American Museum Association Committee on Education. “Excellence in Practice: Museum Education Principles and Standards." (2005)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:15:49 +0000

Citation:

American Museum Association Committee on Education. “Excellence in Practice: Museum Education Principles and Standards.” Washington DC: American Association of Museums, 2005.

Abstract/Summary:

The Museum and Education Principles and Standards put out by the American Museum Association (AAM) are a great guide for museum education professionals. The document outlines the principles and standards that were drafted by the Committee on Education, a section of the AAM, in 1990 and revised in 2005. The document lists the three major principles that museum educators should follow: accessibility, accountability and advocacy. The group hopes that this document will offer information to museum educators and guide them to support informal education. The document also outlines what it means to be a museum educator and offers further resources. This document is very helpful to an understanding of what it means to be a professional museum educator.

Source/Credit:

Erika Smith

Ausubel, David P. Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View. (1968)

Anne Marie — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:52:19 +0000

Citation:

Ausubel, David P. Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View. New York and Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.

Abstract/Summary:

This book is divided into seventeen chapters that fall under six separate sections. Each section begins with a theoretical explanation and ends with a discussion on how this theory can inform teaching practices. The “Introduction” section which includes only chapter one deals broadly with the role of educational psychology. Beginning with the subtitle “Why Educational Psychology for Prospective Teachers?” this first chapter grounds the book in the assumption that both the theoretical and practical elements of educational psychology are important for teachers to know. Additionally, this chapter frames the book as a resource for teachers to further their understanding of the relationship between psychology and education so that they may apply this understanding to their teaching.

The second section, “Meaning and Meaningful Learning,” includes chapters two and three. In chapter two Ausubel maps out theories of how meaning is theoretically conceptualized in the discipline of psychology, distinguishing between cognition and perception and meaningful learning and acquiring knowledge. Chapter three follows with a more specific discussion of theories of learning and meaning-making focusing on the different teaching practices which can lend to meaningful learning rather than rote learning.

The third section, “Cognitive Factors in Learning,” includes chapters four through nine. The discussion in chapter four centers around cognitive factors in classroom learning. Here, Ausubel emphasizes the existing structure of knowledge with which students enter the classroom, naming this a crucial “cognitive structure variable” which teachers must work with in developing their practice. Drawing from the information in chapter four, in chapter five the author narrows down the discussion to developmental psychology theories to explain how cognitive development occurs. He focuses both on age and experience as factors. Chapter six is specifically dedicated to theories of intelligence in relation to theories of cognitive development. To follow the theoretical discussion outlined in these three chapters, in chapters seven through nine the author provides teachers with an outline of the implications of this theory in practice.

The fourth section, “Affective and Social Factors in Learning,” includes chapters ten through thirteen. Here, the first three chapters deal separately with the impact of motivational factors, personality factors, and social factors in learning. To complement this theoretical outline of factors known to influence learning, Ausubel ends this section with a chapter devoted to how these same factors can influence teaching.

he fifth section, “Discovery Learning,” includes chapters fourteen through sixteen. As the section title suggests, these three chapters focus on both the theory and practice of “discovery learning.” Here, discovery learning is broadly defined as “problem solving.” While chapter fourteen deals specifically with the history of the theory and practice of discovery learning, chapters fifteen and sixteen focus on the developmental aspects of discovery learning ranging from how students “acquire” concepts to how to foster students’ problem solving and creative abilities.

In “Evaluation and Measurement,” the book concludes with a chapter which provides teachers with suggestions grounded in theory and in research on practice for assessing students’ learning.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Baques, Marie-Christine, Annie Bruter et Nicole, Tutiaux-Guillon, dirs. Pistes didactiques et chemins d’historiens. Textes offerts à Henri Moniot. (2003)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:22:14 +0000

Citation:

Baques, Marie-Christine, Annie Bruter et Nicole, Tutiaux-Guillon, dirs. Pistes didactiques et chemins d’historiens. Textes offerts à Henri Moniot. Paris : L’Harmattan, 2003.

Abstract/Summary:

Dans tous les domaines où sa pensée s'est exercée, histoire de l'Afrique, réflexion sur l'histoire et didactique de la discipline, la modestie et la discrétion d'Henri Moniot ont souvent caché l'ampleur de ses apports. C'est donc à une œuvre majeure que vingt et un historiens ont voulu rendre hommage ici. L'ouvrage s'articule autour de trois thématiques : questionnements d'une tradition et réécritures de l'histoire, usages de l'histoire et projets politiques, pratiques enseignantes et apprentissages de l'histoire. Un ensemble de réflexions qui interrogent le rôle social de l'histoire. (http://www.harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=11256)

Source/Credit:

L’Harmattan

Barton, K. C., and L.S. Levstik. Teaching History for the Common Good. (2004)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:32:02 +0000

Citation:

Barton, K. C., and L.S. Levstik. Teaching History for the Common Good. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004.

Abstract/Summary:

This thirteen chapter book reviews research on students’ learning of history to evaluate factors that influence students’ historical thinking so as to offer educators suggestions for their teaching. Studies were reviewed within the theoretical context of “mediated action.” The research was evaluated for its potential to educate students in how to participate in a pluralist democracy.

Chapter one outlines the theory of mediated action. The authors conclude that students have ideas about the past that are informed both by what they learn in school and from external sources such as their family and the media. Similarly, in chapter two the authors draw out their theoretical conceptualization of democracy and argue that history education should serve to teach students how to be democratic citizens who participate in deliberations over the common good.

In chapters three through six the authors explore the four principal “stances “ towards history, defined as actions that students are expected to perform when they learn history. Chapter three focuses on the “identification stance” in which students are expected to identify similar aspects of the past and present. The authors argue that this kind of learning is primarily subjective and will not lead to students learning about democratic participation. In contrast, the authors explain in chapter four that the “analysis stance” asks students to explore how the past has led to the present. This is most likely to contribute to students’ preparation to participate in democracy if history is studied as an indeterminate process. Chapter five focuses on the “moral response stance” in which students are asked to make judgements about past triumphs and tragedies. Often, this stance manifests in remembrance or condemnation, and the authors suggest that history education would benefit most from remembrance and thus a reflection of those who lived and died in the past. In chapter six, the authors examine the “the exhibition stance” which includes public displays as well as issues of assessment. The authors recommend teachers introduce students to public exhibitions of history but do so critical of glorification and nation building projects.

The second half of the book explores the primary “tools of history.” Chapters seven to nine explore narrative as a tool. In chapter seven the authors argue that although students do learn best when history is told as a story, teachers should also teach about how narratives are socially and culturally constructed. In the following chapter the authors maintain that although stories about individuals are important to history education, these stories must be situated within their social contexts so that students understand how individual lives are shaped by the collective. Chapter nine examines the story of freedom and progress dominant in the U.S. arguing that this story must be challenged. In contrast, chapters eleven and twelve explore the role of empathy in history education. In chapter eleven the authors first maintain that empathy defined as the ability to take on the perspective of another is insufficient for learning about democratic participation. They suggest that history education must recognize that there exists a multiplicity of perspectives in every era and that all perspectives must be historically contextualized. Second, they continue the discussion from the preceding chapter in which they define empathy as “caring about,” “caring that,” and “caring for,” through which students connect emotionally with the past. The authors maintain that both types of empathy are necessary for a history learning that aims to foster critical thinking about the notion of the common good in democracy.

Finally, in chapter thirteen the authors argue that for teachers to frame history education as preparation for participation in democracy they must have more than just a knowledge of history and rather an understanding of history teaching as offering students possibilities about how to live responsibly with others.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Brophy, Jere, and Bruce VanSledright. Teaching and Learning History in Elementary Schools. (1997)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:44:14 +0000

Citation:

Brophy, Jere, and Bruce VanSledright. Teaching and Learning History in Elementary Schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 1997.

Abstract/Summary:

The primary objective of this seven chapter book is to legitimize the inclusion of history in the elementary school curriculum by drawing from theory and research ultimately aimed at providing teachers with suggestions for practice. As such, the first chapter emphasizes the importance of including history in the elementary school curriculum outlining the ideal goals of history teaching as well as research on history learning. Similarly, chapter two extends on the literature review in the first chapter by presenting the reader with different approaches to teaching history as well as results from studies on history teaching.

In the remainder of the book the authors draw from a study they conducted on the teaching and learning of American history in a fifth grade classroom. In chapter four the authors provide a detailed account of the research methodology. Generally, the study involved detailed case studies of American history units taught by three experienced teachers as well as pre- and post-test evaluations of students’ knowledge of American history before and after completion of these units.

However, before the research methodology is discussed, in the third chapter the reader is introduced to one of the teacher participants Mary Lake. Mary is described as a “storyteller” because she chose to communicate the past to her students in the form of stories rather than helping her students remember facts and connect ideas. The authors note that while this kept her students engaged, this teaching style is limited because it focuses solely on traditional historical accounts and “American values.” In contrast, as we later learn in chapter five, Ramona Palmer is described as a scientific historian because she presents history as an academic discipline. Thus, her teaching focused on how historians gather evidence in order to construct truth in history and was consequently aimed at teaching students how to research the past in order to be able to make historical claims. In this case, the authors praise Ramona for her in-depth teaching of subject matter but criticize her teaching style for its rigid and limited focus on how the past can be interpreted. In chapter six the reader is introduced to yet another method of history teaching through Sara Atkinson’s case. Sara teaches history as a tool for developing an understanding of social issues with the end goal of helping her students become critical thinkers and “social actors.” She was thus less interested in teaching about the chronology of events. While the authors commend her for this strategy they also warn against the dangers of representing all historical and present-day events as “suffering” from the need for change.

Chapter seven is dedicated to presenting detailed and specific implications of these findings for curriculum development and instruction. The authors end with the recognition that their results are debatable and thus with the recommendation that teachers be reflective in their practice and seek answers to their doubts and questions in published research on history teaching and learning.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Cabajsky, Andrea, and Brett Josef Grubisic, eds. National Plots: Historical Fiction and Changing Ideas of Canada. (2010)

ulrike — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 23:23:30 +0000

Citation:

Cabajsky, Andrea, and Brett Josef Grubisic, eds. National Plots: Historical Fiction and Changing Ideas of Canada. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2010.

Abstract/Summary:

This book sets out to answer the following question: What happens to the “Canadian” when it intersects with the “historical” in fictional writing? To answer this question, the authors in the various chapters examine the debate about the role that history and fiction have played in the formation of Canadian national identity. The book explores novels by prominent Canadian authors and addresses historical fiction’s changing themes, forms, and narrative structures.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is entitled “A Useable Past? New Questions, New Directions,” which includes five chapters. In Chapter 1, Kathleen Venema analyzes Fred Stenson’s The Trade to argue that although Stenson aims to revise traditional narratives, his novel ultimately uncovers truths of fiction that are not as historiographically or ethically neutral. In Chapter 2, Cynthia Sugars discusses the individual within national histories in Aimée Laberge’s Where the River Narrows and concludes that Laberge’s novel belongs to a conservative category of postmodern fiction. In Chapter 3, Albert Braz examines the representations of Louis Riel’s adversary, Thomas Scott, in Canadian literature that share a tendency to vilify Scott, to render him a marginal figure, or to excise him from history altogether. Braz believes this raises serious questions about the purposed historical and cultural inclusiveness of postmodern historiography. Robert David Stacey searches for a theorist of history and of historical writing appropriate to the Canadian context in Chapter 4. In addition Stacey discusses Hugh MacLennan’s Barometer Rising, arguing that the novel should be seen as a local model for subsequent historical fiction. In Chapter 5, Tracy Ware explores the implications of the revised ending of Alice Munro’s Meneseteung.

The second part of the book is entitled “Unconventional Voices: Fiction Versus Recorded History” and begins with Chapter 6, Herb Wyile’s observations on how Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road aims to expand the repertoire of formal features with which Canadian historical fiction writers have traditionally treated the Great War. More specifically, Boyden discusses how the novel revisits the familiar terrain of the Western front, but revitalizes the themes and conventions of literature about the Great War by framing them through particular Aboriginal cultural motifs. In Chapter 7, Shelley Hulan discusses recent definitions of historical fiction in order to argue that the ways in which George Copway deploys fictional elements in Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation warrants observation because the book sustains a definition of historiography as the product of “controversy” and “debate,” it enables today’s readers to better appreciate the interplay between “oral history” and rhetorical “strategy” that allows Copway to critique chronology, and it offers another way of approaching historiography in Canada as having existed in pre-1900 non-fiction writing. In Chapter 8, Pilar Cuder-Dominguez explains how the general interest in African-Canadian literature has increased. She examines Lawrence Hill’s Some Great Thing, Mairuth Sarsfield’s No Crystal Stair, and George Elliott Clarke’s George & Rue in the context of recent theories of memory to discuss how African-Canadian writing challenges the exclusion of those peoples without history so that they too become subjects for the recovery of cultural memory. Aritha van Herk begins Chapter 9 by noting how the historical novel continues to be primarily constructed by masculinist master narratives. She focuses on five female characters in The Trade, Peter Olivia’s Drowning in Darkness, Thomas Wharton’s Icefields, and Robert Kroetsch’s The Man from the Creeks to discern a pattern whereby female characters effectively “turn the tables” on historical narratives.

The third part of the book is entitled “Literary Histories, Regional Contexts,” and begins with Chapter 10 where historian Claire Campbell provides a contextual piece that explores the intersections between literature and history in the Prairie West. She examines the connections between historical fiction from the Prairie West and other forms of writing about the Prairies, including public-school history textbooks, government archives, and museum exhibits. In Chapter 11, Paul Chafe observes that a sense of political, historical, and cultural loss has shaped recent Newfoundland historical fiction that responds to the province’s entry into Canadian Confederation in 1949. Chafe suggests The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston and River Thieves by Michael Crummey are postmodern in their interactions with history due to their attempt to uninvent the collective identity. In Chapter 12, Owen Percy examines George Bowering’s Burning Water and Daphne Marlatt’s Ana Historic to illustrate that the novels remain two very significant contributions to Canadian historiographic metafiction. In the final chapter of the book, Dennis Duffy theorizes Alice Munro’s place in literary history. He traces recognizable characteristics of postmodern writing to their literary historical roots in nineteenth-century Canada and Britain.

Source/Credit:

Emily Chicorli

Cardin, J.-F. Comprendre Octobre 1970. Le FLQ, la Crise et le syndicalisme. (1990)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:24:51 +0000

Citation:

Cardin, J.-F. Comprendre Octobre 1970. Le FLQ, la Crise et le syndicalisme. Montréal : Éditions du Méridien, 1990.

Abstract/Summary:

Cet ouvrage est une adaptation de mon mémoire de maîtrise en histoire. Il a reçu à sa sortie une très bonne évaluation de la part de spécialistes en histoire contemporaine du Québec à travers les recensions et comptes-rendus critiques qu'on en a fait. Il a été régulièrement cité et fait toujours autorité en la matière, d'autant que peu d'études fouillées ont été faites depuis par des historiens sur ce sujet.

Source/Credit:

L’auteur

Cardin, J.-F. et al. Le Québec : héritages et projets. (1994)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:24:07 +0000

Citation:

Cardin, J.-F. et al. Le Québec : héritages et projets, 2e éd. Québec: Les Éditions HRW, 1994.

Abstract/Summary:

Ce manuel d'histoire a connu deux éditions, l'une en 1984 et l'autre en 1994. Depuis près de 20 ans, il a été le manuel le plus utilisé dans les classes d'histoire de quatrième secondaire et a donc contribué à la formation en histoire de milliers de jeunes Québécois. Personnellement, il m'a permis de jumeler très tôt ma formation en histoire à une didactique appliquée de cette discipline au secondaire.

Source/Credit:

L’auteur

Cardin, J.-F., Claude Couture et Gratien Alaire. Histoire du Canada. Espace et différences. (1999)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:23:15 +0000

Citation:

Cardin, J.-F., Claude Couture et Gratien Alaire. Histoire du Canada. Espace et différences. Ste-Foy : Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1999.

Abstract/Summary:

Histoire du Canada : espace et différences se distingue des autres ouvrages en ce qu'il a été pensé en fonction des étudiants, qu'il traite de chacune des régions du pays et qu'il est le produit de jeunes auteurs francophones. Divisé en deux parties, Histoire du Canada trace un portrait d'ensemble avant de proposer une lecture par région. (http://www.pulaval.com/produit/histoire-du-canada-espace-et-differences)

Source/Credit:

Presses de l'Université Laval

Carretero, Mario. Constructing Patriotism: Teaching History and Memories in Global Worlds. Advances in Cultural Psychology: Constructing Human Development. (2011)

ulrike — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:48:36 +0000

Citation:

Carretero, Mario. Constructing Patriotism: Teaching History and Memories in Global Worlds. Advances in Cultural Psychology: Constructing Human Development. Charlotte NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc, 2011.

