scholarly journals The Purposes of History Education in the Context of “Flourishing Life”, “Powerful Knowledge” and Political Reconciliation

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Danilo Kovac
Keyword(s):  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
History Education ◽  
Political Reconciliation ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Content Selection ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Purpose Of Education ◽  
Powerful Knowledge ◽  
Individual Success

Stretching beyond its theoretical field, the debates about the purposes of history education are of great importance to curriculum writers and classroom practitioners. The content selection from a broad field of history is connected to what educators deem an overarching purpose of education. With this in mind, this paper aims to examine the purposes of teaching history against the background of the two general theories of education, namely – the theories of a flourishing life and powerful knowledge. While the theory of a flourishing life encourages the development of personal autonomy, allowing individuals to make successful choices, the theory of powerful knowledge examines the importance of traditional academic knowledge for individual success. The paper will also use the context of post-conflict societies, to reflect on the question of possible purposes of history education.

Teaching history in Japan and England: exchanging ideas and comparing knowledge

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Fearns-Davies ◽  
Tsutomu Kubota ◽  
Fumina Tachibana ◽  
Yuko Kato ◽  
Ian Davies
Keyword(s):  
International Collaboration ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
History Education ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
History Teachers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Citizenship Education ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Teachers And Students

PurposeThis paper describes and discusses collaboration between history teachers in England and Japan. The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which history is taught in each country as a part of a general commitment to international collaboration and as a means by which we could explore the connection between history education and global citizenship education.Design/methodology/approachThe teachers created two lessons (one from England and one from Japan) about the Russian revolution. Both lessons were taught in each country. Data were gathered from students and teachers to aid reflections on the nature and outcome of the collaboration.FindingsThe collaboration was very positive. Teachers and students were excited to work together and to experience different ways of learning about the past. There were different approaches to the ways in which knowledge was characterized in each country (teachers in England emphasizing contextually based historical interpretations; teachers in Japan emphasizing content and contextual knowledge).Originality/valueThis work contributes to the limited amount of research that is currently available about professional collaboration between high school teachers and students of history in Japan and England. The arguments that are made about the opportunities for international collaboration in the context of different characterizations of pedagogical content knowledge contribute to a relatively unexplored field. The authors contribute to our understandings of the relationship between history education and global citizenship education.

Can History Stand Alone? Drawbacks and Blind Spots of a “Disciplinary” Curriculum

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 2471-2495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Thornton ◽  
Keith C. Barton
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
General Education ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Research Question ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Content Selection ◽  
The Subject

Background/Context Over the past quarter-century, many historians, politicians, and educators have argued for an increase in the amount of history taught in schools, for a clear separation of history and social studies, and for an emphasis on disciplinary structures and norms as the proper focus for the subject. Unfortunately, discussions of history education too often rest on the problematic belief that the academic discipline can provide direction for the nature of the subject in general education. Description of Prior Research Throughout much of the 20th century, U.S. history educators made common cause with other social educators to promote principled and critical understandings of society. Both groups stood in opposition to calls for more nationalist views of history education. In the mid-1980s, however, this situation began to change, as a coalition of historians, educational researchers, and political pressure groups promoted history as a subject distinct from and independent of the larger realm of the social studies. This new coalition has been unable to avoid conflicts over the selection of content, however, and approaches favored by nationalists often clash with the more critical and inclusive perspectives of historians. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this article, we trace the relationship between historians and other social educators during the 20th century and explore how the forces favoring a realignment of history and social studies coalesced in the mid-1980s. We argue that this coalition has led to an unproductive emphasis on history as a “separate subject” and a resulting lack of attention to the goals of history in general education. Research Design This analytic essay draws on curriculum theory, historical sources, and contemporary cognitive research to outline the changing relationships between historians and other social educators and to examine the limitations of a purportedly disciplinary curriculum. Conclusions/Recommendations The academic discipline of history cannot, by itself, provide guidance for content selection because educators face restrictions of time and coverage that are not relevant in the context of academic historical research. In addition, educators must concern themselves with developing students’ conceptual understanding, and this necessarily requires drawing on other social science disciplines. If students are to develop the insights that historians have most often promoted for the subject, historians must return to their place within the conversation of social studies education.

History—Consuming Pasts

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
History Education ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Considerable Variability ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Interpretive Strategies

Abstract I use the idea of consumption to discuss questions of agency and purpose in history. History, as a consumer of pasts, is itself an agent in the interpretive strategies employed in the construction of a historical narrative. History also consumes people as it attempts to impose its homogenizing narrative. In these senses, there is purpose: to give order and meaning to—thus prioritizing—certain pasts over others and to define commonality—especially of the nation or nation-state—and thus marginality. This view brings out the historicity of history: that there is always contestation in representations of the past, and that there is considerable variability in how individuals make such history meaningful to themselves. The latter brings out another notion of consumption—that individuals consume history. Which parts of history people imbibe, however, depend on connections with their experience, their own pasts and histories. In terms of pedagogy, we must be aware that objectivistic history often meets resistance, invites parody, or fosters disbelief. If one goal of teaching history is to foster belief in the nation-state, then a monological narrative might not be the best way to accomplish that goal. (History; Education; Nation)

scholarly journals SCIENTIFIC AND METHODOLOGICAL SUPPORT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION IN HISTORY IN UKRAINE (THE END OF XX – THE BEGINNING OF XXI CENTURY): HISTORIOGRAPHY OF EDUCATIONAL EDITIONS

