Page 110 - Balancing between the present and the past

Chapter 5
causes and consequences, compare historical phenomena, and understand different perspectives on phenomena. The final strategy is enhancing the awareness of present-oriented perspectives among students when examining the past. Without the awareness of the differences between past and present, students are not able to compare, explain, or evaluate the past. These teaching strategies can be applied in different (chronological) sequences in classrooms.
The FAT-HC can be used to examine how students are engaged in historical contextualization processes since it makes a distinction between items focusing on teachers demonstrating historical contextualization (e.g., the teacher gives time indicators) and items focusing on teachers engaging students in historical contextualization processes (e.g., the students give time indicators). When the teacher gives time indicators, the teacher mentions, for example, the year or historical period in which a historical event took place. When the students give time indicators, teachers ask students, for example, in which year or historical period a historical event took place. The focus of the FAT-HC is therefore on teacher lectures and behavior. Huijgen, Van de Grift, et al. (2017) used generalizability theory (e.g., Brennan, 2001; Shavelson & Webb, 1991) to test the observation instrument for reliability. They calculated an index of dependability coefficient (Φ) to determine the number of observed lessons and raters needed for a reliable observation score. Brennan and Kane (1977) argued that the Φ should be ≥ .7 for research purposes; in the Huijgen, Van de Grift, et al. (2017) study, the Φ was .74 when one lesson was observed by two raters and the Φ increased to .86 when one lesson was observed by five raters. However, Huijgen, Van de Grift, et al. (2017) did not use the instrument to examine how history teachers promote historical contextualization in classrooms, leaving important questions for educational professionals unanswered, such as “Which teaching strategies from the instruments do teachers use the most?” and “Do teachers only demonstrate historical contextualization or do they also engage students in historical contextualization processes?”
5.3 Research question and hypotheses
For this explorative study, we formulated the following research question: how do history teachers promote historical contextualization in their lessons? We focus in this observational study on the two highest tracks in the Dutch educational system (senior general secondary education and pre-university education) since the formal Dutch
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