Abstract/Summary:

Memory construction and national identity are key issues in our societies, as well as patriotism. How can we nowadays believe and give sense to traditional narrations that explain the origins of nations and communities? How do these narrations function in a process of globalization? How should we remember the recent past? In the construction of collective memory, no doubt history taught at school plays a fundamental role, as childhood and adolescence are periods in which the identity seeds flourish vigorously. This book analyses how history is far more than pure historical content given in a subject matter; it studies the situation of school history in different countries such as the former USSR, United States, Germany, Japan, Spain and Mexico, making relevant comparisons and achieving global conclusions. The empirical part is based on students’ interviews about school patriotic rituals, very close to the teaching of history, specifically carried out in Argentina but very similar to these rituals in other countries. The author analyzes in which ways historical knowledge is understood by students and its influence on the construction of patriotism. This book--aside from making a major contribution to the cultural psychology field--should be of direct interest and relevance to all people interested in the ways education succeeds in its variable functions. As a matter of fact, it is related to other IAP books such as Contemporary Public Debates Over History Education (Nakou & Barca, 2010) and What Shall We Tell the Children? International Perspectives on School History Textbooks (Foster & Crawford, 2006).

Source/Credit:

ERIC

Charland, J.-P. Les élèves, l’histoire et la citoyenneté. (2003)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:25:53 +0000

Citation:

Charland, J.-P. Les élèves, l’histoire et la citoyenneté. Québec : Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 2003.

Abstract/Summary:

Il est de bon ton d’évoquer de temps en temps dans les médias l’ignorance « abyssale » des jeunes en histoire, et de se lamenter sur les conséquences politiques de celle-ci. Au-delà des copies — et des crédos politiques — à vendre, l’histoire enseignée dans nos écoles permet-elle de former des citoyens informés et responsables? Près de 2000 élèves de 15 ans des régions urbaines de Montréal et de Toronto ont participé à cette étude. À la lumière de leurs témoignages, le résultat de l’enseignement historique paraît positif : non seulement les jeunes aiment-ils la discipline, mais ils reconnaissent largement son utilité quant à la compréhension du présent et à l’orientation du futur. Les jeunes se montrent largement attachés aux droits de la personne, et la volonté populaire leur paraît être l’assise la plus légitime au moment d’engager la communauté à redéfinir sa situation politique. (http://www.pulaval.com/catalogue/les-eleves-histoire-citoyennete-enquete...)

Source/Credit:

Presses de l'Université Laval

Clark, Penney (Ed.). New Possibilities for the Past: Shaping History Education in Canada (2011)

ulrike — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:49:21 +0000

Citation:

Clark, Penney (Ed.). New Possibilities for the Past: Shaping History Education in Canada. Toronto & Vancouver: UBC Press, 2011.

Abstract/Summary:

This book aims to provide a comprehensive picture of history education in Canada by framing it with historical context, grounding it in classroom practice, and presenting different contexts and problems in which it is considered. In the Introduction, Penney Clark places history education in Canada as a fallen discipline currently on the rise again, in addition to outlining the Historical Thinking Concepts as well as what is meant by history teachers, history educators, and historians. The book is divided into five parts, highlighting first the debates and differing perspectives on history education in Canada, and second, some different ways in which historical thinking is viewed. The third part discusses the role and presence of historical thinking in school classrooms, while the fourth part focuses on non-classroom contexts: online environments, museums, and public arenas. Finally, the book addresses some different perspectives on historical thinking and its relationship to citizenship, drawing out tensions, research findings, and future considerations.

Part 1, “History Education: Contested Terrain,” features four chapters. In chapter 1, Margaret Conrad presents Canadian views of the purpose of history and the study of history, those of the public as well as those of historians. Ken Osborne discusses in chapter 2 the factors that have influenced the provincial history curricula, pointing out two purposes, citizenship education and historical thinking, that have emerged and continue today. Chapter 3, by Jocelyn Létourneau, looks at the current, and contested, history and citizenship curriculum in Québec. Michael Marker writes in chapter 4 that the aboriginal perspective on history education can be understood in terms of four themes, describing each of these and contrasting them with the Western perspectives that pervade curricula.

Orientations toward Historical Thinking” is Part 2, which features three chapters. In chapter 5, Stéphane Lévesque provides a detailed description of the historical thinking concepts, emphasizing the importance of students learning to think critically about history. In chapter 6, Peter Seixas explains how to assess for historical thinking, offering four parts of an approach that can be applied at different levels of understanding. Kent den Heyer argues in chapter 7 that the discipline-based approach to historical thinking fails to consider students’ subjective understandings of history, and suggests a new orientation to historical thinking centered on a more focal consideration of ethics.

Part 3, “Classroom Contexts for Historical Thinking,” has four chapters. In chapter 8, Amy von Heyking reviews the research on historical thinking as well as detailing her own research in the field, recommending that students not be assessed solely by their age, that they be provided many opportunities to do history, and that using family histories can be an effective way to engage students in history. In chapter 9, Tom Morton argues that a sophisticated system of administration and cooperation, which takes into account the necessity of teacher cooperation, must be in place in order that the research on historical thinking translates to good practice. In chapter 10, Gerald Friesen discusses effective history education at the university level, advocating for two things: teachers must engage students’ imaginations in doing history, and they must also teach them that the concepts we use to do history are not static and eternal, but constantly being revised and changed. Chapter 11 also deals with history education at the university level, discussing faculties of history and faculties of education, where Ruth Sandwell suggests there is a disconnect between how historians do history and how teachers are taught to do history, that needs to be remedied if teachers are to teach history effectively.

Part 4, “Other Contexts for Historical Thinking,” has three chapters. Viviane Gosselin discusses in chapter 12 to what degree museums can engage the public in critical historical inquiry, suggesting a more reciprocal relationship in order to facilitate greater learning from exhibits. Chapter 13 is written by Kevin Kee and Nicki Darbyson, who present digital learning as a way that students who underachieve in other areas can use technology skills that they already possess to engage in historical inquiry. Peter Seixas and Penny Clark share in chapter 14 evidence of high school students’ historical reasoning in the public sphere, stating that the students’ limited ability to understand the historical contexts of controversial events suggests a need for more opportunities for students to engage with public concerns.

The final section of the book is Part 5, “Perspectives on Historical Thinking.” In chapter 15, Carla Peck suggests that the research on students’ fluid, complex conceptions of ethnic identity indicates a need for teachers and researchers to acknowledge these in their approach to teaching and research, particularly in relation to students’ conceptions of historical significance. Marc-André Éthier and David Lefrançois address the Québec curriculum in chapter 16, analyzing the way it is taught and the supporting resources for teaching it, as well as addressing the implications for founding citizenship education in a historical context if examined uncritically. Finally, in chapter 17, Alan Sears discusses the relationship between historical thinking and citizenship education that Osborne raised in chapter 2, suggesting that the two are not at odds, but rather, support each other’s aims.

Source/Credit:

Katherine Ireland

Clive, John. Not By Fact Alone: Essays on the Writing and Reading of History. (1989)

ulrike — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 21:30:55 +0000

Citation:

Clive, John. Not By Fact Alone: Essays on the Writing and Reading of History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1989.

Abstract/Summary:

This book is a collection of essays written by John Clive that discusses the importance of reading and referring to classic historical texts in order to learn important stylistic techniques to compose well-written contemporary histories. Clive also stresses the need to read the biographies of historians to better understand the context of their works and the influence of their personal lives on their histories. Clive analyzes the works of many classic nineteenth-century historians including Thomas Babington Macaulay, Francis Parkman, Elie Halevy, Alexis de Tocqueville, Henry Adams, Edward Gibbon and more to explain their influence on writing histories, as well what components make their works entertaining and tools for instruction.

Part I – Introduction

“The Use of the Past.”

Clive expresses his belief that the past is a very personal matter. To illustrate this idea, Clive outlines his own connection to history. As the son of middle-class German-Jewish parents in Berlin, Clive describes how he experienced moments of tyranny and persecution in early adolescence living in Germany at the time of the Nazis and Hitler’s ideology. He argues that one’s own personal history can influence an interest to learn and write about history. He explains that his historical focuses are on the Victorian age in England, and the life and works of nineteenth-century historian Thomas Babington Macaulay. He argues the Victorian age is regarded as a highly transitional time – industrial revolution, new technologies, new beliefs, new sciences and more. According to Clive, historians should be able to tell why certain ideas came to be believed about the past.

Part II – Why Read the Great Historians?

“Majestic Histories.”

Clive states that no one questions why we continue to reread texts like Hamlet and Pride and Prejudice, but wonders if this mindset applies to classic historical texts. He explains that history is cumulative, meaning most contemporary historians know more about the events and problems of the past than their predecessors. Yet, this leads us to wonder, why refer to older historians and their histories if they are out of date? Clive insists it is primarily about style. He argues reading Francis Parkman on the discovery of the Mississippi, or Macaulay on the siege of Londonderry, is “to encounter literary artistry of a kind not inferior to that of the great novelists.” He explains historians of the past aimed to give pleasure and amuse readers, and also to instruct. Clive stresses great historians deserve to be read because they show us a view of the world particular to a time.

“Transitions and Suspense: Some Practical Hints from the Great Historians.”

Clive makes the case for reading some of the great historians from a very pragmatic point of view. Clive explains how the method of “transition” in historical writing is an art unknown to students of history today, but is evident in writers of the past. According to Clive, the arrangement of “one thing after another” best sums up the arrangement of students’ essays and theses. He compares this to historian Thomas Babington Macaulay’s method of moving naturally from one topic to another. He provides an example of Macaulay’s method. When writing about the conditions of English society, Macaulay started off with discussing the difficulty of traveling in late seventeenth-century England. This naturally led him to the subject of the bad conditions of English roads. This natural transition led to the question, why were the roads in such horrible condition? Macaulay explains one reason was the defective state of the law, which began a much larger discussion on society in England. The transition relating to the conditions of the roads led Macaulay to the first of the “turnpike acts” and its results. Clive recommends reading Macaulay to those who wish to obtain some sense of mastery of the art of transition in historical writing. Clive also looks at French historian Elie Halevy, who created suspense and curiosity through the narrative structure. Halevy would give an advance summary of his conclusions. This essay suggests reading great historians, such as Macaulay and Halevy, to learn valuable lessons about writing history. Clive maintains if historians and students are to learn these lessons, they have to keep reading and rereading the great historians.

“The Most Disgusting of Pronouns.”

In this essay Clive explains that twentieth-century historians generally avoid using “I” in their writing, or what Edward Gibbon called “the most disgusting of the pronouns.” Most often historians use “we” or “the writer” or “the historian,” rather than referring to themselves in the first person singular. Clive argues historians do this because they believe there is objectivity through an impersonal mode of writing and that there should be distance between the writer and reader. Clive then discusses Elie Halevy’s History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century. He analyzes Halevy’s use of the word “I,” which inserts an autobiographical tone to the writing. Similarly, historian Edward Gibbon used “I” in his footnotes and text. Clive then explores Macaulay and Francis Parkman’s narrative style, as well as their use of the first person singular. Clive suggests encouraging students and historians to rethink using “I” in their writing because he believes history and biography are related. Clive argues the past, personal and historical, offers personal comfort, inspiration and a guide to action.

“Why Read the Great Nineteenth-Century Historians?”

In this essay Clive argues students and professional historians should read nineteenth-century historians because they wrote well, they reinterpreted aspects of the past in important ways, and they saw their role as an obligation to express what they thought about society and politics of the present, future and past. Clive then discusses the chasm between history as a science with facts and history as a literary endeavor. He analyzes parts of Marx’s Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte and de Tocqueville’s The Old Regime and the Revolution to argue that while these works are important due to their historical content, it is their literary quality, tone and narrative style that entices readers and brings the historical facts to full force. He then discusses Thomas Babington Macaulay’s work to analyze what topics and literary techniques he utilized. Clive believes reading other great nineteenth-century historians is crucial because we can still feel the impact of the encounter between their personal interests and “scholarly curiosity,” which, as Clive asserts, lies at the heart of all great history.

“The Rise and Ascent of the Decline and Fall…”

In this essay Clive analyzes Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire from 1776. Clive argues it is, and always will be, a classic because the text was not just a compendium of facts and events, but a history of institutions, of current thoughts and feelings, societies and more.

Part III – Amusement and Instruction

“Gibbon’s Humor.”

Clive begins the essay by explaining how the editor of Edward Gibbon’s book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, disliked Gibbon’s use of witticisms. The editor saw them as futile since the idea was that historians should not put themselves into the histories. Yet, Clive outlines how Gibbon did this a lot with his texts on sex and Christianity. One of the aims for Gibbon was to capture the territory of early church history for secular historians. However for Gibbon, it was not enough to just write the facts; he also ridiculed and questioned the church. Clive argues part of the humour resides in the persona Gibbon presented to his readers in the disjunction between the skeptical man of the world and the mask of credulity and devotion. Clive maintains Gibbon’s narrative style is unique because not only is Gibbon present in the text, but the reader is also participating in the text as the historian’s good-humoured accomplice. Clive argues Gibbon’s irony can serve many purposes, such as being used as a weapon, or to distance himself from the subject matter. Clive then analyzes specific passages where Gibbon’s humour is found.

“Macaulay’s Historical Imagination.”

Clive begins the essay by stating the relationship between style and content (i.e. the subject chosen by the historian and his manner of expression) must be analyzed when reading a historical text. He explores Thomas Babington Macaulay’s book The History of England from the Accession of James the Second and explains how Macaulay wanted it to be amusing and instructive. Clive then discusses how Macaulay’s method was to focus on giving readers a vivid sense of place. Macaulay often traveled to the places he wrote about to get images and then described them in his narrative. Clive suggests the success of the book is because of the imaginative capacity of the text and how it contributed to a strongly developed sense of the pictorial form and the capacity to animate into forward motion in time motives, characters and situations – creating a sense of linkage. Clive calls this “propulsive imagination” – an ability to propel inert facts into motion. According to Clive, Macaulay propelled himself into imaginary situations. His writings are examples for other historians on how to make history dynamic, rather than static.

“Amusement and Instruction: Gibbon and Macaulay.”

In this essay, Clive analyzes the perspective Thomas Babington Macaulay had on Edward Gibbon’s work, in addition to different perspectives Macaulay and Gibbon had on similar subject matter. According to Clive, Macaulay thought Gibbon’s “indelicacy” was a major problem. Yet, Macaulay defended his own straying from decency and morality in his books by justifying it as the historian’s duty not to falsify the past by omitting the possibly offensive aspects that were part of that past. Clive maintains these two historians differed in their attitude to indecency. Whereas Gibbon exerted overtly tongue and cheek humour, Macaulay was more straightforward, yet engaging in his descriptive narrative. The essay then goes into short biographical accounts of each historian to analyze their similarities and differences. For example, Clive explains both historians remained unmarried as they both rejected marriage at an early age for similar reasons. He argues these kinds of experiences helped shape components of their narratives. Clive then goes through their views of history. Whereas Gibbon’s philosophy was to get at the principles first, i.e. to see things as a whole from above, then attempt to construct a science of human nature, Macaulay believed historians had gone too far to deduce general principles from facts resulting in distorted facts to suit general principles. Macaulay wanted the historian to be a poet of the age. To him, history was a branch of literature, so historians should learn from novelists. Lastly, Clive discusses Gibbon and Macaulay’s interest in teaching readers and amusing them. Clive explores how the fact that each historian was writing to a different audience shaped their writing styles.

“Carlyle’s Frederick the Great.”

Clive analyzes Thomas Carlyle’s text Frederick the Great from a nineteenth-century perspective, from when it was actually written, rather than a twentieth-century perspective. Clive asserts that we have to look at historical text in the context of its creation. For example, the culture and ideologies of the Victorian age prompted Carlyle’s interest with Frederick the Great. Also, Carlyle’s personal history influenced the writing of the text. Clive explains that Carlyle did not see himself as a historian, rather as a prophet who wanted to share his beliefs. Clive argues those beliefs are influenced by Carlyle’s own personal history and experiences. In addition, other elements such as the social dislocation in Carlyle’s own country showed him the need for wise leadership by the few. Thus, Carlyle’s own historical works became a search for exemplary heroic figures of the past. Clive explains Carlyle believed the real purpose of the government was to find the ablest man and have him invested with symbols of his ability – for Carlyle, history was about great men. Oliver Cromwell, for example, was one of the heroes Carlyle had celebrated in his lectures of hero worship. He defended him against many dissenters who defined Cromwell as a traitor and hypocrite. Clive then looks at how Carlyle used primary sources of the time to support his ideas. Clive also discusses Carlyle’s uniquely instructive method and modern approach to his narrative. Carlyle engaged readers by explaining how he got to his conclusions and how he created the histories. Clive maintains that readers are not passive but can participate in the narrative. Clive also discusses how Carlyle employed liberal use of dramatic dialogue in order to draw the reader into action. Clive argues Carlyle comes very close to being a historical novelist at times, not only in imagining thought and speech of characters, but also in imagining events that he is not certain took place.

“Carlyle and His Vocation – Thomas Carlyle: A Biography by Fred Kaplan.”