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Yuliia Antybura
Keyword(s):  
History Education ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
School Education ◽  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Teaching Aids ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
School History ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Pedagogical Research

The article considers the historiography of the problem of scientific and methodological support of school education in history in Ukraine. The results of the analysis of the complex of studies and scholarly publications review on the topic are presented in this paper. The general scientific research methods are defined: they are analysis, synthesis, systematization, analogy, classification, which were used to analyze the views of domestic and foreign scientists on the problems of school history education, its scientific and methodological support, updating the content and approaches to teaching history at school. The author defines the concept “scientific and methodological support” through such components as curricula, teaching aids and textbooks, methodology of teaching a subject, legislative and regulatory framework. It is noted that the problems of scientific and methodological support of school historical science were studied by both academic historians and teachers-practitioners. Nowadays, the studies devoted to the content and methods of teaching history are becoming increasingly important. Scientific papers on the topic are divided into several groups. The first group includes general pedagogical research concerning the goals and objectives of secondary education in Ukraine. Such works include teaching aids and textbooks on general pedagogy, history of pedagogy, pedagogical anthologies. The second group includes serious monographs describing the content of history education, updating programs and textbooks. The particular emphasis is placed on works covering the period from Ukraine’s independence, at the beginning of the XXI century. The third group consists of works on the methodology of teaching history in schools. Such works are focused on the practical aspects of teaching history, the structure and content of history lessons, and the like. The fourth group of scientific research consists of those papers, which are devoted to the discussions about the purpose and content of historical education. These are materials of thematic conferences and round tables. The author determined the prospects for further scientific research. Based on the analysis and synthesis of the available scientific papers, it is possible not only to give a detailed description of school history courses, textbooks, approaches to teaching history at school, but also to identify the positive and negative aspects of the content of school history education in Ukraine, to identify problems and ways to overcome them.

scholarly journals PERBAIKAN KESALAHAN KONSEP PEMBELAJARAN SEJARAH MELALUI METODE PEMECAHAN MASALAH DAN DISKUSI

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suwito Eko Pramono
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Preliminary Data ◽  
History Education ◽  
National Education ◽  
Teaching History ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
History Learning ◽  
Student Capability

<p>History learning as an implementation of history education has a strategic value in achieving the objective of national education. Unfortunately, history learning has not played its role optimally. History learning has not been implemented yet based on the appropriate concepts of history education. Could the method of problem solving and discussion improve history learning so that it can be suitable with the concept of history education? The research employed three cycles. The collection of preliminary data used observation and test. The evaluation was conducted in the end of each cycle to trace the improvement of student capability in understanding the concept of history education as well as capability of solving current’s problem. The conclusion of the research showed that the method of problem solving and discussion are effective enough to correct the misconception of history education and they are also suitable for improving student capability to solve current’s problems.</p> <p>Keywords: misconception, teaching history, problem solving, discussion.</p> <p> </p> <p>Pembelajaran sejarah sebagai pelaksanaan pendidikan sejarah memiliki arti strategis dalam mencapai tujuan pendidikan nasional. Sayangnya, pembelajaran sejarah belum dapat memainkan perannya secara optimal. Pembelajaran sejarah belum dilaksanakan berdasarkan konsep-konsep pendidikan sejarah yang tepat. Dapatkah metode pemecahan masalah dan diskusi dapat memperbaiki pembelajaran sejarah yang sesuai dengan konsep pendidikan sejarah? Penelitian ini menggunakan tiga siklus. Pengumpulan data awal menggunakan observasi dan tes. Untuk melacak peningkatan kemampuan siswa dalam memahami konsep pendidikan sejarah dan memecahkan masalah yang terjadi pada saat ini, dilakukan evaluasi pada setiap akhir siklus. Sebagai kesimpulan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa metode pemecahan masalah dan diskusi cukup efektif untuk memperbaiki kesalahan konsep pendidikan sejarah dan kedua metode itu cocok untuk meningkatkan kemampuan siswa untuk memecahkan masalah yang terjadi pada saat ini.</p> <p>Kata kunci: kesalahpahaman, pengajaran sejarah, pemecahan masalah, diskusi.</p> <p> </p>

scholarly journals ‘I’m not Catholic and I’m not Protestant’: Identity, individualisation and challenges for history education in Northern Ireland

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail Branford
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
History Education ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
School History ◽  
Interfaith Marriages ◽  
Youth Identities

Teaching sensitive histories in post-conflict societies makes particular demands on educators to understand students’ identities and their relationships to the past. This paper expands our understanding of post-conflict youth identities and experiences of history education through a small-scale study of students’ life stories in Northern Ireland which defied sectarian boundaries in different ways: some were children of interfaith marriages, while others attended integrated schools or were part of cross-community peace-building organisations. Participants saw themselves as forging new identities and ‘moving on’ from the past, although this process was fraught with ambivalence. I describe these expressions of identity through Ulrich Beck’s (1992) model of triple individualisation. For these ‘post-sectarian’ students, school history was seen largely as a tool towards achieving qualification, far removed from their everyday struggles of self-fashioning.

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