The Historian as Translator: Historical Thinking, the Rosetta Stone of History Education

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Fischer
Keyword(s):  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Rosetta Stone

scholarly journals Of dragons and dinosaurs: How children’s toys and games create ideas of the past, of history and of fiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Kühberger
Keyword(s):  
Historical Fiction ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Culture ◽  
Fictional Representations

This article outlines a trend in popular historical culture which has seen the increasing replacement of a concept of history that rests on some form of evidence base by visions of fictional pasts, or – to put it more precisely – by an ambiguous blend of the past and fictional pasts. Drawing on ethnographic research focused on the contents of Austrian children’s rooms, this paper explores traceable manifestations of history and historical fiction, particularly toy dragons and dinosaurs, in their properties as objects and as focuses of their owners’ interpretations as ascertained in interviews. The research finds little clear demarcation in the minds of the children interviewed (all between 8 and 12 years old) between imaginings and cognitive attempts to reconstruct the past. The article examines the influence of these factual–fictional representations on historical thinking from a history education perspective.

scholarly journals Task complexity in history textbooks: A multidisciplinary case study on triangulation in history education research

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Kühberger ◽  
Christoph Bramann ◽  
Zarah Weiß ◽  
Detmar Meurers
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
History Textbooks ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
General Linguistic

The purpose of history education in Austria has changed over at least the last decade. While the focus used to be to give students a master narrative of the national past based on positivist knowledge, the current objective of history education is to foster historical thinking processes that enable students to form transferable skills in the self-reflected handling and creation of history. A key factor in fostering historical thinking is the appropriation of learning tasks. This case study measures the complexity of learning tasks in Austrian history textbooks as one important aspect of their quality. It makes use of three different approaches to complexity to triangulate the notion: general task complexity (GTC), general linguistic complexity (GLC), and domain-specific task complexity (DTC). The question is which findings can be offered by the specific strengths and limitations of the different methodological approaches to give new insights into the study of task complexity in the domain of history education research. By pursuing multidisciplinary approaches in a triangulating way, the case study opens up new prospects for this field. Besides offering new insights on measuring the complexity of learning tasks, the study illustrates the need for further research in this field – not only related to the development of analytical frameworks, but also regarding the notion of complexity in the context of historical learning itself.

scholarly journals The sidewalk is a history book: Reflections on linking historical consciousness to uses of history

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Kenneth Nordgren ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
History Education ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
International Community ◽  
Song Lyrics ◽  
Historical Representations ◽  
History Book ◽  
Broad Understanding

The ongoing discussion about what constitutes historical consciousness is intensifying within the growing international community of history-education researchers. What started as an exploration of how life outside schools affects our historical thinking has become a key concept for structuring formal education. This shift has largely been positive; however, there are reasons for caution. If practical adaption means outlining, classifying, and measuring levels of achieved awareness, it also presents a risk of losing the initial reason for considering the wider influence on our perceptions and orientations. My reflection in this article concerns this paradox and how it can affect a complementary concept, use of history. Using examples from everyday historical representations in public life, namely song lyrics, the BLM, and Sweden’s approach to Covid 19, I demonstrate why history education requires a broad understanding of historical consciousness and a readiness to work with public uses of history.

scholarly journals How younger students perceive and identify historical significance

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Small Groups ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
The Way

Historical significance is a historical thinking concept. Being able to identify historical significance is viewed as important for understanding change and continuity in the past, and for understanding the way ‘history’ is constructed by present society. This article discusses how Swedish students in Grade 5 (age 11 years) perceive and understand historical significance without having received prior instruction on how to identify historical significance. The results show that the students see thrilling and exciting events in the past as significant, as well as the events, inventions, ideas and values that have influenced the present or changed the course of history in some way. In this paper, I compare students’ answers to definitions of historical significance formulated by Christine Counsell (2004) and Matthew Bradshaw (2006) . For the study, 67 students were interviewed in semi-structured interviews in small groups. They attended six different schools in the middle part of Sweden and came from varying backgrounds. Regardless of their backgrounds or origins, the students see the history culture of the majority, as presented in their history education, as their own.