In this chapter, Clive goes over the long-term influence and significance of Fred Kaplan’s biography of historian Thomas Carlyle. Kaplan thoroughly describes how Carlyle’s place and country of birth, in addition to his parents’ Calvinism and sparse living from being farmers, shaped his life as he grew up with many struggles. Clive explains how Kaplan was sympathetic to his subject as a biographer, yet did not let his judgments influence any biases. Clive believes this biography allows us to understand Carlyle like no other text before it. Clive then goes into the historical significance of Carlyle’s writings – such as his work on the French Revolution and how although Carlyle intended it as a warning that revolutions break out in order to remove certain institutions, many people read it as a kind of epic poem. Clive then reviews the strengths and weaknesses of Kaplan’s biography.

“Michelet – by Roland Barthes, translated by Richard Howard.”

Clive begins the essay by stating that a late reading of Roland Barthes’ book about French historian Jules Michelet illustrates the new focus of scholars on modernity, as well as highlights the importance of Barthes’ book. Clive explains how Barthes informs readers that the main objective of his book is not to explain the influence of Michelet’s life on his works, but to restore an understanding to the historian. He attempts to show that Michelet’s life and work were dominated and bound together by myths, images and metaphors that had the aim of abolishing the distinction between the natural and historical worlds. Clive then outlines the main themes of Barthes’ book, such as power, water, children, bloodlines, and women.

“Chosen People – A Liberal Descent: Victorian Historians and the English Past by J.W. Burrow.”

Clive explains how a historiographical consensus had been worked out in regards to describing English history, which J.W. Burrow calls the “Whig compromise.” This new interpretation assumed that the English constitution was neither Saxon nor modern, but came out in the thirteenth century with the Magna Carta and the development of Parliament. Clive then discusses Edmund Burke, David Hume, Thomas Babbington Macaulay, and William Stubbs’ interpretations of English history and explains how their own personal and political interests influenced their perspectives in each of their historical texts.

“The Victorians from the Inside – Portrait of an Age: Victorian England by G.M. Young.”

In this essay, Clive explains how G.M. Young’s text Portrait of an Age: Victorian England appeared in the 1930s and has been regarded as a crucial historical text. In an earlier essay, “Victorian History,” Young sketched the outline of his own periodization of the age as he expressed the view that the authors of most Victorian histories lacked emphasis on the significance of the Victorian age. Clive explains the power of Young’s work is in the manner he was able to both identify the nature of the changes in Victorian England and write about them in a way that readers became a participant as well as an observer of the shifting society, ideas and institutions as history went on.

Part IV – Context and Comparison

“The Social Background of the Scottish Renaissance.”

Clive states that the dubious origin of the “Scottish Renaissance” is a historical problem that has resisted a definite solution. The differences in the interpretations must take into account not only all the social factors, but also the conditions of growth in the previous periods. Clive believes knowledge of the past helps make the present clear. Lastly, Clive outlines some of the different historical interpretations of the “Scottish Renaissance.”

“Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover.”

Clive takes four major historians – Macaulay (1800-1859), Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), Burckhardt (1818-1897), and Henry Adams (1838-1918) – and compares their works. Clive explains that even though these historians were writing around the same time, they all wrote on different themes. Clive states Macaulay’s The History of England from the Accession of James the Second celebrates the beneficial consequences of the Glorious Revolution of 1688; de Tocqueville’s The Old Regime and the Revolution looks at how the men of 1789 made society worse with centralization, the isolation of social classes, and the erosion of public spirit; Burckhardt’s The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy depicts the creativity of individualism in all spheres of human activity and the violence and immorality that appeared in high culture; and Adam’s History of the United States under the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson shows how Jefferson’s agrarian democratic ideal was forced to give way to power politics, the pressures of war and the demands of competitive society. Clive explains that he groups these historians together because they all showed a great interest in politics and society of their time and each of them developed a certain outlook of the world. Clive then goes into short biographies of each author and how their lives influenced their work.

Part V – English Cliographers

“English Cliographers.”

Clive discusses why reading biographies on historians is helpful to gaining a better understanding of the historian and history. Clive argues reading biographies helps us answer questions about why a particular historian chose to write a history on a theme or period in the first place, as well as what influenced the historian. For example, Clive maintains that native talents and childhood influences can reveal clues and explanations about a historian’s works. In addition to reading about a historian’s childhood and family influences, intellectual and social environment, teachers and guides, practical experience in the world, etc., readers want to learn about how the historian actually writes his or her history. According to Clive, biographies also answer questions about why historians write and how they use language and style to shape their texts. Clive provides some examples to support his point.

“Peter and the Wallah: From Kinsfolk to Competition.”

In this essay, Clive explores how John Gibson Lockhart’s Peter’s Letters to his Kinsfolk (1819) and George Otto Trevelyan’s Competition Wallah (1863) (both series of fictitious letters) maintain the playful use of the epistolary genre, but also express serious concerns and polemical intentions. Clive explains that Lockhart received his education at Glasgow University and Balliol College, Oxford initially to pursue a legal career, but he later turned to literature. Trevelyan also had a distinguished academic career. He travelled to India in 1862, when there was still a lot of unrest between India and England. There was tension between English settlers and English civil servants (civilians). “Competition wallahs,” in Anglo-Indian usage, were those among the higher ranks of the Indian Civil Service who had received their posts since 1853, when, as Clive explains, Parliament abolished patronage and had opened all appointments to competition. All this influenced Trevelyan’s text Competition Wallah. “Henry Broughton” was the author of the letters in Competition Wallah. Broughton was one of the civilians selected under the system that resulted from the act of 1853. The letters describe his life in British India as seen through the eyes of a young civilian, a formed university man, who had just arrived after getting his degree. Clive explains that the narrative framework of the book critically examines the Indian Civil Service. Clive argues Trevelyan’s purpose in writing Competition Wallah was to make Englishmen at home aware of the harshness and contempt held by so many European settlers in India and how they treated the native population. In comparison, in Lockhart’s letters in Peter’s Letters to his Kinsfolk, the author is concerned with the prominent literati, lawyers, professors and judges of Edinburgh, whose activities illustrate the intellectual and spiritual state of the city. Clive argues on one level these letters can be read as a “cultural gazetteer” of direct observation and overhearing of leading civic and literary personages. Letters also target Scottish Whiggery, the Tories and their political power, and how the Whigs were still lords of public opinion.

“Macaulay, History and the Historians.”

Clive argues Thomas Babington Macaulay is a symbol of the misinterpretation of history that sees the past not in its own terms but as preparation for the present. Also under debate is the extent to which Macaulay was a “Whig historian.” Clive explains how Macaulay is often unfairly dismissed as arrogant and insensitive. Clive argues contemporary historians and readers have to understand the context of Macaulay’s life in order to justly evaluate him. Clive then describes Macaulay’s academic and personal life. One of the main points Clive makes about Macaulay is the interaction between Macaulay’s personality and his historical imagination. Clive maintains Macaulay made impeccable observation of men and manners, had an irresistible disposition to glee and empathy, and wrote engaging narratives.

“More of Less Eminent Victorians.”

Eminent Victorians contains the biographies of Florence Nightingale, General Gordon, Cardinal Manning and Dr. Arnold. Clive discusses how author Lytton Strachey raised concerns of character and circumstance, reason and unreason and the individual in relation to the spirit of his age, and ideas in relation to action. The biographies also recognized achievements and explored a curiosity in the motives and impulses that moved humans. Eminent Victorians established itself as a biographical classic, however, it still faced a lot of criticism because Strachey occasionally distorted historical evidence. Clive looks at different biographers’ interpretations of prominent Victorian figures and authors in order to see the growing trend in not only historical biographies, but how trends, such as a growing interest in administration and figures of interest sparked an interest in historical biographies.

Part VI – Life in Letters and Memories

“The Education of Alexis de Tocqueville: The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville, edited by J.P. Mayer.”

Clive describes how J.P. Mayer analyzes the deeper meaning of the events of the French Republic through which de Tocqueville lived in his book, Recollections. Clive then explains how Mayer felt free to emphasize the importance of socialist currents in the revolution and envisaged the possibility of their eventual success. In addition, Clive explains how Mayer devoted a great deal of effort to predicting what would happen in society through his historical texts. Clive goes over a few parts of Recollections, such as how de Tocqueville’s personal and professional life influenced his text. In addition, Clive explains how Recollections records a period of revolution through melancholy and bitter humour, yet makes incisive and enlightening observations.

“A Nephew’s Tribute: The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay by Sir George Otto Trevelyan.”

In this essay, Clive argues that the special edition of The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay by Sir George Otto Trevelyan provides an opportunity to pay tribute to one of the classic Victorian biographies, first published in 1876. Clive then explains that the two qualities that have had critics claim this biography as one of the masterpieces of the art are its “readableness” and its clear, truthful picture of Macaulay’s character and personality. After briefly touching on some of Macaulay’s milestones, Clive asserts that it is important to know the human being behind the work. The glimpses into their personal lives remind us that behind history stands the historian and in order to really appreciate the works of a historian, we have to understand where he or she is coming from.

“An Odd Couple: Love in a Cool Climate: The Letters of Mark Pattison and Meta Bradley, 1879-1884, edited by Vivian Green.”

Clive outlines how the letters in Love in a Cool Climate: The Letters of Mark Pattison and Meta Bradley, 1879-1884 provide a record of the romantic friendship between Mark Pattison, an older, Oxford scholar and academic reformer, and a woman, forty years younger than he. Clive explains that while it is helpful to read about the Victorian period, it is quite another experience to read correspondence from the period that actually reinforces the Victorian themes of fading beliefs. Thus, this book edited by Vivian Green gives readers a unique glimpse into the culture of England at that time.

“Laura, A Stonemason’s Daughter: Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson.”

Clive asserts that while new historical methods, such as the use of statistics and oral histories, assist in writing well researched histories, he maintains that there are classics which should be referred to. One of them is Flora Thompson’s Lark Rise to Candleford, which records her reminiscences of Oxfordshire country life published in three separate volumes between 1939 and 1943. In the book, Thompson appears as Laura, a stonemason’s daughter who at fourteen leaves the hamlet of Lark Rise of Candleford Green. The world of rural Oxfordshire is observed through Laura’s eyes and she is always referred to in the third person. This literary device allowed Thompson to keep her distance and to produce a work that is much more than an autobiography, a reconstruction of an entire locality and its way of life. Clive argues the result is a text that provides a perspective of history and politics, popular language, culture, new terms, nicknames, labels, and ways of life. Clive then goes through the text in more detail to discuss certain topics such as linguistics and local life.

Part VII – Where Are We Heading?

“Trevelyan: The Muse or the Museum?”

In this essay Clive describes George Macaulay Trevelyan, the distinguished British historian who died in 1962 (Thomas Babington Macaulay was his great-uncle and his father was George Otto Trevelyan). Clive discusses how at this time there was a shift in writing history as there was a growing prestige in physical sciences, the pervasive influence of the German seminar method, and the need to make history respectable as an academic subject, which all put a “premium” on history that was “true” because it was based on laws of evidence. The result was history written for scholars by scholars. Clive emphasizes how Trevelyan, in his essay “Clio: A Muse,” maintained that history was more than the accumulation and interpretation of facts. In the last part of the essay, Clive outlines some of Trevelyan’s themes in the text and states Trevelyan is regarded as a very readable historian.

“The Prying Yorkshireman: Herbert Butterfield and the Historian’s Task.”

In this essay Clive discusses Herbert Butterfield, one of the outstanding English historians, writers and academics of his generation, and his texts. Clive outlines how Butterfield contributed to historiography and explains Butterfield’s technique of describing the technical ways in which historians went through the exercise of writing and the assumptions underlying their treatment of both past and present. Butterfield’s best known texts are The Whig Interpretation of History and Christianity and History. These texts ask why some men, but not others, began to keep records, to contemplate certain events, to see continuities between the past, present and future. Clive then provides a brief outline of the history of Christianity and early English history.

“The Great Historians in the Age of Cliometrics.”

In this last essay Clive states not all history is entertaining, or enjoyable. However, Clive does maintain that there are historians who tried to be amusing in their writings and they are worth reading. Clive also believes we can learn a lot stylistically from older texts.

Source/Credit:

Emily Chicorli

Cooper, Hilary. The Teaching of History. (1992)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:46:17 +0000

Citation:

Cooper, Hilary. The Teaching of History. London: David Fulton, 1992.

Abstract/Summary:

This six chapter book is centered on providing primary school teachers in Britain with suggestions on how to teach history. These suggestions are grounded in a theoretical discussion of the nature of historical thinking in chapters one and two, the structure of the National Curriculum for History and ideas for how to integrate history education in a balanced manner in chapter three, case studies illustrating how to plan units in chapter four, a description of workshops in which teachers and students developed their own conceptualizations of historical understanding in chapter five, and analysis of observations of a classroom teacher in chapter six.

Chapter one begins with a criticism of the limited focus on developing students’ problem solving and critical thinking skills in history teaching. Cooper argues that to learn history young children need to understand historians’ process of inquiry for studying historical events. Children cannot properly learn history without first learning that historians’ accounts of the past differ and why these differences occur. These arguments are complemented by a discussion in chapter two on theories of cognitive development in relation to how children make historical inferences; how children develop empathy, historical empathy and historical imagination; and how children develop their understanding of historical concepts and use these concepts.

In chapter three Cooper begins with a detailed description of the National Curriculum for History. Here she argues that history should form the basis of an integrated curriculum at least for one term each year and thus maintains that, like other subjects, history can be understood as an umbrella discipline. She therefore provides detailed suggestions for how other disciplines such as math, language, science, art, technology, geography and religious education can be related to historical content. Cooper also provides suggestions for how to fulfill the key stages that teachers are asked to attend to within the National Curriculum.

The focus of chapter four is four case studies that describe how teachers included history as part of integrated curriculum with students ranging from five to eleven years of age. Similarly, in chapter five Cooper describes three workshops which aimed to develop teachers’ confidence in teaching history in primary schools. The objective of this discussion is to provide teachers with ideas on how to improve their own confidence in the classroom. In line with the preceding two chapters Cooper ends her book with a description of a teacher’s attempt to work with the National Curriculum guidelines in her classroom and concludes that the success of the National Curriculum depends on teachers’ enthusiasm and confidence in teaching history.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Cowan, Mairi, et al. « Amener les étudiants à exercer leur pensée critique dans une classe d’histoire de grande taille ». (2014)

Anne Marie — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:30:37 +0000

Citation:

Cowan, Mairi, et al. « Amener les étudiants à exercer leur pensée critique dans une classe d’histoire de grande taille ». Toronto : Conseil ontarien de la qualité de l’enseignement supérieur.(2014)

Abstract/Summary:

Les technologies d’engagement ne profitent pas également à tous les étudiants dans les classes nombreuses

Les professeurs d’université adoptent diverses technologies pour tenter d’améliorer l’engagement des étudiants dans les classes nombreuses; les questionnaires en ligne et les cliqueurs en sont deux exemples. Ces outils semblent prometteurs dans les domaines des sciences, de la technologie, du génie et des mathématiques, mais nous en savons peu sur leur efficacité chez les étudiants en sciences humaines. Selon une nouvelle étude du Conseil ontarien de la qualité de l’enseignement supérieur, les outils tels que les cliqueurs et les questionnaires en ligne aident bel et bien les étudiants des classes d’histoire de grande taille à développer leur pensée critique, mais ils ne sont pas beaucoup plus efficaces que les stratégies d’enseignement classiques.

Description du projet
Dans une étude intitulée Amener les étudiants à exercer leur pensée critique dans une classe d’histoire de grande taille, des chercheurs ont examiné le rendement de deux groupes d’étudiants inscrits au cours Introduction to Historical Studies à l’Université de Toronto à Mississauga, qui est le cours d’histoire qui compte le plus d’étudiants sur ce campus et dans lequel on utilise habituellement les cliqueurs et les questionnaires en ligne. Près de 300 étudiants ont participé à l’étude. Pour les étudiants de la session d’automne, le professeur a utilisé des questionnaires-cliqueurs en classe et des questionnaires en ligne en dehors des cours, qui comptaient dans la note finale. Les étudiants de la session d’hiver ont eu droit à un enseignement magistral plus classique. Les deux groupes ont eu le même professeur. Pour déterminer le degré d’amélioration des aptitudes à la pensée critique des étudiants, on leur a administré un test préalable à l’intervention pendant la deuxième semaine du cours, puis un test postérieur à l’intervention quatre semaines plus tard. Un travail écrit spécial et une série de questions à l’examen final ont également servi à l’évaluation.

Constatations
De façon générale, il n’y a pas de différence significative entre les étudiants qui ont utilisé les cliqueurs et les questionnaires en ligne et les autres, mais il y a quelques exceptions. Les étudiants ayant un rendement scolaire moyennement bon sont ceux qui se sont le plus améliorés avec la technologie. Par contre, ceux qui ont obtenu les meilleurs résultats au test préalable à l’intervention se sont en fait davantage améliorés avec la méthode d’enseignement classique. Ce même genre de dynamique ressort quand le cheminement scolaire est pris en compte. Les étudiants qui arrivaient directement du secondaire se sont améliorés avec les outils technologiques, tandis que ceux qui n’en étaient pas à leur première session à l’université ont obtenu de meilleurs résultats avec la méthode classique.

