Social studies teachers' conceptions of history: Calling on historiography

YILMAZ K.

JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, vol.101, no.3, pp.158-175, 2008 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Review
  • Volume: 101 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Doi Number: 10.3200/joer.101.3.158-176
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.158-175
  • Keywords: conceptions of history, historiography, history education, nature of history, social studies, PRESERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS, CLASSROOM PRACTICE, HIGHER-EDUCATION, SCIENCE, BELIEFS, KNOWLEDGE, PHILOSOPHY, STUDENTS, DISCIPLINES, ATTITUDES
  • Sivas Cumhuriyet University Affiliated: No

Abstract

In this qualitative research study, the author investigated social studies teachers' conceptions of history by conducting in-depth, semistructured interviews with 12 in-service teachers. Results indicated that participants tended to look at the outcome of historical knowledge construction without considering its process or mentioning forces that shape historical writing. Rather than considering the whole relationship or interplay between the past, the recorded past, and the historian, participants observed a part of the relationship among distinctive yet interrelated components of history. A realistic view of the world and a naive epistemological view of history seemed to characterize the conceptions of most participants who viewed history as objective knowledge. Most participants did not perceive the relevancy of intellectual foundations of history to their profession and professional development.