The main aim of this research was to determine the potential of senior primary pupils and serving teachers to understand a text that is concerned with a historical event. A test was written by 136 white standard 3, 4 and 5 pupils from a Cape Province primary school, as well as 32 serving teachers from various other Cape Province primary schools. The test consisted of a text and questions based upon it. The testees had 60 minutes at their disposal to study the text and give written answers to the questions. The historical event explained in the text dealt with the Peasant Uprising that occurred in England in 1381. Eight open-ended questions were asked. The questions were graded according to difficulty and based on the model of Merrit to test the following levels of thought: knowledge, application, inference and evaluation. In the dissertation attention is paid to the following aspects: 1. Background for the research. 2. The most important theoretical aspects that play a role in the process of historical understanding. 3. A statistlcal analysis of the results obtained from the pupils and teachers, with attention to those factors that may have influenced the results e.g. verbal IQ, age, interest, etc. 4. The quality of the teachers' and pupils' answers as well as examples from their work to illustrate certain aspects. 5. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from the research. Based on their answers to the graded questions the pupils were grouped into different levels to ascertain whether a significant pattern would emerge for each standard. It became clear, however, that irrespective of age or verbal IQ the pupils could not consistently be grouped into a specific level or category. The most important conclusions of the research are the following: 1. The ability of senior primary pupils to cope with intellectually stimulating material are underestimated. 2. A variety of factors influenced the results of the pupils, but not one of the factors studied in this research was found to be of significant importance. 3. The average primary teacher do have the potential ability to cope with more difficult historical material than the present factual approach would suggest.

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M.Ed. (Didactic Education) / All over the world History as a school subject is on the defensive. This phenomenon is usually attributed to a variety of causes. In general however, the reason for this crisis is seldom seen in the traditional approach and teaching of the subject. At university, the secondary and even the primary school the understanding of the past is the cornerstone for the study of History. Accordingly History has only by accident any real value for the child living in the present day society. potentially however, History is, due to man's historicity, one of the most fundamental ways of broadening his perspective. Unfortunately this basic fact is often neglected in the approach to and teaching of the subject. Educational principles are neglected and the content seems to be relatively meaningless to the pupils. There has been a general neglect of play or simulation games as a subject for research or study. Scientists, biologists, anthropologists and psychologists have studied play, but in most cases it has been concerned with animals. It is believed that in future the power of simulation as a learning tool will attain the consideration and support it should have. Only if History is restructured at all levels in accordance with sound educational principles and in an existentially relevant way, the subject will, at least in principle, regain the ground that has been lost.

No description available.

This study will attempt to determine an adequate program of readiness for Texas History.

A teacher resource packet was created that teachers can use at the third through sixth grade levels to effectively implement the use of primary sources into their existing curriculum to promote greater historical understanding, imagination, emapthy and critical thinking. This project is intended to change teacher behaviors of teaching using an archival view of history to one that applies critical thinking and promotes in-depth student understanding of historical events.

My creative project is the construction of a local history handbook to be used by third grade teachers in the Youngstown City Schools to teach their students the history of Youngstown as a part of their social studies curriculum. The local history handbook that I have constructed has two main parts; a teacher's edition and a student's edition. The teacher's edition is detailed history of Youngstown, written to an adult level of comprehension, and is meant to prepare the teacher with the information needed to answer students' questions. The student's edition is based on the teacher's edition. The student's edition is written to a student's level of understanding and is highlighted with numerous images and activities to further the students' learning of the subject matter.The local history handbook is one component of a larger program, Getting to Know my Downtown in the 3rd Grade, aimed at teaching local third graders the history of their town. Other parts of the program include local history experts and local government leaders coming to speak with the students; traveling activity resource packets; a three — dimensional, interactive map of the downtown; and a culminating field trip to the downtown where students visit many locations important to local history and government. One objective of this project is to establish and strengthen the students' "pride of place" and to prepare them to be better stewards of their local history and built environment in the future. A second objective is to give students a better understanding of how local government operates and the numerous ways for them to make a positive impact on their community. / Department of Architecture

The changes brought about by society's move from an industrial to an information society has brought with it changes in the way that society operates - from the way we do business to the way we entertain ourselves and, increasingly, in the way we educate our children. That the society of tomorrow requires new skills to survive and operate had been, and continues to be, debated in a growing number of books and in the popular media. More and more educationists are calling for schools to 'restructure' so as to be able to provide the skills that this new society requires, especially those related to the management of information. The nature of these skills are discussed, together with the potential provided by information technology, particularly computers, to provide them. The current use of computers in schools is addressed, together with the apparent inability of schools to generate effective change from within using in-service training. The researcher suggests that this makes it imperative that teacher training institutions provide the next generation of teacher-trainees with a thorough understanding of the requirements of an information society and the tools that it uses. The research undertaken attempted to provide final year primary education teacher-trainees with one example of the way in which the electronic database can be used to change the teaching of history. By researching in the field and entering data into a data base, the teacher-trainees were able to look at information in new ways. By selecting and sorting data by different fields, they were able to act as ' true' historians - each interacting with the data in his or her own way to extract knowledge that is arguably unique for each participant. The data base was then used with a class of standard four pupils, with the researcher acting as participant observer. The reactions and responses of the pupils to the data was noted and these are discussed in the results . A non-participant observer, also a primary school history -teacher, provided input with respect to the validity of the learning experience and to act as a control. The research is described, together with the observations of the researcher, teacher-trainees and pupils involved. The observations of the non-participant observer are also discussed. Shortfalls and difficulties encountered are pointed out, and areas for further research suggested.

M.Ed. (Didactics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / Present day society displays a noticeable concern with regard to public interest in history. The debate about the relevance of history is increasing. This concern is not unjustified if one closely examines the statistics of high school pupils taking history at matric level. Numerous reasons are given for the pupils' lack of interest in the subject and many academics, historians, teachers and other interest groups have come up with suggestions to counter this phenomenon regarding the lack of interest in history. The dissertation has as its aim the investigation of possible educative advantages in local history teaching and to prove how local history teaching, as an agent of broader history studies, can be used to boost and build pupil interest in history. Reference will be made to local history; what it is, how it fits into broader history and how it can be implemented at primary school level to counter some of the problems educators are experiencing regarding the lack of interest by pupils. Firstly, reference will be made to the educatiye principles underlying local history teaching and how these can be utilized by history teachers in an endeavour to enhance pupils' interest in the subject. Secondly, attention will be paid to the psychological development of pupils. One of the most important characteristics of any didactical situation is that the learning material should be designed in such a manner that it takes into account the intellectual development and abilities of pupils. This is an inherent feature of local history teaching and can be used by educators as a tool to counter the lack of interest that was refered to earlier. One of the reasons why pupils display a lack of interest in their history classes may be because of the traditional method of history teaching in which teachers tend to lapse into unilateral discussions. Local history, if taught correctly, involves active participation by pupils and it is through this active participation that pupils are exposed to the acquisition of historical skills. Pupils, through local history studies, can become critically aware, analytical, nonprejudicial and may strive to continiously seek the truth. Futhermore, the dissertation will argue that through the acquisition of such skills, pupils learn to find an objective, well-balanced and meaningful history and this in itself can lead to the cultivation and enhancement of interest in history, which is of vital importance to a subject that reflects a deteriorating interest-level. Lastly, the dissertation intends to prove that if the educative principles and cognitive values, encompassed in local history teaching are comprehensively explored at primary school level, this may help pupils acquire the necessary skills essential for futher studies in the subject and also vitally important for maintaining an interest level.