Fait inattendu, le taux de présence des étudiants a connu une baisse frappante à la session d’hiver. À l’automne, le taux de présence moyen a été de 78 %; il est descendu à un peu moins de 50 % dans le cours sans cliqueurs ni questionnaires en ligne. Les années précédentes, alors que le cours comportait ces outils technologiques, les taux de présence se situaient entre 70 % et 80 %.

Il semblerait en outre qu’il n’y ait pas de lien entre l’opinion que les étudiants ont des outils technologiques et les résultats d’apprentissage. Ceux qui aiment les outils ne sont ni plus ni moins susceptibles d’amélioration que ceux qui ne les aiment pas.

Lire le rapport complet.

Le rapport Amener les étudiants à exercer leur pensée critique dans une classe d’histoire de grande taille a été rédigé par Mairi Cowan, Tyler Evans Tokaryk, Elaine Goettler, Jeffrey Graham, Christopher Landon, Simone Laughton, Sharon Marjadsingh, Caspian Sawczak et Alison Weir, Université de Toronto à Mississauga.

Source/Credit:

Mairi Cowan

Davis, Bob. Whatever Happened to High School History? Burying the Political Memory of Youth, Ontario: 1945-1995. (1995)

ulrike — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:02:22 +0000

Citation:

Davis, Bob. Whatever Happened to High School History? Burying the Political Memory of Youth, Ontario: 1945-1995. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd., 1995.

Abstract/Summary:

Beginning by investigating the origins of history as a subject of study in schools, Davis continues by exploring history education in Ontario schools from 1900 onwards. His purpose is to understand why the Ontario government reduced history from its status as a core subject in 1960 to being a minor option in the 1990s, focusing on changes in how history teaching was conceived. He argues large shifts in thinking caused by post-WWII economics led to five broad challenges to history education that precipitated its decline. He identifies these challenges as follows: (1) the increased erosion of Canadian independence since 1970; (2) the decline of faith in historical progress; (3) the challenge from groups opposing the white, bourgeois, male, Eurocentric view; (4) loyalty via TV, by which he suggests that television creates loyalty to capitalism and democracy, thus negating the need for schools to teach it; and (5) the global restructuring of capitalism, both in terms of the content of history courses, and the shift in focus from content to skills development.

Davis fleshes out his argument over the course of nine chapters divided into three sections. The first section deals with history education from WWII to the present day (1995), in which he develops his argument about the reasons for history’s decline in schools. In the second section he illustrates his argument by examining three incarnations of a magazine for history teachers in Ontario, arguing that they “provide an ideal mirror” of the changes in history education in the province (82). In the third and final section, he explores the present state (mid-1990s) of history education in the province, and provides speculation towards future trends.

Source/Credit:

Katherine Joyce

Demol, Jean-Noël. Histoire et citoyenneté en formation. (2000)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:26:49 +0000

Citation:

Demol, Jean-Noël. Histoire et citoyenneté en formation. Montréal : L’Harmattan, 2000.

Abstract/Summary:

L'histoire est une discipline bien souvent mal aimée des élèves. Or, enseignants et formateurs, parents, élus ou responsables locaux reconnaissent le besoin d'une formation en histoire et/ou d'une éducation à la citoyenneté. Que recouvrent ces notions? Comment lier les deux domaines a priori disjoints? Comment les concevoir pour que histoire et citoyenneté prennent du sens chez les intéressés et développent à la fois leur apprentissage et leur sens critique? (http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=10135)

Source/Credit:

L’Harmattan

Dick, Lyle. Muskox Land: Ellesmere Island in the Age of Contact. (2001)

ulrike — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:05:02 +0000

Citation:

Dick, Lyle. Muskox Land: Ellesmere Island in the Age of Contact. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2001.

Abstract/Summary:

This book, Muskox Land (the English translation of the Inuit name for Ellesmere Island, Umingmak Nuna), analyzes the history of the island, the surrounding High Arctic area, the nature of the connections between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal peoples during polar exploration, and continued contact in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In addition to looking at their interactions, the work also examines the role that wildlife and the environment played in this relationship. Aspects of Braudel’s approach regarding how to analyze continuity and change were employed as a framework for the book. Sources that have been utilized in previous research/publications as well as ones that have not been examined before were used to develop historiography regarding the nature of what occurred in the region; for example, in order for the Inuit perspective to be more fully and accurately examined, oral history investigations were conducted. Dick’s goal for the book goes beyond a regular narrative history of the region: “this history of Ellesmere Island may show that the past is never played out in a single progression but rather in a counterpoint of different rhythmic elements. If we can isolate these component rhythms and discern how they interacted with one another historically, it may be possible to reconstruct an image of the past that does justice to its rich diversity…we need to move beyond linear exploration narratives to acknowledge both the continuities of nature and culture, and the changes precipitated by cultural contact…[and how] the many layers of the past interact to shape the destinies of humans in their environment.”

Source/Credit:

Shannon Leggett

Dickinson, Alaric, Peter Gordon, and Peter J. Lee. International Review of History Education, Volume 3: Raising Standards in History Education. (2001)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:18:55 +0000

Citation:

Dickinson, Alaric, Peter Gordon, and Peter J. Lee. International Review of History Education, Volume 3: Raising Standards in History Education. London: Woburn Press, 2001.

Abstract/Summary:

The third volume in this international review takes "raising standards" as its central theme. Raising standards is no simple matter, either conceptually or empirically, whatever politicians might think. If it is to happen, it must draw on research and practical experience from other countries. (http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780713002249/#description)

Source/Credit:

Routledge

Downey, Matthew T. and Educational Resources Information Center (U.S.) “Writing to Learn History in the Intermediate Grades [Microform]: Final Report.” (1996)

Anne Marie — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:32:50 +0000

Citation:

Downey, Matthew T. and Educational Resources Information Center (U.S.) “Writing to Learn History in the Intermediate Grades [Microform]: Final Report.” National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy, School of Education, University of California; U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Educational Resources Information Center, Berkeley, CA [Washington, DC], 1996.

Abstract/Summary:

This study examined the relationship between writing activities and history for elementary schools in the San Francisco Bay area. Specifically, there were a total of forty eight students, sixteen from a third grade classroom, sixteen from a fourth grade classroom and sixteen from a fifth grade classroom. Data collection included interviews, writing products, student journals, and taped student-teacher conferences.

Unexpectedly, the results indicated that third grade students already had previous historical knowledge about the topics which they were asked to write about and from which they drew for the writing task. However, Downey found that all students’ prior historical knowledge was based primarily on stereotypes. Unlike the third grade students however, fourth grade students had a coherent sense of the chronology of history. Generally, the students that were English-as-a-second-language learners were unable to utilize the strategy of viewing the past “through the eyes of a person from the historical time period.” Finally, although there is a difference between all age groups in how they understand the term “history,” the most striking difference was found in the third grade students for whom the word “history” was not a part of their vocabulary.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Duffy, Dennis. Sounding the Iceberg: An Essay on Canadian Historical Novels. (1987)

ulrike — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 21:21:59 +0000

Citation:

Duffy, Dennis. Sounding the Iceberg: An Essay on Canadian Historical Novels. Toronto: ECW Press, 1987.

Abstract/Summary:

Dennis Duffy’s book resembles a survey that analyzes the use of historical settings and themes in Canadian historical novels from the nineteenth-century to the 1980s. The novels he discusses include both French-Canadian and English-Canadian texts, emphasizing the importance of both perspectives. In the first chapter, the main novels Duffy explores are from 1832-1919, including Wacousta; The Golden Do;, Une de perdue, deux de trouvée;, Les anciens Canadiens; The Seats of the Mighty; and Jacques et Marie. Duffy outlines the romantic motifs in these novels and argues that the romantic, idealist tradition influenced the narratives written during this time. In the second chapter, Duffy explores novels written from approximately 1919-1966, including texts from authors such as Laure Conan (pseudonym for Félicité Angers), Thomas B. Costain, Thomas Raddall, Charles William Gordon, Grace Campbell, Philip Child, and Louis Vaczek. The second chapter highlights the endurance of the romantic, idealist tradition and indicates how realism began to play a greater role in narratives. In the third and final chapter, Duffy discusses Canadian historical fiction written during the period between 1970 and 1983 by authors such as Anne Hébert, Leonard Cohen, David Kevan, Brian Moore, Jacques Ferron, Donald Jack, Richard Wright, Timothy Findley, Graeme Gibson, and Ruby Wiebe to explain how Canadian historical novels experienced a revitalization that began with Anne Hébert’s Kamouraska in 1970.

Source/Credit:

Emily Chicorli

Garnier, C. et W. Doise, dirs. Les représentations sociales, balisage du domaine d’études. (2002)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:29:24 +0000

Citation:

Garnier, C. et W. Doise, dirs. Les représentations sociales, balisage du domaine d’études. Montréal : Éditions Nouvelles, 2002.

Abstract/Summary:

L'expansion des travaux sur les représentations sociales va grandissante autant du point de vue géographique que de celui des disciplines. Tous les continents sont dorénavant intéressés par ce domaine dont les développements théoriques sont pluriels. Par ailleurs, les disciplines qui participent aux différents débats sont de plus en plus nombreuses, ce qui a pour effet d'offrir des échanges riches entre les domaines concernés et celui des représentations sociales. Ce livre, à la suite de la cinquième conférence internationale sur les représentations sociales, a pour but de faire un bilan des démarches actuelles les plus marquantes dans ce champ de recherche tout en montrant ce que peuvent être les futures avenues qui se profilent à l'orée du siècle nouveau. Il intéressera les étudiants ou les chercheurs œuvrant dans le domaine des sciences sociales. (http://www.decitre.fr/livres/les-representations-sociales-9782921696852.html)

Source/Credit:

Decitre

Hartman, Andrew. Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. (2011)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:33:04 +0000

Citation:

Hartman, Andrew. Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Abstract/Summary:

Shortly after the Russians launched Sputnik in 1957, Hannah Arendt quipped that “only in America could a crisis in education actually become a factor in politics.” The Cold War battle for the American school, dramatized but not initiated by Sputnik, proved Arendt correct. The schools served as a battleground in the ideological conflicts of the 1950s. Beginning with the genealogy of progressive education, and ending with the formation of New Left and New Right thought, Education and the Cold War offers a fresh perspective on the postwar transformation in U.S. political culture by way of an examination of the educational history of that era. (http://us.macmillan.com/educationandthecoldwar/AndrewHartman)

Source/Credit:

Palgrave Macmillan

High, Steven. Oral History at the Crossroads: Sharing Life Stories of Survival and Displacement. (2014)

ulrike — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 23:38:38 +0000

Citation:

High, Steven. Oral History at the Crossroads: Sharing Life Stories of Survival and Displacement. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2014.

Abstract/Summary:

Steven High’s book is on the Montreal Life Stories project, an oral history undertaking that occurred between 2005-12 which bore witness to the stories of 500 people in Montreal who were affected either personally, or due to their relatives’ or immigrant community experiences, by large scale violence in Rwanda, Haiti, Chile, and Cambodia, or in the Holocaust. “Life Stories,” not “testimonials,” were chosen to be recorded because researchers wanted participants to not only remember the event, but to focus on the impact of the event afterwards: “perspective changes from an outward act of witness to an inward reflection on the meaning derived from one’s own life journey.” (40) The book shares explicit anecdotes from the survivors, deconstructs the painstakingly thorough and reflective process of ethically collecting the evidence, and discusses the creative ways (e.g., a wide variety of digital media) through which the oral history evidence was disseminated. The Montreal Life Stories project is “part of a much longer continuum of reflection, dialogue, commemoration, and research… [it is] only part of the story.” (300)

Source/Credit:

Shannon Leggett

Hodgetts, A. B. What Culture? What Heritage? A Study of Civic Education in Canada. (1968)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:50:24 +0000

Citation:

Hodgetts, A. B. What Culture? What Heritage? A Study of Civic Education in Canada. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1968.

Abstract/Summary:

This six chapter book is grounded in the data gathered and analyzed for the 1965 National History Project whose aim was to investigate the teaching of Canadian history, social studies, and civics in elementary and secondary schools across Canada. As the introductory chapter explains, this study was undertaken to address five issues: 1) criticisms questioning the value of Canadian studies as it is taught in schools; 2) the view that civic education is important in any nation; 3) the perceived lack of understanding and sense of a “national purpose” among Canadians; 4) the conviction that the study of Canada and its problems is important for establishing a sense of national unity; and 5) the likelihood that a privately funded study could provide a more accurate report on the teaching of Canadian studies in all provinces in Canada.

In the first chapter Hodgetts outlines a set of “national interests” that Canadian history education should aim to teach. The starting point for these “interests” is that Canadian studies should be taught within an understanding of Canada’s diverse population and Canada’s increasing involvement in the world community. As such, civic education should consider both areas of agreement and differences. To legitimize the conclusions set out in chapter one, in chapter two Hodgetts draws from data collected on teaching practices in Canadian history, social studies and civics to illustrate how schools are failing to serve the needs of the wider society. An important conclusion reached in chapter two is that there is a significant difference in the way in which Canadian history is taught to English-speaking students and French-speaking students. Thus, the lack of understanding between the two communities is in large part a result of their educational experiences.

To complement chapter two, in chapter three Hodgetts examines how the physical environment of the classroom may influence teaching and learning of Canadian history. Here, the author criticizes teachers’ dependence on the chalkboard to facilitate lecture style teaching methods which eliminates possibilities for discussion and, in contrast, fosters a question and answer technique. Chapter four on the other hand focuses on student learning. In this chapter Hodgetts categorizes learning into eight themes that provide a grim picture of the lack of useful and valuable skills and information that students are learning.

Finally, in chapters five and six Hodgetts considers the “unfavourable climate” of constant criticism and observation within which teachers have to work and offers recommendations for teachers to improve their teaching of Canadian history, social studies and civics.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Holt, Tom. Thinking Historically: Narrative, Imagination, and Understanding. (1990)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:15:51 +0000

Citation:

Holt, Tom. Thinking Historically: Narrative, Imagination, and Understanding. New York: College Board Publications, 1990.

Abstract/Summary:

In this book, a professional historian provides a personal narrative of how he thinks about teaching history. While the historian’s experience seems, at first glance, to be removed from that of secondary teachers, it is to such teachers that his account is directed. The historian stresses that the essential questions about teaching history are the same at all levels. The document opens the practice of a historian to view, and in so doing asks teachers to examine their assumptions about their work. The historian’s own assumptions about teaching history include: student misconceptions must be explored, not ignored; teachers must be models of mindfulness; strong teaching includes values and choices; a "basic skills" approach postpones learning; the meaning of "higher order skills" must be reexamined; authentic materials prompt thinking; and students know more than educators think.

Leinhardt, Gaea, Isabel L. Beck, and Catherine Stainton, eds. Teaching and Learning in History. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlaum Associates, 1994.

The seven chapters in this book are centered on the following general questions: How is history explained by students and by teachers? What factors affect the quality of history teaching? Through this collection of studies into history teaching and learning, the editors seek to contribute to research within the discipline and to provide tools for history educators concerned with improving their teaching.

The first two chapters focus on issues of students’ learning and understanding of history. While McKeown and Beck draw from a study conducted with fifth grade students in an American classroom, Halldén draws from his previous studies with Swedish high school students. In the first chapter, McKeown and Beck conclude that a set of commonly used fifth grade textbooks are incoherent and assume an unrealistic variety of background knowledge from the students. Based on interviews with students who worked with rewritten parts of the original text and who were provided with a lesson on the necessary background information, the authors provide a lengthy set of suggestions for improving history learning. Similarly, in the second chapter Halldén concludes that students contextualize historical material from within their own personal understanding of history and provides recommendations for how history teachers can meet this learning style.

Chapters three and four also examine student learning but with a specific focus on how college students as well as historians interpret historical documents such as autobiographies and newspaper articles. In chapter three Britt et al. ground their study of American college students’ interpretation and use of an array of historical texts on their previously drawn conclusions that, generally, students learn best when historical material is presented in narrative form. However, because the results of this study show that older students are able to understand the narrative’s complex structure that includes events and their causal connections, they suggest that older students should be provided with texts that present information using an argument model in conjunction with a narrative model. In chapter four Wineburg, like McKeown and Beck, grounds his analysis on theories of reading and textual interpretation concluding that, despite varied levels of expertise, the American historians he interviewed tend to understand a historical text as belonging to a corpus that in its totality can serve as evidence. The chapter ends with suggestions for further research.

Similar to the preceding two chapters, Greene also focuses on American college-aged learners and historians. In chapter five Greene examines how college students in a European history course constructed meaning of previously learned historical events through two different writing tasks. Overall, students found it more difficult to write a report than write an analysis or problem-based essay because they lacked the necessary disciplinary knowledge to do so. This was not the case for the historians. In conclusion, the author suggests that teachers should provide students with the opportunity to learn the critical thinking and research skills developed and valued by historians.

The final two chapters focus on history teaching from the historian’s as well as the teacher’s perspective. Drawing from surveys and interviews conducted with history teachers in American high schools, observations of their teaching, and interviews with students, in chapter six Evans concludes that history teaching maintains student apathy about society and the world. While Evans does not provide much information in the way of suggestions to remedy this issue, the book closes with recommendations for teaching history as a process of construction and reconstruction rather than a collection of events and dates. Specifically, in chapter seven Leinhardt outlines how it is that teachers and historians can work towards redefining history as a process that can foster mindful learners.

