Teaching and Learning

Teaching Objectives

Our teaching objectives can be divided into three categories:

1. Knowledge and Understanding
2. Skills of History
3. Preparation for Life and Citizenship

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Students should acquire a knowledge and develop an understanding of

• The specific listed elements of topics studied.
• How the actions and experiences of previous generations have influenced the world of their successors.
• How elements of Irish history topics studied fit into a broader international context. Depending on the topics in question, that context may involve:
  • the British dimension
  • the European dimension
  • the global dimension
  • the Irish diaspora
• Human activity in the past, from a variety of perspectives. In studying human activity in the past, attention should be given to the experience of women. The main forms of activity to be studied may be categorised as follows:
  • administrative
  • cultural
  • economic
  • political
  • religious
  • scientific
  • social

2. Students should develop an understanding of, and ability to apply, such concepts as are fundamental to the study and witing of history, e.g.

• Procedural concepts:
  • source and evidence
  • fact and opinion
  • bias and objectivity
• Interactive concepts:
  • change and continuity
  • cause and consequence
  • comparison and contrast
• Substantive concepts:
  • power and authority
  • conflict and reconciliation
  • democracy and human rights
  • culture and civilisation
  • economy and society
  • identity and community
  • space and time

Skills of History

 Students should develop a range of skills associated with the study and writing of history.

1. Recognition of the nature of historical knowledge.

Students should learn to

• Recognise that historical knowledge is tentative and incomplete and accordingly, subject to revision and/or reinterpretation.
• Recognise that historical writing must be based on reliable evidence and that the available evidence may be open to more than one valid interpretation.

2.  Research Skills.

Students should learn to

• Define an appropriate topic for research study.
• Locate historical data from a variety of primary and secondary sources.
• Select and record relevant data.
• Evaluate data.
• Collate data.
• Present the findings in a well-structured, logical format.

3. Skills in working with evidence.

Students should develop the ability to

• Recognise different types of historical source materials.
• Extract information from source materials to answer historical questions.
• Evaluate the usefulness of particular sources and their limitations.
• Detect bias.
• Identify propaganda.

Preparation for Life and Citizenship

Through their study of history, students should acquire a unique combination of skill and understanding, which will contribute to their personal growth as individuals and help to prepare them for life and work in society.

1. Students should develop the ability to

• Think critically by making judgements based on an evaluation of evidence.

2. Students should develop positive values associated with the study of history. They should learn to

• Be thorough in the collecting of information and accurate in its recording.
• Be aware of bias and strive to be objective.
• Be able to look at a contentious or controversial issue from more than one point of view.

3. Students should learn to

• Evaluate their historical inheritance through the study of history from a variety of perspectives.