ABSTRACT

The National Curriculum for England and Wales has focused attention on the debate which has continued since 1969 when Braudel made this claim. Skills and concepts are now ranked at least co-equal with knowledge and understanding of what happened in the past. It is no longer considered desirable to send young people out into the adult world with heads crammed only with information. The advent of the microchip, and with it computer technology with its databases and information networks, means that knowledge is now more readily accessible; at the same time it is recognised that knowledge constantly changes. A consequence of these developments is that the emphasis has now changed from information and knowledge themselves to the skills of understanding and of applying knowledge.