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Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past (Critical Perspectives On The Past) Paperback – May 11, 2001

by Sam Wineburg (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 129 ratings
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Since ancient times, the pundits have lamented young people's lack of historical knowledge and warned that ignorance of the past surely condemns humanity to repeating its mistakes. In the contemporary United States, this dire outlook drives a contentious debate about what key events, nations, and people are essential for history students. Sam Wineburg says that we are asking the wrong questions. This book demolishes the conventional notion that there is one true history and one best way to teach it.

Although most of us think of history -- and learn it -- as a conglomeration of facts, dates, and key figures, for professional historians it is a way of knowing, a method for developing and understanding about the relationships of peoples and events in the past. A cognitive psychologist, Wineburg has been engaged in studying what is intrinsic to historical thinking, how it might be taught, and why most students still adhere to the "one damned thing after another" concept of history.

Whether he is comparing how students and historians interpret documentary evidence or analyzing children's drawings, Wineburg's essays offer "rough maps of how ordinary people think about the past and use it to understand the present." Arguing that we all absorb lessons about history in many settings -- in kitchen table conversations, at the movies, or on the world-wide web, for instance -- these essays acknowledge the role of collective memory in filtering what we learn in school and shaping our historical thinking.

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  1. Part of series
    Critical Perspectives On The P
  2. Print length
    280 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Temple University Press
  5. Publication date
    May 11, 2001
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9781566398565
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1566398565
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

How do historians know what they know?

Winner of the Frederic W. Ness Award, The Association of American Colleges and Universities

About the Author

Sam Wineburg is Professor of Cognitive Studies in Education and Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1566398568
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Temple University Press (May 11, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781566398565
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1566398565
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 129 ratings

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  1. Samuel S. Wineburg

    Samuel S. Wineburg

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  2. Sam Wineburg

    Sam Wineburg

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    Sam Wineburg (samwineburg.com) is the Margaret Jacks Professor of Education, Emeritus, at Stanford University. In the words of Lee Shulman, past president of the Carnegie Foundation, Wineburg “has not merely contributed to our understanding of how history is created, taught and learned; he has nearly single-handedly forged a distinctive field of research and a new educational literature.” Wineburg's interdisciplinary scholarship sits at the crossroads of three fields: history, cognitive science, and education, and his writing has appeared in such diverse outlets as Cognitive Science, the Journal of American History, the New York Times, TIME Magazine, and the Smithsonian. His work has been featured on C-SPAN, NPR, ABC News, the BBC, and stories about his work have appeared in newspapers throughout the world. Educated at Brown and Berkeley, he earned his PhD at Stanford in Psychological Studies in Education. In 2002, his book, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past, won the Frederic W. Ness Award from the Association of American Colleges and Universities for scholarship that makes the most important contribution to the “improvement of Liberal Education and understanding the Liberal Arts.” He is the founder of the Stanford History Education Group (sheg.stanford.edu), whose free curriculum has been downloaded more than 14 million times. In 2007, he was awarded the American Historical Association’s “William Gilbert Prize” and in 2008 the “James Harvey Robinson Prize,” for the most important scholarship on the teaching of history and the most important teaching innovation, respectively. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Academy of Education and also named the Obama-Nehru Distinguished Chair by the US-India Fulbright Commission and spent four months crisscrossing India lecturing about his work. In 2018, his research group created a state-of-the-art curriculum on digital literacy (cor.stanford.edu) that has been recognized by UNESCO with its "Global Media and Information Literacy" award and been downloaded by thousands of schools all over the globe.

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
129 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

gloine36
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on historical education
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2016
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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.
8 people found this helpful
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Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes history relevant
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2010
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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.
8 people found this helpful
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JOrth
4.0 out of 5 stars Best text out there
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2006
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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.
26 people found this helpful
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Samantha Tengelitsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Great text and in excellent, like new condition.
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2022
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Very happy with the condition of the book. Excellent read so far! Great for history teachers and students of history.
One person found this helpful
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Brett Vlahovich
5.0 out of 5 stars Every Social Studies Teacher Must Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018
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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.
2 people found this helpful
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Emily R.
3.0 out of 5 stars Stuck pages
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2021
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I like the book so far, but several pages are stuck together and I have to cut them apart with scissors.
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Becky West
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2022
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This book is timely and important for all social studies educators
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David Quinn
5.0 out of 5 stars Calling all educators: A MUST HAVE!
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2001
Verified Purchase
OK, the fact that he is "the" professor who changed the course of my life notwithstanding: This is a terrific book, one that opens doors for teachers who want to think about "what" they do, "how" they do it, "why" they use the materials that they do, and, ultimately, what critical pathways they have opened in their students at the end of the day.

Thought provoking, stirring without being preachy, at times quite funny -- Wineburg quickly shows why he one of the most important voices in Ed Psych -- in Education -- in History -- today.

Most of the folks in the History department at my school now own it. Don't think, just buy. You'll have lots of time to think later.

Go. Click. It's not too late.

It's still not too late. Stop reading. Quickly now...click!
15 people found this helpful
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