North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) . Pieter Warnich North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) School of Commerce and Social Studies in Education Faculty of Education Republic of South Africa pieter.warnich@nwu.ac.za +27 18 2994728

Title ASSESSING HISTORY TRAINEE TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES IN UTILIZING HISTORICAL ENQUIRY AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL: A CASE STUDY

1.Introduction and background 2. Historical enquiry conceptualised Overview 1.Introduction and background 2. Historical enquiry conceptualised 3. The research context and methodology 4. Discussion and Findings 5. Conclusion Nylstroom is about (135 km ) from Pretoria

Introduction and Background For past decades – a important shift in the teaching, learning and assessment of history from factual to a more enquiry-based approach In SA it is grounded in the specific aims of the History curriculum: "It is a process of historical enquiry based on skills" Scanty research on History teachers experiences when utilizing the "enquiry lesson" in their classes as an assessment strategy Lord Roberts , Commander-in Chief of British forces, and his successor Lord Kitchener introduced this policy in 1900

Introduction and Background Aim of this paper is to: Empirically and quantitively assessing final year History trainee teachers (n=13) experiences when implementing historical enquiry as an assessment tool during their practical teaching period in secondary school classes

Historical enquiry conceptualised The term History was derived from the Ancient Greek historia meaning a learning or knowing by inquiry Differentiate between substantive knowledge and procedural knowledge (Lee, Asby & Shelmit) Substantive knowledge =content knowledge ("to know that") Procedural knowledge = the tools for handling historical facts to understand History as processes, relations and interpretations ("to know how")

Historical enquiry conceptualised So what is an enquiry lesson? When learners are "doing" history. In an enquiry lesson the teacher is posing an inquiry question. The teacher finds and selects sources that offer different perspectives and information regarding the inquiry lesson How does it work? 1.Chose a historical topic with sufficient content/body so that enough sources can be found that will allow for different perspectives

Historical enquiry conceptualised Pose a historical question (or make a hypothesis) relevant to the topic/content you have chosen Use the first set of sources to confirm the hypothesis (the possible answer to the question asked) The second set of sources should contradict or challenge the ideas of the first set of sources Reformulation of the original question or hypothesis Have a discussion and come to conclusion in answering the question or hypothesis

Historical enquiry conceptualised Advantages Think critically Weigh and sift arguments Develop perspective and judgment Evaluating the reliability of evidence Develop a more complete and nuanced understanding of history

The Research context and methodology All participants were trainee teachers in their 4th and final year in History Education (n=13) After these trainee teachers all have received training on the theory and structure of Enquiry Lessons They were requested to implement at least one EL in their senior secondary classes (age 16-18) during their time when they are visiting different schools to do practical teaching They had to complete a lesson plan with one of their objectives built around an inquiry question (hypothesis)

Research context and methodology Printouts of the sources that will be used for the EL should also accompany the lesson plan An open-ended questionnaire was supplied to each trainee teacher to complete on their experiences after implementing the EL as an assessment strategy This questionnaire was to submit when they come back from their schools

Findings and discussion 1 Excited and eager to learn more. Learners were involved and enjoyed it : 10 ( 77%) 2 Not terribly exited, but also not entirely negative. By times interest was shown: 3 (23%) 3 Not interest. For most of the learners it was just another teaching and learning attempt : 0

Findings and discussion According to the trainee teachers the following reasons apply for the learners experience of EL First category (77%) : The contradicting sources started an interesting discussion and debate . The learners were excited and enjoyed it Eye-opener for the learners when they realized that there was more than one view to a historical event The learners were excited to express their opinion and learned from their peers' views Learners were thinking critically – they realized you need to take the whole picture into account from every possible historic angle from everyone involved before a conclusion can be made Learners valued the reliability of the different sources

FindingFindings and discussions and discussion The EL involved the learners in a way they were not used to, and they loved working in this creative way The teacher does not often do such interactive lessons, and so the learners were excited when the EL class was done The learners enjoyed discussing and debating the contradicting sources in an effort to answer the question (hypothesis)

Findings and discussion Second Category (23%) [not terribly excited, but not entirely negative. By times interest was shown] Not all Grade 10 learners (16 year old) are eager to do self-study by reading and studying the different sources. They prefer the teacher to convey all the information in the sources to them verbally The learners are excited to experience a new learning and assessment approach but do not like the idea that they should do the research in the various sources. Afraid that their views and answers might be wrong

Findings and discussion Question to trainee teachers: What were the main issues you have experienced in preparing the enquiry lesson? Difficult to find reliable and relevant contradicting sources on the topic in an effort to investigate the different perspectives To design a good enquiry question ("unsure if I pose the correct enquiry question on the sources") or set a hypothesis for argumentation on the available sources

Findings and discussion Question to trainee teachers: What were the main issues you have experienced in presenting the enquiry lesson? Very time consuming Learners not used to it-class teacher never allows class discussions Difficult for a trainee teacher to maintain discipline during the discussion time Sometimes the conversations deviate to a large extend from the original question asked To keep the learners involved during the whole lesson Some learners do not participate in discussions Not enjoying to read all the sources

Findings and discussion Question to trainee teachers: Does your tutor history teacher implement the EL from time to time. If your answer is no, what may the reasons for this be Yes: 3 No:10 Time consuming Prefer the old traditional style (talk and chalk) by not involving the learners in active learning It creates disciplinary problems (large classes) Does not enjoy group work as it is "unorganized and "unstructured Not happy me doing an EL lesson

Conclusion Positive: Learners For the most of the learners there was an excitement and enjoyment when EL was implemented Some learners acknowledged that they were testing the reliability of the contradicting sources when they weighing and sifting arguments By comparing the sources on a specific topic, critical thinking occurred to come to new conclusions The development of perspective and judgment took place in some instances

Conclusion Negative : Learners Not all learners are eager to do self-study by reading and studying the different sources Some learners do not like the idea that they should do the research in the various sources Some prefer the teacher to convey all the information in the sources to them verbally Afraid that their views and answers might be wrong

Conclusion Trainee teachers An EL does inspire learners' curiosity and encourage critical thinking Difficult to find reliable and relevant contradicting sources for an EL lesson Find it difficult to design a good enquiry question or set a hypothesis for argumentation on the available sources Difficult to keep the learners involved during the whole EL Some learners prefer not to participate in discussions

Conclusion Not all mentor teachers do from time to time an EL; some still prefer the traditional way of teaching by not actively involving the learners Learners not used to it-class teacher never allows class discussions EL creates disciplinary problems (large classes) Sometimes the conversations deviate to a large extend from the original question asked Not all learners enjoy reading the sources

Conclusion From this small scale case study research it is clear that not all the learners were previous exposed to an EL by their class teacher But in instances where it was implemented by the trainee teachers, the majority of learners became involved , enjoyed it and were eager to learn more Despite the many advantages of an EL, there are still obstacles that hinder the effective and continuous implementation thereof

Conclusion For this reason EL lessons should become an integral part of the training programs of all prospective History teachers This will encourage and enable them to confidently use the EL more often once they enter the history classroom as qualified teachers THANK YOU