Culture appears world-wide in diverse local and regional forms, which express the full range of human behaviour, thinking and creative action. Their areas of expression e.g. in the form of
rarely correspond exactly to political borders. It is not unusual for individual nation states to be home to different language communities, political persuasions, religions and economic systems. Moreover, these cultural territories are constantly open to the possibility of being either consolidated or transformed by means of exchange, invasion, migration, or even self-imposed isolation. Through the globalisation of trade and information technologies, through travel and migration, through global challenges such as the need to protect our biosphere, to contain violent conflicts, and to provide everyone with a secure livelihood, humanity now finds itself in the dramatic situation of having to pursue cross-cultural understanding without diluting diversity or imposing uniformity. Waldorf education shares this respect for cultural diversity, and while it is firmly committed to supporting its students in developing their own cultural identity, it also prepares them for respectful dialogue with people of other cultures. This obviously implies a fundamental rejection of any hierarchical ranking of cultures.
When the editors of this volume decided to translate the chapters on home language (expressed in German as “mother-tongue”) and history, thus placing them within the context of the international, i.e. inter-cultural, discussion of curricular issues, this was not done with the intention of exporting curricula written for the central-European, German-speaking cultural realm into other countries and cultures. After a long and painstaking discussion as to whether such a misunderstanding could arise, they came to the conclusion that a critical appraisal of the translations could provide the basis for developing the subjects of home language and literature, art appreciation/aesthetics and history according to the cultural perspective of the region or nation concerned. Furthermore, the curricula as written for the German-speaking realm provide a clear example of how lesson content and learning objectives can be matched to particular phases of development and thus support the process of individuation in the students. All this serves to underline the principle that the central task of education based upon understanding of the human being – whatever the subject matter – is to come to terms with the developmental demands inherent in the process of individuation.
The following suggestions are given on the assumption that from class 5 onwards two main lessons per year will be devoted to this subject. Each of these two- to four-week blocks will be concerned with a definite theme, usually a particular period or general historical phenomenon (e.g. modern revolutionary movements). The approach taken follows the structure found in Stockmeyer[1], i.e. as year succeeds year history gradually unfolds on three levels. Local geography, elementary science and the narrative material in grades 1 to 4 constitute a prelude, after which comes a first long look at the course of cultural and social history from ancient to modern times in classes 5 to 8. Then begins a second stage: in grade 9 modern history is considered once more using a different methodological approach. In class 10 there is a return to pre- and early history, roughly up to the time of Hellenism. Class 11 then follows the course of history up to the end of the Middle Ages. Class 12 raises the subject to a third level. By means of comprehensive reviews, structured both horizontally and vertically, the aim is to cultivate historical consciousness and {critical} reflection.
1st Level Stage I:
Class/grade 5-8 progressing chronologically
2nd Level Stage II:
Class/grade 9 early modern to present times
Class/grade 10 Prehistory to Ancient Greece
Class/grade 11 Ancient Rome to Middle Ages
3rd Level Class/grade 12 Overview and reflection on the basis of historical consciousness
Since the inception of Waldorf education this subject has been thought of in terms of the history of the world as a whole. The central aim of history teaching is to reveal the common humanity expressed in the rich diversity of the world’s cultures, while at the same time honouring the integrity of each individual. Any view that discriminates against certain ways of life, worldviews or cultures, or ranks them in a hierarchic scale of values, is in contradiction of this view. The task of the history teacher is to uncover the many wide-ranging historical ties and the multi-layered cultural influences playing into the life of any particular place and time, and in so doing to further the cause of individuation. With a view to what children are facing in today’s world, this means that the central focus is on the social, political and cultural challenges of our time (inter-cultural understanding and globalisation), and, above all, on the struggle to uphold human values and human dignity.
