Testing a Refreshed Pedagogy in Year 9 and 10.
At its heart, a refreshed pedagogy for teaching history is, paradoxically, about more than teaching history; it’s about empowering students to act. A technology-infused, transformative approach to history allows students to see how their voices matter in shaping their communities and tackling global challenges.
At a presentation to all staff this week, Professor Peta Goldburg rsm, urged teachers to take on board the messages of Pope Francis regarding schools and education. I’m generally not inclined to shared large chunks of Vatican documents in this blog but, on this occasion, I will include two of the long quotes that Professor Goldburg shared with teachers at my school.
56. It is important for Catholic schools to be aware of the risks that arise should they lose sight of the reasons why they exist. That can happen, for example, when they unthinkingly conform to the expectations of a society marked by the values of individualism and competition. It can also happen through bureaucratic formalism, the consumerist demands of families, or the unbridled search for external approval. Catholic schools are called to give dutiful witness, by their pedagogy that is clearly inspired by the Gospel…
66. … Catholic schools are encouraged to promote a wisdom-based society, to go beyond knowledge and educate people to think, evaluating facts in the light of values. They educate people to take on responsibility and duties, and exercise active citizenship. … The curriculum must help the students reflect on the great problems of our time, including those where one sees more clearly the difficult situation of a large part of humanity’s living conditions. These would include the unequal distribution of resources, poverty, injustice and human rights denied.
From: Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love (2013)
The ideas of this document certainly have a resonance for me. They certainly will shape my thinking as I work to refresh and reimagine historical pedagogy this term.
Further, conversations with a colleague (who ‘moonlights’ as a casual sessional lecturer in a local university teacher education) have reinforced my view that such a ‘refresh’ is needed and desired by educators and future educator.
On the eve of the 2025 school year, the challenge to ‘do more’ with history pedagogy feels more urgent than ever. History teachers stand at a crossroads. They have long felt a pressure to balance a need for content mastery with the development of authentic historical thinking skills. But now, there is an imperative for those of us who teacher history to re-examine our purpose in light of the affordances of AI.
Rather than being despondent with the threat that AI presents to traditional pedagogies, I see in the paradigm challenge that AI will almost certainly bring to education an opportunity. That opportunity is for history educators to move beyond the demands for content mastery of ‘old history’ and beyond the structured metacognition of ‘new history’ and historical thinking. I see an opportunity for teachers to reclaim their classrooms as places of hope. Places where history becomes a vehicle for a deeper, future-oriented learning that empowers students to see themselves as agents of change.
Inspired by transformative approaches and an understanding of history as a living, dynamic discipline, I’ve crafted some goals for my Year 9 and 10 history classes in 2025. These goals focus on fostering not only a command of content and highly developed critical historical thinking, but also on leveraging technology to enrich learning, helping students build meaningful connections between past, present, and future, and arming students with the skills to be active and agentic citizens in their communnities..
The Evolving Role of History in the Classroom
Traditionally, history teaching in schools has often prioritised the memorisation of facts – dates, events, and names – over inquiry. But to paraphrase Sam Wineburg, learning history isn’t about passively spectating someone else’s conclusions; it’s about getting on the field, asking questions, and engaging in the messy, challenging process of making meaning.
The task for me is to integrate the best of inquiry with an active and agentic engagement, with a forward-looking approach: one that doesn’t just ask students to understand what happened, but also to consider what could be. By fostering a future orientation in history pedagogy, we equip students with the tools to address complex global issues, make ethical decisions, and imagine alternative futures informed by the lessons of the past.
Goals for a Transformative History Pedagogy
This term, my approach is built on seven core goals:
- Deepening Historical Thinking
Students will explore evidence, causation, and continuity while developing their own interpretations. By questioning established narratives, they’ll move from being consumers of history to co-creators of historical meaning. - Promoting Transformative, Future-Oriented Learning
The classroom will be a space to explore how the past informs the present and how it might shape the future. Students will reflect on their role as individuals and citizens, imagining the possibilities for social progress and global change. - Leveraging Technology Thoughtfully
Emerging tools, like AI, Teams and Search Coach, will be integrated not as novelties but as vital resources for inquiry. This approach will help ensure that students not only master digital tools but also critically engage with the information they provide. - Flipping the Classroom for Active Engagement
Foundational content will be delivered before class to free up time for collaborative, inquiry-driven activities. This model emphasises the process of historical discovery and discussion. - Fostering Connections, Identity, and Ethics
Students will connect with diverse historical perspectives, cultivating empathy and ethical reasoning. By linking historical study to their own identities and communities, they’ll see history not as distant or irrelevant but as profoundly personal. - Encouraging Agency at Every Level
Through historical inquiry, students will see themselves as capable of influencing their communities and the broader world. They’ll engage with themes of justice, diversity, and civic responsibility, understanding history as a foundation for future action. - Redesigning Assessment for Authentic Learning
Assessments – especially formative assessments over which I have a great deal of autonomy – will go beyond rote learning, focusing on how students apply historical concepts and thinking critically. They will be opportunities to highlight for students the importance of identity, connection, ethical reasoning and agency.
Beyond Content and Skills: Doing More A New Vision for History Education
At its heart, this pedagogy is about more than teaching history; it’s about empowering students to act. A technology-infused, transformative approach to history allows students to see how their voices matter in shaping their communities and tackling global challenges.
