APPENDIX A. StudyAimsandResearchQuestions. Specifically, the study explored:

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1 APPENDIX A StudyAimsandResearchQuestions Specifically, the study explored: the organization, structure and ontology of the pasts students employ; the degree to which and the ways in which students used these pasts in thinking about the present and future; the extent to which students available pasts developed over time, among both those who studied history and those who did not. The central research questions were: How far and in what ways (if at all) do students call upon the past in thinking about the present and the future? In particular, what kind of past do students address? How coherently organized is it? Is it a collection of discrete events, or does it recognize occurrences as more or less significant within themes which give meaning to its component parts? Does coherence increase over time (whether or not the students study history)? How far and in what ways does it recognize change? For example, is change seen as random and unpredictable, or as part of what makes the world intelligible? What ontology is employed in it (tacitly or explicitly)? For example, does it contain states of affairs and processes as well as events and actions? Does it include unintended changes as well as rational decisions? Is it an evidential and provisional past, or is it seen as something given? Is it socially and culturally inclusive, or does it privilege some part of humanity? For all these, are there developments in ideas over time? Are there differences between those who study history and those who do not? 18

2 APPENDIX B Interview questions: 1A. Think of any really important change that is likely to happen in the next 100 years. Why will it happen? 1B. Think of any really important change that happened in the last 100 years. Why did it happen? 2. People say that the USA is the most powerful country in the world. Will the USA always be the most powerful country? How do you know? 3. If you had to sum up the story of British history so far, from what you ve done at school or from home (including TV, movies, books, or anything else). What kind of story would you say it was? 4. People say we have a wonderful history that British people should all know. Where did our history begin? 5. The burial site of an Ancient Briton king has been discovered. It contains the remains of a chariot and some ornaments. They are all fairly well preserved. They would normally be put in the British Museum but another country wants them and offers the British government more than 100,000,000 for them. a. What should the government do? Should it: i. Put them in the British museum? ii. Sell them and use the money towards buying a new hospital? b. So why did you choose that one? c. Would it have made any difference if the stuff they found had been i. From the Roman period? ii. From the Saxon period? iii. From the Norman period? iv. How about something Tudor like Henry VIII s warship the Mary Rose? d. Would anything left from the past be worth paying a lot of money to keep? 6. What would you say you mainly are i. English? ii. British? iii. European? iv. Or (choose something else) a. Why would you say that? b. What does history tell you about what being X is? UHP Question Set - Part A Written Task Questions 1. What major changes confront the world today? List five in order with number one being the most important. 2. What about the future? What do you think will be the most serious changes in the next years? Again list five in order with number one being the most serious. 3. Things change as time goes on. Does this mean that: a. History is really useful? b. History is really useless? c. Explain why you think so. 19

3 Does what you say apply to all history equally or some bits more than others? 4. Does what you say apply to all history equally or some bits more than others? UHP Question Set - Part B 1. What History have you studied at school since the beginning of secondary school? 2. Tell the story of British History in the last 2,000 years or so up to now. Try and give a big picture of what was going on. By the way when we say going on we mean that we don t want just facts and dates but are interested in a big picture of what was happening. UHP Question Set - Part C 1. People are often asked who they are. People usually answer by saying where they come from, or what beliefs and values they have, or even whom they consider to be friends or enemies. If you were asked who you were, what would you say? Explain your answer. 2. Do you consider yourself to be English, British, both or someone else? Does History play any part in who you think you are? 20

