1Junior Cycle History: the Road Ahead

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Contents

1Junior cycle history: The road ahead

2International practice in history education

3The Junior Certificate History syllabus

4History in schools

5Continuity in the students’ experience of history

6History specification in the new junior cycle

7Brief of the review of junior cycle history

References

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1 Junior cycle history: The road ahead

1.1 Introduction

A new specification for junior cycle history will be introduced in 2018. The curriculum specification and assessment guidelines for the subject will be published a year earlier in September 2017. This paper provides a background for the development of the specification for junior cycle history.

The paper will form the basis of a consultation which seeks to elicit the views of a range of interested parties including practising teachers and students on the learning and teaching of history and to contribute to the development of a new junior cycle specification for the subject. The paper addresses themes including

• the role of history within a broad educational experience
• perspectives on international good practice in history education at this level
• the current status of history in junior cycle
• existing approaches to learning and teaching in junior certificate history
• connections between junior certificate history and history learning in the Primary School Curriculum and senior cycle
• issues that should be addressed in the development of the new junior cycle history specification.

1.2 History in society and in the curriculum

The ongoing process of junior cycle reform in Ireland presents a timely opportunity to reflect on current thinking about the nature and purpose of post-primary history education. The following introductory observations to this background paper are intended to set the context for a wider review of the status of history education in Ireland that is to follow.

History in society

A notable feature of modern culture, both in Ireland and internationally, is the level of popular or general interest in history. This phenomenon is notable in various respects. Bookshops devote much space to works dealing with historical themes, while historical fiction has emerged as a much-read genre. Historical magazines and journals also fill the newsstands. Television programme makers are conscious of general interest in history among the viewing public, with a significant amount of airtime now afforded to documentaries and dramatic re-enactments of historical figures and events, while increased interest in genealogy and family history is also evident in television schedules. Popular cinema upholds the profile of historical interest, with big-budget biopics and blockbuster interpretations of historical themes continuing to attract cinema-goers in their droves. Historical and heritage tourism is thriving, with sites of historical interest attracting many visitors, while related interpretive centres are often developed in association with such sites. The internet is a repository of much historical richness, allowing access to a wide array of historical themes and sources, while availing of technological advances to present historical knowledge and understanding in innovative ways, such as the use of interactive techniques and visual aids. Local history and heritage societies also continue to thrive, with research on aspects of local history generating a rich and varied body of literature.

Interestingly, the increasing popularity of history as a subject of intellectual curiosity or a means of recreation or leisure for many people also reflects a diverse range of themes of historical interest. The dominance of political or military themes that characterised the educational experience of history for many people in previous decades has been challenged by an increased interest in exploring the lives of ordinary people as distinct from those in positions of power and influence. This focus of enquiry has been characterised in historiography as ‘people’s history’ or ‘history from below’ (which was the title of EP Thompson’s seminal essay published in The Times Literary Supplement in April 1966) and has led to wide-ranging enquiries into the history of the previously marginalised or excluded. Much contemporary historical research deals with the lives and experiences of ordinary people, and is often focused through specific thematic prisms such as class or gender, marking a considerable shift from an experience of history centred in the main on established figures of authority, power and influence.

The upsurge of interest in history has been complemented by, and indeed aided by, significant advances in means of accessing sources of information. The digitisation of records of different types has transformed the manner in which sources can be accessed. For instance, numerous newspapers of record have made their past editions available online, while the digitisation of Irish census records for 1901 and 1911 has generated enormous levels of interest, providing further evidence of the appetite for history in the population at large and in particular, genealogical history. Equally, online technology has enabled speedy access to archival records from across the world at the push of a button, with official records, such as government papers as accessible as unofficial ones, such as letters, diaries, memoirs and photographs.

1.3 Public engagement with history: State commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising

The current centenary of the 1916 Rising has provided a timely opportunity to witness how contemporary Ireland demonstrates a consciousness of its historical inheritance, with a vast and diverse range of commemorative events taking place throughout the state at local and national level. The commemoration of the Rising is in the context of a broader framework of commemorations remembering key events that took place between 1912 and 1922 that are considered to be significant in terms of the establishment of an independent Irish state. In 2011, an expert advisory group was set up to advise the government on how to approach the so-called ‘Decade of Centenaries’ from a historical perspective. The 1916 Rising is considered the centrepiece of this decade-long programme. The official website of the state’s commemorative programme states that in developing its programme of events, the expert advisory group was mindful that the programme should ‘encompass the different traditions on the island of Ireland and . . . enhance understanding of and respect for events of importance among the population as a whole’ and that it should also ’foster deeper mutual understanding among people from different traditions on the island of Ireland’.

