Pupil perspectives on the purposes and benefits of studying history in high school: a view from the UK

Abstract

Drawing on data from 1740 pupil questionnaires and 160 pupils in focus‐group interviews, the study aimed to gain insight into British pupils’ ideas about why they study history at school. The paper considers the implications of these ideas for history teachers and teacher educators. The data suggest that many pupils have very vague ideas about the purposes of school history. The variations among schools suggested that there are things that teachers can do to explain the purposes and benefits of school history to their pupils. The outcomes of the study also indicate that there is a case for teachers devoting more time and thought to helping pupils to understand the purposes and benefits of studying their subject in secondary school in order to improve the motivation and engagement of their pupils. The study may also have similar implications for teachers of other school subjects.

Keywords:

• history education
• England
• student attitudes

Notes

1. See, e.g. Levstik and Barton (2004), Cheney (1995), Ferro (1984), Foster and Crawford (2006), Grever and Stuurman (2007), Phillips (1998), Roberts (2004), Seixas (1993), and Tosh (2008).

2. See, among many others, Barton and McCully (2005), Cercadillo (2001), Lee and Ashby (2000), Lee and Shemilt (2004), Lee et al. (2001), Levstik (2000), and Wineburg (2001).

3. See Adey and Biddulph (2001), Aldrich (1987), Levstik and Barton (2008), Biddulph and Adey (2004), Fink (2004), Grever and Stuurman (2007), and VanSledright (1997).

4. In the UK the 11–14 age‐range is known as Key Stage 3, or KS3.

5. Details of pupils’ views on what they did and did not enjoy about studying history can be found in Harris and Haydn (2006).

6. The questionnaires were analysed using SPSS software for ‘closed’ questions and Filemaker Pro for text‐based responses.

7. A pilot questionnaire was trialled in April/May 2004 and an amended version was then used in several schools in July 2004, in the last few days of pupils’ experience of history in Year 7 (11–12 age range). After initial analysis of the 330 returns from phase 1 of the survey, one amendment was made to the design of the questionnaire. This was to separate Religious Education (RE) and Personal and Social Education (PSE) where pupils were asked to rank how much they enjoyed school subjects, and how important they felt it was to do well in the subject.

8. The second phase of the research attempted to elicit history teachers’ explanations for these variations.