A Case for Teaching History in Elementary School | History Matters Podcast

10 snips

Sep 30, 2025

Join Robert Pondiscio, author and former fifth-grade teacher, as he passionately advocates for revitalizing history education in elementary schools. He shares how his early fascination with history was stifled by educational policies that prioritize tested subjects over knowledge. Pondiscio argues that understanding history is vital for reading comprehension and civic engagement. With a call for a collective shift towards a knowledge-building curriculum, he highlights the importance of historical context in fostering informed citizens. Tune in for compelling insights!

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ANECDOTE

Dinosaurs Answer Revealed A Gap

Robert Pondiscio recalls asking fifth graders what they'd see looking out a window 100 years ago and hearing only silence then “dinosaurs.”
The moment revealed students' lack of sense of historical time and sparked his passion for teaching history.

ANECDOTE

PD Moment That Changed A Teacher

Robert recounts a PD titled “No More Trivial Pursuit” where the principal dismissed teaching the War of 1812.
That experience convinced him essential questions fail without factual historical knowledge.

INSIGHT

Testing Shift Shrunk Curriculum

No Child Left Behind narrowed many schools' focus to tested reading and math at the expense of other subjects.
Robert observed students who could decode text but lacked comprehension from missing background knowledge.

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Elementary schools spend almost no time teaching history. How did we get here, and how can we reprioritize this crucial foundation for literacy and knowledge? Host Barbara Davidson begins the eight-part “History Matters” podcast with a reflective and forward-looking conversation with guest Robert Pondiscio, an author and former fifth-grade teacher who founded the Knowledge Matters Campaign.

Pondiscio recalls his youthful passion for history, sparked by the nation’s bicentennial celebrations nearly 50 years ago. As a teacher, he found his students had learned very little about the past. Rather than learn facts, administrators wanted students to grapple with “essential questions”—which Pondiscio notes is impossible without the knowledge to understand them.

Later, federal accountability rules prompted schools across the country to overwhelmingly focus on tested subjects. But reading is more than decoding—it is comprehension. Without background knowledge, students cannot make sense of what they read. “Everything was reading, reading, reading, math, math, math,” he says. “That’s just not how you build a reader.”

Historical knowledge is especially powerful: Pondiscio notes that the nation’s founders recognized that a republic is fragile and needs virtuous, educated citizens to maintain it. Davidson asks: If you had a magic wand, what would you do? Pondiscio sets forth two big changes. First, that every school use knowledge-building curriculum. Second, that representatives from every state and district decide what basic, foundational historical knowledge kids should learn in each elementary grade:

“What is it we expect kids to know to be literate, to be competent citizens, to be engaged, to be excited in participating and playing a part in the American experiment? I’d love to see schools take up that challenge.”

This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork, on behalf of the History Matters Campaign. Follow the History Matters Campaign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Search #historymatters to join the conversation.

Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.