The final chapter cover history as national memory which is an entire field in its own right. I really enjoyed reading the book and use pieces as quotes for my own teaching. Students in my classes find out on the first day that this is not about the memorization of facts, but rather learning why things happened and what their effect on us today is. Thanks to Wineburg, I get their attention and then plant the seeds of inquiry which leads to some interesting discussions later in the semester. This book is all part of the development of training history teachers to think outside the box and get past the lecture so that students are actually learning. Wineburg also addresses the pathetic methods of assessment which have been handicapping teachers for decades. It is time to get rid of the multiple choice questions and move to the essay based exams. That is the only real way to see if students are learning. Thinking about history is unnatural according to Wineburg. He is correct. Most people do not even consider the past at all. Yet, their lives are heavily intertwined with history on a daily basis. It is interesting how many people do not know much of anything about history, yet make decisions that rely upon their bad knowledge all the time. Thanks to people like Wineburg and his authoring of this book, we can begin to bring that to their attention and work on making them appreciate history.

This book is timely and important for all social studies educators

Very happy with the condition of the book. Excellent read so far! Great for history teachers and students of history.

I have mixed feelings about this effort. On the one hand, it is clearly one of the more thoughtful discussions of how we learn and think about history. Several of Wineburg's studies raise serious questions about how we know and discuss history. On the other hand, the book is disjointed and offers little in the way of solution. This is fair enough as Wineburg acknowledges both limitations. But for say ... a Social Science Teaching Methods class, the text is too thick with criticisms and too thin with solutions. What is really needed is a text that translates Wineburg's observations into California Social Science Skills Standards (or equivalent). One that takes knowing history seriously, but offers busy young teachers ways to improve their classrooms.Whatever its limitations, I'd highly recommend the book to all history teachers. While we may not find "The Solution" we will find productive new approaches to creating our own solutions.

Sam Wineburg's book hits history teachers between the eyes with ten solid selections from previous studies and articles relating to how teachers, parents, and students relate to and understand history. He offers solid evidence and interesting stories that I found very accurate to what I have experienced as a student and a teacher. With so much emphasis on math and science today it was refreshing to read a book specifically and passionately written that reflects the importance of history and how it is taught not only for students knowledge of the past but for a way of thinking differently about life and decisions they will make in the present and future. There are several good specific examples in the book that have great ideas on how to stimulate thinking in a historical contextual manner and "for teaching students to think and reason in sophisticated ways." (pg. 83). I will definitely use this book and reference it often while adjusting my teaching methods.

As a history graduate, I learned so much more history working on my degree. But the most important and valuable skill is how to think historically. I hope this book and the scholarly work that has gone into it, is read by many teachers, enthusiasts, and curriculum developers alike!

Sam Wineburg, in my opinion after reading both his major works, is the foremost authority on what a social studies classroom should look like. Well research, well written, and logical, this book demonstrates and advocates for teachers to enhance their history classrooms through historical thinking skills. Not only will these skills enhance their ability to participate in a 21st century world, but will enhance their understanding of the content matter. His book and work with Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) has been a transformation in my classroom.

Must have for any history teacher, great questions and investigations into historiography and the depictions of the past and the pit-falls of how we might interpret it and how to avoid these