What is history? Views from a primary school teacher education programme

Abstract

This article focuses on how history as a concept is understood by first-year BA Education students. Students were asked to respond to the following questions: ‘what is history?’, ‘what is history to you?’ and ‘who writes history?’ Verbal and written consent was obtained from the students to participate in the study. Their answers demonstrated a concept of history that is imbued with a spatial and temporal as well as ideological and moral position. This article argues that, through the data, it seems that for these students the concept of history emerges as an object that is given a moral value, rather than history being seen as having value as a knowledge or skill set. I draw parallels between my findings and Donovan and Bransford’s work on how history is learnt by primary school students in the United States. There are clear similarities between the primary school understandings recorded in Donovan and Bransford, and first-year university understandings that emerged in the data of this study. This article argues that if history is understood as moral, as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, critical thinking and analytic skills which learning history can imbue are vastly diminished. Furthermore, this article uses Lauren Berlant’s concept of ‘cruel optimism’ to consider the implications of how the participating students understand what history is.

"Word generation" and skills around learning and teaching History

“…The question of older students presenting their opinions on historical debates poses the question of how student teachers engage with historical material. My own research (Godsell, 2016) suggests that first year students also tend to engage with historical concepts rather than weighing in on historical debate. The SoGen units are themselves designed to teach teachers and students, to at the same time boost teachers' discipline knowledge and understanding and assist their implementation of instructional approaches, that focus on improving students' historical literacy.…”

Using a historical memoir to improve curriculum coherence in teacher education: The case of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime

“…Ludlow (2016) argues for the importance of including biographical writing in History education, noting the genre's capacity to inculcate empathy, communicate the complexity of historical discourses, and convey the everyday oppressions meted out by the apartheid regime, which are sometimes subsumed under master narratives. Wassermann (2018a) and Godsell (2016) also observe that pre-service History teachers o en tend to think about South African history in terms of xed moralist binaries -good and bad, moral and immoral. In this regard, Noah's memoir o ers a far more complex and layered depiction of the country's past, pointing to complexities that may have been occluded by dominant historical narratives.…”

“…While the English content module emphasises close a ention to the text itself, History teaching approaches the text di erently and emphasises the entanglements between the authors and readers of historical resources, and the salience of context in shaping these. As Godsell (2016:2) writes about teaching History:…”

“…e-ISSN 2309-9003 us, while English and History lectures about the same historical text can facilitate mutually reinforcing skills -broadly conceptualised in this article as fundamental learning -History education requires that greater a ention be paid to the context of the historian, student or school learner. History should not only be thought about in terms of content, but should rather be seen as the con uence of content, critical thinking skills and a recognition of the positionality of both the authors and readers of historical resources (Godsell, 2016). Noah's memoir is incorporated into the teaching of this module over two weeks:…”

Sinif Eği̇ti̇mi̇nde Hayat Bi̇lgi̇si̇ Ve Sosyal Bi̇lgi̇ler Ders Ki̇tabi İçeri̇si̇nde Yer Alan Tari̇h Konularinin İncelenmesi̇

“…Çocuklar, merakı sayesinde içinde yaşadığı toplumun kültürünü öğrenmiş ve müzeler, ören yerleri, han, hamam gibi tarihsel ögeler sayesinde tarihsel düşünme yetisi kazanarak zaman ile mekân algısını irdeleyebilmiştir (Aktın, 2017). Bu yüzden çocukların eleştirel düşünme yetisi kazanarak iyi ile kötüyü ayırabilmesi, kim olduğunu ve nereden geldiğini bilerek topluma iyi vatandaş olması, öğrencinin eğitim-öğretim kademesine başladığı ilk yıldan itibaren verilecek olan nitelikli tarih öğretimi ile mümkün görünmüştür (Godsell, 2016). Kaliteli verilecek bir tarih öğretimi ile birlikte çocuğun, geçmiş deneyimlerinden yararlanarak değişime ve yeniliğe ayak uydurması, kişisel gelişimine katkı sağlaması ve karşılaştığı olayları zaman algısı temelinde kronolojik olarak sıralayabilmesi amaçlanmıştır (Güler ve Tuğrul, 2007).…”