The tone of the year’s celebrations has been set by the official overarching themes represented as ‘Remember, Reflect, Reimagine’, where the Irish people are encouraged to engage in

Remembering our history and in particular the events of 1916

Reflecting on our achievements as a Republic in the intervening century

Reimagining our future for coming generations (‘Ireland.ie’, 2016)

Thousands of events have taken place during the year, with the events and personalities of the Rising commemorated in music, dance, song, poetry and art in the context of the state’s commemorative themes. Reflecting the large general interest in history mentioned earlier, the centenary has generated a range of books, articles, documentaries and dramatic representations exploring the Rising and its significance from various perspectives. A notable feature of the year has been the extent to which a keen appetite for historical debate and discussion has been evident, with the legacy of the rising and the extent to which the ideals expressed in the proclamation have been realised by successive generations.

A further point of interest is how history has been envisaged by the state as a vehicle to promote certain values and attitudes. The official programme to mark the state commemoration of 1916 declares that the celebrations of 2016 ‘will belong to everyone on this island and to our friends and families overseas – regardless of political or family background, or personal interpretation of our modern history’. It also signifies its intention that the Irish people in celebrating the centenary ‘will engage with the different traditions on our island and recognise the different narratives of today and we will seek to imagine the future in ways that strengthen peace and reconciliation and respect all traditions as envisaged in the ideals of the Proclamation’. Thus, it is evident that the state envisaged that public engagement with the history of the Rising would lead to a positive and affirming civic experience.

1.4 Implications for how we define school history: Two contrasting views

The prominence accorded by the state during the 1916 commemoration to the promotion of historical awareness and debate among citizens, and the association of that debate with the fostering of positive values of tolerance and respect, provides an interesting insight into questions about the role of history as a discipline, and how we define history. In the context of history education, these questions generate different views. How does one preserve the integrity of history as a discipline where objectivity and a dispassionate interrogation of events and issues are paramount while simultaneously promoting, even on a subtle level, such values as positive citizenship, patriotism and even democracy? The tension in this debate is of course not confined to Ireland. One arena in which these tensions were explored was the UK in the early 1990s, in the context of the framing of history as a foundation subject in the newly-created National Curriculum, and it is interesting to consider contrasting viewpoints on the purposes of school history at this time by two distinguished thinkers in this area.

In his 1992 article ‘The Purpose of School History: Has the National Curriculum Got it Right?’, John White considers the role of history in the framework of a broader educational experience. White argues that

The main reason for teaching history in schools is as a necessary element in the cultivation of those personal qualities in students like self-knowledge, self-determination and concern for the well-being of others, which fit them to be citizens of a liberal democratic society. (White, 1992, p. 19)

He contends that as ‘future autonomous, other-regarding democratic citizens, children need to be brought up with a certain degree of attachment to a sense of national community where they must see themselves as bound to other members of the community by common ties, including . . . a shared history’ (p. 17). In critiquing alternative views, he challenges in particular Peter Lee’s preferred aim of ‘history for its own sake’, where he quotes Lee directly as stating, ‘history changes our view of the world, of what the present is and of what human beings are and might be . . . (it) expands our whole picture of the world and of what ends might be possible’ (1992, p. 11). This view, characterised as ‘the transformative aim’ of history (1992, p. 11), does not convince White; he is not persuaded by Lee’s contention that the fulfilment of this aim solely constitutes ‘genuine history’ (p. 14). White contends that he sees no good reason for the expansion of knowledge or understanding for its own sake as a basic objective in education; he advocates instead the central aim of education as ‘the promotion of the student’s well-being as an autonomous person within a liberal-democratic community’ (1992, p. 17).

Responding to White’s article in ‘History in Schools: Aims, Purposes and Approaches. A Reply to John White’ (Lee, 1992), Lee is critical of the ‘narrow conception of history’ represented by White as a means of providing information for personal and social functioning that is contrary to ‘the wider conception of history as a way of looking at the world, past and present, distant or recent, European or “world”’ (1992, p. 31). Lee argues that

pupils need to understand long-term change, to grasp the difference between short and long-term importance, to see how different kinds of significance can be attributed to the same changes in different temporal and spatial contexts. They need to examine radically different ways of life from ours, and to understand alternative individual ideals…(Lee, 1992, p. 31)

Lee rejects White’s proposition that the central aim of teaching history is the cultivation of liberal-democratic values. Acknowledging that such an aim could be argued as acceptable as an aim of education in general, he says that

it cannot be an aim of history. History has no allegiance to ‘liberal-democratic community’ as an ideal. It is concerned to explore communities of every kind, both in their own terms and in ours, where ‘ours’ is never to be taken as a single fixed perspective belonging to any one nation, class, race, culture or community. It emphasises that any such ideal is in any case continuously undergoing change… (Lee, 1992, p. 29)

Lee warns against extending the aims of history beyond what can be delivered by history, including more general educational personal and social goals, and reiterates the transformative aim of history, which carries with it such personal and social goals as are built into learning history. Indeed he maintains that ‘if priority is given to intrinsic historical aims, the transformation aim becomes a realistic possibility, and this in turn means that there is some chance of achieving the wider educational aims’ central to White’s argument (Lee, 1992).