The Waldorf curriculum is designed in accordance with the external and internal processes of human development. Thus its content and methods are, as far as possible, age-appropriate, in that they seek to match, in the sense of support and encourage, whatever stage of development the students have reached. In keeping with this approach, the intention behind the history curriculum is the eventual development of individual historical consciousness, which is fully cognizant of the roots of its own culture, and is open to global cultural diversity. In view of the kind of world the students are growing up in today, the history of the region where they live, and of their country, cannot be dealt with in isolation, but has to be seen as part of world history. Through the effort to understand other, earlier modes of life, styles of conduct and value systems, history seeks to serve the growth of individual identity within a global context. This requires that the rising generation be made aware
In high school the students should come to see that history is essentially a story of things that have happened, put together by human beings in an attempt to understand or express what these events mean. In so doing, it adopts traditional interpretations with the aim of explaining the present and opening up perspectives for future action. Consequently history as such is constantly subject to change, and is dependent upon scientific knowledge, upon political interpretation and upon changes in human consciousness. The aim of Waldorf education in relation to this subject is to equip young people with the ability to exercise individual discernment in relation to history as a cultural product, in the composition, interpretation and transmission of which they are actively involved.
[1] Stockmeyer
It is to be remembered that in Waldorf schools the teaching of history is usually in the hands of the class-teacher right up to class 8. Then from class 9 it is taken over by someone academically qualified in the subject, and this in turn leads to changes in the way it is taught. [2]
[2] On the idea of the class-teacher see in horizontal Curriculum
Notes and suggestions on content and method.
The teaching of history proper actually begins in grade 5. Ancient cultures form the central theme. The children learn about their mythologies, geographical features, social forms, ways of thinking and special achievements. They are also taught some basic technical terms associated with this subject and how to apply them. Having reached an age when they can begin to understand such things, they are led by their class teacher through the main stages of the history of cultural development. Beginning with the stage when humanity lived in harmony with nature (creation), the sequence proceeds to the development of settled existence, agriculture and animal husbandry (® gardening), and thence, via early theocratic civilisations, in which rich mythological cosmogonies provided a context for the development of a division of labour, practical knowledge and cross-tribal societies, to Greek antiquity. For children of this age the life of these ancient cultures is mainly evoked through the portrayal of human deeds, through telling the great mythic stories that were the heart of that life (e.g. Brahma, Gilgamesh), and by giving a sense of how prehistoric peoples were bound into the cycle of the year and paid observance to the seasons.
Suggested teaching content
Anthropological source materials can be used to create an understanding of the nature of nomadic, Stone Age cultures (for instance, by working in appropriate ways with ancient cave art, the rock paintings of the Khoi-San, or the so-called “dreaming” of the Australian Aborigines, for whom the world they lived in was not “nature”, but a musical story sung by the Ancestors. Through evocative description and practical artistic work the children can be given an inkling of what this ancient mentality was like). The material on the ancient oriental cultures of India and Persia consists largely of the myths that have come down to us, whereas the presentations on the Sumerian-Babylonian, Egyptian and Greek cultures can draw more and more heavily upon archaeological and written sources. The children should be given a sense for the structuring of time and space (earlier – later, far – near). They should also learn to distinguish between myth (“this is how the Greeks explained their origins”), and historical description based upon recent findings. It is also very worthwhile to take every opportunity to portray the real every-day life of an ancient culture using examples from archaeological research. Thus the pupils can and should gain experience of how our way of life today is built upon the achievements of the past. Abstract information should be avoided. Instead, lessons should be designed such that the children’s feelings are engaged, their interest kindled by wonder arising from imaginatively concrete presentations. The main lesson book for this subject is used to document the lessons and record any further work arising from them. In addition to illustrations, diagrams and maps done by the children themselves, the book will contain summaries of the topics covered as well as sources. According to what tasks were set, the resulting texts will either be composed by the children or given as dictation or blackboard text by the teacher. In the process of writing and drawing (maps included) the children will be given whatever help is required to manage the task. Thus the book serves also as a record of achievement, since it does not only contain certain illustrated fundamentals of history, but also reflects the individual work done by each pupil. This is why the main lesson book receives so much time and care, and high expectations are placed on its aesthetic presentation.[3]
[3] In descriptions of Waldorf education it is sometimes stated that during the class teacher period the main lesson book takes the place of the textbook. This creates the misconception that the main lesson book’s contents will be equivalent to the kind of specialized knowledge and mode of presentation found in a typical textbook. Obviously the contents are intended to be accurate and in line with the basic tenets of the subject, but the book always reflects the level of work and assimilative capacities of a particular pupil, which implies that (in spite of correction) not everything it contains will be of a “professional” standard.
