The teacher of history at work

The teacher of history at work

This section examines the research on the work of teachers in history and identifies key requirements for the development of effective teaching practise.

Overview

The teacher of history Research on history teaching

Teacher knowledge A knowledge base for history teaching The importance of subject-matter knowledge Understanding historical knowledge for teaching Beliefs about history Different views of history Teachers, learners and historical knowledge

Teachers and practice The practices of teachers of history Portraits of history practitioners What is effective history teaching?

Support work and learning environments History workplaces History's profile and status in the school curriculum Effective work and learning environments

Building communities of professional learners Subject associations and networks Alternative models of community building

The teacher of history

Research into the knowledge and work of teachers of history is a recent phenomenon. In the 1980s researchers turned their attention to questions about teachers' subject-matter knowledge, beliefs and pedagogical expertise. Three questions guided much of this inquiry:

What do teachers of history need to know to teach effectively?

How do teachers' beliefs about history and history learners affect instruction?

What is `good' history teaching and what does it look like `in action'?

While investigations into these areas continue, over the last decade researchers have commenced examining the significant role played by school subjects (which include history) in structuring secondary schooling, and defining teachers' professional identities. In addition, teachers' workplace conditions and the influence these exert on practice and learning opportunities are also coming under greater scrutiny.

The message that emerges from these studies is clear. Good history teaching entails more than knowing about subject matter, subject-specific pedagogy and students. It requires teachers to address workplace circumstances that inhibit innovation, limit professional learning opportunities and constrain the development of supportive work environments.

Research on history teaching

Over the last 20 years, systematic inquiry into history teaching has focused on:

teachers' subject-matter knowledge, beliefs about history as a discipline and school subject and the effects of these on classroom practice;i

teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and implications for planning, practice and the representation of history;ii beginning teachers' subject-matter knowledge and implications for teaching and learning;iii

history-specific mentoring and induction, subject departments and the career development of teachers;iv teacher and student views concerning effective history teaching and learning;v

comparative studies of how historians, learners and teachers of history reason about evidence;vi types of explanations used by teachers of history during teaching;vii

relationship between teachers' beliefs about history, pedagogy and students' understandings of history;viii

teachers' perceptions of students and the impact on curriculum decision-making and classroom practice;ix

the teacher, subject matter and learner as key contexts in the construction of historical knowledge.x

Teacher knowledge

A knowledge base for history teaching

Lee Shulman, head of the Knowledge Growth in Training Project, Stanford University, California, outlined the types of knowledge teachers need to plan curriculum, transform content for a student audience and represent subject matter in an authentic way. These categories provide a valuable checklist for history teachers when reflecting on instruction and evaluating their own professional growth. xi

Subject-matter or content knowledge

This consists of substantive and syntactic elements.

Substantive knowledge is the specific information, ideas, concepts and topics of a field. In the case of history, substantive knowledge is used when explaining the sequence, course and outcome of historical events and the relationship between them.

Syntactical knowledge consists of the tools and rules used when determining how and what information can be incorporated into a field via various modes of inquiry. In history this includes knowing the procedures historians use when justifying or challenging historical claims and determining their significance. General pedagogical knowledge

This is knowledge about the general theories and principles underlying child and adolescent learning and strategies for classroom organisation and management. It also includes knowledge about how cultural beliefs and personal characteristics influence learning. Pedagogical content knowledge

This is knowledge about how young people understand and learn subject-specific information, concepts and topics and how subject matter is best represented in instruction. In the case of history, this category discriminates between the subject matter of the historian and that of the history teacher, as knowledge is transformed by the history teacher to accommodate learners' needs and prior knowledge. Curricular knowledge

This is knowledge about syllabuses, programs and teaching resources, together with a capacity to critique, interpret and utilise these tools in line with students' specific social and cognitive needs. Knowledge of learners and learning

This is knowledge of students' physical, social and cognitive development, an awareness of their sociocultural backgrounds and a grasp of current research into how young people think, conceptualise and learn about the past. Contextual knowledge

This is a knowledge of factors affecting history teaching and learning within and beyond the classroom ? curriculum leadership, student and community perceptions of history as a school subject, and local, state and national policies and initiatives. Educative knowledge

This is knowledge about the values and intended outcomes underlying schooling.

The importance of subject-matter knowledge

While all these categories of knowledge contribute to informed practice, American history educators Suzanne Wilson and Sam Wineburg argue that subject-matter knowledge is crucial to the work of history teachers.xii

Teachers with a deep knowledge of history process information with ease and readily connect ideas and topics within and across curriculum areas to enrich student understanding.

In addition, key teaching skills ? explaining, informing, analysing, defining, comparing, concluding and reviewing ? are enhanced by fluent content knowledge.

Teachers' subject-matter knowledge influences how they select and organise content for instruction. Teachers with limited knowledge may misrepresent subject matter, fail to recognise learners' misconceptions, shy away from pedagogical experimentation, resort to transmission teaching and restrict student participation.

Teachers' subject-matter knowledge affects their capacity to assess learning and evaluate practice.

