Narrative and the Teaching of History : Identities and Human Behaviour

Part of : Επετηρίς του Κέντρου Ερεύνης της Ελληνικής Λαογραφίας ; Vol.33-34, 2009, pages 441-460

Issue:
Pages:
441-460
Parallel Title:
Αφήγηση και διδακτική της ιστορίας : Ταυτότητες και ανθρώπινη συμπεριφορά
Author:
Abstract:
In this paper, I aim to define the position narrative currently holds as one of the main methods of organizing and completing the teaching of history in General Education (Primary and Secondary levels). I will also make a brief reference to its connection to the teaching of history, from the very moment history was added as a subject to the education curriculum (approximately the mid-19th century in Greece, and other countries). I will track the influences of historiography of that period on the ways in which the subject was presented, as the narrative nature of history was, from the very beginning, considered one of its basic manifestations. To this day, this has essentially neither been questioned nor refuted, not even by the newer and contemporary approaches of historical research and history instruction. Taking this into consideration, I think it is indisputable that the documentation of history is inherently narrative, and any proposals that sporadically surfaced to discard narrative from teaching were based on the complete image that had evolved, rather like a label attached to what was known as "traditional - old" history. I shall, however, refer to certain refutations of the basic principles and practices of traditional history and to the dialogue that ensued between historians, which also influenced history instruction, in relation to the positive proposals of the so-called "new history". While the latter enthusiastically, and with some degree of passion, attempted to discard certain principles and practices of "old history", which included narrative, this approach was actually, at the same time, essentially being disproved by the very historians involved. What may perhaps not have been sufficiently emphasized is the need to constantly renew and adjust narrative to whatever the new educational and pedagogical objectives of history and of the teaching of history may be. A critical approach to the old - traditional narrative history is one of the objectives of this paper. Our concern will be to understand the reasons that lead to the retreat of the rejectionist position, paying particular attention to understanding the importance of this constant renewal for the instructional act. We shall also attempt to demonstrate the importance of narrative discourse in a context combining classroom research and the teaching of history; an experiential teaching where narrative discourse, by seeking to essentially interpret and thoroughly analyze events, would be able to compose relevant written and oral discourse, by containing axiological judgments and essential reconstructions of the past. In particular, narrative discourse involves efforts to develop critical historical thinking on a level that will indicate that teachers and students possess the skills to interpret the singular position that contemporary humankind, in fact, occupies in the world today. It should be emphasized that the skills that reveal the identity of the narrative discourse of historians, history teachers and students, more or less present and demonstrate their personal identity and behavior in the contemporary world. This is something which apparently occurs constantly, since every single approach to history is the function of its scientific and methodological principles and, to a large extent, the values, beliefs, and convictions of individuals while they are alive and active.
Subject:
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
History, historiography, narrative, teaching of history, history didactics, identities, human behaviour, historical sources
References (1):
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