Changing conceptions of historical thinking in History education: an Australian case study

Autores

  • Robert J. Parkes The University of Newcastle
  • Debra Donnelly The University of Newcastle

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5965/2175180306112014113

Resumo

Many nations have experienced conflict over the content of their History curriculum, and debates over the relative importance of skills (historical thinking) versus content (historical knowledge). Australia is no exception. This paper seeks to contribute to discussions over the importance of historical thinking in History education by exploring the changing conceptions of historical thinking in the History curricula of New South Wales (NSW) (Australia’s most populous state; which evolved from the earliest British colony; has an uninterrupted tradition of History teaching in high schools; and a rather unique post-compulsory extension course). Recently, History has become a mandatory subject in all Australian schools from the foundation year through to the last year of compulsory schooling [F-10], for the first time since the federation of the Australian states (1901), when curriculum was constitutionally determined to be a State responsibility. This paper charts the changing forms and relative importance of historical thinking as an explicit outcome of History education in NSW History curricula, from its emergence in the 1970s elective History curriculum to current explication in the NSW syllabi for the mandatory Australian 'national' Curriculum. It also explores the nature and significance of the post-compulsory 'senior' History extension course in NSW, an option for History students in the final non-compulsory year of schooling. This extension course boldly incorporates the study of historiography, requiring students to apply their meta-historical insights in an original historiographic investigation, anchoring complex historical theory in an experience of being an historian. We argue that the move to incorporate historiography into the curriculum expands the notion of what constitutes historical thinking in History education. Thus, we conclude by reflecting on what these different ways of conceptualising historical thinking mean for the social and educational function of history, and what implications they suggest for History education.

Keywords: History Teaching; Historical Thinking; Australian.

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Biografia do Autor

Robert J. Parkes, The University of Newcastle

Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Newcastle, and convenor of the HERMES History Education Research Network. He teaches in the area of History, Social and Media Education. His research interests include History education, Meta-Historical Literacy, and Curriculum Theories, Politics, and Histories.

Debra Donnelly, The University of Newcastle

History educator and program convenor in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, NSW, working in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Dr Donnelly's research interests centre on the role of the visual and media in the development of historical consciousness in an age of ever-increasing access through modern technology. It seeks to explore and clarify the relationship between teacher conceptual frameworks of historical understanding, problematic knowledge and historical representation and memory and pedagogical practice.

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Publicado

2014-05-27

Como Citar

PARKES, Robert J.; DONNELLY, Debra. Changing conceptions of historical thinking in History education: an Australian case study. Revista Tempo e Argumento, Florianópolis, v. 6, n. 11, p. 113–136, 2014. DOI: 10.5965/2175180306112014113. Disponível em: https://periodicos.udesc.br/index.php/tempo/article/view/2175180306112014113. Acesso em: 29 mar. 2024.