Multiperspectivity in lesson designs of history teachers: The role of schoolbook texts in the design of multiperspective history lessons

Abstract

Textbook narratives of a nation’s past often present a limited frame of reference, which impedes the aim of teaching history from multiple perspectives. This study aims to explore the use of multiperspectivity in teachers’ lesson designs for 10th grade students based upon a text that includes multiple perspectives (HP) (N=8) compared to a text that hardly includes multiperspectivity (LP) (N=10). The lesson designs were analyzed on multiperspectivity regarding aims, instruction, materials and learning activities, and also on actors, elements of scale, dimensions, historians interpretations and students’ perspectives. We found that different dimensions (for example, political, economic) were more often incorporated in the lesson designs based upon text HP, but that students’ perspectives were more often included in the designs based upon text LP. Only one fifth of the lesson designs reflected a high overall level of multiperspectivity. Nevertheless, text HP generated more multiperspectivity with respect to aims and instruction, dimensions, scale and historiography than text LP. Interviews with the teachers showed that the interpretation of the exam program – either a focus on learning historical reasoning or acquiring a chronological overview of knowledge – seemed decisive in the design of the lessons. This study calls for careful incorporating multiperspectivity in textbook by authors, and in their lessons by teachers who seek to do justice to multiple perspectives.

Critical Global Citizenship Education: A Study on Secondary School Students

“…In these, however, there are some dangers and resistance (Kocka, 2012;Brett and Guyer, 2021), such as the need for some minority groups to maintain identity spaces (Sabzalian, 2019). Currently, diversity and multiperspectivity seem to be core concepts for history education from global perspectives (Fontana, 2013;Kropman et al, 2021), attending Fillafer's consideration: "If we want to dislodge the structuring assumptions connected with globality, interrogating the premise that the world has one history is a good way to start." (Fillafer, 2017, p. 37) Rüsen (2004), for example, understands that historiographical ethnocentrism is characterised by an asymmetric assessment, theological continuity and centralised perspective, and proposes to address it through a "culture of recognition" (2004, p. 118) focussed on (1) normative equality; (2) the reconstruction of concepts from contingency and discontinuity, and (3) the multiperspective and polycentric approaches to historical experience.…”

Fostering Historical Thinking Skills with Ethnophotography-based Teaching Materials in Elementary Schools

“…Historical thinking is a method used in history learning that involves students acting as historians who can critically examine sources, corroborate, and use them to contextualize historical information (Nolgård & Nygren, 2019). Critical historical inquiry is expected to use historical thinking skills to analyze power dynamics in political concepts relating to race/ethnicity, gender/ sexuality, and social stratification as a class of society (Bae et al, 2021;Kropman et al, 2021;Puustinen & Khawaja, 2021;Santiago & Dozono, 2022). History education allows students to appreciate complex living realities to form historical awareness and explore diverse perspectives that have contributed to the decision-making (Gibson et al, 2022;González-González et al, 2022).…”