Source criticism, Use of history & Racism

Core features of the practice


  • Organisation:

    Institution name: Living history forum
    Institution URL: http://www.levandehistoria.se
  • Format:

    Seminar, Training, Instructional material
  • Target population:

    Students, Educators in formal settings
  • Cost (per practice):

    Free
  • Setting:

    No specific setting required
  • Themes:

    Remembrance education and/or history education, Racism, Critical thinking
  • Core activities:

    Group work, Group discussion, Textual analysis

Additional information about the practice


    Target population

  • Number of participants:

    Not applicable
  • Age of target population:

    16-18
  • Additional specifics:

    National/local specifities (e.g. activity targeted to Swedish school students)

    • Components of the practice

  • Topics and objectives:

    The central topic is critical thinking, source criticism and history awareness. This inter active classroom material is a digitalized, web based teaching material used for the students to work with independently or group wise. The material consists of different authentic sources (documents, letters, photos, films, paper articles etc.). It is based on five different historic events in Swedish history. These events are related to Afrophobia (S:t Bartholomey 1830), Antisemitism (The Bollhus-meeting 1939), Anti-Gypsism (A tent school in 1943), Islamophobia (The building of the Mosque in 1995) and Racism towards the Sami (The Nomad school in 1918). There are two different ways to deal with the material, either one where the students may work with source criticism or another way where the students may work with use of history. Both possible ways in each case are based on the same case, but each way has different historic sources, different historic dates and tasks for the students.
  • Materials used:

    Written or other published material, Audiovisual material, Online material
  • Material produced:

    Not applicable
  • Sequence of activities - methodology:

    This digital classroom material can be used “unlimited”. The students work with source criticism or with use of history using authentic sources. To make the historic sources easily accessible there are different ”help desks”. To start the student´s watch a film describing the concepts of source criticism or use of history and hereafter they choose one of the historical cases to work with. In the part dealing with source criticism they are asked to analyse the case, source interpretation, with a starting point in a source critic approach. Then they are encouraged to reflect on what comes into their own minds when they consider these events and the different sources about it. In the part that deals with use of history the students are asked to consider how the different historical events have been used, in what purpose and what the reason may be for the different narratives about the same event. Thereafter the student reflects on their own use of history.
  • Length of activity:

    5 to 8 hours
  • Is the activity digital?:

    Yes: http://www.levandehistoria.se/klassrummet/kallkritik-historiebruk-rasism

    • Accessibility and replicability

  • Language(s) in which activity can be delivered:

    Swedish
  • Is specialist knowledge or professional training required?:

    No

Qualitative Details


  • Has this practice been evaluated?

    Yes
    • How many times?:

    5
  • By whom?:

    Formal external evaluator
  • By what means?:

    Formal verbal feedback, Qualitative written feedback
  • Core content knowledge and transferable skills:

    The outcome is training of student’s ability of critical thinking and history awareness by promote skills like source criticism and practise use of history. Another aim is to receive increased knowledge of the influence of racism and intolerance in history and in our current society towards specific vulnerable groups.
  • Indicators of success:

    Inter-active digital material. Confronting with racism in a different way than the expected and compared with most value exercises. The material wants to stimulate student’s critical thinking.
  • Educational coordinator contact details:

    Name: Camilla Sjöström
    Email address: camilla.sjostrom@levandehistoria.se

Scalability

The RETHINK project is concerned with bridging formal and informal education. This section explores the factors that make a practice adaptable.


  • Key factors for successful implementation:

    Other factor – please specify, only an online acsess
  • Main challenges to teachers adapting this practice for their students:

    It´s a very comprehensive material.
  • Availability of guidance/training/replication materials (and in what language/format currently):

    this classroom material is availably only in Swedish at our website
  • Other comments or details:

    .