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History: what do students think?

History: what do students think?. Key issue addressed by the study. This study aimed to: reveal the ideas about history which young people bring as preconceptions to their learning

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History: what do students think?

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  1. History: what do students think?

  2. Key issue addressed by the study • This study aimed to: • reveal the ideas about history which young people bring as preconceptions to their learning • explore the links between views of history and social cohesion among indigenous and non-indigenous students in England and the Netherlands

  3. Young people’s views of history • Young people saw history as important for understanding their society • Pupils were interested in different periods of history from those they could typically study at secondary school • Around 40 per cent of young people from the UK agreed that sharing a common history creates “mutual bonds”

  4. The kinds of history students are interested in • All the groups of students: • recognised the importance of their country’s history • believed history helped them understand the society they lived in • believed family history was important; more so for BME students than for non-BME students

  5. Historical periods students are most interested in • All the students liked these topics: • ancient history • post war era from 1945 to the present • 1900 to 1945

  6. Students’ interest areas as compared with the national curriculum • Students’ preferences were at odds with the periods most commonly taught under the secondary curriculum e.g. • Currently very little teaching of post-war events • Teaching of ancient history limited almost entirely to primary aged pupils

  7. Young peoples’ definition of identity • Depending on their background students tended to identify with their country of residence or by their/their parents’ country of origin/ religion • Very few students from either country regarded their prime identity in terms of either ‘world citizen’ or ‘European’

  8. Who were the children in the study? • 442 students from metropolitan areas in the Netherlands and England • The students were aged 14 -18 years and were of various ethnic backgrounds

  9. How was the information gathered? • Student questionnaire with questions about e.g. identity, importance of history, historical periods • Students’ answers were grouped according to various criteria: the country of residence (England or the Netherlands), ethnic background, gender, age, level of education, etc

  10. How can teachers use this evidence? • Young people, particularly from ethnic minority backgrounds, rated family history as highly important • Could you include family history as part of school history to make it more meaningful to them? • Students expressed greater interest in some periods of history rather than others • Would it be helpful to explore with your students the less popular periods of history and possible teaching/learning approaches?

  11. How can school leaders use this evidence? • Young people stated they liked ancient history most. What do students in your school think? • Could you survey your students to find out which periods of history they are interested in? • Having surveyed your students could you organise professional development for your colleagues to explore how they could incorporate students’ preferences into the curriculum?

  12. Follow-up reading • Study reference: Grever, M., Haydn, T. and Ribbens K. (2008) Identity and School History: the Perspective of Young People from the Netherlands and England British Journal of Educational Studies, Vol. 56, No. 1, March 2008, pp. 76-94 • You might like to read a more detailed summary, accessible at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/pupil_voice/studentsthink/

  13. Feedback • Did you find this useful? • What did you like? • What didn’t you like? Any feedback on this Research Bite would be much appreciated. Please email your feedback to: research.summaries@education.gsi.gov.uk

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