Studies
Vajda, Barnabás
Chips off a new didactic of history teaching I.
8. Lesson planning: operationalisation and taxonomy of activities
The author is one of the eminent representatives of the young generation of Central European history teachers. He is an instructor and researcher of history teaching methods and history didactics on the History Faculty of the János Selye University’s School of Education. His annotation “Introduction to History Didactics and History Methodology” was published by the university at the end of 2009. (Mária Sávoly reviewed the volume in our previous issue.) We are publishing two chapters – that can stand on their own – in our current and following issues. This time we are showing our readers chapter 8 on lesson planning, in which the most important theoretical and practical information about preparing a lesson plan outline is presented by the writer. The Slovakian-Hungarian author starts with his experience in Slovakia and applies Anglo-Saxon educational and psychological achievements, but he also uses the writings and experiences of researchers and practitioners of Hungarian history didactics and history methodology in his work. His work can be put to use for beginner and “advanced” professionals in Hungarian history teaching, that is for both student teachers and, for a shorter or longer time, practicing teachers.
Herber, Attila
The toolset for moulding historical knowledge in textbooks before the change of system
This study provides material and background for tools and textbooks indispensable for the teaching of history after paradigm changes following every big social or communication revolution, or change of philosophy or learning theory. The learning of history or history didactics is closely tied to historical knowledge and historical culture, thus the formation of this knowledge valorises every tool or set of tools in the textbook. Consequently, the phases of the formation of historical knowledge can be found or appear in the often difficult to map provinces of public consciousness, but also in textbooks created thereof. Secondary school history textbooks of the Kádár era, general required reading in the 70s and 80s, provide the subject for the investigation.
Latest issues
Üveges, Bence
A city in Transdanubia in the hands of the Garais, or the history of the tenure of the Garai family and its legal and economic consequences in Pápa
The young writer of the work presents a short flourishing history from the Middle Ages of one of the most important noble families of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Garais and their estates in the fiefdom of Pápa. The author takes into account the newest methods and findings of research of castles from the Middle Ages, according to which instead of the earlier examinations, made from a purely historical point of view, castles are addressed as a legal, administrative and mainly as a political institution. Additionally, it becomes clear on the basis of earlier research that medieval fortifications cannot be examined as a whole because the castle is inextricably liked with its fiefdom. In the second part of the work, the author presents the legal and economic changes affecting Pápa with the arrival of the Nádor branch of the Garai family and how deep a mark it left on the history of the community. As well as the local history aspects, we are presented with good examples of city development in the Middle Ages.
Workshop
Katona, András
Changes to the image of Széchenyi in Hungarian history textbooks in the four and a half decades before the change of system
Hungarian primary and secondary school history textbooks have always hallowed a broad space for the development of the Hungarian national concept during the age of reform, the parliamentary sessions during the era, the ideological directives enobled within the age and the persons of Kossuth and Széchenyi. Unfortunately, the latter two are often contrasted with each other. From this comparison – verily – “the greatest Hungarians” mostly “came out bad”. This is mainly for reasons of 20th century ideology, rooted in “real socialism”, in historical materialism. This study presents an overview of four and a half decades, examining more than a dozen primary and secondary school history textbooks from between 1945 and 1990, comparing syntheses of the defining study of history in the era. Our method of examination involves “skimming over” the general image of Széchenyi in the textbooks of the period, while presenting a few characteristic textbooks in detail from the point of view of the topic in need of “deeper analysis”.
Domokos, Zsuzsa
How I taught the Trianon Treaty in the Kádár era and in the decades of democracy in secondary schools?
This year was the 90th anniversary of the signing of the forced peace treaty of Trianon. In our previous issue, we published a theoretical piece on the topic in connection with the sombre anniversary. Now a practicing history teacher writes down her experiences and struggles in the course of teaching the topic, making a comparison between the period before and after the change of system. The writer presented an edited version of the paper to the teachers and student teachers of the Ferenc Rákoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute of Berehove in March 2010. The confession of the compromises of the society of Hungarian history teachers over the past decades is a bit subjective, but at the same time an attempt is made to present the image of Trianon objectively, if that is at all possible. The editorial staff would gladly publish more papers on similar topics that allow a peek into the depths of teachers’ struggles.
