A Study On History Teaching In German Junior High School Based On The Principle Of Multiperspectivity

Both China and Germany nowadays are undergoing a competence-oriented curriculum reform.In the German context,it is called “Kompetenzorientierung”.The history curriculum is also influenced by this competence orientation.German federal states have issued competence-oriented historical core curriculum standards of their own versions.In the context of this orientation,this study focuses on how to implement the competence of multiperspectivity required by the Lower Saxony Historical Core Curriculum Standard in history teaching of Gymnasium schools(grades 5-10)in Lower Saxony,Germany.The historical core curriculum standard stipulates three areas of historical competences: expertise competence,methodological competence,and judgment competence.These three competences are governed by the competence of narration,that is,the competence to reconstruct and deconstruct historical narratives.Among these three areas of competences,there's a sub-competence “multiperspectivity” which is subordinate to judgment competence.Since each historical narration is based on a certain perspective,multiperspectivity can be seen as an important support for historical core competences.In history teaching in German junior high schools,multiperspectivity is also a principle of history learning that teachers and students can rely on when conducting learning activities.The core question of this study is: In the first stage of secondary education(grades 5-10)in Lower Saxony,Germany,how can the history teachers of Gymnasium schools carry out teaching activities based on the principle of multiperspectivity? Specifically,it includes the following three sub-questions: Based on the principle of multiperspectivity,(a)what kind of guiding methods and help measures do teachers use to “guide” the learning process of students in the classroom?(b)what kind of classroom performances do students have under teachers' guidance?(c)how should we understand the role of the multiperspectivity theory in the practice of history teaching?In order to solve the above research questions,this study firstly lays a theoretical foundation for the whole research by clarifying the theory and application method of multiperspectivity.Secondly,the data of history teaching in German classrooms is collected through classroom observation(by means of audio/video recording).According to the classroom teaching situations,relevant teachers are interviewed.Finally,under the theoretical framework,this study analyzes the collected German classroom data,forms three cases,and reflects on the actual situation of the implementation of multiperspectivity in Germany.After research,it is found that: Firstly,multiperspectivity is not only a requirement of competence in the historical core curriculum standards,but also an essential historical learning principle.It is guided by the students' self-determination and autonomy,which reflects the spirit of the German tradition of Bildung(selfcultivation)in the era of competence orientation.Secondly,the Gymnasium school teachers implement multiperspectivity by mainly guiding students to raise preliminary historical hypotheses,to write virtual diaries,to study doubleperspective historical sources,to practice ideology criticism,and to reflect the perspectivity in historical materials.The students' performances show that under the guidance of teachers,they are able to embed a preliminary sense of prudence in history study.Thirdly,the principle of multiperspectivity has certain constraints and difficulties in implementation.It is subject to the school-based curriculum standards and teachers' independent teaching arrangements in German secondary schools.It requires teachers to successfully arouse students' autonomy in the classroom.If teachers' guidance lacks the reach of students' own perspectives,or due to the limitation of students' cognitive level,or because of teachers' various understanding of the principle of multiperspectivity,it will be difficult to implement multiperspectivity in history teaching.On the one hand,this study allows us to see the classroom practice of Germany under the guidance of competence orientation,and on the other hand,it provides experience reference and reflection for our history teaching based on historical core competences in China.However,since this is a case study,it is inevitable that there will be some subjectivity in the description and analysis of the cases.It is also necessary to be very cautious when comparing the conclusions of this study with the historical classroom teaching in China.