It is hoped that these reflections on the primacy of history in society, its use in promoting certain values designed to ensure social cohesion, its nature and purpose as a school subject, its role in the context of a broader educational framework with general aims and goals, its relationship to citizenship education and the tension evident in contrasting views of its aims will inform the remainder of this paper, and will stimulate some further thought and discussion during the consultation phase in the design of the new junior cycle history specification.

2 International practice in history education

2.1 Introduction

This section is intended as a brief overview of some international practices in relation to presenting history on school curricula and of particular perspectives in relation to the teaching of history.

2.2 The value of learning history

There is a high level of agreement internationally on the value of learning history. In England, the history programme at Key Stage 3 (roughly corresponding to the third year of junior cycle) states that history teaching should ‘equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments . . . develop perspective and judgement, [help students] understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies’ (Department for Education, 2013, p. 1).

In advice on the teaching of history in Scottish schools, The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) in 2011 recognised history as a key element in the education of post-primary students. Its opening comment asserted that

History not only has the capacity to fascinate . . . and stimulate learners’ imaginations; it also teaches key transferrable skills. . . . History, with its emphasis on proof, the rigorous testing of evidence and assumptions, clarity of thought and expression, and the development of coherent argument, is a critical part of fit-for-purpose school education (RSE, 2011, p. 1).

Along a similar line, the New South Wales history syllabus asserts its purpose as stimulating

students’ interest in . . . exploring the past, to develop a critical sense of understanding of the past and its impact upon the present, to develop the critical skills of historical enquiry and to enable students to participate as active, informed and responsible citizens. (Board of Studies NSW, 2013, p. 12)

Most importantly, it sees history as explaining how people and events have shaped our world which will help students ‘locate and understand themselves . . . in the continuum of human experience’ (Board of Studies NSW, 2013, p. 10).

What is notable about these statements is that the subject is viewed as a subject with practical applications, which involve equipping students with practical skills for the acquisition and application of knowledge with a view to their playing a positive future role in society.

A Eurydice report on the design of history syllabuses throughout the European Union entitled History in the Curriculum is interesting in that it illustrates the relative importance our European partners place on the teaching of history as a component of their education systems. Of 23 countries surveyed, 15 included history as a stand-alone subject and 8 included the teaching of history as part of an interdisciplinary, social-studies type programme (Eurydice, 2010). That several countries choose to view history as a social science illustrates that while they recognise history in itself as an important element of education, they also recognise that learning and teaching of the subject can be part of an overall picture where history, geography and citizenship are interdependent. Indeed, this has been the approach adopted by the International Baccalaureate for many years.

In Belgium, the Flemish community places an emphasis on students learning ‘knowledge and skills regarding time, historical space and sociality’ (Eurydice, 2010, p. 3). Students in the Czech Republic are expected to ‘independently search for, obtain and explore information’ so that they understand that ‘history is not a closed part of the past . . . but also involves asking questions through which the present looks into the past to find its contemporary character and possible future’ (Eurydice, 2010, pp. 5-6). In Finland, the aim is stated as ’to guide students in becoming responsible players who know how to treat the phenomena of their own era and the past critically’ (Eurydice, 2010, p. 9). Hungary identifies ‘respect for the values, history and traditions of other peoples’ as a key goal (Eurydice, 2010, p. 19). Iceland’s history curriculum aims to ‘encourage broad-mindedness’ (Eurydice, 2010, p. 20) and Italy aims to promote ‘autonomous enquiry’ among students so that they can

gather historical information [from a variety of sources and] organise them in a text . . . make historical connections and argue their own reflections, use their knowledge and skills to orientate themselves in the present, understand different cultures and opinions, [to] understand the fundamental problems of the contemporary world. (Eurydice, 2010, pp. 27-28)

The Royal Society of Edinburgh had a particularly interesting perspective regarding the value of teaching history. It asserted that history is ‘the subject most vulnerable to tendentious distortions for ideological purposes, a disciplined approach to History should be an important element in the education of all citizens’ (RSE, 2011, p. 2). The misuse of history for purposes of indoctrination and evasive propaganda is a very real danger. As such, it can be argued that every citizen should have some level of exposure to the process of interpreting information about the past.