Notes and suggestions on content and method
The main theme in class 6 is the history of Rome and the European Middle Ages. [Here a note is required – is this theme appropriate for China, Africa, India, South America?] This involves such topics as the changes these civilisations brought about in technology, law and military organisation, the spread of Christianity and its origins in Judaic culture, the emergence of Islam, the confrontation between centralised power and old, ancestral societies, and the coming into being of Europe as a diversified cultural entity. In parallel with the style of thinking that developed in the cultures under consideration, the children are now encouraged to think in terms of rational causality, without, of course, neglecting to appeal to their feelings (for instance, in speaking of cultural ideals and virtues). The main lesson as a whole is aimed at building up well-founded pictures of the history of the Roman Empire, the migration of various peoples (“Völkerwanderung”), the processes that created the structure of Medieval Europe, and the spread and main teachings of the relevant world religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) [Note required: a branch of the same Völkerwanderung deeply affected India, and probably China, and led to the formation of different world religions, none of which had anything to do with the Middle Ages – which was a European, not a world event]. The vivid portrayal of historically important personalities will feature strongly in the lessons, and steps should also be taken to give the children a more refined sense of the temporal and spatial structure of history – perhaps by constructing chronological murals. [Possible note: it would indeed be very useful to be able to see on such a mural what was happening in China, India or Central Africa at the time, say, of the Inquisition in Europe; though perhaps such comparative scenarios belong to a much later stage in the development of historical consciousness – probably class 12?] The constant overall intention living in this lesson is to engender admiration and respect for the achievements of past cultures – also those of different regions – since this is the basis of inter-cultural understanding and tolerance in our modern, globalised world.
Suggested teaching content
The first main lesson block is concerned with opening up the world of Roman antiquity. It is advisable not only to concentrate on the phases of Roman history – the founding, the republic, the time of the emperors, the decline and fall – but also to kindle awareness of the concrete achievements that made Rome a high [are we intent here upon upholding the old Kulturvölker-Naturvölker distinction?] civilisation (e.g. paved roads, piped water, fortified borders, a postal service, military and legal organisation). The second block, then, is centred upon the Middle Ages. Here also the main thing is to give vivid impressions of the ways in which culture changed through shifts in sovereignty, the spread of religion and the emergence of charismatic personalities (spiritual teachers, generals, kings and queens, nuns and monks, founders of religious orders), and at the same time create a palpable sense of every-day life in a feudal society.
In portraying historical personalities, the art is to bring their actions alive in such a way that the pupils can engage their feelings and thoughts with them. The lessons can include period pictures and texts, map-work, considerations of language and etymology, and excursions. If there happen to be archaeological remains [again: only European archaeological remains will say things about the Middle Ages; what would such a visit say in India or China?] in the area it is well worthwhile paying them a visit, so that the children become aware of their own cultural past. At this stage pupils can also be given their own small-scale research projects to do (e.g. What was the legal status of women in ancient Rome? How did the Romans build bridges? What weapons did a knight carry?)
