scholarly journals History teaching in Finnish general upper secondary schools: Objectives and practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Rautiainen ◽  
Eija Räikkönen ◽  
Anna Veijola ◽  
Simo Mikkonen
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
History Teachers ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
Student Activities ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

In Finland, the trend towards a new kind of history teaching emphasizing the understanding of historical knowledge and historical thinking skills began in the mid-1990s, when history teaching objectives were defined much more broadly in the curriculum than previously. In this article, we examine how, in over twenty years since the changes in curriculum objectives were made, general upper secondary school teachers have come to value the curriculum objectives of history teaching and how these have impacted on their teaching. The data for this article were collected by a semi-structured survey in 2016. Using counts, percentages, means, standard deviations and medians, a descriptive exploration was made of history teachers' perceptions of the essential objectives in teaching history and how often they were put into practice in related student activities. To investigate the balance between the objectives the teachers emphasized as the most essential and the teaching methods they actually used, we applied the Kruskal–Wallis test and the Friedman test. According to the results, what the teachers considered essential for teaching history did not correlate with their teaching methods. In addition, according to the results, this state of affairs is still undergoing change; old traditions and new objectives of history teaching are creating tensions. The results were interpreted in the light of the cultural viewpoints of Finnish teaching, the position of matriculation examinations in Finnish general upper secondary schools and the challenges the curriculum is setting for history teachers.

The Challenges of History Education in Iceland

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-110
Author(s):  
Súsanna Margrét Gestsdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching Material ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Standardized Exams ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

In this article the author discusses the teaching of history in Iceland, first and foremost in relation to the environment in which the subject finds itself, the legislation relating to it and the curriculum. Curriculum development over the past decades is examined, in addition to changes in teaching material and the general attitudes that have influenced both of these from the time of the struggle for national independence in the former half of the twentieth century. There is a discussion of the disputes that have arisen as a result of tampering with the curriculum and teaching material in history in recent years, both when new emphases were introduced in the eighties and when history teaching in upper secondary schools was substantially reduced with the new curriculum in 1999. Considerable attention is given to history teaching in upper secondary schools, despite there being a dearth of research at this level. There is quite a degree of evidence that history is popular amongst Icelandic students and the public at large. In this article, an attempt is made to analyse the state of history as a school subject in Iceland, not least in the light of the extensive freedom enjoyed by teachers in their jobs, bearing in mind that there are no standardized exams in the subject and no supervision of teaching methods. At present there is a review of the curricula at all school levels in Iceland and the future of history as a subject is therefore rather uncertain.

scholarly journals Exploring the washback effects of a high-stakes English test on the teaching of English in Spanish upper secondary schools

2010 ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Amengual Pizarro
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
High Stakes Tests ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Teaching Curriculum ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

In the past decades, there has been a growing interest in the effects of language tests, especially high-stakes tests, on teaching and learning referred to as ‘washback'. In fact, high-stakes tests have started to be exploited to reform instruction and achieve beneficial washback. This paper focuses on the washback effects of a high-stakes English Test (ET) on the teaching of English. The main goal of this study is to examine the washback effects of the ET on the following aspects of teaching: curriculum, materials, teaching methods, and teaching feelings and attitudes. The study also attempts to discover teachers' perceptions towards the introduction of a speaking and a listening component in the design of the new ET due to be implemented in 2012. The overall findings, collected from a questionnaire carried out among 51 secondary teachers, indicate that the ET is clearly affecting curriculum and materials. Results also reveal that the ET appears to influence teachers' methodology. Furthermore, most of the teachers believe that the introduction of a speaking and a listening component in the new ET design will help solve the mismatch between the communicative approach they seem to value and the skills so far evaluated in the ET.

A quantitative investigation of the effects of new generation vs traditional upper secondary schools in Cambodia through the lens of STEM transfer model

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sovansophal Kao
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Attitudes Toward Science ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Math Teachers ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
New Form ◽  
K 12 ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the effects of Cambodia's New Generation Schools (NGS), as compared to their traditional counterparts, in enhancing the seven constructs: (1) science and math achievement, (2) science and math self-efficacy, (3) science and math outcome expectations, (4) attitudes toward science, (5) interactive science and math lessons, (6) support from science and math teachers and (7) encouragement and support in science from family.Design/methodology/approachThe two observations data was collected using self-rated questionnaire from 301 11th graders from five upper secondary schools located in three provinces of Cambodia. Independent sample t-test, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and dependent sample t-test were used to analyze the repeated measures data.FindingsThe study revealed that students from the NGS exhibited statistically higher scores for most constructs, especially for attitudes toward science. However, when controlling for the differences in the first observation data, the significant effects of the three constructs have been neutralized. Moreover, though there was an increase in science activities outside school, there was a negative trajectory in the other two sub-constructs of attitudes toward science and support from science and math teachers, both in NGS and traditional schools.Practical implicationsThese findings point some practical implications for enhancing the effectiveness of the two school types and further research.Originality/valueThere is heavy investment in new form of schools across the world to enhance students' learning and academic achievement in science and math in K-12 and to promote their interest in STEM in higher education. However, there is little document on the effectiveness of this new form of school, particularly in the Cambodian context.

METHODOLOGY FOR USING LOCAL SOURCES IN TEACHING HISTORY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Nazokat M. Bozorova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Local Sources ◽  
Creative Spirit

oday it has been scientifically proven that the use of the latest methods in the study of history leads to very good results. The use of local sources is becoming more and more important, especiallywhen teaching history in schools. Since the use of local sources in the classroom helps to increase the interest of students in a particular period of history, to expand their imagination. At the same time, it helps to develop a creative spirit in students. This article describes a methodology for using local sources in history teaching

Physics in upper secondary schools in Denmark‡‡

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Nielsen ◽  
P. V. Thomsen
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools
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