Teaching History With Big Ideas ─ Case of Ambitious Teachers

"Teaching History with Big Ideas is the book we've been waiting for Chapters are written by teachers who are achingly honest about their struggles adn triumphs, candid about frustrations with principals or their settings, aware when they teach in a privileged school, and ambitious in their goals for teaching and learning. This book provides a model for the field to emulate and develop."---David Gerwin, associate professor of social studies and history, Queens College, Cuny

"This engaging, accessible book features narratives written by teachers who...decided to try something new. The teachers' insightful stories, combined with the editors' practical recommendations, leave no doubt that ambitious teaching is an arduous journey with changing itineraries and destinations."---Elizabeth Anne Washington, professor of social studies education, University of Florida

"Grant and Gradwell have compiled a series of powerful cases of ambitious teaching that highlight the challenging, complex, and messy world of working in a high stakes testing environment...This book clearly highlights how scary it is to move-away from teaching to the test but how rewarding and powerful that decision can be."---Stephanie van Hover, associate professor of social studies education, University of Virginia

"In this lively and honest book, Grant and Gradwell breathe life into the concept of `ambitious teaching' and then pass the pen to eight teachers who describe in specific detail how they learned to use important questions and inquiry to improve the quality of learning in their classrooms. This is an important book for social studies educators who recognize that we need to move away from content without questions and teaching without meaningful inquiry."---Diana Hess professor of curriculum and instruction, University of Wisconsin--Madison

S.G. Grant is the founding dean of the School of Education ar Binghamton University. His research interests include the intersection of curriculum and assessment policy.
Jill M. Gradwell is assistant professor and coordinator of social studies education in the Department of History and Social Studies at Buffalo State College. State University of New York. Her research centers on teaching, learning, and assessing history.