Notes and suggestions on content and method
In grade 7 the main concern is to acquaint the students with the transition from the Middle Ages to modern times, taking it up as far as the 18th century. In this they follow the story of how human thinking [in Europe] becomes increasingly concerned with the physical world, and how in connection with this a host of new things arise: entrepreneurial individualism develops, there are inventions, conquests, discoveries of new territories, the quest for scientific knowledge begins; but this also involves competition among nation states, the oppression of foreign peoples, religious schisms (Reformation, Counter-Reformation) and religious wars. A major theme here is also the relationship between the rising middle class and the feudal aristocracy. The former is urban, accruing wealth and prosperity on the basis of crafts and commerce, while embodying the idea of personal identity and the right to have a voice in the organisation of society. The latter is based on control of the rural peasantry and represents ancestral lordship and power by divine right. Portraying the struggle between these two is a good way of introducing the students to some basic modern concepts of economics, politics, law and religious organisation. In addition to biographical sketches, use of original pictorial and textual source material, and summaries, there can now be increasing use of historical terminology. As always, every opportunity should also be taken to draw parallels to the way we live now. In the transformation of worldview represented by Renaissance humanism lie the roots both of the emancipation of the individual and of globalisation. In coming to terms with this great change from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and the concomitant rise of ideas that have shaped the economic and political conditions of our time, the students can begin the process of finding the concepts that enable them to understand the world they live in. Through thus appealing to their imagination and encouraging their powers of causal thinking the students can now be expected to understand more complex historical processes and relationships. [Again: what is the equivalent of all this in other parts of the world? E.g. the Chinese had their own voyages of discovery – what was the thought-impulse behind that? There was no “18th century” anywhere apart from Europe (all other parts of the world either worked on a different calendar or did not have one) – the “18th century” was something, for instance, that happened to rather than in Africa etc. etc. etc.]
Suggested teaching content
Attention in the first main lesson block is normally concentrated on a thorough look at the very beginnings of modern times. This period of European history is characterised by the power of individual initiative and the desire to venture into new territories, and all this can be brought out in the biographies of those who were responsible for voyages of discovery, technological inventions and new ways of thinking, thus investing knowledge with unprecedented importance and ushering in a new spirit of private enterprise. In the account of the Reformation, the religious wars, the persecution of presumed heretics, and not least the wholesale appropriation of foreign lands and the associated oppression of their peoples, every effort should be made to bring out the social and human costs involved. [Very interesting, in other parts of the world, to tell this story from an extra-European perspective] The students can best be encouraged to think of these historical processes in such terms by means of an alteration of perspective, in other words, looking at them from where we are now. The second block seeks to deal with a range of examples showing the development of Europe’s centres of power and the associated emergence of nation states, the important role of trade, the antagonism between town and country, and how – particularly in central Europe [even in England this was a completely different process] – medieval princedoms were transformed into a patchwork of despotically ruled states. Thus the students should gain a basic awareness of the main players in European history and their relationship to other continents [or the main players in the history of other continents and their relationship to each other, inc. Europe].
The students should be able to construct summaries – either through re-telling or in writing – of the things they have learned about [European] history in the course of this school year. This will involve them for the first time in the exercise of forming judgements on historical events. In this they will begin developing their ability to extract essential information from pictorial and textual source material and thus will be further refining their sense of history as a process (of global dimensions) in time and space.
Notes and suggestions on content and method
In class 8 history comes right up to the present. This means covering the course of economic and social history from the 18th century to the present. In addition, the attempt is made to convey an idea of the increasing cultural rapprochement characteristic of this period, together with a basic understanding of the industrial revolution with all its technological, economic and social effects on the conduct of human life. This entails providing the students with insights into how the tensions in civilisation between technological progress, social conditions and responsibility for the earth and her resources are played out over time. Ultimately this means focusing on modern globalisation processes (world-wide communication systems, the struggle for human rights, collective responsibility for sustaining all aspects of life and helping those in need) and the challenges they create. The students are given opportunities to work with original source materials and thus learn how to recognise what they reveal in the way of historical processes.
The difficulty that presents itself here, of course, is that the attempt is being made to trace developments over several centuries densely packed with historical events, and this necessitates “pedagogical compression”. Thus representative examples have to be used (such as the history of communication technology, transport, industrial production – steel, oil, high-tech – energy production, mineral extraction, health care etc.) without getting lost in abstract lists or extravagant details. Ultimately the class 8 year is about leading young people to an initial understanding of globalisation, its roots and consequences. In this connection they should be required – more than before – to make contributions to lessons in the form of short individual or group presentations on the subject. Obviously this does not replace what the teacher has to offer. In addition to learning how to work with source material (multiple sources, not just internet, should be on offer), the students should also learn how to interpret graphs (e.g. showing demographic changes, production or profit levels etc.). They should also be encouraged to bear in mind that historical events are always bound to a particular place or region, and this is what makes the ability to read and interpret maps so important.
