A symposium on how teachers make sense of history
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October 13–14, 2022, Umeå, Sweden
Epistemological considerations have been discussed within the realm of historical scholarship for a very long time. The acknowledgement of a disparity between the past itself and the histories about that past has increasingly also been applied to history curricula in many parts of the world and so called multi-perspectivism now has a prominent place in history teaching. As an important means of promoting a society’s democratic vibrancy, multi-perspectivism enables students to take critical distance from their knowledge claims and helps complicate and counter the powerful effects of pre-given cognitive frames that tend to reinforce national myths. However, these same syllabi are still also vehicles for national cohesion and tend to reconstruct a national past that is not up for debate. This ambiguity embedded in the combination of reconstruction and deconstruction is a difficult landscape for teachers to navigate. This symposium will explore these issues and they will be addressed in different ways from a multitude of perspectives. Accommodation in Umeå (2 nights) will be covered for the ~20 participants invited.
Call for papers
This symposium seeks papers that explore both conceptual as well as empirical approaches to the issues related to epistemic considerations or beliefs that teachers of history might hold. The primary questions that the symposium seeks to address are:
Keynotes
Liliana Maggioni, Catholic University of America, USA
Martin Nitsche, FHNW School of Education, Switzerland
Robert Parkes, University of Newcastle, Australia
Program
Download program (pdf, 118 kB)
Thursday 13 October
8:30–9:00 Arrival, registration, and coffee
9:00–9:15 Welcome and opening address
9:15–10:00 Keynote 1: Liliana Maggioni
10:00–10:30 Coffee break
10:30–11:45 Session One: Elementary and primary school teachers
10:30–11:15 Paper presentations (15 minutes each)
Elementary school teachers’ perspectives on history 1930–1946
Johan Samuelsson, Karlstad University, Sweden
Epistemic considerations of Swiss primary teaching students on historical interpretations
Christian Mathis, Zurich University, Switzerland
‘I never thought about history this way’: development of elementary teachers’ beliefs about history and history education in the context of a professional learning community
Yolande Potjer, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Carla van Boxtel, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Marjolein Dobber, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
11:15–11:45 Session Discussion
Moderator: Martin Nitsche
11:45–12:45 Lunch break
Location: Universum
12:45–14:00 Session Two: Ethnic issues and global education
12:45–13:30 Paper presentations (15 minutes each)
Teaching history in a multi-ethnic context: the relationship between epistemological views and context-bound realization
Simon Lundberg, Umeå University, Sweden
‘Both sides of the story’: epistemic nature of historical knowledge as understood by pre-service history teachers in a South African University
Sarah Godsell, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
Epistemology postures of history teachers in creating a global history course
Antoine Gauthier-Trepanier, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
13:30–14:00 Session Discussion
Moderator: Paul Zanazanian
14:00–14:45 Keynote 2: Martin Nitsche
14:45–15:15 Coffee break
15:15–16:30 Session Three: Teachers planning and doing history
15:15–16:00 Paper presentations (15 minutes each)
What does a history teacher do?: knowing, understanding, and enacting the work of teaching history
Richard Hughes, Illinois State University, USA
Collegial planning: a longitudinal study of history teachers’ epistemic negotiations and deliberations
Kenneth Nordgren, Karlstad University, Sweden
The interplay between teachers’ epistemological beliefs, conceptualisation of historical thinking and historical thinking practises: a case study with history teachers in Flanders
Marjolein Wilke, KU Leuven, Belgium
Fine Depaepe, KU Leuven, Belgium
Karel Van Nieuwenhuyse, KU Leuven, Belgium
16:00–16:30 Session Discussion
Moderator: TBA
16:30 End of program, day 1
19:00 Conference dinner
Friday 14 October
9:00–9:15 Welcome Day 2 / Housekeeping
9:15–10:30 Session Four: Teacher reflexivity
9:15–10:00 Paper presentations (15 minutes each)
Cause and consequence vs change and continuity: history teachers’ epistemological reasoning on the relationship between past and present
Natasha Robinson, University of Oxford, UK
From supposed practice and theoretical language to epistemic beliefs and back: History + intervention
Vojtech Ripka, University of Prague, Czechia
Pavla Sykorova, University of Prague, Czechia
The epistemic considerations of PGCE history students – a South African case study
Johan Wassermann, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Katie Angier, University of Cape Town, South Africa
10:00–10:30 Session Discussion
Moderator: Henrik Åström Elmersjö
10:30–11:00 Coffee break
11:00–12:15 Session Five: Categorization of epistemic beliefs
11:00–11:45 Paper presentations (15 minutes each)
Adaption of the historical epistemic belief scale into Turkish culture and investigating social studies student teachers’ historical epistemic beliefs
Erkan Dinc, Anadoulu University, Turkey
Servet Ützemur, Gaziantep University, Turkey
Working towards a coming understanding: an analysis of Quebec high school teachers’ discussions on the epistemology of history and its repercussions on assessment
Catherine Duquette, Université du Québec, Canada
Marie-Hélene Brunet, University of Ottawa, Canada
Benjamin Lille, Fédération des Établissements d’Éducation Privée du Québec, Canada
Adapting and testing Maggioni’s BLTHQ to the Norwegian context
David Wagner, University of Stavanger, Norway
11:45–12:15 Session Discussion
Moderator: Liliana Maggioni
12:15–13:15 Lunch break
Location: Universum
13:15–14:00 Keynote 3: Robert Parkes
14:00–14:30 Closing discussion / Concluding remarks
14:30 End of program, day 2
Henrik Åström Elmersjö (Umeå University)
Paul Zanazanian (McGill University)