CSMP

Program: Program: Teaching World History (TWH) Summer Institute or School-Year Workshop Series

WHEN & WHERE:  TWH programs may be offered in the summer in a multi-week block, clusters of "mini" 3-day institutes or distributed throughout the school year in monthly evening sessions a combination of evening and teacher released-day sessions.  These programs are offered at most sites with variations in topics determined by grade-level content or themes based on different regions of the world.

STANDARDS, CONTENT, & GRADE LEVEL:  This program is designed for teachers of World History and is, in general, aligned with the California HSS Content Standards for grades 6, 7, and 10 and HSS Analysis Skill Standards K-12.  Specific Teaching World History offerings at local CHSSP sites will likely be tailored to a particular era, region, or grade level.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:  TWH programs may take the form of grade-level specific scope and sequence school-year workshops, school-year sessions offering model lessons, theme based intensive summer institutes, book groups or regional conferences depending on the needs of the regional partners who fund them. Though the format varies widely, each TWH program has common elements. Historians provide lectures and lead discussions to increase teachers’ content knowledge and engage teachers in investigating significant questions and themes in world history. Historians and CHSSP teacher leaders address pedagogy by providing lesson models and guiding teachers through historical thinking and inquiry exercises. Teachers engage in grade-alike and cross-grade discussions about World History as articulated in the CHSS framework and standards. Teachers apply what they have learned by creating standards-based lessons designed to engage students in historical thinking and inquiry.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  Teachers return to their classroom armed with new understandings of significant and interesting questions, controversy and debates that surround the era and regions they teach helping them engage and support students in learning. Questions and standards-driven investigations also help teacher organize the curriculum for student learning. Engaging as an adult learner in history compels teachers to reconsider how they plan instruction and design learning experiences for their students as they themselves reconnect with what it means to be a learner. Finally all TWH programs include Historical Thinking strands addressing what it means not only to assess what students know about history (the content)  but how they learn about history as expressed in the CHSS analysis standards.

FUNDING:  Individual CHSSP sites fund Teaching World History programs through a variety of sources:  contracts with local schools and districts, state and federal grants, and individual teacher registration fees.  To find out how you can bring Teaching World History programs to your school or district, contact the CHSSP Statewide Office (chssp@ucdavis.edu; 530.752.0572).