Source/Credit:

ERIC

Jewsiewicki, Bogumil et Jocelyn Létourneau, dirs . Les Jeunes à l’ère de la mondialisation. Quête identitaire et conscience historique. (1998)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:28:33 +0000

Citation:

Jewsiewicki, Bogumil et Jocelyn Létourneau, dirs . Les Jeunes à l’ère de la mondialisation. Quête identitaire et conscience historique. Sillery: Septentrion, 1998.

Abstract/Summary:

DANS CE NUMÉRO 22 des Nouveaux cahiers du CÉLAT, dix-sept collaborateurs présentent, sous la direction de Bogumil Jewsiewicki et Jocelyn Létourneau, les premiers résultats d´une vaste recherche internationale sur la construction de l´identité et de la conscience historique chez les jeunes. Au moment où « sous la pression de l´industrie mondiale des biens culturels et de la mode, les jeunes prennent conscience d´être une catégorie transnationale, la consommation devient la seule possibilité d´étaler publiquement la preuve, bien éphémère d´une éventuelle réussite », nous disent Jewsiewick et Létourneau dans la présentation de ce cahier. Malgré cette situation et contrairement à ce que prétendent bien des prophètes à la mode, ajoutent-ils, on est surpris de découvrir par cette étude que l´appartenance à un lieu, à une histoire, voire à une tradition, reste une donnée fondamentale du sentiment identitaire exprimé par les jeunes d´aujourd´hui. N´ayant généralement pas accès au patrimoine ni au travail, ils se trouvent donc dans une situation de grande sensibilité à la définition politique d´un ensemble identitaire qui leur permettrait d´accéder à ces ressources et de passer dans la catégorie des « adultes achevés » sans mettre en péril leur équilibre psychique et culturelle d´individus. Tirant profit de la collecte d´un très grand nombre de courtes dissertations rédigées par des étudiants provenant de plusieurs horizons nationaux, les collaborateurs de ce livre soulèvent le voile sur certains aspects cruciaux de la situation identitaire de la jeunesse d´aujourd´hui. Comment se situent les jeunes par rapport au passé, au présent et à l´avenir? à leur appartenance collective? C´est à l´exploration de ces composantes du sentiment identitaire complexe et moderne des jeunes contemporains et de leur conscience historique que cet ouvrage convie le lecteur. (http://www.libfly.com/les-jeunes-a-l-ere-de-la-mondialisation-quete-iden...)

Source/Credit:

Libfly

Jonnaert, Philippe et Suzanne Laurin. Les didactiques des disciplines : un débat contemporain. (2001)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:27:40 +0000

Citation:

Jonnaert, Philippe et Suzanne Laurin. Les didactiques des disciplines : un débat contemporain. Ste-Foy : Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2001.

Abstract/Summary:

Dans cet ouvrage collectif, les auteurs traitent essentiellement de trois questions : l'articulation entre la didactique générale et les didactiques spécifiques; les liens à tisser entre le pédagogique et le didactique sur le terrain de la pratique; et, enfin, la compatibilité entre les points de vue critique, normatif et pratique dans le travail didactique. Ils débattent des enjeux actuels de ces didactiques en transformation et confirment le besoin de consolider les réseaux de collaboration entre didacticiens de divers pays, de diverses disciplines et de divers contextes socioéducatifs. (http://books.google.ca/books/about/Les_Didactiques_des_Disciplines.html?...)

Source/Credit:

Presses de l’Université du Québec

Keith, David, Jerry Arqviq, Louie Kamookak, Jackie Ameralik, and the Gjoa Haven Hunters’ and Trappers’ Organization. Inuit Qaujimaningit Nanurnut: Inuit Knowledge of Polar Bears. (2005)

ulrike — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:05:52 +0000

Citation:

Keith, David, Jerry Arqviq, Louie Kamookak, Jackie Ameralik, and the Gjoa Haven Hunters’ and Trappers’ Organization. Inuit Qaujimaningit Nanurnut: Inuit Knowledge of Polar Bears. Edmonton: CCI Press, 2005.

Abstract/Summary:

This book examines how Inuit Knowledge (IQ), particularly regarding how to hunt polar bears, has been passed on by elders in the past, and how difficult it has been in the 21st century to continue to convey these traditions orally. Consequently, this study conducted observations of and interviews with Inuit elders to transcribe and record this process in Gjoa Haven in order to attempt to preserve these traditions; some of the transcripts are included in the Appendices. The process is systematically broken down in several chapters: Polar Bear Hunting in the Central Canadian Arctic; Hunting and Use of Polar Bear; Tradition, Culture, and Beliefs; Identifying Polar Bears by Age and Sex; Denning and Denning Habitat; Polar Bear Feeding and Feeding Habitat; Environmental Changes; and Polar Bear Population and Distribution. The book concludes that Inuit-led, small-scale, traditional polar bear hunting must continue in order for future generations to fully appreciate the importance of this animal to Inuit culture regarding their habitat, behavior, and providing sustenance.

Source/Credit:

Shannon Leggett

Leinhardt, G., E. Beck, and C. Stainton. Teaching and Learning in History. (1994)

Anne Marie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:24:12 +0000

Citation:

Leinhardt, G., E. Beck, and C. Stainton (eds). Teaching and Learning in History. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994.

Abstract/Summary:

The seven chapters in this book are centered on the following general questions: How is history explained by students and by teachers? And, what factors affect the quality of history teaching? Through this collection of studies into history teaching and learning, the editors seek to contribute to research within the discipline and to provide tools for history educators concerned with improving their teaching.

Chapters three and four also examine student learning but with a specific focus on how college students as well as historians interpret historical documents such as autobiographies and newspaper articles. In chapter three Britt et al. ground their study of American college students’ interpretation and use of an array of historical texts on their previously drawn conclusion that, generally, students learn best when historical material is presented in narrative form. However, because the results of this study show that older students are able to understand the narrative’s complex structure that includes events and their causal connections, they suggest that older students should be provided with texts that present information using an argument model in conjunction with a narrative model. In chapter four Wineburg, like McKeown and Beck, grounds his analysis on theories of reading and textual interpretation concluding that, despite varied levels of expertise, the American historians he interviewed tend to understand a historical text as belonging to a corpus that in its totality can serve as evidence. The chapter ends with suggestions for further research.

Similar to the preceding two chapters, Greene also focuses on American college-aged learners and historians. In chapter five he examines how college students in a European history course constructed meaning of previously learned historical events through two different writing tasks. Overall, students found it more difficult to write a report than an analysis or problem-based essay because they lacked the necessary disciplinary knowledge to do so. This was not the case for the historians. In conclusion, the author suggests that teachers should provide students with the opportunity to learn the critical thinking and research skills developed and valued by historians.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Létourneau, Jocelyn et Bogumil Jewsiewicki, dirs. L'histoire en partage. Usages du passé et mises en discours de l'histoire. (1996)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:36:16 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn et Bogumil Jewsiewicki, dirs. L'histoire en partage. Usages du passé et mises en discours de l'histoire. Paris : L'Harmattan, 1996.

Abstract/Summary:

À une époque où, dit-on, les acteurs ne vivent qu’en fonction de l’avenir et ne s’arriment qu’à des ancrages éphémères, tels des frôlements sociaux, ce qui est du domaine du passé et du ressort de l’histoire a valeur dérisoire.

C’est le but de cet ouvrage que de démontrer l’insolence de cette assertion et de faire ressortir les modalités diverses par lesquelles les contemporains usent du passé et en recyclent la matière selon des finalités avouées ou cachées qui ont largement à voir avec un présent qui se fait ou un futur désiré. Réunissant des contributions portant sur le Québec, la Belgique, le Zaïre, la Pologne et la Russie, l’ouvrage intéressera tous les consommateurs d’histoire un peu curieux de l’exercice en société de la raison historienne.

On est ici au cœur du commerce de l’histoire : et c’est bien cela qui fait courir quand on l’enseigne comme quand on l’écrit et quand on la lit, la pense et la fait aliment de discussion...

Source/Credit:

CÉLAT

Létourneau, Jocelyn et Simon Langlois, dirs. Aspects de la nouvelle francophonie canadienne. (2004)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:32:19 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn et Simon Langlois, dirs. Aspects de la nouvelle francophonie canadienne. Sainte-Foy : Presses de l'Université Laval, 2004.

Abstract/Summary:

Cette collection de la CEFAN est conçue comme lieu d’échanges, elle rassemble les études et les travaux issus des séminaires, des colloques et des ateliers. À ce titre, elle répond à l’un des objectifs définis par le Comité scientifique de la Chaire : faire état de l’avancement des connaissances et stimuler la recherche sur diverses facettes de la francophonie nord-américaine. (http://www.erudit.org/livre/CEFAN/2003-1/index.htm)

Source/Credit:

Érudit

Létourneau, Jocelyn, dir. Lieu identitaire de la jeunesse aujourd’hui : étude de cas. (1997)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:30:31 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn, dir. Lieu identitaire de la jeunesse aujourd’hui : étude de cas. Montréal : L’Harmattan, 1997.

Abstract/Summary:

Les jeunes, dit-on, évoluent en cette fin de siècle dans un monde soumis à la détermination des processus planétaires. Et puisque le passé n’a plus d’avenir, ils sont irrémédiablement tournés vers le futur pour envisager leur destin.

Les articles réunis dans cet ouvrage obligent à nuancer cette perspective. Le lieu identitaire de la jeunesse d’aujourd’hui est bien moins polarisé qu’on ne le croit et, surtout, il n’a rien d’univoque. Il est simultanément composé d’ici et d’ailleurs, de local et de global, de mémoire et de distance, d’héritage et de quête.

Les jeunes sont, à l’instar de chaque génération conquérant sa place dans la longue histoire de l’humanité, en situation de trait-d’union, de transit, de tension. Leur défi est de s’affranchir du passé sans faire fi de la reconnaissance qui est due aux anciens; il est aussi d’explorer de nouveaux territoires identitaires dans le désir éternel de renouveler la diversité de leurs enracinements initiaux et successifs. (http://www.celat.ulaval.ca/?page_id=2114)

Source/Credit:

CÉLAT

Létourneau, Jocelyn. La question identitaire au Canada francophone : récits, parcours, enjeux, hors-lieux. (1994)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:37:18 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn. La question identitaire au Canada francophone : récits, parcours, enjeux, hors-lieux. Québec : Presses de l'Université Laval, 1994.

Abstract/Summary:

Source/Credit:

Érudit

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Le coffre à outils du chercheur débutant. Guide d'initiation au travail intellectuel. (1989)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:38:21 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Le coffre à outils du chercheur débutant. Guide d'initiation au travail intellectuel. Toronto : Oxford University Press, 1989.

Abstract/Summary:

Conçu comme un manuel d’initiation au travail intellectuel, ce guide d’ordre essentiellement pratique s’adresse aux étudiants des collèges et des universités. Le coffre à outils du chercheur débutant comporte deux grandes parties. Dans la première, intitulée « Les savoir-faire pratiques », l’étudiant apprendra à : rédiger un compte rendu de lecture; analyser un document écrit; analyser un document iconographique; faire une recherche en bibliothèque, sur Internet; enquêter auprès d’informateurs.

Dans la seconde partie, qui expose en détail les différentes étapes de réalisation d’un travail de recherche, l’étudiant apprendra comment : circonscrire un sujet de recherche; rédiger un plan de travail; communiquer sa pensée par écrit; présenter les références bibliographiques.

Recourant largement à l’exemple, ce guide constitue un instrument d’apprentissage indispensable pour tout étudiant, que ce soit en sciences sociales, en lettres, en sciences de l’administration ou en sciences naturelles. (http://www.editionsboreal.qc.ca/catalogue/livres/coffre-outils-chercheur-debutant-1402.html)

Source/Credit:

Éditions Boréal

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Le Québec, les Québécois: un parcours historique Saint-Laurent. (2004)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:31:24 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Le Québec, les Québécois: un parcours historique Saint-Laurent. Québec : Fides et Musée de la civilisation, 2004.

Abstract/Summary:

Voici une histoire surprenante de l'aventure québécoise. Ni tragique ni panégyrique, ni prosaïque ni épique, ni mélancolique ni euphorique, mais la mise en lumière du parcours original d'une collectivité depuis toujours ouverte, et aujourd'hui peut-être plus que jamais, à bien des aspirations civiles et politiques. Paradoxaux les Québécois? À n'en point douter. Une société tiraillée entre l'appel de la refondation et le souci de la tradition, le désir de la collaboration et la volonté d'autonomisation, l'attrait de l'altérité et le ressourcement dans l'identité... Dans ce livre, l'énigme que représente le Québec, plutôt que d'être péremptoirement tranchée par une réponse assurée ou entêtée, est exposée dans toute sa fascinante complexité. (http://books.google.ca/books/about/Le_Québec_les_Québécois.html?id=jP...)

Source/Credit:

Les Éditions Fides

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Les années sans guide. Le Canada à l'ère de l'économie migrante. (1996)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:35:17 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Les années sans guide. Le Canada à l'ère de l'économie migrante. Montréal : Boréal, 1996.

Abstract/Summary:

Parler du Canada à l’ère de l’économie migrante, c’est choisir de s’exiler d’un débat qui n’en finit plus d’être débattu, un peu comme la neige n’en finit jamais de neiger au pays de l’éternelle savane blanche.

On trouvera dans ce livre une problématique générale permettant de saisir les mutations décisives qui affectent le Canada sur les plans économique et spatial, social et civique, politique et identitaire. Ces mutations sont analysées à la lumière des grands procès d’institutionnalisation qui s’affirment au sein des sociétés marquées par l’hypermodernité et le postkeynésianisme.

Utilisant des concepts originaux, l’auteur multiplie les points d’ancrage pour saisir les conséquences de la donne mondiale sur l’évolution des sociétés nationales. C’est dans ce contexte qu’est abordée la question de l’affirmationnisme québécois et que l’avenir du Canada est envisagé comme pays et comme État. (http://www.celat.ulaval.ca/?page_id=2174)

Source/Credit:

CÉLAT

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Passer à l’avenir : histoire, mémoire, identité dans le Québec d’aujourd’hui. (2000)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:33:25 +0000

Citation:

Létourneau, Jocelyn. Passer à l’avenir : histoire, mémoire, identité dans le Québec d’aujourd’hui. Montréal : Boréal, 2000.

Abstract/Summary:

« La mémoire qu’on interroge, écrivait Saint-Denys Garneau, a de lourds rideaux aux fenêtres ».

Il est pourtant du devoir de chaque génération de décrocher ces rideaux, de les dépoussiérer pour que respire la pièce ou pour que passe une nouvelle lumière. Jocelyn Létourneau s’est donné ici pour tâche de réfléchir sur l’avenir de l’histoire et de la mémoire au Québec. L’objet de sa quête n’est pas tant le passé lui-même que le défi posé par sa mise en narration dans l’optique de la production d’une société meilleure et dans la perspective aussi de la constitution d’un héritage émancipateur pour les Québécois de demain.

Cet ouvrage est une invitation à sortir des paramètres d’un grand récit collectif, celui du projet politique brisé du Québec et de la nation fanée par les autres, qui a épuisé, auprès de ceux à qui il est destiné depuis toujours, les ressources émancipatrices qui leur auraient permis de passer à l’avenir. (http://www.celat.ulaval.ca/?page_id=2364)

Source/Credit:

CÉLAT

Levstik, Linda S. and Keith C. Barton, eds. Researching History Education: Theory, Method and Context. (2008)

ulrike — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:25:56 +0000

Citation:

Levstik, Linda S. and Keith C. Barton, eds. Researching History Education: Theory, Method and Context. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Abstract/Summary:

Linda Levstik and Keith Barton argue that despite the implicit “community of practice” populated by researchers interested in history education, the community is often scattered leaving little opportunity for procedural and theoretical reflection. Researching History Education is an attempt by Levstik and Barton to make the process of research more transparent for history education research by bringing together a selection of their previously published articles and augmenting them with six new articles that reflect on the theory, method, and context of history education research as they have experienced it. They argue that this structure will make it easier to find major themes and patterns across their research, while the reflections will illuminate the “messy complexities” and personal contexts that have influenced and shaped their research. As a whole, this collection addresses themes such as the use and selection of theoretical literature; the nature of professional collaboration; the evolution and development of theoretical concepts; factors influencing research planning, implanting, and reporting; and major themes in history education research such as young peoples’ concept of time, historical significance, evidence, and national identity.

Source/Credit:

Samantha Cutrara

Levstik, Linda S., and Keith C. Barton. Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools. (1997)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:11:10 +0000

Citation:

Levstik, Linda S., and Keith C. Barton. Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997.

Abstract/Summary:

This book aims to provide history teachers with examples of how other history teachers choose to teach history in their classrooms and with suggestions for developing teaching methods. Thus, all of the chapters draw from theory as well as studies that the authors conducted in a number of American elementary and high school classrooms. The first chapter focuses on the sociocultural context for studying history. Here the implication is that history is important to study because history tells us who we are and who we can become. Within this understanding the significance of history learning lies in its ability to foster critical thinking about present-day societal issues because history can be explained through narratives that connect the past with the present and because history is controversial as there are many interpretations of one event.

