Round+table+6+-+history+education

=The relationship between past and present in end of term tests in Flemish history education= //Karel van Nieuwenhuyse// //Wednesday, 29 August, round table 6// //Verslag door: André Heck//

Korte Samenvatting
There is a tension in (Flemish) history education between the didactic framework and the policy and practice of instruction. Didactics promotes historical thinking, i.e., looking at the past by detachement from the present and taking historical context into account. The policy and practice of history education is however present-oriented, i..e., looking at the present while being informed from the past. The researcher investigated how teachers deal with this tension by analyzing their written end of terms exams (note: Belgium has no nation-wide exams; all examination is school-based). 190 exams at grade 11-12 level from 70 different teachers, from 67 schools and various types of education were analyzed at question-wise. Central research questions were: To which degree is the present involved in history exams? Is the present associated with or connected to the past? The results of the analysis reveal that there is one category dominant in exam questions, namely, past-only questions (74 %). Concerning the role of the present in questions, it was found that the temporal dimension is often implicit or unclear, some of the question carry withing them a specific inerpretation of the course of history, and the constructed nature of historical knowledge is hardly integrated. In other words, it turns out that classroom practive differs from curriculum goals and didactic frameworks. This is also revealed in exams.

Inzichten
The difference between formal curriculum and taught curriculum is widely acknowledged in educational research. Analysis of exam questions may bring this to the fore. It may make clear to what alternative question types teachers should be more exposed.

Review
A very enthusiastic researcher who only had 2 mathematicians at his table who had initially come for the other presenter (Ho Yi Xian) at the round table. It ended nevertheless in a nice, lively discussion of 45 minutes about discrepancies between teaching practice, including assessment, and curriculum goals and teachers' beliefs on history education.

Toepasbaarheid
The identified gap between curriculum goals and teacher's beliefs and teachers' practice occurs not only in history education but also in other subjects. For example, mathematics exams focus on skills assessment, whereas the curriculum goals are oriented towards mathematical thinking and teachers' belief may be directed toward the beauty of the subject. Investigating this tension may clarify this and lead to proposals for a more balnaced handling and other, more appropriate forms of assessment.

Keywords
history education