The importance of subject-matter expertise is borne out in the findings of the National Inquiry into School History.xiii Inquiry Director Tony Taylor documented how `out-of-field teaching' can compromise the quality of `history-within-SOSE' and is a continual source of concern for subject coordinators.

Secondary teachers and subject coordinators interviewed during the inquiry expressed concern over:

current attitudes prevalent in some schools that anyone can teach history

workplace practices that result in topping-up non-history staff workloads with residual history classes

the poor knowledge base of non-specialist teachers of history in primary and secondary schools.

Understanding historical knowledge for teaching

Research indicates that powerful teaching occurs when practitioners possess a `deep' understanding of historical knowledge, that is, key facts, concepts and ideas; procedures used by historians to inquire into the past; and the role of interpretation and narrative in constructing historical accounts. Suzanne Wilson argues that `deep' knowledge can be described as:

differentiated ? the teacher has a sophisticated understanding of concepts and ideas and is able to distinguish what is significant to teach about certain history topics; qualified ? the teacher understands historical knowledge and explanations as provisional. (According to Wilson, historians qualify new accounts of the past by `explicitly stating that the conclusions they draw are bound both by the contexts within which events took place and by the underdetermined nature of their work');

elaborated ? the teacher possesses a detailed knowledge of people, events and ideas, together with an understanding of the questions historians deal with in their professional work ? grasp of detail allows the practitioner to move around a topic area, rethink tired explanations, offer new solutions to persistent problems, challenge simplified accounts of the past and test theories;

integrated ? the teacher has a capacity to link events and ideas by making causal links between them and through establishing thematic connections across ideas or phenomenon.xiv

Sam Wineburg adds another dimension to this list:

generativity ? an understanding of current scholarship, debate and the rules applied by historians when judging the worth of historical claims.xv

Bruce VanSledright cites two common gaps in teachers' `generative' knowledge:

slowness to embrace constructivist ideas about the historian's role in shaping accounts of the past, thereby diminishing the importance of perspective or `position' as a key factor in making history;

a reticence to integrate sociocultural approaches or `bottom-up' views of history into teaching learning programs, thereby limiting students' access to a `multi-voiced' and richly layered past.xvi

Beliefs about history

Similar students learning the same content from different teachers often encounter wildly divergent learning experiences.

An explanation for this lies in teachers' beliefs about subject matter or the `why', `what' and `how' of teaching it. Beliefs lie at the core of teachers' knowledge and account for their particular orientation to subject matter and teaching, that is, what they see as worthwhile for students to know.

A study by Wineburg and Wilson suggests that a teacher who believes history is provisional and open to debate will encourage students to question accounts of the past. Another who views history as a factual recount will emphasise the accumulation of historical data. While others, predisposed to seeing history as a force for social change may focus on gender, race and power.xvii

It is important to keep in mind that although beliefs about knowledge are rarely made explicit in instruction, they are implicitly embedded in curriculum, in teachers' perceptions of students' capabilities as subject learners, in teaching and learning activities and in classroom conversation.

Different views of history

Building on the research of Wilson and Wineburg, and drawing on observational, questionnaire and interview data, American researcher Ronald Evans has developed a set of typologies that capture teachers' conceptions of history and beliefs about the purposes of history instruction. The categories are not exclusive. Evans found that participants' beliefs and practices varied within categories and overlap occurred across categories.xviii

The storyteller believes that tales engender an interest in history and transmit cultural knowledge. The approach is teacher-centred and didactic. The storyteller regards the past as unproblematic ? as simple verbal snapshots linked by loose narratives and characterised by opposites such as rich?poor or strong?weak. Evans found that this approach can blanket discussion, leave misconceptions unchallenged and fails to address thorny historical issues.

The scientific historian believes that questioning, analysis, interpretation and explanation lie at the heart of history `making' and lead to the resolution of historical puzzles and problems. While operating from a strong disciplinary base, the approach presents history as a means of broadening the mind and arriving at informed decisions.

The relativist/reformer believes that history provides a backdrop to the contemporary world. Exponents are social reconstructionists committed to shaping future possibilities through active inquiry and informed action. Evans found that the majority of study participants fell into this category. Most were experienced teachers with some degree of political and religious affiliation.

The cosmic philosopher believes that history works in recurrent `patterns' or cycles of progress and decline ? whatever happened in the past has vital ramifications for the future. Evans describes this orientation as `meta-history' or `an attempt to synthesise all of human experience, to locate human experience in a grand pattern'.xix While exponents utilised a range of teaching learning strategies, most favoured process approaches.

The eclectic believes that history is best represented in multiple ways for numerous purposes ? stories to entertain, an interest, a form of intellectual training, a means of making sense out of the past and a source of personal and community identity. Evans found elements of all the above categories in the belief statements and classroom practices of `eclectics'.

Evans's research shows:

the strong relationship between beliefs, curriculum planning and pedagogy;

that teachers' conceptions of history frequently mirror the orientations of practising historians, that is, historical traditions or schools of thought;

that conceptions grow out of family background, childhood experiences, academic training and religious and political affiliations;

that because teachers are unaware of their own beliefs they often remain unchallenged.

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