In contrast, chapter two explains theories of learning with a specific focus on “disciplined inquiry.” Levstik and Barton highlight learning to mean “in-depth understanding” and thus discourage rote learning. Rather, they encourage teachers to provide a space in which students can ask meaningful questions and search out the answers to those questions. They maintain that instruction must be based on students’ prior knowledge and experiences and that teachers’ must activate their prior knowledge by fostering inquiry. Drawing from this discussion, in chapter three the authors focus on “building communities of historical inquiry” with an emphasis on introducing students to particular methods of historical inquiry and language. They argue that for children to be enthusiastic about this kind of learning four things are required: 1) questions perceived by them as worth discussing; 2) questions that are complex and do not have simple answers; 3) sufficient resources for students to be able to answer these questions; and 4) an opportunity to use their imagination and creativity to understand the past.

In chapters four and five the authors continue to narrow the discussion to historical inquiry about personal histories. In line with their discussion in chapters two and three, Levstik and Barton argue that one of the best places to begin instruction of historical inquiry is with the students’ own past. As such they provide suggestions for how to organize learning activities that would make such an inquiry productive and effective with a special focus on balancing this kind of instruction with curricular requirements.

Chapters six to nine focus on different ways in which teachers can implement the scaffolding method. As such, chapter six emphasizes the move from local history to global history and vice versa, chapters seven and eight highlight the move from interest to research questions to inquiry and meaning making, and chapter nine is concerned with how students can create historical narratives using sources other than the textbook.

Levstik and Barton dedicate chapters ten and eleven to concerns about relating present-day issues to historical events with a focus in chapter eleven on emphasizing how social relations and ways of thinking change over time. In contrast chapters twelve and thirteen are specifically focused on teaching American history and on how teachers can use art for historical study. Lastly, chapter fourteen is centered specifically on assessment.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Levstik, Linda S., and Keith C. Barton. Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools. (2001)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:18:08 +0000

Citation:

Levstik, Linda S., and Keith C. Barton. Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001.

Abstract/Summary:

The premise of this second edition is that approaches to teaching and ideas change over time. Thus, the changes in this edition are both minor and major.

The minor changes include updates to the bibliographies, incorporation of new studies on historical thinking and learning, and new suggestions for how certain literature for children can be used to support good history teaching. Additionally, an epilogue now serves to summarize the main themes of the book.

The major changes include a section on assessment in each chapter rather than at the end making this a thirteen chapter book instead of a fourteen chapter book. This change was made in an attempt to highlight the importance of including evaluation as part of the instruction process rather than something that is apart from the process and completed at the end. As such, the method of constructive assessment is introduced in chapter two so as to provide the theoretical framework that grounds assessment suggestions in the proceeding chapters. There are a variety of methods of evaluation presented, from rubrics to position papers to oral presentations. Further, drawing from research that they and other scholars have conducted, the authors illustrate each of these methods through a discussion of how teachers use them in their own classrooms. There are also examples of how teachers have used the information in the first edition in the classrooms.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Marsolais, Arthur et Luce Brossard, dirs. Non-violence et citoyenneté : un « vivre-ensemble » qui s’apprend. (2000)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:39:21 +0000

Citation:

Marsolais, Arthur et Luce Brossard, dirs. Non-violence et citoyenneté : un « vivre-ensemble » qui s’apprend. Sainte-Foy : Éditions MultiMondes, 2000.

Abstract/Summary:

L’ancienne sagesse soutenait : « Ventre affamé n’a pas d’oreilles ». L’école d’aujourd’hui espère plus qu’une oreille attentive : elle mobilise la curiosité et l’activité intellectuelle. Mais c’est impossible sur un fond de rapport de forces et d’affrontement. L’éducabilité se joue aussi, parfois, en faisant rempart à une violence qui sert de réponse à la violence subie, et de défense contre elle. (http://vitrine.entrepotnumerique.com/publications/899-non-violence-et-citoyennete-un-vivre-ensemble-qui-s-apprend)

Source/Credit:

L’entrepôt du livre numérique

Martineau, Robert. L’histoire à l’école, matière à penser... (1999)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:40:19 +0000

Citation:

Martineau, Robert. L’histoire à l’école, matière à penser... Montréal : L’Harmattan, 1999.

Abstract/Summary:

L'histoire et son enseignement sont sur la sellette dans plusieurs sociétés démocratiques occidentales. Dans cet ouvrage, l'auteur affirme que pour répondre aux critiques souvent entendues, il est impératif que les enseignants clarifient pour eux-mêmes et pour leurs élèves la nature de l'histoire que l'on enseigne à l'école ainsi que sa fonction sociale. Dans cet esprit, il propose ici une contribution à l'élaboration des fondements didactiques de l'enseignement de l'histoire et plus particulièrement de la pensée historique. (http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=...)

Source/Credit:

L’Harmattan

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Education and Schools in the Eastern Arctic (2010)

ulrike — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 21:47:42 +0000

Citation:

McGregor, Heather E. (2010). Inuit Education and Schools in the Eastern Arctic. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Abstract/Summary:

Since the mid-twentieth century, sustained contact between Inuit and newcomers has led to profound changes in education in the Eastern Arctic, including the experience of colonization and progress toward the re-establishment of traditional education in schools. The milestone of the establishment of Nunavut Territory in 1999 was followed by the 2006 Berger Report, which drew attention to problems remaining in the territory’s education system.

As the first history of education in the Eastern Arctic, this groundbreaking study provides the historical context needed to understand the educational challenges faced in Nunavut. With an emphasis on cultural negotiation, policymaking, and the role of tradition, Heather McGregor assesses developments in the history of education in four periods – the traditional, the colonial (1945-70), the territorial (1971-81), and the local (1982-99). She concludes that education is most successful when Inuit involvement and local control support a system that reflects Inuit culture and Inuit visions for the future.

This groundbreaking study reveals that education was used not only to assimilate Inuit but also to reflect and reinforce Inuit culture and traditions. Its focus on the themes of cultural negotiation, policy making, and the role of tradition will be welcomed by educators, administrators, and researchers in Inuit and First Nations communities across the North and anyone interested in the history of education in Canada.

Source/Credit:

Academia.edu

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Transformation of High School Education in Nunavut: Historical and Statistical Profiles. Phase One 2010 – 2011: History, Context and Statistical Profiles of Attagoyuk and Quluaq Schools. (2014)

ulrike — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:07:27 +0000

Citation:

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Transformation of High School Education in Nunavut: Historical and Statistical Profiles. Phase One 2010 – 2011: History, Context and Statistical Profiles of Attagoyuk and Quluaq Schools. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: University of Prince Edward Island, 2014.

Abstract/Summary:

In Year One of a three year report that was written during her time with the Department of Education in Nunavut when she was doing research with an ArcticNet grant, McGregor compares and contrasts two senior (Gr 10-12) high schools in the territory over a decade at the turn of the 21st century. Several demographic indicators in the schools are examined in order to draw conclusions regarding what areas are producing pedagogically successful outcomes, and those that need improvement, both in the schools specifically, and in the territory overall.

Source/Credit:

Shannon Leggett

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Transformation of High School Education in Nunavut: Historical and Statistical Profiles. Phase Three 2012-2013: History, Background and Statistical Profile of Kugluktuk High School. (2014)

ulrike — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:12:36 +0000

Citation:

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Transformation of High School Education in Nunavut: Historical and Statistical Profiles. Phase Three 2012 - 2013: History, Background and Statistical Profile of Kugluktuk High School. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: University of Prince Edward Island. (2014)

Abstract/Summary:

In Year Three of a three year report that was written during her time as a Doctoral candidate at UBC where she continued to do research with an ArcticNet grant, McGregor conducts a case study of Kugluktuk High School. This senior (Gr 10-12) high school is unique due to its “pre-trades optional program” and its “unique approach to connecting community engagement, student pride, stay-in-school incentives, and athletics through the Kugluktuk High School Athletics Association (KHSAA).” The demographic data in the report construct a school profile that can be used as an exemplar for other Nunavut communities to help them better examine their school systems.

Source/Credit:

Shannon Leggett

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Transformation of High School Education in Nunavut: Historical and Statistical Profiles. Phase Two 2011 – 2012: History, Background and Statistical Profile of Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik. (2014)

ulrike — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:08:10 +0000

Citation:

McGregor, Heather E. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Transformation of High School Education in Nunavut: Historical and Statistical Profiles. Phase Two 2011 – 2012: History, Background and Statistical Profile of Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: University of Prince Edward Island, 2014.

Abstract/Summary:

In Year Two of a three year report that was written during her time as a Doctoral candidate at UBC where she continued to do research with an ArcticNet grant, McGregor examines the ten year history of a senior (Gr 10-12) high school in Rankin Inlet at the beginning of the 21st century. The report looks at the greater Nunavut educational context, as well as specific school demographics, in order to establish a school profile for Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik (MUI); this can be used as an exemplar to create profiles for other schools throughout Nunavut to help analyze the strengths and challenges facing those school communities.

Source/Credit:

Shannon Leggett

Medina, Kathleen, Jeffrey Pollard, Debra Schneider, and Camille Leonhardt. How do Students Understand the Discipline of History as an Outcome of Teachers' Professional Development? (2000)

Anne Marie — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:43:53 +0000

Citation:

Medina, Kathleen, Jeffrey Pollard, Debra Schneider, and Camille Leonhardt. How do Students Understand the Discipline of History as an Outcome of Teachers' Professional Development? Oakland, CA: Regents of the University of California, 2000.

Abstract/Summary:

This study traced the success of teachers’ professional development courses on student learning. The study examined how well the teaching objectives of professional development programs were translated to the 390 fifth through twelfth grade students’ learning of history. Data collection involved pretests and postests of students’ understanding of history.

Generally, the authors found that it was possible to trace and document students’ understanding of key elements learned by their teachers in professional development programs with positive outcomes for students. However, Medina and colleagues also found that some of these key elements that teachers selected to emphasize in their classes can have unintended negative consequences. For example, the authors concluded that teachers’ use of primary sources and their focus on multiple perspectives of history could result in both teachers and students reaching subjective and thus “faulty” conclusions about the historical process. Further, teachers and students were unable to apply critical reasoning to historical interpretation.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Nieto, Sonia. Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education. (2004)

ulrike — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:12:12 +0000

Citation:

Nieto, Sonia. Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education (4th ed). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004.

Abstract/Summary:

This book is intended for educators who today are teaching within the context of a multicultural society. Nieto aims to support educators in their quest to challenge “flawed ideas about intelligence and difference” (p. xxii) that govern most school policies and practices. Specifically, the objective of this book is to provide educators with ideas on how to create an affirming classroom in which “racism, sexism, social class discrimination, and other biases are no longer acceptable” (p. xxii). While the book is meant for educators worldwide, the research that she draws from has been conducted in the United States.

In this fourth edition Nieto has made some significant changes. First, the title page of each chapter includes artwork produced by children who participated in her study. The aim of this change is to highlight children’s creativity as central to understanding how to develop multicultural education in the present context. Second, while she has maintained the same case studies throughout every edition, in this edition she chose to include a case study focusing on a lesbian student’s experiences as she entered her final year of high school. Previously she had only devoted one page to thinking about issues of gay and lesbian students in thinking about multicultural education. In this edition, written and published after the events of September 11, 2001, Nieto also chose to include a case study focusing on the experiences of a young Muslim student and her family. Third, the new epilogue updates readers on the lives of four of the initial case study students now in their twenties and thirties. Fourth, this edition also includes a section called “snapshots” which are brief portraits of students written by the students who chose to write about their experiences attending school in a multicultural society. Importantly, these snapshots include issues not covered in the case studies such as adoption and “hybrid identities.” Finally, this edition also has updated references to reflect the newest research in multicultural education as well as updated demographic information.

The book is divided into three parts, excluding the Introduction which serves to set the stage for the rest of the book. Here Nieto makes a case for multicultural education and explains the structure of the book. Part one, which includes chapters one and two, presents an argument for using the case study approach and a definition of the case study methodology as well as explains certain terminology used in our multicultural society such as the distinction between Hispanic and Latino/a.

In part two Nieto focuses on understanding issues that inform one’s conceptual framework of multicultural education such as racism, discrimination, expectations of students’ achievement, structural and organizational issues in schools, identity and learning, linguistic diversity, and theories of “school achievement.” In this part, chapters three to seven each conclude with case studies that speak to the issue specific to that chapter, and chapters three and six also include a “snapshot.”

Part three addresses the implications for teaching the issues addressed in the previous section. Here, the foci of chapters eight to eleven are learning from students, school reform, the “affirming classroom,” and how to practice multicultural education. Chapter eight is the only chapter that draws from a case study and both chapters eight and ten include a “snapshot.” Importantly, chapter eleven presents educators with practical ideas on how to make changes to their curriculum so as to create an “affirming classroom.”

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Partington, Geoffrey. The Idea of an Historical Education. (1980)

ulrike — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:20:15 +0000

Citation:

Partington, G. The Idea of an Historical Education. Slough: NFER, 1980.

Abstract/Summary:

The primary objective of this ten chapter book is to open lines of conversation between academics and teachers concerned with history education. As such, the first chapter opens by outlining commonly understood reasons for teaching history – that is, to foster in young people a respect for the past, to educate young people in a set of moral beliefs, and to help them make sense of their present. Additionally, this chapter outlines common criticisms of history teaching as well as some possible solutions for teachers to adequately address these criticisms.

In the second chapter Partington develops six “Elements of Historical Explanation,” drawing from an analysis of “general law theories” such as positivism and historical materialism, to illustrate how such theories can inform the basic tenets of history teaching. As an extension of the conclusion in chapter two which maintains that students need to be presented with an array of sources and interpretations of past events, in chapter three Partington argues that history education does not foster “better moral judgment” but rather that it is “characterized by moral judgments” – in other words, the process of making decisions about what of the past to remember and what to forget. Based on the assumption that this is the case for both teachers and students, the following two chapters deal with the dangers of making generalizations when reconstructing the past. The author thus provides teachers with suggestions on how to choose material for history teaching. For example, Partington recommends that teachers first decide what historical periods to teach in order to determine what historical figures to teach about and also to include contemporary historical events, national and local histories, and the histories of marginalized communities. Chapter six follows from these chapters providing history teachers with criteria to follow when constructing their syllabus, including suggestions to cover material chronologically to thematically.

The last four chapters of the book are concerned with fostering critical thinking in history education. In fact, chapter seven specifically argues that critical thinking must be implemented as a teaching goal of history education even though this requires an in-depth focus on a few historical moments or movements rather than on the overall picture of the past. Noting however how difficult this task can be for a history teacher, as well as the gap often existing between teaching objectives and teaching practices, Partington devotes chapter eight to providing teachers with specific resources they can turn to for ideas for classroom activities. In chapter nine the author supplements this discussion with information about learning stages according to age.

Finally in chapter ten, Partington stresses that in order for history teaching to be successful as it has been outlined throughout the book, teachers have to be knowledgeable about the past and about teaching.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Perfetti, Charles A., M. Anne Britt, and Mara C. Georgi. Text–Based Learning and Reasoning: Studies in History. (1995)

Anne Marie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:09:03 +0000

Citation:

Perfetti, Charles A., M. Anne Britt, and Mara C. Georgi. Text–Based Learning and Reasoning: Studies in History. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1995.

Abstract/Summary:

This ten chapter book focuses specifically on the learning of history as a problem of cognition. Perfetti et al. report on an in-depth study of college students’ text learning specific to two time periods in American history. Above all however, this is an examination of the cognitive psychology of learning from texts.

Chapters one and two serve as the introductory section of this book. In chapter one the authors outline some concepts specific to history learning – such as historical literacy – and conclude that “knowing history includes knowing stories.” As such, the authors note that “knowing history” inevitably involves the ability to distinguish different forms of historical evidence and the understanding of history as narrative. The majority of this book thus focuses on history as a story. In chapter two Perfetti et al. describe causal models in cognitive psychology and present the reader with a causal-temporal model of learning which they use to understand a study examining how students understand the U.S. Acquisition of the Panama Canal. The authors use this model to examine the effectiveness of narrative texts and history texts for student learning.

Section one is titled The Acquisition Story and includes chapters three through six. Chapter three is the methods chapter. Here the authors explain how they tracked students’ learning of four texts to understand how these students construct causal models. In chapter four Perfetti et al. present the findings of this study. Generally their research revealed that students’ learning can be characterized as either rapid or gradual or complete or incomplete where early learning is primarily event-driven whereby students acquire the basic story and fill in the details at a slower pace. Chapter five on the other hand reports on the specifics of how students understood the different accounts with which they were presented about the U.S. acquisition of the Panama Canal. Here the authors argue that, contrary to popular belief, college students are interested in learning history and that they thus do struggle with issues of “interpretation, text, and values.” To elaborate on the findings presented in chapters four and five, chapter six examines the individual differences between students (e.g., prior knowledge) that may have contributed to their varied responses categorizing each student as a specific type of learner and within a particular type of reasoning profile.

