ABSTRACT
In this chapter we shall consider the teaching of two more facets or domains of historical understanding: interpretations of history and historical enquiry. In the revised version of Key Stage 3 introduced in September 2008, interpretation is described as a ‘Key Concept’, and enquiry, a ‘Key Process’ (see QCA, 2007a: 111-13 for an explanation of the differences between these two designations). The idea of historical enquiry has been established within the curriculum for quite some time, although the more recent emphasis on enquiries rather than on source skills is a welcome advance. Historical interpretations, while giving rise to some stimulating and enjoyable lessons, has also proved to be one of the most difficult elements of the history curriculum to implement. Successive OFSTED reports have identified interpretations as the weakest area and found schools reluctant to include the element as much as they should. An OFSTED Conference in 2004 focusing on the teaching of interpretations in history reported that ‘there is little evidence that schools are giving sufficient time to understanding interpretations of history’ (quoted in QCA 2007b). While teachers often discuss contemporary viewpoints of past events, it is much less common for them to show pupils how different people today interpret the past: this is the area seen by QCA as appearing to be the most problematic. There are also concerns about the difficulties of assessing pupils’ understanding of interpretations. Student teachers often find this concept to be one of the most challenging aspects of their history teaching. For these reasons, we are giving most emphasis in this chapter to the teaching of historical interpretations.
