Keith Barton
Indiana University, Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty Member
- As a Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University-Bloomington, I prepare history and social studies ... moreAs a Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University-Bloomington, I prepare history and social studies teachers, mentor doctoral scholars, and conduct research on the teaching and learning of social studies, particularly history and human rights. My research has included studies of students' understanding of historical time, narrative, agency, evidence, perspective, and significance, and has been conducted in the United States, Northern Ireland, and New Zealand. My research on students' understanding of human rights has focused on the United States, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Colombia. I have served as a visiting professor at the University of Ulster, Victoria University of New Zealand, and the National Institute of Education in Singapore. In addition, as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the Office of Teacher Education at Indiana University-Bloomington, I am responsible for overseeing all operations of our teacher education programs, in all fields and at all levels.
My publications include Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools; Teaching History for the Common Good; and Researching History Education: Theory, Method, and Context (all co-authored with Linda S. Levstik and published by Routledge), as well as the edited volume, Research Methods in Social Studies Education: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives (Information Age Publishing).edit
@contents: Selected Contents: Preface * Narrative as a primary act of mind? Linda S. Levstik * The relationship between historical response and narrative in a sixth-grade classroom Linda S. Levstik * Building a sense of history in a first... more
@contents: Selected Contents: Preface * Narrative as a primary act of mind? Linda S. Levstik * The relationship between historical response and narrative in a sixth-grade classroom Linda S. Levstik * Building a sense of history in a first grade classroom Linda S. Levstik * Visualizing time Keith C. Barton *"Back when God was around and everything": The development of children's understanding of historical time Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik *"They still use some of their past": Historical salience in children's chronological thinking Linda S. Levstik and Keith C. Barton * Making connections Keith C. Barton *"Bossed around by the Queen": Elementary students' understanding of individuals and institutions in history Keith C. Barton * Narrative simplifications in elementary children's historical understanding Keith C. Barton *"I just kinda know": Elementary students' ideas about historical evidence Keith C. Barton * What makes the past worth knowing? Linda S. Levstik *"It wasn't a good part of history": National identity and ambiguity in students' explanations of historical significance Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik * Articulating the silences: Teachers and adolescents' conceptions of historical significance Linda S. Levstik * Challenging the familiar Keith C. Barton *"You'd be wanting to know about the past": Social contexts of children's historical understanding in Northern Ireland and the United States Keith C. Barton * A sociocultural perspective on children's understanding of historical change: Comparative findings from Northern Ireland and the United States Keith C. Barton * Border crossings Linda S. Levstik * Crossing the empty spaces: Perspective taking in New Zealand adolescents' understanding of national history Linda S. Levstik * Digging for clues: An archaeological exploration of historical cognition Linda S. Levstik, A. Gwynn Henderson, and Jennifer S. Schlarb Afterword
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Research Interests: Psychology and Routledge
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Routledge
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This paper makes the case for including critical harmony as a complement to justice within civic education. The concept of harmony is significant for civic education because it acknowledges the cru...
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To expand students’ preparation for civic life, many teachers regularly engage students in discussions related to contentious issues. These discussions, however, typically restrict the range of communicative styles allowed and prioritizes... more
To expand students’ preparation for civic life, many teachers regularly engage students in discussions related to contentious issues. These discussions, however, typically restrict the range of communicative styles allowed and prioritizes disagreements between fixed and competing choices. Keith C. Barton & Li-Ching recommend that educators instead engage students in collaborative deliberation — an authentic problem-solving model of discussion that is premised on relationships, mutual trust, common interests and concerns, and diverse forms of communication. To support collaborative deliberation, teachers need to pay attention to how they frame issues, how they organize student groups, and what kinds of discourse they encourage.
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This paper reports on a year-long qualitative study of two elementary classrooms in a suburban community near Cincinnati (Ohio). The classes were very homogeneous racially with no students of Hispanic, Afr.can-American, Asian, or Pacific... more
This paper reports on a year-long qualitative study of two elementary classrooms in a suburban community near Cincinnati (Ohio). The classes were very homogeneous racially with no students of Hispanic, Afr.can-American, Asian, or Pacific Island descent in either class. Incerviews, classroom observations and participation, and analysis of student's written assignments were conducted to examine the historical understanding students brought to school, the social context in which their thinking had developed, and the way their ideas affected their encounter with the content of the school curriculum. Students developed their understanding of the past primarily through interactions with relatives, and they used that understanding to construct a narrative of historical development which explained their own lives in the present. This study suggests that research and instruction should begin not with the content of the school curriculum or the nature of the historical disciplinc. but wi...
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This study examines the historical understanding of 22 fourth-graders and 11 fifth-grade students in two classrooms in a suburban community nerr Cincinnati (Ohio). The classes were homogeneous racially, with no students of Hispanic,... more
This study examines the historical understanding of 22 fourth-graders and 11 fifth-grade students in two classrooms in a suburban community nerr Cincinnati (Ohio). The classes were homogeneous racially, with no students of Hispanic, African-American, Asian, or Pacific Island descent in either class. The school reflects primarily middle and upper-middle income families. Data were collected through participant observation, open-ended interviews with 29 different students, and analysis of 278 written compositions. The classrooms studied were innovative with activity-oriented instruction. A consistent feature of students ' historical thinking was their tendency to explain all historical events and trends in terms of the attitudes and intentions of individuals. Consistent with research on children's understanding of economics and politics, tLese students did not understand the roles of political or economic institutions in history. This research suggests that exposing elementar...