scholarly journals Debates sobre enseñanza de la historia: identidad canadiense, pensamiento histórico y conciencia histórica

Arbor ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 194 (788) ◽  
pp. 441
Author(s):  
Penney Clark
Keyword(s):  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Education Network

Este artículo profundiza en los debates históricos y actuales en Canadá sobre la historia nacional y la enseñanza de la historia en el complicado escenario de trece jurisdicciones educativas de Canadá. En este trabajo se analizan los debates sobre los contenidos en la enseñanza de la historia y en los libros de texto, así como los enfoques en la escuela. Se analizan las formas en que un enfoque de pensamiento histórico está consolidándose en todo el país en el período actual, con una mayor atención a la investigación en la enseñanza de la historia y su difusión y su mayor presencia en los planes provinciales. Se considera el papel del gobierno federal en estos cambios, las organizaciones privadas sin fines de lucro, y los proyectos financiados por el gobierno nacional, tales como el Historical Thinking Project y The History Education Network.

Challenging Substantive Knowledge in Educational Media

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-128
Author(s):  
Lucas Frederik Garske
Keyword(s):  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
History Textbooks ◽  
Educational Media ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Congruent Relation

Many scholars working on history education have stressed that, in order to “do history,” a congruent relation between substantive and procedural knowledge is required. In response to this argument, this article emphasizes the need to consider pupils’ relations to substantive knowledge. With reference to history textbooks currently used in Germany, it demonstrates how the introduction of substantive knowledge with the help of the logic of “historical thinking” derived from expert discourses may obstruct the process of historical thinking. Finally, the article presents alternative approaches and their possible consequences for history education.

Re-positioning historical thinking: a framework for classroom practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-289
Author(s):  
Gideon Boadu
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teacher Attention ◽  
Inquiry Approach ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Historical Theory

PurposeOver the last few decades, there have been significant developments in history education, key among them being the recommendation for an inquiry approach to history teaching to improve students' ability to think historically. While the idea of historical thinking is widely researched, it appears that it has been approached from a conceptual perspective without a consistent focus on the mode of progression and the outcomes that the historical thinking concepts can achieve.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws from educational and historical theory and empirical research in history education to propose a framework that specifies the outcomes that a historical thinking classroom activity can aim to achieve.FindingsThe paper argues that the systematic deployment and mediation of disciplinary concepts and substantive knowledge are important means for achieving meaningful and relevant outcomes in history teaching. The paper highlights the need for teacher attention not only to historical theory but also to educational theory for an efficient outcomes-based history education.Originality/valueThis paper contributes not only to discussions on historical thinking but also to discussions on the stances of history which have attracted little theoretical discussion and research on their applicability to classroom teaching.

scholarly journals THE DEVELOPMENT OF HISTORICAL THINKING AND SKILLS IN THE TEACHING OF HISTORY IN THE SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN INDONESIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Said Hamid Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
History Education ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
University Education ◽  
Official Document ◽  
Senior Secondary School ◽  
Senior Secondary ◽  
Curriculum Document

The present study analyses history education as it is in curriculum document of senior secondary school. The curriculum document is a part of content standard document which is officially announced by Minister of National Education Regulation number 22 year 2005. This official document contains amongst others curriculum structure, competency standards and basic competency. Two major questions this study asks are (1) what is the concept of history education stipulated in curriculum document?, and (2) how far the existing curriculum provides possibilities for the development of historical thinking and skills?  The questions are answered by analysing the document. Considering the characteristic of curriculum document which is an official document and all ideas are planned strictly and clearly written, the analysis uses logical analysis approach where the two research questions serve as analysis framework. The result shows that the exisiting curriculum conceived history education as a scientific discipline education. Also, the curriculum provides an ample opportunity to develop historical thinking and skills. Design used by the curriculum is concecutive design for the development of thinking and learning skills.  It concluded that the concept of history education as a scientific discipline education is appropriate considering the objective of senior secondary education to prepare the students for university education. The study also suggests teachers of history to implement integrated design for the development of historical thinking and skills as an alternative to consecutive design.

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