The Exploring Historical Thinking Through Story & Inquiry: Early Career Social Studies Teacher’s Cohort is a professional development cohort for secondary social studies teachers in ESC Regions 10 and 11 in North Texas. This cohort will be a professional development initiative that seeks to provide early-career educators with the training and resources needed to enhance their students’ historical thinking skills. In-service and early career Social Studies teachers often have a limited range of techniques and an inadequate grasp of the full range of thinking goals in the discipline. By focusing on two key books, “Starting and Ending with Thinking in Social Studies” and “From Story to Judgment: The Four Question Method for
Teaching and Learning in Social Studies,” we aim to inspire change in how social studies is taught in Region 10 and 11 school districts. The primary goal of our Historical Thinking Cohort is to address the essential question: “Why does Social Studies instruction need to shift?” We aim to foster a deep understanding among participating teachers of the need for change in social studies education by empowering them to move beyond lectures and textbooks alone to incorporate inquiry skills into their regular classroom practice.

This Historical Thinking Cohort will involve a series of workshops, seminars, and collaborative activities. Participants will be encouraged to collaborate on unit and/or lesson plans to implement the knowledge gained in their classrooms. By the end of the cohort, we anticipate the following outcomes: improved teacher knowledge and classrooms that are more engaged in critical thinking as well as a collaborative network of educators.