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The time is right for a new way of thinking about the curriculum of social and civic education. In this book, we present a global vision for education, one that can guide students in the pursuit of societal justice and harmony. Drawing... more
The time is right for a new way of thinking about the curriculum of social and civic education. In this book, we present a global vision for education, one that can guide students in the pursuit of societal justice and harmony. Drawing from diverse philosophical and cultural traditions, including Confucianism and Indigenous philosophies, as well as empirical research, we introduce curriculum principles designed to motivate and inform students’ thoughtful and compassionate deliberation of public issues. This book is for classroom teachers, curriculum developers, education officials, and all those who are interested in preparing students for public life. These curriculum principles will resonate with educators around the world, in fields such as civics/citizenship, geography, history, and other social sciences, as well as those who emphasize human rights, sustainability, peace education, cultural diversity, moral and character education, and other societal concerns.
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Discussion can be a valuable element of history classrooms, and assessing participation can provide an important means of improving students’ engagement in this valuable form of communication. Doing so requires that teachers identify the... more
Discussion can be a valuable element of history classrooms, and assessing participation can provide an important means of improving students’ engagement in this valuable form of communication. Doing so requires that teachers identify the specific skills of historical discussion that they want students to master; teach those skills systematically; and develop practical procedures for collecting information on students’ participation. This article suggests guidelines for teachers to consider in preparing for each of these tasks
Historical sources are a common feature of history classrooms, but the purpose of using them is not always clear, and as a result, instructional activities with sources may not be as effective or meaningful as they should be. This lack of... more
Historical sources are a common feature of history classrooms, but the purpose of using them is not always clear, and as a result, instructional activities with sources may not be as effective or meaningful as they should be. This lack of clarity stems in part from the fact that there are four distinctly different reasons for using sources, and each carries its own implications for classroom practice. These purposes are 1) illustration and motivation; 2) evidence for historical inquiry; 3) visual or textual interpretation; 4) source analysis. By reflecting on how each of these purposes can play a role in the classroom, which kinds of sources are appropriate for each, and where they fit into an overall sequence of instruction, teachers can ensure that their use of sources deepens and extends students’ historical understanding
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This study used task-based group interviews with young adolescents in four countries to investigate their understanding of the causes of human rights violations, means for protecting human rights, and their own potential role in ensuring... more
This study used task-based group interviews with young adolescents in four countries to investigate their understanding of the causes of human rights violations, means for protecting human rights, and their own potential role in ensuring human rights. Although students recognized the role of personal and institutional factors in both violating and protecting human rights, their ideas for influencing human rights focused primarily on the personal contexts with which they were most familiar. Their understanding of political and economic mechanisms was much less elaborate. These findings suggest the need for curricula that equip students with the complex and specialized knowledge that would enable them to engage in a range of meaningful civic action, both in their lives now and as adults.
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Never before in human history has it been more important for a person to be geographically literate. Our world is astoundingly complex and increasingly interdependent—economically, environmentally, politically, socially, and culturally.... more
Never before in human history has it been more important for a person to be geographically literate. Our world is astoundingly complex and increasingly interdependent—economically, environmentally, politically, socially, and culturally. But the unsettling reality is that many teachers and most students are not yet geographically literate. Currently, American students are not even provided opportunities to learn enough geography to understand the very basic aspects of the world in which they live. Without explicit intervention and a dedicated focus on geographic literacy by educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers, U.S. children will be unable to thrive in the global marketplace, unlikely to connect with and care for their natural environment, and unsure about how to relate to people from other parts of the world. One thing is abundantly clear; if American children hope to participate in our democracy and play a strong leadership role in our world, they must possess geographic knowledge, understandings, and skills.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Photography, Research Methodology, Educational Research, Social Studies Education, and 13 moreProtocol Analysis, Social Studies, Interpersonal Relationship, Interviews, Classification, Task analysis, Interview Questions, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Routledge, Visual stimuli, Research Methods, Semi structured interviews, and In Depth Interviews
The time is right for a new way of thinking about the curriculum of social and civic education. In this book, we present a global vision for education, one that can guide students in the pursuit of societal justice and harmony. Drawing... more
The time is right for a new way of thinking about the curriculum of social and civic education. In this book, we present a global vision for education, one that can guide students in the pursuit of societal justice and harmony. Drawing from diverse philosophical and cultural traditions, including Confucianism and Indigenous philosophies, as well as empirical research, we introduce curriculum principles designed to motivate and inform students’ thoughtful and compassionate deliberation of public issues.
This book is for classroom teachers, curriculum developers, education officials, and all those who are interested in preparing students for public life. These curriculum principles will resonate with educators around the world, in fields such as civics/citizenship, geography, history, and other social sciences, as well as those who emphasize human rights, sustainability, peace education, cultural diversity, moral and character education, and other societal concerns.
This book is for classroom teachers, curriculum developers, education officials, and all those who are interested in preparing students for public life. These curriculum principles will resonate with educators around the world, in fields such as civics/citizenship, geography, history, and other social sciences, as well as those who emphasize human rights, sustainability, peace education, cultural diversity, moral and character education, and other societal concerns.