History teaching & research : bridging the theory/practice divide , vol. 4

Abstract

We proudly present the fourth volume of the Michael A. Sant Memorial Lectures that cover the years 2017-2021. From the start of the Memorial Lectures, we adopted the system by which every five consecutive lectures are published in a volume. This decision has continued to be upheld for 20 years; indeed, from the first memorial lecture in 2002. The ‘we’ means the Editors, two ex-Michael Sant students, Yosanne Vella and George Cassar; both university professors now and middle aged ourselves! We are very pleased that the seminars have continued all these years without interruption. We could not have done it without the perfect co-ordination between the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta and the History Teachers’ Association, both of whom have sponsored and greatly supported these Seminars and their publication. As in previous publications of the Michael Sant Lectures, this volume has papers by international history pedagogy experts. This time it is Debra J. Donnelly from Australia, Lukas Perikleous from Cyprus, Bistra Stoimenova from Bulgaria, Helen Snelson from England and Keith Barton from the United States. We were very fortunate that our invitation was gladly and generously accepted by each one of these university professors and lecturers. A kaleidoscope of different nationalities and expertise from around the world, one can say. We were privileged to learn about an Australian research project that examined the use of contemporary historical representations in the teaching of History and how the use of multiple modalities can enhance historical understanding. Another presentation shared with us Greek Cypriot students’ and teachers’ ideas of historical empathy in primary education, and the findings of the analysis of students’ responses. It was also intriguing to see how the European dimension is presented in Bulgarian history textbooks; ‘Europe’ is used in several variants: as a geographic concept, as a political concept, as a cultural / civilization concept, or as a point of view in describing different historical processes. From England, we learnt how time-pressed history teachers can still present a complex past through selected personal and particular stories. The last chapter is the latest presentation of 2021 and discusses historical agency and how to ensure that in our history teaching we make it clear to students that shortcut simple useful terms such as nations, groups, governments, etc. are just simplifications, while the real world is much more complex – an important study if our students are to begin to understand diversity within nations. In the past five years many history teachers, trainees and general educators, as well as the general public attended these Michael Sant Memorial Lectures, either physically or in the last two years, as Covid-19 necessitated, virtually online. However, for those who were not present or wish to refer to them again they are now all collected together for posterity in this latest volume. Meanwhile, we look forward to the next five years of Michael Sant Seminars. [excerpt]