4 APPENDIX C: Objective 1 Category Analytical Category Number 1.0 Can t Know or Don t Know 1.1 Future Reference 1.2 Present - Future Reference 1.3 Present Reference 1.4 Past Reference 1.5 Past - Present Reference 1.6 Past - Present - Future Reference Category 1.0 This category consisted of those students who resigned themselves to knowing nothing that would usefully inform a response. Category 1.1 This category included student responses which addressed the question by speculating about the future. For example, a few students declared that America might lose its influence in the world and some argued that China was on the uprise and were going to be the next superpower. Significantly, in making such bold assertions these students failed to draw on any historical knowledge or understanding. Category 1.2 In this category students articulated a position in which a rudimentary understanding of the present was used to project forward into the future. For example one student acknowledged that as America comprises of all the states joined together they basically have a lot of power but equally noted that if the nations within Europe all joined together then they could have more power one day. Category 1.3 This category provided the most common responses. Many students, for example, noted America s powerful army, exceedingly large military, strong economy, and vast resources and size. Echoing the response of many others, one student claimed that the USA is probably the most powerful country at the moment because of their technology, their money...and nuclear weapons. But not all students readily accepted America s contemporary dominance. Several students for example pointed to the current strength of China as a powerful economic and military force and others suggested that the USA faced growing competition from the EU, Japan, and India. Category 1.4 Student responses in the category drew of historical knowledge when discussing the durability of American power. Typically, however, past references were offered in an isolated and piecemeal way and not part of a sustained argument or discussion that connected the past to contemporary or future issues. Category 1.5 Responses in this category included a small number of students were able to introduce some historical knowledge to make elementary connections to the present For example, one student who noted, Britain used to have the biggest Empire and stuff and colonised 21

5 everything drew comparisons with events in the contemporary world without fully articulating how it related to the question of American power now and in the future. Category 1.6 The most sophisticated responses and discussions were those in which students were able to relate the past and the future to present considerations. However, as also indicated, although some students attempted to past, present, and future reference they often did not have enough substantive historical knowledge on which to draw. 22

6 APPENDIX D: Objective 2 Examples of unsubstantial responses included: I don t know about British History 2,000 years ago. I don t even care about it. British history has changed quite a lot in the last 2000 years. Nowadays, the big picture is guns, knives and terrorism, but before it was completely different. I don t know about British History 2,000 years ago. I don t even care about it. I wasn t born yet so I don t remember. Examples of responses classified as topics. I don t know much, but tell you all I know: There was the stone age, which was a long time ago early times of Britain and then there was the medieval times, Victorian times, when steam started to become a power source as coal. Then there was the inductrial revolution where electricity was started to get used. Then came world war I, which was started by Germany. Britain allied with Russia and countries against Germany. Then World War II started by Germany again, once again Britain allied against Germany, they won the war for the second time. Then came the modern times where we are now, pollution, war, disease and poverty are all problems now. In British history in the last 2000 years ago up until now many things have happened. Kings and Queens ruled England. Also, England Invaded many different countries and made them part of the coloney. Things such as the black plague happened where many people died because of the plague. The Battle of Hastings happened. Different types of kings ruled who were different religions, to the future rulers, such as King Henry who was a Catholic and Queen Mary who was a Protestant. The Tudors ruled. Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. The great fire of London happened. The Victorians ruled. Also what people were wearing changed as times passed. The titanic sunk where many people survived and only a few lived to tell the tale. The first world war happened and the second world war happened which was because of the treaty of versailles. The currency changed. Parliment has taken over and monarchy has less power than they did before, however they still have some power up till this day. I am unsure about the first queen that Britain had, but I do know that we have had many e.g. Queen Mary, Victoria, Elizabeth etc. During the reign of these queens there were many wars. The three main wars that I know Britain was involved in were the 1 st world war, second world war and the civil war. Many soldiers were killed. Then there was the great fire of London and the plague which spread disease amongst hundreds of Londoners. The above events have not been written in sequence as many of the things I learned a long time ago and there are many events in british history that I do not know. Howver I do know that there were also problems with immigration. Britain has also had its Fair Share of Problems with priministers e.g. Margaret Thatcher and Tony blair. I have realised that with all the information I feel that there is no connection between this history which I find difficult to understand. Examples of student narratives classified as and next 23

