The research focuses on in-service teacher education in contemporary history. As the role of history is dwindling in our society, it seems crucial to invest in its development and in its power to oppose the neoliberal vulgate of “the end of history”. This decline of history in society is reflected in its weakness as a school subject. This frailty is particularly true for more recent history. Only exceptionally the 20th century curriculum goes beyond the end of WW2. This happens despite the normative and the interest that students show for more recent events. The stretching of the chronology should be linked with a study focusing on the core of the discipline, its epistemology and methodology, or, in Bruner’s terms, its structure. Without this approach, history is perceived simply as a boring list of data and names. Yet, to develop a deep knowledge of history and its mechanisms, teachers should be properly trained. At present, history teachers usually do not have a historical background, particularly in contemporary history, which cannot but have a strong impact on their teaching. Advocating the relevance of the study of contemporary history, this work asks how teachers’ education can be improved in the light of what has been said. The three research questions that guided the path, therefore, were: what perception do teachers and students have of the experience of teaching/learning contemporary history? Which theoretical models and reflections exist and can offer a starting framework for developing new educational paths? Which tools and strategies can help teachers master this part of the discipline to activate effective teaching strategies and develop the discipline's training potential for critical thinking? To answer them, I chose a mixed method approach, with a concurrent quantitative and qualitative analysis. For the quantitative section, two questionnaires were developed to investigate the respective perception of teachers and students of history as a school subject. Their answers were analysed with a uni- and bivariate statistical analysis and also compared to one another. The results seem to show a large distance between students and teachers who have very different perceptions not only of what goes on in the classroom, but also of the reasons we study history for. If teachers think to teach history to develop their students’ critical thinking skills and to educate more aware citizens, students seem to think that history only deepens their general knowledge. A gap that could not be wider. The findings of the qualitative research were less extreme even if they confirm the divergence between students and teachers. The qualitative research methodology was a Teacher development research. I worked with four teachers planning six hours lessons on the events of the ’68. I observed them during the planning and while they were teaching. At the end of the project, I run a focus-group with some of their students to evaluate their interest of the topic and their perception of the new strategies implemented. I also discussed with the teachers their insights. The transcripts were analysed with the reflexive thematic analysis method proposed by Braun and Clarke. Overall, the research shows that not all the teachers feel comfortable teaching more recent history and, even if they find work on primary sources to be valuable, not all of them promote it during history classes. On the other hand, it confirmed that students are particularly interested in recent history and more motivated by a mix of strategies, in which the frontal lecture is just one of the possibilities and the textbook not always central.

La ricerca si concentra sulla formazione in servizio dei docenti in storia contemporanea. Mentre il ruolo della storia nella nostra società si indebolisce, è cruciale investire nel suo sviluppo e nel suo potere di opporsi alla vulgata neoliberale della “fine della storia”. Il declino dell’importanza della storia nella società si riflette nella sua debolezza come materia scolastica. Una fragilità che riguarda soprattutto la storia più recente. Solo di rado l’insegnamento della storia del ‘900 supera la fine della seconda guerra mondiale. Questo nonostante la normativa e l’interesse degli studenti per gli eventi più recenti. L’ampliamento cronologico dovrebbe essere connesso a uno studio che punti al cuore della disciplina, la sua epistemologia e metodologia, o, per dirla con Bruner, la sua struttura. Senza questo approccio la storia non può che essere percepita come una lista di date e nomi. Tuttavia, per promuovere una conoscenza profonda della storia e dei suoi meccanismi, è necessario che gli insegnanti siano formati. Attualmente, gli insegnanti di storia hanno solo di rado compiuto studi storici, ancor meno di storia contemporanea, con un conseguente impatto sul loro insegnamento della disciplina. Sostenendo la rilevanza dell’apprendimento della storia contemporanea, questo lavoro si chiede come migliorare la formazione dei docenti alla luce di quanto detto. Le tre domande che hanno guidato la ricerca sono state: che percezione hanno docenti e studenti dell’insegnamento/apprendimento della storia? Che modelli teorici e riflessioni esistono e possono offrire una cornice in cui ideare nuovi percorsi formativi? Quali strumenti e strategie possono aiutare a padroneggiare questa parte della disciplina per attivare strategie didattiche efficaci e sviluppare il potenziale della materia nella formazione del pensiero critico? Per rispondere, ho scelto di applicare un approccio di metodi misti, con un’analisi che combina una parte quantitativa e una qualitativa. Per quanto riguarda la sezione quantitativa, sono stati sviluppati due questionari per indagare le rispettive percezioni di studenti e docenti sulla storia come materia scolastica. Le risposte sono state analizzate con un’analisi statistica uni- e bivariata e confrontate tra loro. I risultati mostrano una grande distanza tra studenti e docenti che hanno non solo percezioni molto diverse di quello che succede in classe ma anche delle ragioni per cui studiamo la storia. Se gli insegnanti pensano, insegnando storia, di sviluppare le competenze di pensiero critico dei loro studenti e di educare cittadini più consapevoli, gli studenti pensano che l’apprendimento della storia ampli la loro cultura generale. Uno scarto notevole. I risultati della ricerca qualitativa, pur meno netti, confermano questa divergenza. La metodologia usata per la ricerca qualitativa è la Ricerca-Formazione. Ho lavorato con quattro docenti alla pianificazione di un’unità di apprendimento sul ’68. Le ho osservate durante la pianificazione e in classe. Alla fine del progetto, ho condotto dei focus group con alcuni studenti per verificare il loro interesse nell’argomento e nelle pratiche didattiche proposte. Ho anche discusso con le docenti le loro impressioni. Le trascrizioni sono state analizzate con l’analisi tematica riflessiva proposta da Braun e Clarke. Nell’insieme, la ricerca mostra che non tutti i docenti sono a proprio agio nell’insegnare la storia più recente e che, nonostante tutti ne riconoscano l’importanza, solo pochi lavorano in classe sulle fonti primarie. D’altra parte, ha confermato l’interesse degli studenti nella storia contemporanea e come siano maggiormente motivati da un mix di strategie didattiche, in cui la lezione frontale è solo uno dei metodi adottati e il libro di testo non sempre centrale.

