A study of knowledge representations in grade 6 history textbooks before and after 1994.
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Date
2009
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the knowledge structures in Grade 6
History textbooks have altered since 1994 and how learners in History may be inducted
differently into the discipline of History. The transformation from a ‘content-heavy’ to
a ‘skills-based’ History curriculum, and the teaching of History as a ‘mode of enquiry’
has resulted in an altered form, shape and character of History, as it exists in the
learning area of the Social Sciences in the National Curriculum Statement.
Bernstein’s concepts of curricula types and discourses as well as Bertram’s ‘historical
gaze’ have been used to frame the study. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy has been used to
identify knowledge types and the cognitive demand of the textbooks. This study is
located within the interpretive paradigm using the methodology of content analysis. It
utilises the mixed-mode approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods.
The sampling of the four textbooks (data sources) was purposive due to their popularity,
accessibility, publication and prestige. Similar content in the chapter on the “History
of Medical Science” was analysed across all four textbooks. Whilst the expectation of
the NCS is one of high skill and high knowledge, the findings show that there seems to
be a lack of congruence between curriculum requirements and textbook representations.
An analysis of the two new textbooks indicate that both content of History (substantive
knowledge) and historical procedures (procedural knowledge) are in danger as
everyday knowledge is prioritised in its integration with substantive History knowledge
in Grade 6 History textbooks. The content analysis also reveals an undeveloped sense
of chronology; space and time which has implications for History learners and their
appropriate induction into the discipline of History.
Description
Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
Keywords
History--Study and teaching (Secondary)--South Africa., South Africa--History--Textbooks., Theses--Education.