7 2000 years ago the Romans kept invading Briton unsucksefully because it was too cold, but when they did thye taught us how to build things and taught us other clever skills. For a long time it roughly stayed like that with people living in little villages and England mostly covered in forest. Then the Saxons and Vikings attacked from European countries. After that it was middle ages, the time of mote & bailey castles and the first early monacy. The it was the battle of the roses and the red tudor rose won. King Henry VIII was the most famous king for having 6 wifes and through them creating divorce in Britain and breaking away from the Catholic church and also because he was very fat. His children, Marry and Elizabeth then spent both their reign either trying to convert the country to be Catholic, causing lots of death and exocutions. Then it was the edwardian times where people wore large dresses and new countries were being discovered. The plague and the Fire on London. After it was the 18 th century where the British empire and slavery controlled the world with the start of the industrial revolution and the Victorian times, the slave triangle and competition between empires. After was the first and second world war. Britain has been invaded many times, by the Normans, French, Romans, Anglo- Saxons. In 1066, King Harold (for England) was attacked by William the Conqueror and his army from Normandy. William the Conqueror won and became King of England. In the late 13 th century the Scots were controlled by England. A man named William Wallace rebelled and fought against the English. After him, Robert the Bruce fought with an army of Scotsmen and they won their freedom. The Gunpowder plot is a famous happening, a Catholic man attempted to kill protestant royalty. His plan was foiled at the last minute. King Henry VIII decided he wanted divorce to be legal, he had St. John Fisher killed and made his own church, the Church of England. Then followed the Elizabethan, Jocobean and Victorian eras. In 1914 Britain went to war with Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany. This stemmed from an archduke, Franz Ferdinand being killed by a Bosnian. Britain and its allies France an Russia won the war with the help of the USA. In 1939, Britain felt that Hitler had gone too far, he was invading countries in a bid for world dominance. Britain again went to war with Germany. This lasted from and (like WWI) resulted in an enormous death-toll. Britain won again, with the help of the USA after an American fleet was bombed at Pearl Harbour in Britain has given Eire independence and kept Northern Ireland under its rule. Conflict is mainly because of two different religions, Catholic and Protestant. Britain has also gone to war with Afghanistan and Iraq. Britain has also signed a treaty to lessen third world debt. Before the Roman invasion in the 1 st century, Britain was full of tribes who covered most of the land they were Celts and were thought to be more barbaric than when the Romans invaded. In combined with some others tried to defend Britain, but they were no match for the skill of the Roman soldiers. Once we were conquered the Romans made us more civilised and when the Romans became Catholic, Catholicism became the main religion when the Roman Empire fell we were open to attacks from the barbaric Vikings and were raided frequently over the next few centuries. Some of them settled here. In 1066 there was the battle of hastings. It was all over who should take the throne of England. First Norway invaded us and the king with a conscript army met them and defeated them but the wind changed and we was invaded by Normandy a region of france and was defeated. The next major event was the plague. Britain was hit hard and the population went from 10 million to 2 million because rats were everywhere the disease spread. Throughout the dark ages there were people who suffered of starvation while a few lords became wealthy, just what s happening in the third world. The 18 th century industrial revolution made Britain the most powerful nation in the world and we colonised most of the world through trade and slavery. At the end of world war 2, the British people stoped believing in this after the Germans and decided to switch from a conservative government 24

8 to a labour government. Today Britain is closely lied with the USA a former colony and are fighting a new kind of war the war on terror. Examples of student responses offering an explanatory or thematic account of British history. Britain has always wanted power and strength to dominate or lead other countries. In the past we see that Britain has been involved in a race to the top of that high tower. All the past leaders, presidents, Kings and Queens of Britain aimed to build up their country economically and gain a powerful Army which would protect Britain and cause less powerful countries to fear Britain and take side. With other countries supporting Britain and becoming allies, Britain would be looked upon as a dominant country. Over the past 2000 years Britain has developed majorly as a whole. For example, Britain has its own currency which strongly stands as the pound. Also Britains military equipment has completely evolved from a spear to machine guns and nuclear bombs. This tells us that Britain is on a long road of growth and discovery which is causing her to gain power and more independence years ago, Britain then was just starting to become well known in their local areas. As time went on, Britain expanded their reputation worldwide and started to build an empire. Britain then was starting to become the USA of today. The British empire now included a quarter of the Globe. They ruled the sea s and land. Leading up to the first world war, Britain were still strong and powerful, they met a challenge that probably scared them a bit. After having to enter the war after allies Belgium were attacked, Britain did not seem as powerful as it once was. The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) managed to slow down the Germans but not much more. After having help from basically the whole of Europe and America, the allies won the first world war. The Treaty of Versailles then triggered off the next world war 21 years later as Germany could not survive with the debts the allied dumped on their shoulders. Adolf Hitler looked for world domination and disscrimination. After the second world war, more national problems occurring with the government. Global warming started to pop into peoples eyes then by year 2000, everyone believe that all the worlds computers would and that the world would be destroyed. Our problems are left with Iraq, terrorism and how we can help other countries. Our empire may have shrunk, but we still remain one of the most powerful nations in the world years ago, people were looking to believe anything. Looking for an answer to life. Technology then started to update peoples knowledge on life. When Christopher Columbus set of from Spain to find India, he found America. People laughed at him because they all thought the world was flat and he would just fall off the edge. Then the British Empire started to expand and the Britain entered as the leaders of the salve trade. Through time the Empire started to decrease. An example of this was when Ghandi sent the British out of India through non-violent protests. Then Britain were at the front of two World Wars. One to stop the Domination of Kaizer Wielhem of Germany and then stop the racist and dominating influence of Adolf Hitler. In between this, Britain was in a group of countries within an organisation called the League of Nations. This was to prevent another WW. However, due to empty threats and the rise of dictators, they could not prevent WWII. Britain is now at the front of new technology, developing and is trying to prevent terrorism and war around the world. 25

