This research examines three central questions: What are teachers'
conceptions of history education?, What are the constituent components of these
conceptions?, and Upon what sources of teacher knowledge are these conceptions
based? To elicit data relevant to these questions a phenomenographic research
methodology is utilised. In this phenomenographic inquiry, a conception is defined as
the broadest possible understanding teachers have of what they teach, why they teach
it, and how they teach it. The phenomenon in this inquiry is history education. Of
primary interest are the ways in which teachers understand their purpose for history
education. This inquiry utilises teachers' descriptions of their agendas and curriculum
scripts to examine conceptions of history education. Certain foundational elements
are used to analyse the data: a broad understanding of history education in which
purpose is a salient feature; a tactical plan or the parts of instruction necessary to
accomplish their purpose; reflective rationalisation which explains the knowledge
upon which the purpose is predicated; and the extent to which the conception is
consistent.
Data is analysed from fourteen teachers who represent a cross section of
teachers in secondary schools. Teachers have six ways of seeing their purposes. The
conceptions include purposes focusing upon historiography, developing social studies
methodology, developing a national collective identity, developing a non - national
identity, developing an understanding of antecedents of current issues, and
developing lessons from the past. Within conceptions representing more than one
teacher, individual variations are found in the tactical plan, yet each retains enough
similarity to suggest the broad categorisation.
Teachers were asked to reflect upon the likely source of this conception. As
phenomenography seeks to examine understanding, there is no need nor is there a
way to confirm if the results reflect the actual source of their conception. However, it is
significant that teachers state they believe they have developed their conception
based upon certain sources. University scholarship, educational materials, the
wisdom of practice, the role of students and collegial interaction are discussed as
prominent in shaping conceptions. This research has important implications for
teacher education and educational policy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/9985 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Harding, James Craig |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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