(2024). A KALEIDOSCOPE FOR HISTORY IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING AND THE TEACHING/LEARNING OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. (Tesi di dottorato, , 2024).

A KALEIDOSCOPE FOR HISTORY IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING AND THE TEACHING/LEARNING OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

DI BARBORA, MONICA
2024

Abstract

The research focuses on in-service teacher education in contemporary history. As the role of history is dwindling in our society, it seems crucial to invest in its development and in its power to oppose the neoliberal vulgate of “the end of history”. This decline of history in society is reflected in its weakness as a school subject. This frailty is particularly true for more recent history. Only exceptionally the 20th century curriculum goes beyond the end of WW2. This happens despite the normative and the interest that students show for more recent events. The stretching of the chronology should be linked with a study focusing on the core of the discipline, its epistemology and methodology, or, in Bruner’s terms, its structure. Without this approach, history is perceived simply as a boring list of data and names. Yet, to develop a deep knowledge of history and its mechanisms, teachers should be properly trained. At present, history teachers usually do not have a historical background, particularly in contemporary history, which cannot but have a strong impact on their teaching. Advocating the relevance of the study of contemporary history, this work asks how teachers’ education can be improved in the light of what has been said. The three research questions that guided the path, therefore, were: what perception do teachers and students have of the experience of teaching/learning contemporary history? Which theoretical models and reflections exist and can offer a starting framework for developing new educational paths? Which tools and strategies can help teachers master this part of the discipline to activate effective teaching strategies and develop the discipline's training potential for critical thinking? To answer them, I chose a mixed method approach, with a concurrent quantitative and qualitative analysis. For the quantitative section, two questionnaires were developed to investigate the respective perception of teachers and students of history as a school subject. Their answers were analysed with a uni- and bivariate statistical analysis and also compared to one another. The results seem to show a large distance between students and teachers who have very different perceptions not only of what goes on in the classroom, but also of the reasons we study history for. If teachers think to teach history to develop their students’ critical thinking skills and to educate more aware citizens, students seem to think that history only deepens their general knowledge. A gap that could not be wider. The findings of the qualitative research were less extreme even if they confirm the divergence between students and teachers. The qualitative research methodology was a Teacher development research. I worked with four teachers planning six hours lessons on the events of the ’68. I observed them during the planning and while they were teaching. At the end of the project, I run a focus-group with some of their students to evaluate their interest of the topic and their perception of the new strategies implemented. I also discussed with the teachers their insights. The transcripts were analysed with the reflexive thematic analysis method proposed by Braun and Clarke. Overall, the research shows that not all the teachers feel comfortable teaching more recent history and, even if they find work on primary sources to be valuable, not all of them promote it during history classes. On the other hand, it confirmed that students are particularly interested in recent history and more motivated by a mix of strategies, in which the frontal lecture is just one of the possibilities and the textbook not always central.
PASTORI, GIULIA GABRIELLA ELENA
formazione docenti; storia contemporanea; didattica storia; '68; metodi misti
teachers education; contemporary history; history teaching; '68; mixed methods
M-PED/03 - DIDATTICA E PEDAGOGIA SPECIALE
English
28-mag-2024
36
2022/2023
embargoed_20270528
(2024). A KALEIDOSCOPE FOR HISTORY IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING AND THE TEACHING/LEARNING OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. (Tesi di dottorato, , 2024).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/482279
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