Promoting historical contextualisation in classrooms: an observational study |
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| Authors: | Tim Huijgen Paul Holthuis Carla van Boxtel Wim van de Grift |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands;2. Research Institute of Child Development and Education and Amsterdam School of Culture and History, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | The aim of this observational study is to explore how history teachers promote historical contextualisation in their lessons. Historical contextualisation is the ability to situate phenomena and individuals’ actions in the context of time, historical location, long-term developments, or specific events to give meaning to these phenomena and actions. Using the Framework for Analysing the Teaching of Historical Contextualisation (FAT-HC), five trained raters observed eight history teachers twice. To further analyse the observation scores, the FAT-HC items were divided into eight categories while distinguishing between items that demonstrate historical contextualisation and items focusing on engaging students in historical contextualisation processes. The results indicate that the teachers in the sample did not explicitly promote historical contextualisation in their lessons. No teacher obtained a mean FAT-HC score >2.00 on a four-point scale. The teachers mainly demonstrated historical contextualisation, while engaging students in historical contextualisation processes was observed far less often. The findings can be used to help teachers formulate domain-specific instruction to promote students’ ability to perform historical contextualisation. |
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| Keywords: | History instruction historical contextualisation observation instrument historical thinking teaching quality |
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