A comparative study on primary pupils' historical questioning processes in Turkey and England: empathic, critical and creative thinking

Cooper, Hilary ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7468-9910 and Dilek, Dursun (2007) A comparative study on primary pupils' historical questioning processes in Turkey and England: empathic, critical and creative thinking. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 7 (2). pp. 713-725.

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Abstract

This study is part of a larger ongoing Project. In this project, the documents (video recordings and transcripts) which were collected by the recording of history lessons that were taught in different countries, have been analyzed in order to identify ways in which children are involved in historical enquiry rather than didactic teaching, as a basis for comparison, discussion and development. According to the project aim, in this study, history lessons taught in a primary school in Turkey and in England were comparatively analyzed. In the Turkish lesson, pupils work in groups to interpret information in texts, maps and pictures, in order to reconstruct events surrounding the Battle of Ankara in poetry, art, drama and music. In the English lesson, children found out about Ancient Egypt’s ways of daily life, also working in groups. The data gathered from these lessons –through a case study in England and an action research in Turkey- were recorded via video and the video recordings were transcribed. The documents were analyzed through document and descriptive analyses. The analysis explores ways in which pupils extract information, transfer it to new contexts and express it from different viewpoints. It shows how, in discussing sources, pupils gradually become independent of adult support, spontaneously use special vocabulary introduced by the teacher in new contexts and use causal vocabulary. It is concluded that pupils are engaged in the process of historical enquiry to the extent that, in an embryonic way, they explore the past, interrogate sources to construct interpretations which include presenting the information from different perspectives and developing arguments, using specialised vocabulary. The significance of classroom organisation and ethos in developing historical enquiry is considered.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice
Publisher:	Bernan Associates
ISSN:	1303-0485
Departments:	Academic Departments > Institute of Education (IOE) > Initial Teacher Education (ITE) > Early Years and Primary Undergraduate Partnership QG
Depositing User:	Insight Administrator
Date Deposited:	08 Nov 2010 16:08
Last Modified:	11 Jan 2024 20:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/463

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