Historical knowledge and historical literacy practices described by general upper secondary school students

Authors

• Anna Veijola Jyväskylän yliopisto
• Sari Sulkunen Jyväskylän yliopisto
• Matti Rautiainen Jyväskylän yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.75134

Keywords:

tutkiva oppiminen, historian tekstikäytänteet, historiallinen ajattelu

Abstract

In this study we examined general upper secondary school students’ understanding of historical knowledge as well as the literacy practices they employed in knowledge construction. The data of the study comprises texts written by 19 general upper secondary school students at the end of a one-week inquiry-based learning (IBL) project. The aim of the IBL week was to strengthen the students’ understanding of the nature of historical knowledge and historical knowledge construction. The data was analysed by theory-driven content analysis. The students’ texts showed that working with different kinds of source materials made students aware of the process of construction of historical knowledge. Inquiry-based learning makes visible the way historical knowledge is constructed based on existing source material. After their own research, students understood that historical knowledge is interpretative. However, students’ texts revealed that they still had problems in evaluating the reliability of their interpretations.