Suggested lesson content
The focus, then, is on economic and social history. The students should gain an understanding of how our current way of life arose out of the events of the preceding centuries. The effects of urbanisation, industrialisation and colonialism upon work and every-day life can be studied. The students can be asked, for instance, to imagine how certain discoveries, inventions and the development of an infrastructure increasingly dependent on industrial technology would alter the modern human being’s relationship to time and space. The task, then, is to unpack this process; for instance, by homing in on important moments in the lives of certain key figures when they made a discovery, hit on an invention or came to a crucial decision, and by describing how much the process involved state control (securing markets and the supply of raw materials, protecting the interests of trade and the mercantile class, but also promoting public education). On the one hand, this process produced much that can be regarded as progress, but on the other, it brought with it immense problems of social injustice as well as huge ecological challenges. The dynamic interaction of problem and solution and the competing interests associated with them (owner – worker, state authority – participatory democracy, conservative values – free-thinking materialistic research, the blessing and the curse of technological progress) can serve to bring the students to the realisation that new ideas arise from confronting the given circumstances, and that reality can thus be changed gradually by action informed by ideas. To ensure that the content of the lessons actually does arrive at the present it is best to devote the first main lesson to the 19th century, looking at industrialisation and the social question, the changes to European state borders through wars, and the formation of colonial empires, and the second one to the 20th century, looking at technological change and globalisation. [Again: this whole historical narrative could very well be told – and that very fruitfully – from an extra-European perspective] Through all this the students should gain a sense of how the human experience of time and space has changed up to the present. Approaching things in terms of political philosophies and ideologies does not come in until class nine, when there is a major change of method.
Notes and suggestions on content and method
In this school-year the focus is once again on modern history, but this time concentrating upon the elements that went into the making of the modern mind. The task is to trace the struggles involved in the process of emancipation from feudal society and the medieval (or even older) mentality behind it, and the associated emergence of new ideas of human rights and individual freedom. The first main lesson block, therefore, can deal with the confrontation between royal absolutism and citizens’ demands for a say in government, with the contributions of individual figures (explorers, inventors, political and social reformers, thinkers, rulers, rebels etc.) and, not least, with the social upheavals around questions of ownership. In connection with all this the students should learn how to view the key historical processes that shaped the achievements and created the problems of modern history from a variety of perspectives (e.g. changes of worldview, the opening up of global trade channels, crises of faith, rationality and enlightenment, political emancipation of the individual, changes in labour relations etc.). It goes without saying that now specific mention must be made of European hubris with all its contemptuous disregard for the rights of other peoples, and of its consequences (genocide, slavery, imperialism).
The by-words of the French Revolution (liberty, equality, fraternity) and the republican-democratic ideas emanating from the Enlightenment can serve a dual purpose here. They can be used to give a clear idea of what was behind the various kinds of social upheaval that took place in the different regions and states of Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, but they can also be invoked to expose the machinations of totalitarian ideologies and other large-scale manipulative developments in the 20th century (how under communist totalitarianism equality comes to be seen in absolute material terms; how under National Socialism brotherhood was twisted into a militantly racist sense of folk-identity; how freedom in the guise of economic liberalism led to the dissolution of the welfare state through power politics and deregulation with concomitant exploitation of people and nature). The conditions under which nation states arose in Europe, together with the internal and external conflicts associated with the attempt to extend this concept of the nation to other continents – such themes should always be discussed in connection with today’s political and social issues.
In the second block there are a number of themes that could be taken up within the general context of the principles of human dignity, civil rights and social responsibility. Among them are the inhuman consequences of the “biologically-based” racism practised by the National Socialists, the soul-destroying ideology of bolshevist bureaucracy, and the problems – affecting peaceful social and ecological co-existence – caused by the unchecked growth associated with the spread of materialist liberalism. In looking at the main tendencies at work in the second half of the 20th century, the students can be introduced to a number of unresolved problems arising from them. Among the major cross-currents here are the formation of multi- and supra-national organisations, as opposed to the separatist aspirations of newly-restored states; the increasing importance accorded to self-determination and individual dignity in direct polarity to strong fundamentalist and neo-totalitarian tendencies.
