6.1 Understanding how history works

Outline of this unit

Debates about the nature of history may seem a long way from the day-to-day business of teaching – a by-way that perhaps should not be tackled in a training programme in which there is never enough time for everything. However, the debates of the last twenty years between those who see school history centring on the transmission of content - descriptions of events, people and changes - and those who see history as a process have had immense influence on classroom practice. This unit looks at the background to these debates, their relationship to philosophical questions about the discipline of history and their impact on the teaching of the subject.

But why should this be part of a teacher-training programme?
First, in order to describe and reflect on their teaching, trainees will need to use the language of the discipline, for example second order concepts such as cause, consequence, similarity and difference. To do this effectively, they need to understand how the terms have evolved, how they are used, and some of the strengths and weaknesses of using them to describe the subject. They also need to see how particular philosophies impact on practice. For example, many historical exercises ask pupils to look at the reasons for events and to classify causes into types, e.g. short-term, long-term, political, economic etc. Classifying causes in this way can help pupils see patterns but it also imposes a particular view of causal explanations and a way of analysing a particular event, which may not be historically valid. Understanding the philosophy and the way the language of school history has evolved can help trainees better decide when and when not to use a particular approach.

Second, concepts such as cause, consequence and change have been used to help conceptualise what it means to get better at doing history. National Curriculum level descriptions, GCSE, AS and A level grade criteria are all based on this method of describing attainment in history. However what were developed as criteria for particular contexts, such as National Curriculum levels for end of key stage assessment, have been applied inappropriately: the level descriptions have been deconstructed and used in day-to-day teaching and assessment. Only if they understand the models, and how and why they were developed, will new trainees have the professional confidence to use, reject and modify them as they see fit.

Knowing how history works can help trainees build more valid links with other subjects and to embed literacy in their teaching. If linking is to work, then the trainee needs to see what each discipline and approach contributes. Literacy activities may involve pupils in collecting and classifying information and such activities will help pupils comprehend the text. But in order to develop pupils’ historical skills, the activity needs to be set in the context of an historical enquiry and pupils need to reflect on the status of the information, why it was produced and for what purpose.

Finally, understanding what history is about enables the trainee to explain to pupils and parents why history is important and what they will gain from studying it. Indeed, it could be argued that pupils need to be helped to understand how history works as part of their course and that this is a key part of teaching and learning in history.

6.1.1 Why is an understanding of how history works so important?