On the 15th of March, the Centre for Historical Culture organises a research meeting with Dr. Bjorn Wansink on teaching multiperspectivity in history education.
About the research
Dr. Wansink his study reports five Dutch expert history teachers' approach to multiperspectivity in three deliberately designed lessons and their underlying considerations for addressing subjects' perspectives in different temporal layers. The lessons covered three topics varying in moral sensitivity (i.e., the Dutch Revolt, Slavery, and the Holocaust). After observing and filming the lessons, the teachers were interviewed. We analysed the lessons using a theoretical framework in which we distinguished three different temporal layers of perspectives each with its own educational function. Teachers appeared to address multiple temporal layers and functions of multiperspectivity in almost all of their lessons. However, teachers' focus on temporal layers and function differed between lessons. Four categories of considerations for or against introducing specific subjects' perspectives were found: functional, moral, pedagogical, and practical. Moreover, teachers engaged in "normative balancing", meaning that not all perspectives were perceived as equally valid or politically desirable, showing where multiperspectivity ends.
About Dr. Bjorn Wansink
Dr. Bjorn Wansink is assistant professor Education & Pedagogy, Department of Education, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University. His main areas of interest are: cultural diversity, history, conflicting epistemic cultures, epistemology, teacher education, critical thinking, multiperspectivity, and dealing with controversial issues. His scholarly work is published in Teacher and Teaching Education, The Journal of Curriculum Studies, Research in Social Education, International Journal of Educational Research and Teaching History.
Practical information
Time: Thursday 15 March, 2018: 14:00-15:30 hrs
Place: Mandeville (T-)building, Campus Woudestein, Room T3-39