Teaching the past in the United Kingdom's schools.

Teaching the past in the United Kingdom's schools. Key-words: archaeology, aims, curricula, history, schools, Britain Contrary to popular opinion, there is no national curriculum inschools in the United Kingdom The list of schools in the United Kingdom is divided into several parts: List of schools in England List of schools in Wales List of schools in Scotland List of schools in Northern Ireland List of independent schools in the United Kingdom . Instead, there are four separatecurricula for England, Wales Wales,Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. , Northern Ireland Northern Ireland:see Ireland, Northern. Northern IrelandPart of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupying the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland. Area: 5,461 sq mi (14,144 sq km). Population (2001): 1,685,267. and Scotland. These covereducation in state-funded schools between the ages of 5 and 16. Thecurricula in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, whose school anduniversity systems share the same basic framework, are structured insimilar ways, use similar jargon and are statutory (they lay down theminimum that has to be taught). The Scottish school and higher educationsystem, however, has always been distinctive. The curriculum in Scotlandis structured along very different lines and takes the form ofnon-statutory guidelines. Differences between the curricula may wellincrease in future since education is part of the responsibilities beingtransferred to the new devolved parliament/assemblies in Scotland, Walesand Northern Ireland. The curriculum in England is currently undergoing its second majorrevision since being introduced. Throughout the 1990s, there has been anincreasing awareness of the link between education and employment, andthe vocational role of the education system has become more important.Britain's standing as an economic power in the world arena has beenexamined and found wanting, and perceived failings in our educationalsystem have received some of the blame for this. As the cry has gone upfor an educated workforce, so the educational pendulum has swung backtowards a back-to-basics approach in which core skills like literacy andnumeracy numeracyMathematical literacy Neurology The ability to understand mathematical concepts, perform calculations and interpret and use statistical information. Cf Acalculia. receive greater attention. Unfortunately, this has the effectof confusing education with training, and there is concern that we arelosing sight of the goal of educating the whole individual to realizetheir potential. This may be partially allayed by the fact that the newcurriculum orders in England will lay more stress on equipping childrenwith skills for adult life and on cross-curricular themes, e.g.citizenship and personal, social and health education. In Scotland, thegrowth of national sentiment in the political arena has prompted debateon the need to take into account the teaching of Scottish culture Scottish culture is the national culture of Scotland. It originates from various differences, some entrenched as part of the Act of Union, others facets of nationhood not easily defined but readily identifiable. , andto provide greater guidance to teachers on what content should be taughtin subjects like history. Reasons for studying the past While archaeological evidence and archaeological skills can bebrought into every subject in the curricula (Curtis 1995; Henson 1997;Howell 1994), in practice they are usually taught through history.Reasons for including history within the school curriculum, as given bythe National Curriculum History Working Group Final Report for Englandin 1990 (Bourdillon 1994) and Scottish History in the Curriculum(Scottish History Review Group 1997) can be grouped under threeheadings, as follows. * Learning about the past: the study of the past for its own sake.The past is an exotic location with different cultures to the one welive in now, with characters and events that can fascinate and enthral. * Learning from the past: using the past to inform the present andlearn lessons for the future. This is perhaps the oldest reason of allin British historiography historiographyWriting of history, especially that based on the critical examination of sources and the synthesis of chosen particulars from those sources into a narrative that will stand the test of critical methods. for studying the past, and is the one given byBede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People Noun 1. English people - the people of EnglandEnglishnation, country, land - the people who live in a nation or country; "a statement that sums up the nation's mood"; "the news was announced to the nation"; "the whole country worshipped him" of 731(Colgrave & Mynors 1969). * Using the past in the present: the creation of heritage as acommodity and as a badge of identity. This involves the conscious use ofa notional heritage to project a image about ourselves or provide acomfortable sense of belonging. Only one of the reasons for studying history listed for England andScotland falls under learning about the past. Learning historicalcontent is only one aspect of history. Studying the past is more thanjust idle curiosity. We may study the past out of fascination for whathas gone before, but that is not why its study is important. History(and by extension archaeology) is more than simply telling a story of'what happened when'. It is a basically humanistic disciplinewhich aims to improve people's view of the world and of themselves.The school curricula in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotlandagree about this. However, one major difference between Scotland and therest is the inclusion of a specific reference to the tourism andheritage industries in the Scottish guidelines. The creation of aself-consciously Scottish cultural identity over the last 200 years andits projection towards the outside world as a marketable commodity,coupled with the growth of political self-consciousness over the last 25years, has led to a clearer sense of using the past as heritage than canbe observed in England. It might be expected that Wales would follow theScottish lead in this but its curriculum is more closely aligned withthat of England. The content of the history curricula The division between learning about or from the past, and using thepast, is made explicit in the curricula through a division betweenteaching historical content and historical skills. Content for 7- to14-year-olds (outside Scotland) is taught through period- orculture-based