"They Thought the World Was Flat?" Applying the Principles of How People Learn in Teaching High School History

History education, Hall observed, involved generally unprepared teachers who used ineffective methods to turn history into the driest of school subjects. “The high educational value of history is too great,” Hall explained, “to be left to teachers who merely hear recitations, keeping the finger on the place in the text-book, and only asking the questions conveniently printed for them in the margin or the back of the book.” In a call to instructional arms, Hall and other late-nineteenth-century reformers urged teachers to move beyond lecture, recitation, and textbooks, asking them to “saturate” history teaching with more active historical pedagogy. Most subsequent educational critics have shared Hall’s concerns about the quality of history instruction and embraced the recommendation that teachers reform history teaching to make it more effective and engaging. However, critics have disagreed vigorously about the goals and features of an improved pedagogy. The language of reform reflects these disagreements, often urging history teachers to choose either student-centered or teacher-