9 APPENDIX E: Objective 3 Conceptual Ontology Actions Events Periods Topics States of affairs Colligations Ways of behaving Trends Turning points Themes Change Development Processes Patterns Substantive Ontology Collectives Dynasties Groups Individuals Institutions Nations Peoples States Examples of event like and process like accounts An example of an event like response. Although this response suggests that the student has substantive knowledge on which to draw, events and topics are arbitrary and disconnected: Medevil times, battle of hastings 1066, william of Normandy, Shakespear, King Eward, Henry VIII and his 8 wives, tudors, stuarts, Queen elizabeth, victoria, Elizabeth 2 nd, world war 1&2, jack the ripper, magret thatcher, golf war, cold war, vietcong, vietnam, nuclear bombs, hollywood, cinema, cars, planes, the moon, space travel, tony blair, George Bush, Iraq war, terrorism, V euro, euro all other currency in europe except. An example of a student whose response suggested, in a rudimentary way, that history consisted of an unfolding process shaped by slow, processional, and evolutionary change: Loads has gone on since then, the first difference I spotted was that people mind s changed throughout the generations. Technology has changed with the advance. The world was slowly shedding it s skin from an old crumply one to a fresh new one. By this I mean that the world has changed into a better place, although there are still wars going on poverty will still remain a large problem in the world as well as combating aids. Talking about wars, America and Britain joined forces to fight against iraq and the terrorist, during the first world war was set in motion, as America, Britain and Russia joined forces to retaliate on Hitler s bloody feudal war. It was the survival of the fittest, once the war was won, America went back and started to build weapons, Britain done same, Russia also done the same, I think this was to give out a warning to other countries that you wouldn t wanna start a war with us. An example of a student who appeared to have the substantive knowledge and the beginnings of a conceptual apparatus to make connections across time: 26

10 Timeline: Roman Invasion dark Ages Medieval ages 1066 Norman invasion Tudor era Stuart era Industrial Revolution WWI WWII now (2007) War in Iraq. Britain was shaped, both socially and economically through numerous different countries. The multicultural Britain of today is the result of the Roman invasion, the Norman invasion, French influences, American influence, African influence. Socially, Britain is not British, it is a blend of numerous different cultures. Britain has been shaped by hundreds of wars, from the Roman invasion in the 1 st century through to the civil war and relatively recently, both world wars. 27

