Research project: Personalities in School Students‘ Preconcepts of History (#PSPHint). An International Case Study (pretest phase)
Project management: Prof. Marko Demantowsky, Prof. Thomas Sandkühler (Humboldt-Universität Berlin), Dr Arthur Chapman (IoE University College, London)
Funding institution: …
Financing status: in preparation
Project period: Pretest 2016 – 2018
In short: One’s thinking and acting on several levels of routines and methods is determined due to more or less general theories of daily life [implicit theories/pre-concepts]. This applies equally to our way of cooking or riding the car and may also apply to our way of doing research. More so, this goes also to the area of history and politics related thinking, especially to the rather complex processes of the foundation of an individual and collective identity. That is particularly true also for the broad field of Public History. These processes are in the main focus of this research project.
Our basic scientific project aims to evaluate substantial patterns of personalization and personification among students and to find out cultural / national differences of these patterns using the method of an international comparison of German-speaking school classes of different region and nationality (Berlin, Ruhr area, Basel) and English-speaking classes. For this task the ideas of students about 3 famous historical figures appear particularly suitable because all of these historical figures play a vital role outside school and inside youth culture (relevant in today’s international Public History). On the basis of these examples the differences of creating ideas and concepts can be excellently examined. Also teaching effects could become visible via a survey looking before and after the scheduled (in terms of teaching curriculum) teaching units.
Research context at the department
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