Abstract

This article assumes the position that teacher candidates must be engaged in authentic historical research during the course of their teacher education programs. This caveat is particularly essential with respect to future teachers of social studies and history. Beyond the obvious aim of learning that history is not mere content—a matter of great importance to the teaching of history and social studies in classrooms, which counters the hegemony of textbooks and examinations as arbitrators of student success—engaging in authentic historical research can be a useful means of developing a robust philosophy of history that can inform future practice. Such a philosophy is vital, particularly in light of postmodern critiques of history and the linguistic turn, which shall be discussed at greater length.