Page 193 - Balancing between the present and the past

The analyses of pre- and post-test answers showed that students in the experimental condition used less presentism and more historical context knowledge in their post- test answers compared to the students in the control condition. Examples of students’ answers suggests that the framework might teach students to set aside their present- oriented perspectives, unblock historical context knowledge, and become aware of the need to consider historical context knowledge to understand historical phenomena and agents’ actions.
8.1.4 An answer to the main research question
The main research question of this thesis was: How can students’ ability to perform historical contextualization be promoted? Students can increase their ability to perform historical contextualization. Teachers should therefore explicitly engage students in historical contextualization processes and should not only demonstrate historical contextualization themselves. The four design principles (awareness of a present- oriented perspective, the reconstruction of a historical context, the use of the historical context to explain historical phenomena, and historical empathy) can help teachers to develop classroom materials that engage students in historical contextualization processes.
The three-stage framework provides a promising lesson structure that can be used
by teachers to promote historical contextualization among their students. Within
this framework, the teacher first presents a case about a historical phenomenon that
evokes a cognitive conflict among students. Next, the teacher instructs the students
to reconstruct a historical context of the case and asks them afterwards to evaluate
the case again. A structure that varies from basic instructions to more complex 8 instructions is preferred. For example, the three stages can first be used to learn
students how to perform historical contextualization (e.g., discussing step-by-step plans for reconstructing a historical context). Subsequently, the stages can be used to create opportunities for students to perform historical contextualization on their own to explain and interpret historical phenomena.
8.2 Limitations and suggestions for future research
This thesis contains a number of limitations. Three limitations that also provide suggestions for future research are described in more detail. The first important
General conclusions and discussion
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