By focusing on identity, community, connection, ethics, and future-oriented inquiry, we can disrupt the traditional model of history education and make it a subject that not only connects students to the past but also inspires them to shape the future.
What’s exciting – and daunting – is that this isn’t a finished project. For me, this is literally research in action. As educators, we’re constantly revising, experimenting, and reflecting. I will be embracing that. What I find works for one class might evolve for another, and that’s the beauty of working – and sharing – in this space.
Further Reading:
Bachand, C.-A., Demers, S., Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada, Éthier, M.-A., Université de Montréal, Canada, Lefrançois, D., & Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada. (2024). Practical epistemology of history teachers and its relationship to normative injunctions. Historical Encounters: A Journal of Historical Consciousness, Historical Culture, and History Education, 11(2), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.52289/hej11.202
Bandura, A. (2018). Toward a Psychology of Human Agency: Pathways and Reflections. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 130–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617699280
Barton, K. C. (2012). Agency, choice and historical action: How history teaching can help students think about democratic decision making. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 7(2), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1386/ctl.7.2.131_1
Bedford, A. (2023). The ABC of history education: A comparison of Australian, British and Canadian approaches to teaching national and First Nations histories. History of Education Review, 52(2/3), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-06-2022-0024
Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2024). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human learning. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cairns, R., & Garrard, K. A. (2024). ‘Learning from history is something that is important for the future’: Why Australian students think history matters. Policy Futures in Education, 22(3), 369–382. https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103231177615
Caulfield, M., & Wineburg, S. (2023). Verified: How to think straight, get duped less, and make better decisions about what to believe online. University of Chicago Press.
Cutrara, S. (2009). To placate or provoke? A critical review of the disciplines approach to history curriculum. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 7(2), 86–109. https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.22717
Cutrara, S. (2012). Creating Possibilities: Meaningful Learning in History Education. York University.
Heyer, K. D. (2003). Between Every “Now” and “Then”: A Role for the Study of Historical Agency in History and Citizenship Education. Theory & Research in Social Education, 31(4), 411–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2003.10473232
Kelly, T. M. (2013). Teaching history in the digital age. The University of Michigan Press.
Kristiansen, M. (2014). Agency as an empirical concept. An assessment of theory and operationalization. Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), 9 (1), 1–36. https://www.nidi.nl/shared/content/output/papers/nidi-wp-2014-09.pdf
Lévesque, S. (2014). ‘Why Can’t You Just Tell Us?’: Learning Canadian History with the Virtual Historian. In Pastplay: Teaching and Learning History with Technology (pp. 43–65). University of Michigan Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv65swr0.6
Luckin, R. (2018). Machine learning and human intelligence: The future of education for the 21st century. UCL Institute of Education Press.
Mollick, E. (2023, April 9). The future of education in a world of AI: A positive vision for the transformation to come [Substack]. One Useful Thing. https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/the-future-of-education-in-a-world
Mollick, E. (2024). Co-intelligence: Living and working with AI. W H Allen.
Mollick, E., & Mollick, L. (2024). Getting Started with AI for Educators. Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. https://portal.ahs.qld.edu.au/blue/pluginfile.php/66769/mod_resource/content/1/Getting-Started-with-AI-for-Educators-Ethan-and-Lilach-Mollick.pdf
Nye, A., Hughes-Warrington, M., Roe, J., Russell, P., Deacon, D., & Kiem, P. (2011). Exploring historical thinking and agency with undergraduate history students. Studies in Higher Education, 36(7), 763–780. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075071003759045
Parkes, R. (2022). Four approaches to the knowledge versus skills problem in the teaching of history. Agora, 57(1), 3–6.
Pratschke, B. M. (2023). Generativism: The new hybrid (Version 1). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/ARXIV.2309.12468
Pratschke, B. M. (2024). Generative AI and Education: Digital Pedagogies, Teaching Innovation and Learning Design. Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67991-9
Reeploeg, S. (2023). Unthinking historical thinking: Lessons from the Arctic. History Education Research Journal, 20(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.14324/HERJ.20.01.04
Sharp, H. (2021). Teaching secondary history. Cambridge University Press.
Skilton, M., & Hovsepian, F. (2018). The 4th Industrial Revolution. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62479-2
Seixas, P. (2017). A Model of Historical Thinking. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(6), 593–605. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2015.1101363
Seixas, P. C. (with Internet Archive). (2013). The big six historical thinking concepts. Toronto : Nelson Education. http://archive.org/details/bigsixhistorical0000seix
Seixas, P., & Peck, C. (2004). Teaching Historical thinking. In Challenges and Prospects for Canadian Social Studies (pp. 109–117). Pacific Educational Press.
Sriprakash, A., Nally, D., Myers, K., & Ramos-Pinto, P. (2020). Learning with the Past: Racism, education and reparative futures (Background Paper for the Futures of Education Initiative). UNESCO. 2. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374045.locale=en
van Straaten, D. (2018). Connecting past, present and future: The enhancement of the relevance of history for students [Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE)]. https://dare.uva.nl/search?identifier=c7e78f98-1ba7-4115-ba10-78892d52177a
VanSledright, B. A. (2010). The Challenge of Rethinking History Education (0 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203844847
Wineburg, S. S. (2018). Why learn history (when it’s already on your phone). The University of Chicago Press.
Wineburg, S. S., & Wilson, S. M. (1991). Models of Wisdom in the Teaching of History. The History Teacher, 24(4), 395. https://doi.org/10.2307/494699
Disrupted History 