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Pupils' enjoyment of history: what lessons can teachers learn from their pupils?
Author(s) -
Harris Richard,
Haydn Terry
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the curriculum journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.843
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1469-3704
pISSN - 0958-5176
DOI - 10.1080/09585170601072544
Subject(s) - disengagement theory , subject (documents) , pupil , subject matter , psychology , mathematics education , pedagogy , curriculum , medicine , gerontology , neuroscience , library science , computer science
This article explores pupil attitudes towards history as a school subject in England, with a view to developing a better understanding of the factors which influence disaffection or engagement with the subject. The study attempts to identify what pupils like and dislike about how they are taught and what they are taught in history lessons. The study was carried out in 12 secondary schools with pupils aged 11–14. Questionnaires were returned from 1740 pupils and 160 of these were involved in focus group interviews. The findings show that how pupils are taught appears to matter more than what they are taught and identifies teaching approaches that pupils considered to be particularly effective, and teaching approaches that appear to contribute to pupil disaffection and disengagement from the subject. The study also provides insights into the extent to which pupils find history enjoyable compared to other school subjects. Although the study is primarily of interest to history teachers, it may also be of interest to teachers of other subjects who have a concern for the degree of pupil engagement with their subject.