Best practice when engaging with the many aspects of the written word in history teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical examination on the importance of writing in history teaching in schools to age groups 7–16 year old. It presents a discussion and an overview of best and meaningful practice in history teaching when using written historical sources as evidence for analyses in the classroom. It also looks at how educators can support pupils’ own writing in history lessons in effective ways. The paper attempts to do this by reporting on various pedagogical research work conducted specifically on writing in history and its many facets when it comes to history learning in schools. The author offers various pedagogical recommendations based on her own as well as others’ research work on the written word in history teaching. The paper looks at written sources from four different aspects. It discusses written sources as primary historical sources in themselves and how they can be made more palpable, that is more tangible and easier to use for pupils. It then looks at Secondary written sources, that is, historians’ interpretation of history and how these can be presented to pupils, followed by how Primary written sources can also produce opportunity to practice the skill of detecting bias. Lastly pupils’ own writing is discussed and how their writing in history can be made better.