The didactic function of narratives: Teacher discussions on the use of challenging, engaging, unifying, and complementing narratives in the history classroom

Abstract

At a time when society is characterised by a polarised social climate, it is teachers who need to contribute to a nuanced orientation of the world. This article looks at the ways historical narratives can be used as a collective didactic resource in the historical-cultural context of contemporary society. Its purpose is to analyse the didactic function that underlies historical narratives in relation to students’ understanding of society. Our study builds on three focus group interviews with five upper-secondary-school teachers of history and social studies. The method used is the stimulated-recall interview whereby teachers talk about various teaching situations. Four uses of historical narratives were identified, each with its own didactic function. The first is the use of the “challenging” narrative, the function of which is to disrupt and realign students’ understanding of society. The second is the use of the “engaging” narrative: its function is to involve and activate students in their present understanding of society. The third is the use of the “unifying” narrative, the function of which is to bridge contradictions within society. The fourth and final narrative is the “complementing” narrative, whose function it is to broaden and open students’ understanding of society. To address students in terms of their present understanding of society, teachers employ these four narratives as didactic resources. In such a way, these uses of historical narratives tie in with the teachers’ overall aim to contribute an alternative perspective to students’ current understanding of society. As such, the results reveal the general theoretical knowledge teachers have relating to their profession.

School trips to historical sites: students’ cognitive, affective and physical experiences from visits to Auschwitz

“…The objective of this qualitative study is not to generalise, but rather to identify variations within the empirical data. The established categories should therefore not be perceived as 'saturated' (Berg and Persson, 2023). The students' utterances are empirical examples of a limited display of possible ways to address questions about place and experience.…”

Epistemisk pendling mellan del och helhet i historieundervisning

“…Till det kan en tilltagande polarisering noteras i samhället. Det gör egna ställningstaganden svåra i relationen mellan information och desinformation (Berg & Persson, 2023;Sandahl, 2020;Larsson & Lindström, 2020). Inte sällan används historisk kunskap i dessa sammanhang för att motivera egna ställningstaganden (Levisohn, 2010).…”

“…I analysen i den här artikeln definieras denna rörelse som en ovan nämnda begrepp epistemisk pendling. Med det menas en rörelse från en epistemisk position till en annan, eller från en position till en annan och tillbaka (Berg & Persson, 2023;Åstrand Elmersjö, 2022).…”

“…I den här artikeln prövas om epistemisk pendlingen mellan del och helhet i ett undervisningsinnehåll kan erbjuda en eller flera uttalade eller outtalade didaktiska funktioner (jfr. Berg & Persson, 2023). Artikeln bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med historielärare som arbetar i årskurserna 7-9 inom grundskolan.…”

“…På så sätt kan ansatsen sägas likna det som Berg och Persson i tidigare studier benämnts lärarprofessionsperspektivet (Berg 2021b, Persson, 2022. Ansatsen vilar på premissen att lärare via sitt professionella omdöme har att göra olika urval och avvägningar av kunskapsinnehållet i relation till undervisningens situerade förutsättningar (Berg & Persson 2023, Persson & Berg, 2022.…”