Section two is titled The Return Controversy and includes chapters seven through ten. In this section the authors examine how students understand the Return Controversy of 1977 during the beginning of the Carter administration. Chapter seven describes the texts that students were asked to work with pertaining to this historical period and also presents the findings of this part of the study. The findings are presented in general terms by group and more specifically by individual much like chapters five and six in the previous section. Finally, chapter eight reports on the final leg of the study in which the authors presented the students with a hypothetical scenario in order to further examine students’ reasoning profiles.

Finally chapter nine focuses on the implications of their conclusions dealing with questions such as “what does it mean to learn history?” The authors conclude, among other things, that history learning involves the learning of causal-temporal event structures. In other words, the story is acquired over time and thus history learning takes time. In an attempt to think outside of their frame of history as story, in chapter ten Perfetti et al. consider other factors that affect history learning.

Source/Credit:

Source: Ana Laura Pauchulo

Portal, Christopher, ed. The History Curriculum for Teachers. (1987)

Anne Marie — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:53:01 +0000

Citation:

Portal, Christopher, ed. The History Curriculum for Teachers. London: The Falmer Press, 1987.

Abstract/Summary:

This eleven chapter book edited by Portal outlines the necessary criteria for building a history curriculum for students at various levels in their secondary school education. As such, this book is aimed at teachers who need guidance in developing their high school history course. Portal divides the book into two sections. The chapters in the first section introduce teachers to the theory and research necessary to construct a history curriculum. The chapters in the second section address issues and questions pertaining to the specifics of building a history curriculum for high school students in varying grades.

In chapter one Peter Rogers presents a case for making history a compulsory subject occupying approximately two-thirds of school time for every student. The book thus starts from the issue of history’s value as a secondary school subject. Chapter two written by Martin Booth attempts to reconsider conclusions often drawn from the legacy of Piaget. Grounding his argument in a review of the research literature, Booth argues that such conclusions have a limiting effect on how history teachers understand student learning. Also drawing from research, in chapter three Denis Shemilt uses data from the “Schools Council Project History 13-16” to provide teachers with four suggestions on how to present information to their students in the history classroom. In chapter four Rosalyn Ashby and Peter Lee examine how elementary school students conceptualize empathy and use the concept of empathy to understand the past. To conclude, the authors offer suggestions on how to teach empathy maintaining that the best way to do this is to allow students to present each other with conflicting views of the past. Finally, in chapter five Christopher Portal argues that empathy is a process that motivates other forms of historical thinking and therefore needs to be used in conjunction with other cognitive skills for productive history learning.

In the second section, chapter six, written by John Fines, outlines important principles for planning a history course focusing on “content” including skills, concepts, and information. The next three chapters deal primarily with different reactions to the “Schools Council Project History 13-16.” In chapter seven Chris Sansom reviews research on how children understand history and the concepts of time, evidence, change, and causation in order to apply findings from these studies to the development of a history curriculum for young children. In chapter eight Christopher Smallbone argues more specifically that the early stages of history teaching should be aimed at teaching students how to develop certain attitudes, concepts and skills. In chapter nine Vincent Crinnion on the other hand deals with history education for sixteen to eighteen year olds. In this chapter he argues that “contrast and progression” are the overarching principles that should inform the development of a history curriculum for this age group. Finally, chapter ten by Henry Macintosh concerns assessment methods for the history classroom and chapter eleven by Jon Nichol et. al. takes up the issue of how to include technology in the history classroom.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Ravitch, Diane, and Chester E. Finn. What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know? A Report on the First National Assessment of History and Literature. (1987)

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:03:15 +0000

Citation:

Ravitch, Diane, and Chester E. Finn. What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know? A Report on the First National Assessment of History and Literature. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.

Abstract/Summary:

Presenting the findings of the 1986 National Assessment of History and Literature in the United States, this study assessed a sample of 8,000 eleventh grade students across various regions (i.e. northwest, central, west, and southeast United States) and throughout different sizes and types of communities. With the help of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), a federally funding project that has tested American students in the areas of mathematics, literacy, science and reading since 1969, students in the eleventh grade (17-year-olds) were chosen to assess their knowledge of history and literature as they neared the completion of their high school studies. The national average of the national assessment’s history portion was 55 percent. The assessment concludes that American 17-year-olds are ignorant of things they should know and raises important questions about skills developed through the study of history and literature. Can these 17-year-olds make sense of what they see and hear? Do they have the perspective to separate the important from the trivial? Can they discern patterns in trends and events?

The assessment generated a series of recommendations for improving the teaching and learning of history, including: teaching history in context so that events and people are placed in relation to important trends and developments; devote more time to the learning and teaching of history; institute mandatory two years of world history; incorporate the study of geography into the study of history; integrate the use of narratives, journals, stories, biographies and autobiographies; stress the human dimension – the struggles, accomplishments, and failures of men and women – to engage and interest students. Discussions include topics such as cultural literacy, or the ability to understand what is presented in newspapers, books, magazines and conversation.

The intent of this national assessment was to provide the first systematic effort to evaluate basic historical knowledge in American schoolchildren. In a climate of educational reform across the United States, and when most states were in the process of revising and reconsidering school curriculums, this national assessment evaluated current student understandings of history and literature and supported the importance of history and literature in developing declining basic skills such as reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Nearly all of the questions were drawn from American history. The assessment also included over one hundred questions about student family backgrounds, reading, study habits, schooling, and out-of-school activities in addition to noting gender and race.

Source/Credit:

Mary Chaktsiris

Sandwell, Ruth W., ed. To the Past: History Education, Public Memory, and Citizenship in Canada. (2006)

ulrike — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:33:03 +0000

Citation:

Sandwell, Ruth W., ed. To the Past: History Education, Public Memory, and Citizenship in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.

Abstract/Summary:

This collection of seven essays was originally presented as part of a lecture series at McGill University in 2002 and recorded for CBC’s Ideas broadcast in both 2002 and 2003. According to editor Ruth Sandwell, this collection looks at the relationships between history research, public memory, and history education in Canada and ventures that reframing the relationship between these three concepts could improve the understanding we have of history, ourselves, and the nation. Many of the articles in this collection, such as Peter Seixas’ introductory essay, emphasize the role history education and collective memory has for informing citizenship and our “historical consciousness.” The authors want to move away from the simplistic “history war” over who and what should be part of the national canon taught in history class because, following Desmond Morton’s argument, a larger grand narrative won’t necessarily ensure a stronger and more patriotic country; and following Timothy Stanley’s argument, the national grand narrative is irreconcilable with the lived realities of racism and thus will never reflect the plurality of who and what are “Canadian.”

Furthermore, in their articles both Jocelyn Létourneau and Chad Gaffield emphasize that the nuances found in historical academic research are not currently being taught in public history education. Respectively, they emphasize that understanding what students already know when they come into class and finding space for them to problem solve and think of the personal in history education are important factors for moving history education away from rote and impractical learning. Following from this, Keith Barton maintains that having students analyse and reason with evidence using a humanistic framework of deliberation should be a cornerstone of history education in our pluralistic society. In the final article, which was requested to conclude the collection, Ken Osborne outlines that there have been three approaches to history education since the 19^th century: nation building, current problems, and disciplined inquiry. This collection is an attempt to move away from this triad to think about history education in more practical, grounded ways. Although all the authors frame the possibilities in history education slightly differently, their collective commitment for thinking about history education as a way to enrich collective memory and respond to current realities supported by the discipline of history ties the collection together.

Source/Credit:

Samantha Cutrara

Sandwell, Ruth, and Amy von Heyking (eds). Becoming a History Teacher: Sustaining Practices in Historical Thinking and Knowing (2014)

ulrike — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 23:07:45 +0000

Citation:

Sandwell, Ruth, and Amy von Heyking (eds). Becoming a History Teacher: Sustaining Practices in Historical Thinking and Knowing. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.

Abstract/Summary:

There's a new approach to teaching history trending in North America and other areas of the world that encourages student teachers to think historically, rather than through traditional rote learning. In this pedagogical approach to learning history, students are introduced to the procedures historians engage in, including evaluating significance, assessing cause and consequence, exploring the varied perspectives of people in the past and probing the ethical dimensions of history. While this approach has many supporters, is it actually being implemented in classrooms?

The essays that comprise this volume evolved from conversations among Canadian history teacher educators that focused on how to effectively prepare teachers to nurture historical thinking in their classrooms. The symposium held by The History Education Network/Histoire et éducation en réseau (THEN/HiER) in 2011 resulted in research projects, reflections and descriptions of exemplary teaching activities that reflected the diverse and creative initiatives from scholars across Canada. The main product of the symposium is this book, which suggests that ongoing teacher professional development has a role to play in supporting not only beginning teachers' entry into the teaching profession, but also experienced teachers who seek opportunities for professional growth throughout their teaching careers.

The first section of the book explores appropriate learning environments before formal teacher education programs.

In Chapter Two, "Moving from the Periphery to the Core: The Possibilities for Professional Learning Communities in History Teacher Education," Alan Sears notes how many pre-service teachers do not have experience doing history, which impacts how they are able to teach their students. He establishes three principles for creating professional learning communities: Identity Formation Is Central to Teacher Education, Taking the Long View of Teacher Education, and Communities of Practice Provide a Substantial Context for Teacher Education.

In Chapter Three, "'The Teacher Is the Keystone of the Educational Arch': A Century and a Half of Lifelong Teacher Education in Canada," Penney Clark provides the historical context and outlines the development of formalized teacher preparation education in Canada from the early nineteenth century to the present. Clark also describes the implications of the shift from teachers receiving their education and training in normal schools to universities, as well as the changing requirements for elementary and secondary school teachers.

Advancing from Clark’s chapter, Scott A. Pollock discusses recent research in history and social studies teacher education and its effect on practice in Canada in Chapter Four, "The Poverty and Possibility of Historical Thinking: An Overview of Recent Research into History Teacher Education."

The second section of the book explores various elements of history teacher education programs.

In Chapter Five, "On Historians and Their Audiences: An Argument for Teaching (and Not Just Writing) History," Ruth W. Sandwell argues that the work of historians-as-undergraduate-teachers is just as important, or even more important, than the published versions of their original contributions to research.

In Chapter Six, "Canadian History for Teachers: Integrating Content and Pedagogy in Teacher Education," Amy von Heyking describes her study that created a course on the major events in Canadian history since Confederation that helped bridge the content and pedagogy divide for history teachers.

The third section of the book explores history and social studies teacher education programs in Canada.

In Chapter Seven, "What Is the Use of the Past for Future Teachers? A Snapshot of Francophone Student Teachers in Ontario and Quebec Universities," Stéphane Lévesque discusses his study that explores the ideas that some francophone student teachers had about history and education as they were completing their teacher education degrees in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec during the 2009-2010 academic year to investigate various aspects of historical consciousness, understanding and use of sources, significance of the past, and conception of history education.

In Chapter Eight, "Through the Looking Glass: An Overview of the Theoretical Foundations of Quebec’s History Curriculum," Catherine Duquette establishes the theoretical foundations of historical thinking as understood by the Quebec curriculum, and highlights how this model might influence the university instruction that student teachers receive.

In Chapter Nine, "Troubling Compromises: Historical Thinking in a One-Year Secondary Teacher Education Program," Peter Seixas, an education professor, and Graeme Webber, a student teacher, combine their individual narratives to consider what kinds of reforms within teacher education can lead to better outcomes.

In Chapter Ten, "Engaging Teacher Education through Re-writing That History We Have Already Learned," Kent den Heyer focuses on two distinguishable ways to think about historical perspective, as well as the dominant forms of knowledge and knowing and how that concern illustrates the inadequacy of exploring teacher identity as a professional affiliation.

In Chapter Eleven, "'Walking the Talk': Modelling the Pedagogy We Preach in History and Social Studies Methodology Courses." Roland Case and Genie MacLeod acknowledge that commonly used pedagogy in history and social studies methodology courses is often inconsistent with the theory and practice it purports to teach. They explain how it is possible to teach methodology courses in a manner that models the pedagogy espoused in the courses, and "walking the talk" is necessary and likely to successfully prepare students to teach in more effective ways.

In Chapter Twelve, "Teaching Student Teachers to Use Primary Sources When Teaching History," Lindsay Gibson describes the "boundary project" he assigned to a cohort of student teachers in a social studies methods class in 2010 where students were asked to create sets of primary and secondary sources focused on an important historical topic in the British Columbia curriculum. His chapter discusses the benefits and limitations of using this assignment with student teachers in order to assess how well it improved their ability to effectively use primary sources in their teaching.

In Chapter Thirteen, "Learning to Learn in New Brunswick Teacher Preparation: Historical Research as a Vehicle for Cultivating Historical Thinking in the Context of Social Studies Education," Theodore Christou discusses an experiment in history teacher education at the University of New Brunswick that was based on the supposition that a robust understanding of the relationship between historical thinking and the teaching and learning of history demands a dialogue. His study highlights the disconnect student teachers felt between the way they had learned history and the way they intended to teach it.

In Chapter Fourteen, "When in Doubt, Ask: Student Teacher Insights into Research and Practice," John JC Meyers presents an effective strategy that instructors can use in their classrooms to "induce" prospective history teachers into wider communities of practice, and also into the realization that research can assist them in understanding why and how change is necessary within history education.

In the fourth and final section of the book, a number of authors posit the important role of "boundary work" for history teachers after they have completed their professional training and formal education, wherein history and social studies teachers can find sustained (and sustaining) communities of practice both inside and outside the school system to support their ongoing work.

In Chapter Fifteen, "Can Teacher Education Programs Learn Something from Teacher Professional Development Initiatives?," Carla L. Peck reviews research on professional development in history education and presents findings from longitudinal research that investigated the effects of a two-year professional development project on teaching historical thinking with K-12 teachers in Alberta in order to provide suggestions regarding what teacher education programs can learn from professional development initiatives.

In Chapter Sixteen, "On the Museum as a Practised Place: Or, Reconsidering Museums and History Education," Brenda Trofanenko discusses the changing role of museums in advancing historical understanding, which means educators must reconsider what role they play in their interactions with museum personnel. Trofanenko also raises questions about how teacher education might be supported through public history museums that enhance history teachers' and their students' historical understanding.

In Chapter Seventeen, "Teaching History Teachers in the Classroom," Jan Haskings-Winner looks at two professional development approaches in Ontario that employ different professional learning models to introduce teachers to how they can develop the practice of historical thinking that bridges research and teaching.

In Chapter Eighteen, "Engendering Power and Legitimation: Giving Teachers the Tools to Claim a Place for History Education in Their Schools," Rose Fine-Meyer discusses her Grade 12 Ontario curriculum course that focused on active research into local history, which facilitated important connections between pedagogical practices that nurtured historical thinking in the classroom and the communities of practice where teachers and students could expand their historical understanding outside the classroom.

In Chapter Nineteen, "Telling the Stories of the Nikkei: A Place-Based History Education Project," Terry Taylor and Linda Farr Darling ask, "How can teachers in a small rural school cultivate students' historical understandings through a project based on local events?" Over two terms, secondary students in the West Kootenays of British Columbia immersed themselves in "place-based education," a multidisciplinary, community-focused exploration of the local internment of 1,400 Canadians of Japanese descent from 1942 to 1946.

Source/Credit:

Emily Chicorli

Schweber, S. Making sense of the Holocaust: Lessons from Classroom Practice. (2004)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:20:13 +0000

Citation:

Schweber, S. Making sense of the Holocaust: Lessons from Classroom Practice. New York: Teachers College Press, 2004.

Abstract/Summary:

What lessons are conveyed implicitly and explicitly in teaching and learning about the Holocaust? Through three very readable case studies, the author reflects on the lessons taught, highlighting strengths and missed opportunities and illuminating important implications for the teaching of other historical episodes.

Features:

The close examination of different narrative treatments of the Holocaust by experienced teachers working with diverse groups of students in American public high schools—all teachers were recommended for being pedagogically innovative and for affecting their students deeply.
A focus on curricular enactments within particular classes that examine what students in each class learned from the Holocaust course.
A non-partisan assessment that identifies the ideological debates surrounding the teaching of the Holocaust and provides guidance for navigating them.
A critical assessment of many authoritative organizations and authors whose positions currently dominate Holocaust education.

Source/Credit:

Teachers College Press

Seixas, Peter (Ed.). Theorizing Historical Consciousness. (2004)

ulrike — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:56:53 +0000

Citation:

Seixas, Peter (Ed.). Theorizing Historical Consciousness. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.

Abstract/Summary:

This collection aims to fill a gap in the historical consciousness literature by exploring the theoretical dimensions of historical consciousness. This twelve essay collection brings together international scholars to consider the five ‘principles’ needed in historical consciousness discussions as identified by editor Peter Seixas: the relationship between academic and popular history; the role of theory in practice and practice in theory; the imperative to compare and diverge in cross-cultural understandings of history and memory; the articulation of value commitments; and the importance of historicizing the work in historical consciousness. Split into three sections, the articles explore historiography, history education, and the political climate in relation to historical consciousness, with contributions by Jörn Rüsen, Peter Lee , Roger Simon, James Wertsch, and Tony Taylor. Diverging from the majority of North American discussions of historical consciousness as interpreted in school settings, with republished articles, new interpretations of research, and active dialogue between theorists, this collection explores the theoretical possibilities for historical consciousness on a larger scale.