As a result of all this, the students must now have more time for discussions and for working out their own ideas, so that they can develop a more individual sense of what history is. In keeping with the stage of development the students have reached in grade 9, they can be encouraged to exercise their historical judgement in relation to the leading ideas and ideals of modern times (respect for human dignity, human and civil rights, democracy and constitutional law). Every opportunity should be taken [throughout] to point out the historical roots of current social and political events.
Since at this age young people are already beginning to work out their own moral principles and tend not to do this in any theoretical way, but through the adoption of role models from their immediate experience, it is a good thing to make a habit of mirroring historical events in the biographies of concrete individuals. Such biographical miniatures can form the starting point for a particular theme, or can serve to clarify a particular phase of history. {etc.} They act as a strong reminder to young people that history is made by individual human beings, or directly affects their personal lives. The point here is never to indulge in the hero worship or demonization of historical personages, but to enter into the dynamics of human action in its struggle to embody values. According to the thematic requirements these biographical elements can be delivered by the teacher, by a student, through a film or a recording, through direct witness accounts or through working with source material (which gives opportunities to practise culling relevant information from, and adopting a critical attitude towards, sources). Within this spectrum, of course, the teacher’s contribution is of central importance in Waldorf schools, and this makes teaching history a very exacting task, in that any given presentation needs to combine a number of qualities: it needs to be factually sound, hit the right tone, be rich in concrete detail, reflect developments in the field and be engagingly lively. The main thing is that the students be given an opportunity to sharpen their powers of historical judgement and thereby acquire a degree of mental autonomy in their approach to history. This includes the ability to present and comment upon basic features of historical processes, to use political and historical terms with understanding, and to discover the historical processes at work in current events.
Suggested lesson content
Notes and suggestions on method and content
In this school-year young people are emerging out of puberty into full adolescence, i.e. the very beginnings of adulthood. In keeping with this phase, a consideration of the period from pre-historic to ancient times is undertaken once more. Now there is the possibility of using recent archaeological finds as aids towards understanding pre-historic mentalities and their cultural achievements. This should involve taking account of the historical insights that arise from modern techniques of dating and analysis. These generate often controversial hypotheses concerning the spread of human culture, the causes of development and change (e.g. the Neolithic revolution), the diversification of social forms, the factors that shape a particular culture (climate, landscape, neighbours). All this provides ample material for class-work, be it in the form of constructing explanations or of investigative analysis. In this way we will be looking, on the one hand, at what goes into the making of historical descriptions, and, on the other, at the process of development from simple ways of life to highly complex cultures involving hierarchic organisation and the division of labour. In the course of this, young people also encounter the myths and philosophies behind a range of ancient cultures, and, insofar as they thus come up against different ways of seeing and of relating to the world, they also receive help in coming to terms with their own identity. This kind of reflection can also contribute to the development of inter-cultural understanding. Indeed, what better way could there be of acquiring skill in this latter area, than studying cultural forms that were quite obviously based on completely different conceptions of reality?. With regard to the development of a critical historical consciousness, it is important to point out that in the history curriculum in Waldorf schools the theme of early and ancient history appears twice, once as a broad survey for younger children, and then in more depth and evaluative detail at the transition to adulthood. Thus, for instance, by going into various theories of myth, an essential contribution can be made towards developing the ability to understand the various functions of pictorial representations of reality, which is important both for the students’ growing political awareness and for their appreciation of literature.
The key thing in class 10 is to proceed on the basis of concrete finds, excavations, oral tradition, landscape and climatic features, thereby prompting the students to refine their conceptual grasp of history, in that they are being encouraged to make judgements through a process of forming connections and inferences from authentic material. The object is to arrive through inference, comparison and phenomenological presentation at a cognitive understanding of the formation and development of culture in relation to changes in consciousness. Through working with the material individually or in groups, through class discussions and essays, each student’s individual ability to form and defend his or her own views can be developed. Thus their sense of history can refine itself, and their narrative skill unfold.