topics, while skills are laid out separately, to be taughtthrough the content. Period topics in Wales begin with the earliestpeoples, in Northern Ireland with the Middle and New Stone Ages and inScotland with the ancient world before the 5th century AD. By contrast,history in England begins with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.Prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to is therefore excluded from the English past. This is along-standing problem (Corbishley & Stone 1994: 385). However, theunit that covers a European era or turning point in key stage 3 has theNeolithic revolution in a long list of examples that teachers might liketo teach. Furthermore, the revised curriculum to be taught from 2000 hasprehistoric settlers among the examples of local studies at key stage 2.Unfortunately, since it is not mandatory, knowledge of prehistory is notusually part of the training of history teachers and few may use theopportunities presented to teach it. Where prehistory is being taught asa mandatory subject in the United Kingdom it is because of a nationalcontext that is missing in England. To study Welsh history withoutlooking at the Iron Age would deprive modern Wales of links with itsperceived 'Celtic' roots (whether or not the word Celtic hasany meaning). Likewise, Scottish history without prehistory would cutoff Scotland from potent symbols of identity, such as those provided bythe archaeology of the Picts. The contribution of prehistory toEngland's development is effectively hidden by the dominantposition of Roman material culture, the position of Roman Britain Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia. at thebeginning of written historical record, and the origin of Englishnationality in the Anglo-Saxon migrations in the early historic period. The past that is to be taught is a selective past which seeks toimpart knowledge about certain periods and places in preference toothers. Why is it important for children in England to learn aboutancient Greece The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. 750 BC[1] (the archaic period) to 146 BC (the Roman conquest). It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western Civilization. , but not children in Wales? It is notable that there is amuch greater concern to teach English pupils about the past outside theBritish Isles British Isles:see Great Britain; Ireland. (ancient Greece + an ancient civilization) than in Walesor Northern Ireland. For which ancient civilization are teachingresources more readily available, for relatively unknown (to the Britishpublic) Benin or for the ever-popular ancient Egypt Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. ? Not surprisingly,most schools teach ancient Egypt. A somewhat old-fashioned view ofhistory as a series of key dates and events is revealed in the use of1066 as a starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting pointterminus a quocommencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the for the medieval period in England, somethingfew academic historians or archaeologists would nowadays accept.Medieval history in England is thus divorced from the formation ofEngland in the late 9th and 10th centuries. In contrast, thecontribution of the Picts and Scots to the origins of Scotland are fullyintegrated into the medieval period. Historical skills Fortunately for archaeology, the curricula lay great emphasis onacquiring historical skills. These offer the greatest opportunity to usearchaeological evidence. They are broadly similar across England, Walesand Northern Ireland and, as would be expected, there is no nationallyspecific bias in the range of skills to he taught. They include anunderstanding of chronology; understanding change, continuity andcausation causationRelation that holds between two temporally simultaneous or successive events when the first event (the cause) brings about the other (the effect). According to David Hume, when we say of two types of object or event that “X causes Y” (e.g. ; evaluating different interpretations of the past; usingappropriate sources of evidence; learning how to undertake an enquiryand communicate results of a study of the past. Among the sources ofevidence specified under historical enquiry are artefacts, buildings,historical sites and museums. Teachers must therefore includearchaeological evidence among the sources for history. Unfortunately,few teachers will realize that these sources are part of archaeology.They may think of approaching a local museum or visiting a historic sitebut they will seldom realize there is a Sites and Monuments Record, alocal authority archaeologist or a nearby archaeological field unit thatcould also be approached. One notable feature of the Scottish curriculum that is missing fromthe English version is that children are encouraged to confront issuesrelating to relating torelate prep → concernantrelating torelate prep → bez��glich +gen, mit Bezug auf +accour attitudes towards the past, including considering thepast as part of the community's heritage. As stated earlier, thereasons for teaching history in Scotland make explicit reference See explicit link. toheritage and tourism. The importance of these to Scotland has led to anacceptance that the past belongs to the whole community as part of theirculture. Indeed, current attempts to include an appreciation of Scottishcultural expression, and nurture participation in the creation ofcultural identities, recognize that this must involve teaching aboutstewardship of Scotland's environment and culture. In this way, thecurriculum can help to develop a sense of heritage and culturalcontinuity. In England, there is no such identification of the past withan English identity. Indeed, the curriculum orders have frequentlyconfused England with Britain and referred to British history ratherthan English history within a British context. Putting aims into practice How well do the curricula outlined above deliver the stated aims ofteaching history? Only partially, I would argue, and that the statedaims are poorly developed in the actual content of the curriculum. Therevised curriculum for England can illustrate this (TABLE 1).AIMSdistinctive contribution of history to the schoolcurriculumstimulates curiosity about the way of life of peopleliving in the pastdevelops understandingof characteristic featuresand diversity of Britishsocietyand of a range of societies, by engaging with thepolitical structures, cultures paststudiesand beliefs that influencedactions of people in the pastdevelops individual and by understanding andcollective sense of