Teaching students to live in a global world seems more important each year, but how is that possible if teachers remain locked in their classrooms? An organization is providing the resources to bring learners closer to history by supplying teachers with the tools to take their student’s learning beyond the classroom.
Primary Source, based in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts provides educational tools for K–12 teachers. Lesson plans and curricula are hosted online and provide guidelines for teaching children so ”that their knowledge is deeper and their thinking is flexible and open to inquiry.”
Currently, 50 schools have varying levels of partnership with the group. The partnerships include access for teachers to a library in the central facility, online seminars, and educational courses. The courses provide the teachers with a background in curriculum topics, such as ”Conflict & Resolution in the Middle East.” The programs are taught in conjunction with university professors and provide graduate credit for teachers who complete them.
The library holds over 7,000 items, ranging from scholarly history books to maps and DVDs. Named the Clara Hicks Resource Library, it contains materials designed to support the curricula created by the organization.
These materials, referred to as primary sources, are ”direct evidence of the time and place that you are studying.” The items include government records, photos, drawings, maps, and journals and are used within the curricula to provide perspective on what is being studied.