Studies
Kojanitz, László
Teaching and learning of key concepts II.
Change and continuity
The use of key concepts is a priority task in the new 2020 history curriculum, too. They are the following: cause, consequence, change and continuity, fact and evidence, historical time, historical source, historical significance. Knowledge related to these key concepts does not develop on its own; that is, it does not come from just students learning about historical events. Time spent on consciously developing these key concepts generates manifold returns, because their meaningful use creates increasingly improved conditions for learning about individual historical events. If accurate and nuanced ideas develop in students about the genuine meaning of discovering historical cause or historical changes, they will become capable of thinking, speaking and debating at a much higher level, regardless of the historical topic that comes up later. Thus it is worthwhile, from the start, to connect the development of skills involving sources of knowledge with a deeper knowledge necessary for the understanding and application of second-order concepts. The purpose of this series of articles on history didactics is to offer recommendations and ideas for the teaching of second-order concepts.
Gyertyánfy, András
Skills, competencies, historical thinking. An attempt to clarify their meaning in Hungarian history didactics
What is the difference between skills, which is a traditional expression in Hungarian history didactics, competencies, which emerged from the PISA concept, and historical thinking, which has its roots in English professional literature? Hungarian professional literature and curricula use all three, without distinguishing between them. The author suggests that they basically mean the same thing. He also tries to show how the (three) notion(s) fit(s) into the conceptual framework of Hungarian history didactics and explains how they can be sorted as sub-concepts.
Latest issues
Resources for the introduction of the 2020 history framework curricula II.
Data (terms) in the modified 2012 and 2020 curricula (grades 7-8 and 11-12)
From September 2020, the modified curricula will be introduced by grade in ascending order. For a period of three years, two curricula will be used simultaneously, until the full adoption in the 2023/2024 school year of the modified version in both primary and secondary schools. To make things easier during this transitional period, we have prepared resources which list the data (terms) of the 2012 and the 2020 curricula side by side: interpretive and content key concepts, including names of historical figures, chronological and topographical data, ordered by school year, historical period, and thematic area. We have also created a section in the middle that contains the requirements common to the two framework curricula. In our second publication, we have assembled the relevant requirements for grades 7-8 in primary school and grades 11-12 in secondary school. At the end of the teaching resource, we also list the definitions of concepts that are missing from the history matriculation exam list for grades 11-12.
Workshop
Kósa, Maja – Kojanitz, László
Secondary school and university students’ epistemological views of history
It is crucial for the quality of history teaching that the epistemological awareness of history teachers should be sufficiently nuanced and consistent with the established view of academic history. The aim of the study was to compare the views of history of different groups of students. The study was based on a questionnaire developed by Stoel et al. that was completed by 11th grade and 12th grade secondary school students, as well as 1st and 3rd–year university students with a history major. The results showed, similarly to the original research of Stoel and his colleagues, that there is a fundamental difference between Hungarian high school and university students regarding their nuanced views of historical knowledge. The answers of the university students concerning the nature of history were closer to experts’ responses than the answers provided by high school students. The research has confirmed that as education in history progresses, students’ views of history also develop.
Lénárth, Ádám
The History of Gamification
Gamification. This concept is increasingly coming to the forefront of research as more and more people hear about it and the wide range of disciplines in which its potential can be tapped. However, improper use of gamification can produce more disadvantages than advantages. To understand the phenomenon or method, it is worth reviewing the history of the term: the changes in approach and its potential application.
Review
Katona, András
Treaty of Trianon’s “renaissance” in the history books of the democratic Hungary (1990-2020)
2. The treatment of Trianon in secondary school textbooks
Part 1: The universal historical background
The Hungarian peace treaty that closed WWI, that dismantled the thousand-year-old historical Hungary, reducing its territory to a third, and forcing about one-third of Hungarians, almost three-and-a-half million of our compatriots, under the rule of successor states, was signed 100 years ago in the Grand Trianon palace of Versailles. At the same time, Hungary – following the Turkish occupation and Habsburg rule – won back its full independence and became a nation state with about 90% of its inhabitants being Hungarian, while most of the ethnic groups who lived here earlier became part of their own existing states or newly established ones. The big question was whether this truncated Hungary would prove to be viable, how would the new leaders of the nation and the country be able to process this new condition, the descent from a middle power in the monarchy to one among the small states, not to mention the loss of a considerable part of our industry, forests, mines, railway network, flourishing cities, significant universities, cultural centres and schools, which was also compounded by serious reparations. Our paper examines the teaching of the topic of Trianon through a probe of secondary school textbooks that have been published since the change of system, while also marking this sorrowful centennial. In our present dispatch, we look at the universal historical background of the Treaty of Trianon in a dozen and a half textbooks that have appeared since the regime change.
