Understanding by design is a new approach to teaching. This applies well to me, wanting to teach history and government, because those classes tend to be taught simply by regurgitation of information. Read this, memorize that, answer the questions, and then forget everything you've learned. That was me in high school, but thankfully I've come to see History as more of a narrative than of facts, names and dates. This challenges the student to see the causes and effects - both short-term and long-term - to historical events.
History is full of "Big Ideas" and "Essential Questions" that we can be asking. After all, history may not always repeat itself, but it teaches us valuable lessons about how to approach the future. When we can "transfer" those ideas and critical thinking into every day life, and begin to see the story that unfolds around us every day, we can begin to see the world differently and shape the outcomes better than we were able to before.
