The History Matters Campaign is a project of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. The Knowledge Matters Campaign is excited to announce the History Matters Podcast, a new, eight-part podcast series that envisions an expanded and transformative role for high-quality history instruction in the elementary grades. The series premieres on September 30 and will feature new episodes every Tuesday through November 11, 2025.
The History Matters Podcast explores the pursuit of historical knowledge across multiple dimensions, from the joy it brings young learners to its acceleration effect on student literacy. It also stresses the vital role historical knowledge plays in the foundational purpose of American schools: preparing young students for citizenship in adulthood. The podcast pairs these inspiring visions with evidence from schools and districts that are successfully teaching high-quality history lessons today.
The series is hosted by Barbara Davidson, Executive Director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. Each episode is less than 20 minutes long and features fast-moving, candid conversations with groundbreaking teachers and experts in history curriculum and instruction.
“We’re excited to get the conversation started about why we need to teach history in the elementary grades,” said Davidson. “We began the History Matters Campaign to put a finer point on what we mean by “background knowledge” and to inspire educators with what excellent history instruction can do. We’re honored to highlight the impact we’re seeing at elementary schools that have made high-quality history instruction a key part of the school day.”
This inspirational podcast honors the Knowledge Matters Campaign’s commitment to “find the good and praise it.” The series shines a light on what’s possible and explores history’s singular power to serve both literacy and civic goals, teach standards, and catch and hold students’ interest.
The September 30 debut features two episodes. In Episode 1 (“Cultivating Citizenship”), author Robert Pondiscio offers a brief history and bright vision for the future of history education in American elementary schools. In Episode 2 (“Content Is King”), Sean Dimond of the Core Knowledge Foundation shares his experiences as a classroom teacher and insights as a curriculum developer to inspiring effect.
The podcast is produced as part of the History Matters Campaign, a project of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. The History Matters Campaign highlights the power of historical content knowledge to support both literacy and civic goals, starting in elementary school.
About the Knowledge Matters Campaign
The Knowledge Matters Campaign garners national awareness for the importance of building students’ background knowledge of the world through high-quality literacy and history instruction, including through its School Tour and Review Tool. The Knowledge Matters Campaign is a project of StandardsWork, a national nonprofit advocacy and education consulting organization. StandardsWork supports and amplifies the good work of educators and demonstrates the value of three core principles: curriculum counts, knowledge matters, and proven practices deliver.