Arthur Chapman

A case-study of one teacher's use of an interactive whiteboard system to support knowledge co-construction in the history classroom

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have rapidly become an integral feature of many classrooms across the UK and elsewhere, but debate continues regarding the pedagogical implications of their use. This article reports on an in-depth case-study from the wider T-MEDIA project (Teacher Mediation of Subject Learning with ICT: a Multimedia Approach). A key aim of the study was to draw upon sociocultural perspectives to develop a shared, grounded theoretical account of the processes through which teachers mediate subject learning incorporating use of the IWB and other resources. A series of six history lessons with a class of pupils aged 12–13 was videoed and analysed collaboratively by a university research team, the teacher, one of his colleagues and an academic subject specialist. We identify an emerging emphasis upon interdependent learning relationships in the classroom and illustrate how this particular teacher harnessed IWB technology to support a dialogic approach to knowledge construction in history. Strategies included communicating and developing complex ideas and modelling historical thinking processes through use of multiple digital resources; collaborative annotation of images and texts; spotlighting and reveal tools for focusing; and ‘drag and drop’ for classification activities. Revisiting annotated slides served to draw on shared experience.

Organizing the Past: Historical Accounts, Significance and Unknown Ontologies

The importance of accounts in history is paramount because histories only exist in the present in the form of accounts of the past in written and in other media. In their chapter Cercadillo, Chapman and Lee focus on students’ understandings of historical narratives and representations per se rather than on the establishment of particular facts or explanations about the past. The authors review what is known about students’ understandings of accounts, and of the related second-order concept historical significance, explaining different empirically based models of progression in historical thinking. Moreover, they offer some novel lines for research in relation to the relevance of cognitive ethics and epistemic dispositions in history education.

Holocaust Education 25 Years On: Challenges, Issues, Opportunities

ABSTRACT This essay provides an introductory overview to the articles contained within this special issue. It suggests that the recent passage of 25 years since the Holocaust first appeared as a statutory subject in the English National Curriculum represents a key moment to “mark time”: that is, to make the first moves in constructing an anthropology of Holocaust education in the postmodern epoch. It is argued that the need for this is pressing, not least because landmark research by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education has highlighted serious issues in relation to students’ knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust. This national research has international significance, and is used in this special issue as the starting point for reflections from both educators and historians in England and beyond.

International Instructional Systems: Social Studies.

ABSTRACT This paper reports on research conducted as part of the International Instructional System Study that explored five subject areas across nine jurisdictions in six high-performing countries. The Studys overall aim was to understand what, if anything, there is in common in the curricula and assessment arrangements among the high-performing jurisdictions to see if there are aspects of instructional system design that might account, in part, for high performance. This paper focuses on social studies which in most jurisdictions includes elements of history, geography and citizenship and highlights a number of emerging issues. These include the advantages and disadvantages of teaching history and geography separately or within a social studies programme; the extent to which key concepts are embedded within the social studies/history/geography curricula; whether the level of demand should be considered in terms of a generic taxonomy or in terms of subject specific models; how progression might be defined and considerations of an appropriate balance between teacher assessment and external assessment.

Understanding what young people know: methodological and theoretical challenges in researching young people’s knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust

ABSTRACT This article draws on research into young people’s knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust conducted by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education (CfHE). Two questions are addressed: “How can we theorize and measure development and progression in young people’s historical knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust?” and “How can empirical social scientific research methods be used to help us describe young people’s knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust?” This article reviews methodologies developed by the CfHE and exemplifies a research tool and two complementary approaches to analysis, focused on young people’s descriptions of the Holocaust.