11 APPENDIX F Change Progression Model: Shemilt and Lee 2005 CHANGE: What is change in history and why does it matter? 1. Changesasevents What changed is the same as what happened. Changes are viewed as events or happenings in the past. Most of the time 'nothing happens' and then, for no particular reason, something does. Changes are independent of each other and there is no pattern or direction in the succession of changes events happenings. Changes are understood as happening quickly (the past is temporally and spatially shrunk). 2. Changes as differences between then and now Changes are viewed as differences between then and now, or between two points of time in the past. Any and every difference, however trivial, is noted as 'a change'. These are usually encountered as differences observed between items of daily life that 'we' have and 'they' - in the past - did not. Other examples include differences between be earlier and later pictures of, say, a landscape; or between text descriptions of, say, typical days in the lives of two tenyear olds in different periods. There is usually an expectation that all such 'changes' will be for the better. 3. Change as significant difference Not all differences count as changes. Change is linked with judgements about significance and, in particular, with judgements about significant differences between two or more points in time. The key development is that no more than a select few identifiable differences are deemed to be significant and hence to be markers of change. This linkage is as important for the understanding of significance as it is for that of change since it is only when linked to the concept of change that students make sense of historical significance and are able to distinguish it from intrinsic significance (e.g. the number of people immediately and directly affected and the severity of the effect) and perceived significance for people at the time. As before, there is usually an expectation that change is likely to be for the better. (This may be coupled with the idea that changes are the rational decisions of individuals.) 4. Changes differ in kind as well as significance There are different types of change. Some changes may best be described as trends, or as continuous changes in one direction (e.g. arithmetical increases in population or in rates of industrialization). These are usually thought to be less historically significant than turning points, or changes that involve discontinuities in the rate or direction of change (e.g. when populations increase moves from the arithmetical to the geometric, or when manufacturing industry shifts from an increasing to a declining share of GDP). 5. Change in history has many strands Our picture of change in history is complex and has different strands. Changes may take place in many aspects of history - political and economic, cultural and technological - over the same period, do so at varying rates and in contrary directions. Students may begin to note that positively and negatively valued changes, instances of progress and regress, may be linked. For example, developments that give work to the unskilled poor can destroy the livelihood of the skilled artisan. 6. Change as a tool to make sense of the past The concept of 'change' is a tool that historians use to make sense of the past, to distinguish between more and less significant events and to link otherwise unrelated phenomena as instances of a change process. Students become clear that 'changes' are not a natural feature of the past itself which historians somehow discover much as geologists discover the boundaries between layers of sedimentary rock. The historical changes that historians assert and argue to have taken place over a given time period may vary according to the scale of the period at issue, the questions that they seek to answer and the markers of change that they identify. This does not mean that accounts of change are no more than a matter of opinion. It does follow, however, that such accounts will always attract scholarly debate about the methodological appropriateness of certain markers, or indices, of change and about the value positions underlying the questions that historians choose to ask. 28

12 APPENDIX G: ACTIVITIES National and international conferences where the study has been discussed and where ESRC funding has been acknowledged include: Foster, S. J, and Howson, J., School History Students Big Pictures of the Past, Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. New York. March 27, Foster, S. J, and Howson, J., Incorporating Arab-Islamic perspectives into the Big Picture of British History. Meeting of the History Educators International Research Network. Marmara University, Istanbul. September 10, Foster, S. J. and Howson, J., Why Learn History? Congresso a História é Importante, Annual Conference of the History Teachers Association of Portugal, University of Coimbra, Portugal. July 12, Foster, S. J., Ashby, R., Howson, J. and Lee, P., Why History Matters: A Research Perspective, Institute for Historical Research, University of London. February 12, 2007 ( In addition, the research team has been invited to share their findings at various international conferences including a recent invitation from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Academic papers based on elements of the study are also available on the website of the Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness (CSHC) at the University of British Columbia. As the CSHC is also the principal conduit for the American Educational Research Association s Teaching History Special Interest Group it has a significant and far reaching international profile. Associated papers are also posted on the History Education website of the IOE and responses to this work are very favourable and have provoked national and international interest (e.g. from educators and scholars in Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the People s Republic of China, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan and the USA). 29

13 Appendix H: OUTPUTS Professional Journal Publication Howson, J. (2007) Is it the Tuarts then the Studors or the other way round? The importance of developing a usable big picture of the past. Teaching History 127, Newspaper article History threatens to become bunk, by Jessica Shepherd. The Guardian, Tuesday April 15, 2008 Associated academic papers The Future of the Past: How Adolescents Make Sense of Past, Present and Future, Denis Shemilt, Trinity and All Saints College, University of Leeds.Paper presented at the international invitation conference: National History Standards: The Problem of the Canon and the Future of History Teaching, University of Utrecht, October The Future of the Past: How Adolescents Make Sense of Past, Present and Future Two out of five did not know that Henry VIII had six wives : History education, historical literacy and historical consciousness,peter Lee and Jonathan Howson Institute of Education, University of London. Paper presented at the international invitation conference: National History Standards: The Problem of the Canon and the Future of History Teaching, University of Utrecht, October Two out of five did not know that Henry VIII had six wives The two preceding papers will appear in revised form in Volume 5 of the International Review of History Education, W. Mijnhardt, L. Symcox and A. Wilschut (eds) Information Age Publishing, Greenwich, CT, USA (forthcoming). 30