Promoting historical contextualisation in classrooms: an observational study

Figures & data

Table 1. Teachers’ characteristics.

Teacher*	Gender	Educational qualification	Age	Years of work experience	Schools’ student enrolment
John	Male	Bachelors	60	37	<250
Mark	Male	Masters	34	8	>1000
Nick	Male	Masters	43	17	>1000
Bob	Male	Masters	63	41	>1000
Dylan	Male	Masters	41	14	>1000
Lisa	Female	Masters	45	22	>1000
Anna	Female	Masters	30	5	>1000
Kim	Female	Masters	27	1	>1000

*Names are pseudonyms.

Table 2. Categories and accompanying FAT-HC items (Huijgen et al. 2017b).

Categories	FAT-HC items
1. Reconstructing the historical context (teacher demonstrates)	1–13
2. Reconstructing the historical context (teacher activates)	14–21
3. Enhancing historical empathy (teacher demonstrates)	22–24
4. Enhancing historical empathy (teacher activates)	25–27
5. Using the historical context to explain historical events (teacher demonstrates)	28–31
6. Using the historical context to explain historical events (teacher activates)	32–35
7. Not using anachronisms and presenting the past as progress	36–37
8. Raising awareness of present-oriented perspectives	38–40

Table 3. Mean FAT-HC scores and ICCs of the observed lessons (maximum score = 4.00).

Teacher	Educational track	Lesson topic	Students (n)	Students’ age	Mean FAT-HC score* (SD)	ICC** (single)
Lisa	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Renaissance	26	16–17	1.98 (0.14)	.94 (.76)
	2. General Higher Secondary Education	Western Colonialism	27	15–16	1.97 (0.26)	.88 (.59)
Bob	1. Pre-university Education	Cold War	30	14–15	1.89 (0.17)	.85 (.54)
	2. Pre-university Education	Cold War	29	14–15	1.87 (0.26)	.87 (.58)
Nick	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Second World War	28	16–17	1.93 (0.16)	.91 (.68)
	2. General Higher Secondary Education	Monotheism	26	15–16	1.83 (0.15)	.90 (.65)
Kim	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Enlightenment	25	15–16	1.96 (0.42)	.81 (.47)
	2. General Higher Secondary Education	Democratic Revolutions	25	15–16	1.80 (0.35)	.84 (.52)
Anna	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Dutch Republic	26	15–16	1.87 (0.19)	.83 (.50)
	2. Pre-university Education	Ancient Greece	29	15–16	1.71 (0.19)	.88 (.60)
John	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Investiture Controversy	16	15–16	1.76 (0.14)	.91 (.67)
	2. General Higher Secondary Education	Late Middle Ages cities	13	15–16	1.73 (0.07)	.91 (.67)
Mark	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Second World War	28	15–16	1.75 (0.07)	.94 (.76)
	2. Pre-university Education	Alexander the Great	23	15–16	1.74 (0.10)	.90 (.63)
Dylan	1. General Higher Secondary Education	Enlightenment	25	15–16	1.66 (0.13)	.81 (.46)
	2. General Higher Secondary Education	Slavery	31	15–16	1.65 (0.11)	.87 (.58)

*Mean score of five observers. **Average measures ICCs, in parentheses the single measures ICCs.

Table 4. Observers’ mean scores based on two lessons (maximum score = 4.00).

