ABSTRACT
Many scholars have called for an increase in the amount of history taught in elementary school, and the recent national standards in history recommend that extensive historical content be taught throughout the elementary grades. Students’ focus on individuals can lead to significant omissions or misconceptions in their understanding of history, and instruction in the elementary grades should be carefully designed to help students develop the understandings necessary to study the topic meaningfully. Students showed little understanding of the role in history of social institutions such as government or the economy. They conceptualized historical topics in terms of the intentions and interactions of individuals. When discussing the history of race and gender relations, for example, students pointed to the role of famous people in changing individual attitudes. Students also focused on individuals when they studied changes in everyday life—areas such as clothes, games, sports, food, medicine, and entertainment.
