This study attempts to understand the connections between students' attitudes towards their history lessons and their ideas about what history is and what it does. The principal focus of the study is on African-Caribbean students and their mothers. The questions that the study seeks to explore include: What ideas do students and their mothers hold about history on personal and social levels? What aspects of history lessons do Students of African-Caribbean descent find motivating? What picture of the past do their mothers want passed on by schools during history lessons? The thesis is set within the context of issues and challenges associated with the education of African-Caribbean students in the past fifty years. It reviews literature on the changes in the history curriculum and research on students' understandings of history. Psychological theories pertinent to the study also are explored. The empirical part of the study is chiefly based upon an analysis of the responses of 124 students of African-Caribbean descent and non-African- Caribbean descent aged 13-17 who were surveyed about their ideas of the past. Following the survey a group of 12 students between the ages of 12 and 17 and their mothers were interviewed in an attempt to explore their attitudes towards the nature of history and their expectations of school history. In the light of the empirical findings and educational and psychological theories, conclusions are drawn about the ideas students use about the past and formal history. Most importantly, consideration is given to how the ideas and perspectives of students of African Caribbean descent necessitate a critical re-evaluation of history curriculum, pedagogy, and practice in English schools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:433008 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Traille, Ethel Kay Angela |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10020519/ |
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