Heather Nice PhD Candidate, Director of Education
Springfield, IL

Heather Nice presents five rules to help educators embrace an approach to sources that better reflects historical disciplinary practice. These rules encourage educators to examine the nature of sources, embrace fluidity in the terms “primary” and “secondary,” define sources in relation to the question, reconsider primary sources as the “gold standard,” and teach students to critique their textbooks. The goal? To increase inquiry, historical thinking, and disciplinary practice in the classroom.

Heather Nice has extensive experience in social studies instruction, curriculum development and assessment, instructional design, and the use of technology in learning environments. Her academic and professional interests lie in the intersections between archives, education, and history as she seeks to understand best practices for the instructional use of archival collections and disciplinary practice in the K-12 classroom.