Historical thinking about sources in the context of a standards‐based curriculum: a Swedish case

Abstract

The increased interest in basing teaching on disciplinary thinking has had a profound impact on the syllabus for history in Sweden. Within this context, we examine how students demonstrate one aspect of disciplinary thinking in history, namely reasoning about historical sources. The material used is written answers to an assignment about historical sources in the national test in history for year 6. The analysis shows that many students are able to show at least some aspects of disciplinary thinking about sources, though the vast majority has problems with contextualising the source in the assignment. One explanation put forth is that the syllabus is not yet fully enacted in teaching practices.

Considering the past and present of Romani in Sweden: secondary school pupils’ thinking and caring about the history of the Romani in national tests

“…This can be interpreted as teachers taking moral stances into account, in contrast to the rigorous assessment framework at hand, when historical thinking skills are supposed to be assessed (Alvén, 2017b). If this is the case, it may be an issue of lacking equivalence considering theories of national accountability (Ball et al, 2012;Samuelsson & Wendell, 2016). It may also be interpreted as an enactment of a democratic value system, where teachers implement values stated elsewhere when assessing pupils' responses.…”

“…Using John Goodlad's curriculum theory, implementation may be seen as a transaction, interpretations and resistance to change among the agents bound to enact the demands of the syllabus (Ball, Maguire, Braun, Perryman, & Hoskins, 2012;Goodlad, 1979). Samuelsson and Wendell (2016) have noted how national tests in history can be understood as a part of a bureaucratic national accountability system in which the classroom practice and the national tests constitute the last link in a "delivery chain" (Ball, Maguire, Braun, Perryman & Hoskins, 2012 p. 513;Samuelsson & Wendell, 2016).…”

“…Furthermore, historical thinking may be a challenge to pupils. Especially contextualising sources and evidence is a challenge in practice and in national tests (Foster & Yeager, 1999;Kohlmeier, 2005;Nygren & Vikström, 2013;Reisman, 2012;Rosenlund, 2016;Samuelsson & Wendell, 2016;Stolare, 2017). In a Swedish context, Samuelsson and Wendell (2016) found that most pupils in year 6 had a hard time sourcing and contextualising historical information in the national tests.…”

“…Especially contextualising sources and evidence is a challenge in practice and in national tests (Foster & Yeager, 1999;Kohlmeier, 2005;Nygren & Vikström, 2013;Reisman, 2012;Rosenlund, 2016;Samuelsson & Wendell, 2016;Stolare, 2017). In a Swedish context, Samuelsson and Wendell (2016) found that most pupils in year 6 had a hard time sourcing and contextualising historical information in the national tests. This study finds that most of the pupils were given a passing grade by the assessing teachers although they show limited subject disciplinary knowledge in the assignments: suggesting that teachers "[do] not fully enact the demands of the syllabus (Samuelsson & Wendell, 2016).…”

“…In a Swedish context, Samuelsson and Wendell (2016) found that most pupils in year 6 had a hard time sourcing and contextualising historical information in the national tests. This study finds that most of the pupils were given a passing grade by the assessing teachers although they show limited subject disciplinary knowledge in the assignments: suggesting that teachers "[do] not fully enact the demands of the syllabus (Samuelsson & Wendell, 2016). Also, in upper-secondary schooling, Swedish students at more advanced level (History 2 & 3) may struggle with test questions designed to assess historical thinking (Rosenlund, 2016).…”