Abstract/Summary

This research aims to explore the perspectives and approaches of history teachers in England towards teaching historical thinking. This research contributes to our knowledge by providing an understanding of how history teachers conceptualise historical thinking within the current educational climate and by also linking this to their professional knowledge and decision-making processes. In this research, a qualitative approach, using constructivist and interpretivist paradigms, has been adopted. Ten history teachers were chosen using convenience sampling and have been interviewed twice using online applications. As data collecting tools, semi-structured interviews, mind maps, and narrative interviews have been utilised. Additionally, in order to gain better understanding of teachers’ practices for historical thinking, examples of their scheme of work have been collected and analysed. A mixture of deductive and inductive analysis has been adopted for twenty interview transcripts. The similarities and differences between the teachers were evaluated by comparing, interpreting, and grouping their answers regarding the relevant codes. The teachers’ understanding of historical thinking was similar, and it was mainly based on teaching historiography and second-order concepts. There was also a close relationship between the different knowledge bases teachers used and the extent to which they promoted historical thinking. It was found that three of the knowledge bases - subject, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) – were most likely to inform teachers' approaches to historical thinking. Additionally, influential factors in teachers’ decisions were both internal (beliefs, values, and self-efficacy) and external (accountability, time, network. schools and community of practice (CoP)) factors. In this research, teacher agency is associated with teachers’ decisions and actions in relation to improving their teaching based on the new ideas vand changes – more specifically historical thinking. The participants were found to be driven by ecological factors and the ongoing relationships between their internal and external contexts. Overall, four groups emerged showing teachers’ attitudes towards teaching historical thinking. In the first group (Content Orientated), there were two history teachers who were found to be less engaged with teaching historical thinking. These teachers appeared to be disconnected from communities of practice and historical organisations, and they attributed their disengagement with teaching historical thinking to accountability and timing pressures. In the second group (Exam Orientated) were two history teachers whose engagement with historical thinking was limited and shaped by an exam-oriented approach, and felt restricted by a content-heavy curriculum and high accountability pressures. The third group (HT 1 Practitioners) represented three teachers who showed a better engagement in teaching historical thinking. Finally, there were three teachers whose approach to teaching historical thinking seemed more sophisticated (HT Innovators). Analyses showed that their success was connected to their strong subject knowledge, personal enthusiasm for teaching, high level university and CoP engagement and individual and collective agency and self-efficacy.