Teacher	Lisa (SD)	Bob (SD)	Nick (SD)	Kim (SD)	Anna (SD)	John (SD)	Mark (SD)	Dylan (SD)	Mean category score (SD)
Age	45	63	43	27	30	60	34	41
Years’ work experience	22	41	17	1	5	37	8	14
1. Reconstructing context	2.72 (0.39)	2.02 (0.25)	2.52 (0.28)	2.17 (0.46)	2.16 (0.34)	1.81 (0.22)	2.25 (0.33)	1.77 (0.25)	2.18 (0.33)
2. Reconstructing context (students)	1.18 (0.30)	1.85 (0.22)	1.45 (0.30)	1.90 (0.38)	1.61 (0.33)	1.68 (0.25)	1.50 (0.20)	1.33 (0.36)	1.56 (0.25)
3. Enhancing empathy	2.63 (0.58)	1.47 (0.39)	1.43 (0.39)	1.47 (0.48)	1.23 (0.27)	1.30 (0.29)	1.40 (0.21)	1.50 (0.59)	1.55 (0.45)
4. Enhancing empathy (students)	1.07 (0.14)	1.27 (0.47)	1.13 (0.17)	2.10 (1.28)	1.07 (0.14)	1.23 (0.35)	1.00 (0.00)	1.13 (0.23)	1.25 (0.35)
5. Contextualise to explain	2.35 (0.52)	1.75 (0.43)	2.08 (0.43)	1.90 (0.49)	1.88 (0.43)	1.80 (0.31)	1.48 (0.32)	1.53 (0.30)	1.85 (0.28)
6. Contextualise to explain (students)	1.08 (0.17)	1.50 (0.49)	1.18 (0.27)	1.55 (0.55)	1.23 (0.28)	1.13 (0.21)	1.10 (0.18)	1.13 (0.27)	1.24 (0.18)
7. No anachronisms/past as progress	3.30 (0.63)	3.95 (0.16)	3.95 (0.16)	2.50 (1.05)	3.50 (1.00)	3.85 (0.24)	4.00 (0.00)	3.65 (0.94)	3.59 (0.50)
8. Raising awareness of presentism	1.50 (0.28)	1.27 (0.26)	1.30 (0.25)	1.43 (0.50)	1.67 (0.69)	1.17 (0.24)	1.27 (0.21)	1.23 (0.35)	1.36 (0.17)
Mean FAT-HC score (SD)	1.98 (0.20)	1.88 (0.21)	1.88 (0.16)	1.88 (0.37)	1.79 (0.20)	1.75 (0.10)	1.75 (0.08)	1.66 (0.11)	1.82 (0.10)

Table 5. Differences between demonstrating and engaging historical contextualisation processes.

Category	Teacher demonstrates (I)	Teacher engages (J)	Difference (I – J)
Reconstructing context	2.18	1.56	.62
Enhancing empathy	1.55	1.25	.30
Contextualise to explain	1.85	1.24	.61
Mean	1.86	1.35	.51

Table

The teacher…	1	2	3	4
Activates relevant prior knowledge
Shows visual material
Uses historical sources
Gives time indicators regarding phenomena
Gives the duration of phenomena
Shows phenomena on a timeline
Gives geographical/spatial indicators regarding phenomena
Shows phenomena on a geographical map
Appoints political/governance characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoints economic characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoints sociocultural characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoints causes and consequences of phenomena
Appoints change and continuity regarding phenomena
The students…	1	2	3	4
Give time indicators regarding phenomena
Give the duration of phenomena
Give geographical/spatial indicators regarding phenomena
Appoint political/governance characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoint economic characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoint sociocultural characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoint sociocultural characteristics at the time of phenomena
Appoint change and continuity regarding phenomena
The teacher…	1	2	3	4
Centralises a historical agent
Moves self into the past to explain phenomena (if I..)
Outlines a recognisable role for students to foster empathy (as a businessman/like a father)
The students…	1	2	3	4
Make affective/emotional connections with historical agents
Consider the role of the historical agent to explain historical decisions
State what they would have decided regarding historical decisions
The teacher…	1	2	3	4
Compares phenomena with other times
Compares phenomena with other places
Places phenomena in long-term developments
Outlines phenomena from different perspectives
The students…	1	2	3	4
Compare phenomena with other times
Compare phenomena with other places
Place phenomena in long-term developments
Outline phenomena from different perspectives
The teacher…	1	2	3	4
Does not use anachronisms
Does not present the past as progress
Creates historical tension (the past as different)
Presents conflicting historical sources
Presents learning strategies for historical contextualisation

Huijgen, T., W. Van De Grift, C. Van Boxtel, and P. Holthuis. 2017b. “Teaching Historical Contextualization: The Construction of a Reliable Observation Instrument.” European Journal of Psychology of Education 32: 159–181. doi:10.1007/s10212-016-0295-8.

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