identity valuing their own andand learn to appreciate others' inheritancediversity of human experienceability to clarify life choices, through considering theattitudes and values in ways in which the pastcontext influences the presentdevelops ability to use through a wide range ofdistinctive, disciplined critical enquiry, thinkingproblem-solving methods and communicationof historians skillsCURRICULUM CONTENTskills, knowledge & areas of studyunderstandingall areas ks2 - 3 British period topics ks3 - 3 British period topicsknowledge & understanding ks2 - 2 ancient civilisations ks3 - 3 European & world ks2 - local study ks2 - 2 ancient civilisations ks3 - 3 European & world studies ks2 - Britain since 1930 ks3 - world study after 1900chronological understandinghistorical interpretationhistorical enquiryorganizing & communicating TABLE 1. The revised curriculum for history in England. It is noteworthy that the skills, knowledge and understandingaddress either historical methodology or the content of knowledge aboutthe past. Those aims which cover using the past to gain a betterunderstanding of the present and to help pupils prepare for the futureare addressed largely through the content of the areas of study. Howthis understanding and preparation are to be achieved is not madeexplicit. It is assumed that somehow pupils will gain both through aknowledge of 'what happened when'. It is clear that thenarrative story of past events dominates thinking about the past. Theutility of studying the past is therefore liable to be hidden orignored. This is not the case in Scotland, where history is grouped withgeography and sociology as part of environmental studies and so is ableto contribute to a wider framework with accepted social utility. Lessons for archaeology There are lessons in the above for archaeology. Althougharchaeology and history are distinct disciplines and professions, theyshare a common concern with the past and have many aims in common (cf.Elton 1967 & Rahtz 1985). Many people have provided definitions ofarchaeology but perhaps the most encompassing is that of Rahtz (1985:1): Archaeology is the study of material culture in its relationship tohuman behaviour ... It is also concerned with the environment in whichmankind has developed and in which man still lives. Most writers identify archaeology simply with the study ofpeople's behaviour through material culture (Wheeler 1954; Clarke1968; Shanks & Tilley 1992), leaving out the second of Rahtz'ssentences. Given modern concerns about the environment, this may bethought a particularly short-sighted strategy for archaeology to adopt.It is a strength of archaeology that it can inform us about the mutualinteraction of people with their environment over the long time-scalesnecessary for disentangling climatic from human factors. It is thus wellplaced to provide historical studies (in the widest sense) with ajustification in the present. Although this is the case in Scottishschools where history is part of environmental studies, in England it iscommon to find schools forcing pupils to decide between history orgeography as mutually exclusive Adj. 1. mutually exclusive - unable to be both true at the same timecontradictoryincompatible - not compatible; "incompatible personalities"; "incompatible colors" options for GCSE GCSE1. (in Britain) General Certificate of Secondary Education; an examination in specified subjects which replaced the GCE O level and CSE2. Informal a pass in a GCSE examinationNoun 1. . Archaeology is still in many people's minds simply the studyof the material remains of the past. Even some archaeologists seem toforget Wheeler's words (1954: 18): Too often we dig up mere things, unrepentantly forgetful that ourproper aim is to dig up people. The concentration of archaeologists on material remains, perhapsbest exemplified by Clarke's approach to archaeological theory Archaeological theory covers the debates over the practice of archaeology and the interpretation of archaeological results. There is no single theory of archaeology, and even definitions are disputed. inhis Analytical archaeology of 1968, is matched by the media'sobsession with spectacular finds like the 'ice man, Otzi', orexotic civilizations like ancient Egypt. It is this domination ofarchaeology by artefact See artifact. and site which serves to hide the widerbehavioural and environmental concerns of the discipline. This misapprehension mis��ap��pre��hend?tr.v. mis��ap��pre��hend��ed, mis��ap��pre��hend��ing, mis��ap��pre��hendsTo apprehend incorrectly; misunderstand.mis��ap of the purpose of archaeology is one that isshared with history. In history's case, the aim of the disciplineis often seen as deriving from the past a narrative story of whatactually happened. Narrative is easy to understand; it often involvesinteresting events and, above all, involves named individuals with whompeople can identify. Learning from the past is hidden behind theseductive appeal of the narrative. It is not, therefore, surprising thatthe teaching of history in schools is based so strongly onperiod-specific study, nor that archaeology is mainly seen ascontributing material evidence to support the creation of historicalnarrative, through the requirement to use artefacts, buildings andhistoric sites as sources of evidence, for the past. It also helps toexplain the absence of mandatory prehistory in the English historycurriculum, since prehistory is incapable of supplying narrativecontent. In spite of the attack on empiricism empiricism(ĕmpĭr`ĭsĭzəm)[Gr.,=experience], philosophical doctrine that all knowledge is derived from experience. For most empiricists, experience includes inner experience—reflection upon the mind and its in archaeology by Shanks &Tilley (1987; 1992), the wider purposes of archaeology are poorlyrepresented in the way that archaeologists communicate with the public.The emphasis on the publication of site reports, the studies ofparticular places, the monographs on particular artefacts or types ofsite, and even the period-based accounts of how people lived atparticular times in the past all fail to get across why archaeology isimportant. The failure of archaeologists and historians to rise abovemere 'back-looking curiositie' (Camden in Bahn 1996: 2) hasmeant that the actual practice of teaching 'the past' willfocus on describing 'what happened when', rather than linkingpast and present to derive lessons for the future. If archaeology andhistory are thus marginalized in schools, they will inevitably bemarginalized in society as a whole. References BAHN, P. 1996. 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