Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2025
Abstract
Many students have long perceived history as boring and irrelevant to their lives beyond the classroom. Although recent shifts towards skills-based instruction have attempted to address these issues, students still struggle to recognize the purpose of learning history. This study examined the effectiveness of thematic instructional pedagogy in enhancing 9th-grade students’ historical consciousness and perceptions of relevance in a World History course at a suburban high school in Minnesota. A pre- and post-survey measured students’ views of historical consciousness, thematic learning, and the purpose of learning history before and after a unit of thematic instruction was implemented. Student artifacts, along with teacher field and reflective notes were also analyzed to triangulate findings. The results indicate that thematic instruction contributed to increased student understanding of connections between past, present, and future, as well as improved their perceived relevance of history. These findings suggest that integrating enduring themes into the history curriculum may better support students' engagement and meaning-making. Further research is needed to determine what aspects of thematic pedagogy are most impactful to students and to compare outcomes of thematic pedagogy to a control group of traditional instruction. Broader grade ranges, school contexts, and a larger participant group could strengthen the generalization of results.