ABSTRACTThe aim of this observational study is to explore how history teachers promote historical contextualisation in their lessons. Historical contextualisation is the ability to situate phenomen...

Over the past 20 years, concepts of historical thinking and historical consciousness have received increasing attention in the field of history education and history didactics. This new orientation in the teaching of history has involved the need to take into account the complexity of the historical discourse and more generally the multiple ways in which people relate to their individual and collective pasts. It has also implied the need to consider the diversity of "places" where history occurs. In this article, (...) I will take a closer look at the relationships between the concepts of historical consciousness and memory, which, to a certain extent, seem to be neglected and misunderstood in the teaching of history and history education in general. More specifically, I will frame what I call a ‘third way’ for history education in relation to Ricoeur’s theories and the connections and nuances he establishes between epistemology of history and phenomenology of memory. (shrink)

The notion of historical thinking has in recent years become popular in research on history education, particularly so in North America, the UK and Australia. The aim of this paper is to discuss th...

Focusing on episodes of student-generated and -sustained talk during document-based disciplinary history discussions, this study explored what teacher candidates prioritize and value about social studies discussions, and how these priorities align with their actions and goals as facilitators. Using a complex systems-based model, we investigated candidates’ goals as they planned for, facilitated, and reflected upon student sensemaking relative to three common orientations for social studies discussions: disciplinary history, participatory civics, and critical literacy. Findings revealed that candidates employed elements from all (...) three orientations, yet without clear alignment to any particular approach. This misalignment reflected tensions between candidates’ stated goals, beliefs about student engagement, and instructional decisions. We draw implications for teacher education to support candidates in developing coherent practices for discussion facilitation that align with their instructional visions and sociocultural contexts. (shrink)

This paper presents the relationship between pedagogical content knowledge and political/ideological clarity as a framework for understanding the nuanced interpretations and applications of critical social studies pedagogy and practice. Using a qualitative case study research design, this study explores the decision-making process of two novice social studies teachers as they decide if and how to utilize critical historical inquiry within their classrooms. Findings indicate that teachers’ use of critical historical inquiry is informed by their subject area consciousness and political and (...) ideological clarity which is cultivated through personal, schooling, and communal experiences. However, we also find that a teacher's pedagogy is significantly strengthened when political and ideological clarity are coupled with pedagogical content knowledge to ensure a more developed enactment of critical historical inquiry is reached within the social studies classroom. (shrink)

This essay critically examines the so-called ‘unnaturalness’ of historical thinking. I identify and analyse three lines of argument frequently invoked by historians to defend the validity of historical inquiry in response to scepticism, which is often couched in postmodern terms. In doing so, I highlight that these lines of argument are predicated upon historians’ thought processes and concepts being domain general. This idea of historical thinking as part of our ordinary thinking could help us develop a history curriculum in which (...) students are required to employ those processes and concepts to solve both everyday and historical questions. With such a curriculum, students could more easily see the relevance of history education to their daily lives. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to examine how elementary preservice teachers ( n = 35) experienced museums as potential sites for K-5 students to read museums using two lenses: to learn the history of the place in which they live and examine how museum authors craft texts to tell those stories. Along with exploring historical content, preservice teachers studied the museum as an informational text. Through this experience, preservice teachers discovered: 1) the five informational text structures museum authors used (...) to present information and 2) how museum authors conveyed contemporary and social issues using various forms of writing. Additionally, the museum experience provided a context in which the preservice teachers could engage in critical literacy practices. (shrink)

Document-based history instruction (DBI) was implemented in a middle school special education setting to promote the development of disciplinary cognitive processing and higher order thinking using historical thinking as a framework for students with learning differences (ld). A convergent mixed methods action research design was utilized to explore a) how DBI influenced students’ disciplinary cognitive processing and higherorder thinking when reading multiple historical documents b) the affordances and constraints of using DBI in a special education classroom. Using quantitative data sources (...) (e.g., highlighted documents, reading comprehension responses, and an ondemand writing task) and additional qualitative data (e.g., interviews, fieldnotes, classroom artifacts, and audio recordings), we uncovered insightful evidence to support the potential of DBI for students with ld. In one academic year, when reading multiple historical sources, students learned how to efficiently highlight content knowledge and academic vocabulary, interrogate historical sources, and corroborate information from different sources. (shrink)