Source/Credit:

Samantha Cutrara

Stearns, Peter N., Peter Seixas, and Sam Wineburg, eds. Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives. (2000)

ulrike — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:15:02 +0000

Citation:

Stearns, Peter N., Peter Seixas, and Sam Wineburg, eds. Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives. New York: New York University Press, 2000.

Abstract/Summary:

Responding to the “History Wars” that waged a debate over the content that should be or should not be taught in history class, Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives seeks to take the discussion of history education in a different direction by emphasizing the process of teaching and learning history in schools. This discussion is a result of a convergent conversation among the findings of the “cognitive revolution,” the changes in the discipline of history, and the relationship between collective memory and national identity. The articles in this collection strive to make explicit the implicit assumptions about what history is, how it should be organized, and why it is worth learning.

This anthology of twenty-two articles is organized in four sections: Current Issues in History Education; Changes Needed to Advance Good History Teaching; Research on Teaching and Learning in History; and Models for Teaching. However, the introduction highlights an additional four themes that could arrange the collection: choices and beliefs in understanding history; a shared understanding of history; the tension between collective memory and critical history; and recommendations for reform. With these additional organizers, the editors emphasize that the discussion they are engaging in is not simple or one dimensional, but rather a complex interaction between different disciplines, perspectives, issues, and findings.

Peter Seixas’ article “Schweigen! die Kinder! or, Does Post Modern History Have a Place in the Schools?,” begins the collection by outlining three approaches for teaching history: collective memory, disciplinary history, and postmodernist history. Advocating for disciplinary history in favour of a heritage-based or “fragmented” history, Seixas sets the terms for understanding historical thinking in history education, which is at the core of this collection. David Lowenthal’s 1998 book The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History (Cambridge University Press) is also foundational for the articles in this collection and his article, “Dilemmas and Delights of Learning History,” emphasizes why history is hard to learn, why it is important to study, and why it has immediate importance in our society.

Many of the arguments for a disciplinary-based history education are based in the understanding that knowing more history does not necessarily result in greater commitment to the nation. Rather, teaching young people to think historically will give them the tools to consider competing versions of events, which will lead to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of historical experiences. Peter Lee and Rosalyn Ashby’s Chata project was foundational for setting out the disciplinary concepts of progression in historical thinking and they discuss a portion of their findings in “Progression in Historical Understanding among Students Ages 7-14.” As well, Desmond Morton grounds the argument for historical thinking in Canada’s History Wars in his article “Teaching and Learning History in Canada.”
Although a concern for the whole collection, three articles focus on how students cognitively process historical information. In “Lessons on Teaching and Learning in History from Paul's Pen,” Gaea Leinhardt looks intensively at the development of historical reasoning through one student’s writing. James Voss and Jennifer Wiley, on the other hand, look at the factors going into multiple students’ processing and understanding of causation, argument construction, and multiple source literacy in “A Case Study of Developing Historical Understanding via Instruction: The Importance of Integrating Text Components and Constructing Arguments.” “The Sourcer's Apprentice: A Tool for Document-Supported Instruction” by M. Anne Britt, Charles A. Perfetti, Julie A. Van Dyke, and Gareth Gabrys focuses on a computer program pilot test that was developed to support primary source investigation for students.

While most of the “History Wars” discourse was based in what youth don’t know, Sam Wineburg emphasizes that no one has looked at what youth do know about history. In “Making Historical Sense,” Wineburg discusses a portion of his 1996 study in which he looked at how teenagers “become historical in modern society.” Similarly, in “How Americans Use and Think about the Past: Implications from a National Survey for the Teaching of History,” Roy Rosenzweig discusses some of the findings from his 1994 study with David Thelen which found that, contrary to popular belief, Americans feel strongly connected to history, although personal and familial histories are more important than national histories. But can these connections, or beliefs, be taught in history education? James V. Wertsch explores this question by introducing the concepts of mastery and appropriation of historical knowledge in his article, “Is It Possible to Teach Beliefs, as Well as Knowledge about History?”

Veronica Boix-Mansilla discusses the attempt to use history to understand present-day issues in “Historical Understanding: Beyond the Past and into the Present.” Partially funded through the Facing History and Ourselves organization, this study looked at if learning about the Holocaust provided a more contextualized understanding of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Directed instruction toward using history and philosophy to create purposeful, peaceful, and informed action is also discussed in “Making Connections: The Interdisciplinary Community of Teaching and Learning History.” In this article, Christine Gutierrez explains an innovative teacher-driven reform that privileged interdisciplinary learning in a community of scholars at a high school in South Central Los Angeles. However, Gary B. Nash argues in “The 'Convergence' Paradigm in Studying Early American History in the Schools” that unless textbooks reflect contemporary interpretations of the past, especially of first contact and colonial past, students won’t be able to look to history to understand how the history of collaboration and intersection have been a factor throughout America’s history.

All the authors in this collection believe that history education should be structured around teaching students how to think like historians when assessing evidence and constructing interpretations of the past. A key, yet challenging, factor for teaching with this model is collaboration between historians and history educators. G. Williamson McDiarmid and Peter Vinten-Johansen discuss their attempt to bridge this challenge in “A Catwalk across the Great Divide: Redesigning the History Teaching Methods Course.” Shelly Weintraub discusses the process of integrating the principles of historical thinking into the history standards for the Oakland Unified School District in California in “'What's This New Crap? What's Wrong with the Old Crap?' Changing History Teaching in Oakland, California.” Diane Ravitch provides a statistical exploration of history teaching in “The Educational Backgrounds of History Teachers” and finds that there is a low percentage of history teachers who actually have a history background, which makes the concentrated teaching of history a challenge.

By looking at what teachers and teacher candidates believe about their American students and thus what they teach in class, “Articulating the Silences: Teachers' and Adolescents' Conceptions of Historical Significance” by Linda Levstik looks at the disjuncture between what could be taught and what is being taught. She found that teachers and teacher candidates often don’t teach the type of history that students feel is important to their national identities. In “Methods and Aims of Teaching History in Europe: A Report on Youth and History,” Bodo von Borries also found a difference between what European history teachers think they are teaching and what students are actually learning.

Teaching world history is another thread in this collection. Ross E. Dunn’s “Constructing World History in the Classroom” discusses three models for teaching world history and advocates for the Patterns of Change Model, firmly rooted in the discipline of history and based around historical questions that seek to explore the “interaction of the pieces of human history.” Denis Shemilt’s article “The Caliph's Coin: The Currency of Narrative Frameworks in History Teaching” supports this by saying that students should learn large processes of interrelation in history rather than fragmented and isolated pieces. In “Getting Specific about Training in Historical Analysis: A Case Study in World History,” Peter N. Stearns discusses an attempt to teach an interrelated world history in an undergraduate program by focusing on a comparison-based model. Finally, Robert B. Bain looks at how his high school students responded to thinking about historical inquiry in world history in his article “Into the Breach: Using Research and Theory to Shape History Instruction.”

In sum, this collection refocuses the discussion of what it means to think historically and “do” history, and provides many angles for “knowing, teaching, and learning” history in this disciplinary framework.

Source/Credit:

Samantha Cutrara

Trower, Shelley. Place, Writing, and Voice in Oral History. (2011)

ulrike — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:06:38 +0000

Citation:

Trower, Shelley. Place, Writing, and Voice in Oral History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Abstract/Summary:

Oral history provides a valuable way of understanding locality. This volume considers the importance of working closely with the specifics of place in the context of global issues including environmental concerns and new communication technologies. Developing interdisciplinary connections between oral history, literary studies, and geography, essays in this collection focus on how both oral and written narratives engage with particular places, ranging from Dartmoor and "the clay country" to the River Ouse, from London to the polar regions. Further, this collection considers how oral history interviews themselves – the sounds of voices – are recorded and listened to in particular places: on walks, in theatres, at home on the internet. In doing so, this volume highlights the importance of thinking methodically about place not only in terms of the content of interviews, but also their creation, dissemination, and reception.

Source/Credit:

Palgrave Studies in Oral History

Turgeon, Laurier, Jocelyn Létourneau et Khadiyatoulah Fall, dirs. Les espaces de l'identité. (1997)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:34:21 +0000

Citation:

Turgeon, Laurier, Jocelyn Létourneau et Khadiyatoulah Fall, dirs. Les espaces de l'identité. Sainte-Foy : Presses de l'Université Laval, 1997.

Abstract/Summary:

Ce livre représente une contribution des chercheurs du Centre d’études interdisciplinaires sur les lettres, les arts et les traditions (CÉLAT) de l’Université Laval aux études sur les espaces et les stratégies identitaires au Québec et dans d’autres parties du monde. Son but n’est pas d’assigner une place au Québec dans la hiérarchie des sociétés postmodernes ni de démontrer son caractère distinct, mais de prendre le Québec comme terrain d’observation des nouvelles articulations entre le local et le global que provoque la tourmente planétaire d’aujourd’hui. Comme la plupart des sociétés occidentales, le Québec est secoué par la transnationalisation des échanges, la fragmentation de la société, la montée des tensions ethniques et la pluralisation de l’espace politique.

Nous vivons actuellement une période de reconfiguration des identités qui remet en cause les manières mêmes de penser leur fonctionnement. D’emblée, les auteurs partagent l’idée que l’identité est construite, qu’elle est un processus continuellement en mouvement. Ils explorent trois lieux sensibles aux constructions identitaires – les espaces nationaux, les espaces urbains et les espaces interculturels – et favorisent les études à caractère comparatif, convaincus que les regards portés sur d’autres sociétés éclaireront notre compréhension des dynamismes identitaires au Québec. En plus de fournir une vision plus globale des processus identitaires, cette approche comparatiste inscrit le Québec dans le monde plutôt qu’elle ne l’en isole au nom d’un patrimoine qui lui serait spécifique. (http://www.celat.ulaval.ca/?page_id=2193)

Source/Credit:

CÉLAT

VanSledright, B. In Search of America's Past: Learning to Read History in Elementary School. (2002)

ulrike — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:21:09 +0000

Citation:

VanSledright, B. In Search of America's Past: Learning to Read History in Elementary School. New York: Teachers College Press, 2002.

Abstract/Summary:

Bruce VanSledright shows how young students can benefit from an investigative, inquiry-based approach to the study of history, as called for by the national standards. Addressing important questions about the teaching and learning of history in today's diverse classrooms, this volume conveys the results of an innovative teacher-research project using engaging stories of VanSledright's classroom experiences, provides examples and guidelines for teaching novices to engage in historical investigations (in contrast to memorizing details in a textbook), offers strong evidence that children do have the intellectual capacity to judge the validity, reliability, and perspective of historical documents and images, and wrestles with a number of issues facing history teachers who wish to embark on ambitious projects with their students that can take them against the grain of policy mandates (such as recall-based, high-stakes testing). (http://www.amazon.com/Search-Americas-Past-Learning-Elementary/dp/0807741922)

Source/Credit:

Amazon

von Heyking, A.J. Creating Citizens: History and Identity in Alberta’s Schools, 1905-1980. (2006)

ulrike — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:10:48 +0000

Citation:

von Heyking, A.J. Creating Citizens: History and Identity in Alberta’s Schools, 1905-1980. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2006.

Abstract/Summary:

How does one learn to be a good citizen? A good Canadian? Creating Citizens looks at the role schools have played in creating and sustaining a sense of Canadian identify for generations of Alberta students. History and social studies classes, more than others, are designed to prepare young students for meaningful citizenship and address issues of identity by interpreting the country’s and the region’s past. By examining history and social studies curricula and textbooks used in Alberta schools from 1905 to 1980, author Amy von Heyking shows how these materials helped shape the ways in which Albertans have identified themselves and their place in the world around them. The complex processes of curriculum development is also explored; by clarifying how the framework of decision-making regarding school content was created, von Heyking provides valuable insights into current debates about the purpose and content of public education. By tracing the evolution of this curriculum over the course of seventy-five years, Creating Citizens gives the reader a unique opportunity to analyze the images of the nation and the region as they were taught to generations of Alberta schoolchildren.

Source/Credit:

University of Calgary Press

Wertsch, James V. Voices of Collective Remembering. (2002)

ulrike — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:12:02 +0000

Citation:

Wertsch, James V. Voices of Collective Remembering. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Abstract/Summary:

Voices of Collective Remembering reviews various understandings of the term “collective memory” as it is used in the humanities and social sciences. Drawing on this review, James V. Wertsch outlines a particular version of collective remembering grounded in the use of “textual resources,” especially narratives. This takes him into the special properties of narratives that shape this process and into the issues of how textual resources are produced and consumed by examining the rapid, massive transformation of collective memory during the transition from Soviet Russia to post-Soviet Russia and the processes of collective memory formation, especially as carried out by modern states.

Source/Credit:

Cambridge University Press

Wineburg, Sam. Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past. (2001)

Anne Marie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:59:44 +0000

Citation:

Wineburg, Sam. Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001.

Abstract/Summary:

This ten chapter book is divided into four sections: Why Study History?, Challenges for the Student, Challenges for the Teacher, and History as National Memory. The chapters in this book are grounded in the basic assumption that history learning means learning how to make choices, how to balance opinions, how to tell stories, and how to “become uneasy” about the stories we tell. More specifically, this book examines questions and issues that lie at the center of the process of historical understanding.

In the first section, the first two chapters contextualize the proceeding chapters within general society-wide discussions about how to publicly memorialize the past. Arguing that within this context the more important question of “why teach history” was lost, Wineburg chooses to focus on this question rather than on debates about “which history to teach” in the first two chapters. Specifically, in chapter two he reviews research literature on this matter.

Section two is concerned with the challenges that novice history learners face. Thus in chapters three through five Wineburg draws from his own research to provide some insight on this matter and on how teachers can respond to the difficulties novice history learners experience. In chapter three Wineburg reports on a comparative study he conducted with high school students and professional historians concluding that history learning is more about learning how to think like a historian than learning content. Chapter four is a case study of two college students preparing to become teachers which reveals that the foundational knowledge that the college history curriculum assumes students have acquired in elementary and high school is often non-existent. Finally, chapter five focuses on a study Wineburg conducted with fifth and seventh graders to examine how they “picture the past” by making drawings of pilgrims, western settlers, and hippies.” This study revealed that traditional assumptions about gender have to be actively and explicitly disrupted by history teachers.

Section three takes up history teaching. Here, chapters six through eight draw primarily from Wineburg’s involvement in the “Teacher Assessment Project” at Stanford. These chapters were written with Suzanne Wilson who collaborated with him on this project. Finally, the last two chapters examine questions of history instruction within the context of broader issues of public “memory sites” in society. While the setting of chapter nine is the classroom, it is evident that students bring their knowledge of history from the outside world. Lastly, in chapter ten Wineburg attempts to flesh out the “culture history curriculum” and how this curriculum can inform the classroom history curriculum.

Source/Credit:

Ana Laura Pauchulo

Wyile, Herb. Speculative Fictions: Contemporary Canadian Novelists and the Writing of History. (2002)

ulrike — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 21:23:20 +0000

Citation:

Wyile, Herb. Speculative Fictions: Contemporary Canadian Novelists and the Writing of History. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002.

Abstract/Summary:

In the chapter “History, Theory, and the Contemporary Canadian Historical Novel,” Wyile discusses the revitalization of Canadian historical fiction, arguing that professional histories and historical fiction have developed over the last few decades to tell “revisionist” stories of previously neglected histories. Using theories from Derrida, Barthes, Foucault and others, Wyile critically examines Canadian historical novels such as The Temptations of Big Bear by Rudy Wiebe, Burning Water by George Bowering, and Igor by Heather Robertson. Wyile also analyzes historical discourse and its intricate relations between power and knowledge, how historical fiction has become more self-conscious and self-reflexive, and makes the argument that both history and literature make meaning of the past – it is unfair to say if one is more legitimate than the other.

In “Speculating in Fiction: Commodity Culture and the Crisis of Historicity,” Wyile explores how some Canadian historical novels remain submerged in the present while representing the past in order to engage with postmodern present and capitalist ethic that has shaped it. Wyile also examines how contemporary historical novels “speculate” in history – on the one hand they produce skepticism about historiographical practice and commodity culture, and on the other hand they are speculatively “investing” in history for the production of marketable fiction. Wyile refers to theorists such as Frederic Jameson, Terry Eagleton, Aijaz Ahmad and others that argue postmodern cultural production is decadent and complicit with contemporary culture, in comparison to theorists like Linda Hutcheon, Brian McHale and Patricia Waugh who regard postmodernism as offering more avenues for political and social critique of cultural production. Wyile analyzes Jane Urquhart’s Away, Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, Thomas Wharton’s Icefields, Susan Swan’s The Biggest Modern Woman of the World, and Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Englishman’s Boy to suggest that historical novels have found solid ground, despite postmodernism – although they often point in conflicting directions.

Source/Credit:

Emily Chicorli