Bridging the past and the future in the present cultural and historical awareness as a means to ‘connect’ in a super divers class context
eaching history is by nature an exercise in ‘standing at the intersection’ of the past, present and the future. When cultivating ‘cultural and historical awareness’ this is even more true. Hence, to be ‘aware of History and Culture’, students need to master ‘historical thinking and reasoning’. Never...
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Zusammenfassung: | eaching history is by nature an exercise in ‘standing at the intersection’ of the past, present and the future. When cultivating ‘cultural and historical awareness’ this is even more true. Hence, to be ‘aware of History and Culture’, students need to master ‘historical thinking and reasoning’. Nevertheless, history lessons have the potential to make a bridge between the past and the future via these concepts. We argue that insights regarding historical dynamics (social, political, cultural, economic, and geographical) in the past can be a lever to understand – at least some of - the current complex societal issues, and the intertwined relationships between the different domains. Understanding these complex interrelated dynamics can support multiperspectivity; and which, in my view, can support ‘connecting’ with the ‘other’ through common culture. The Flemish government launched a new learning outcome framework for higher secondary education in February 2021. This framework includes sixteen Key Competences, amongst them: Citizenship Education, including ‘peaceful coexistence’ (7), Historical Awareness (8) and Cultural Awareness (16). A closer look at the competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) reveals the possibilities to work on ‘connecting’, and thus strengthening of a tight social fabric and therefore social inclusion through common cultural heritage for example. The ingredient to achieve this overall goal is, in my view, historical empathy alongside cultural awareness. Thus core questions are: which teaching methods are adequate to cultivate empathy? How can teachers bring the historical and cultural ‘narratives’ of students into class discussion? How can we skill the novice teachers to take a multiperspective view when teaching ‘History’ and ‘Culture(s)’? However, teachers have to take into account several elements. Multi-layered identity, language(s), culture, (family) history, with a range of symbolic – tacit and explicit - meaning, constitute a multi-dimensional prism through which we experience, feel and see the ‘world’ and the ‘other’. Thus, it shapes our narratives, beliefs, personal development, and world view. Our experiences entail an affective component which allow us (or not) to ‘connect’, to create interpersonal relationships. In that sense, empathy becomes increasingly important as our societies become more diverse and polarised. Experiences and world view(s) influence how people act, which orientations
they will choose. Being aware |
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