Suggested lesson content
Tracing the formation of culture means following a sequence from specimens of the earliest hominid skeletons, fire locations and stone artefacts via ice-age rock and cave painting and hunter-gatherer ways of life, the advent of settled existence[4] and the forms of the oldest settlements in the Orient and Middle-East, to the emergence of civilisations with a division of labour and life in towns. This entails a portrayal of the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian cultures in their theocratic structures and mythic world-pictures. By way of comparison these can be set against Megalithic culture or Ancient Hebrew culture. Through the portrayal of concrete historical events and cultural phenomena Greek antiquity, considered in its various phases, may be used as an example of the transition from mythic to “Logos-consciousness”, grounded in philosophy and guided by reason. [ How in Africa, China, India, N. America, The Incas, Aztecs, Polynesia?]
the significance of thinking in the transition from mythos to Logos.
[4] This should take account of the controversial theories on the Neolithic Revolution, which imply a revision of this concept (cf. needs an English reference)
Notes and suggestions on method and content
Around age 17, the students will be able to refine their discursive abilities such that they can marshal facts and their relative implications on several levels, and weigh up the merits of divergent points of view. On the emotional level this means cultivating empathy in an attempt to understand unfamiliar and contentious ideas. Exemplary instances of ideal and reality, ideas and counter-ideas, intentions on different levels and in the changing currents of time can be examined in the historical processes between Antiquity and early-modern times. This involves following processes of very long duration, with all their complex interdependencies, right into the present. In particular, the cultural roots of the European Occident, which are to be sought in Greek and Roman Antiquity, in Judaic culture, in the cultures of Germanic and Slavic tribes, and, from the 7th century on, in Islamic culture, should be traced out and their influence upon the medieval world made apparent. A further theme is the emergence and development of Christianity with its various phases of expansion, its inherent tension between individual and institutional religion, between state-secular and ecclesiastical-spiritual activities, its struggle with the problem of the relationship between body and spirit, its cycle of renewal and dogmatisation, its schisms and attempts to preserve orthodoxy etc. In working with dualities and complexities like this it is important to focus on the actual personalities involved and on the key events as well as following the long-term changes.
The students’ potential for weighing things up dialectically, their ability to exercise empathy in relation to the unfamiliar and foreign, as well as concrete insights of their own can all come into play when, in connection with the history of the Middle Ages, the major changes, the movement, exchange and confrontation that led to the formation of modern European culture are being dealt with. Here, on the one hand, lie many opportunities for the individual student to sharpen his or her thinking in the cut and thrust of philosophical-religious disputes, and, on the other to come to an understanding of the many levels and elements of modern culture that emanated from the past. The tensions that exist in Europe between regional cultures within states, then among the states themselves, and between European countries and other cultural realms can be better understood and placed in context through insights into the historical processes behind them. The crucial thing is that, through working with the dialectics of these processes and coming to recognise the reciprocal effects involved, these 17-year-olds are given the opportunity to exercise and refine their own power of judgment, and not only as applied to the world, but also to themselves.
Suggested lesson content
Notes and suggestions on content and method
The students are now entering the age of adulthood and so are ready to take full responsibility for their participation in lessons. They can, therefore, very well be given the task of preparing and presenting sections of lessons involving the review of previously covered material. The remit of the lessons is now to provide a deeper sense of the subject as a whole, in other words to bring into play those aspects of the subject that can help these young adults lead responsible lives, both personally and socially. This means: actively involving the students in evaluating everything they have learned up to now, looking at what is entailed in the structuring of history, and reflecting upon the nature of history itself in relation to the level of insight, the direction of inquiry and the intentions behind particular historical narratives. Above all, this means that the contribution history can make towards understanding our current situation should be actively exploited by taking problems arising from current affairs and treating them as historical questions. Dealing with such questions can involve tackling specific conflicts, wars, crises as they are happening, or taking a more general approach. As a rule there will be an interplay between these two aspects – they certainly do not exclude each other.
History-teaching of such a quality will help the students come to see historical narrative as an intention-dependent product of the human mind. On the other hand, it also enables them to test the possibility of bringing their own questions to bear upon a range of phenomena and, through considering how they develop in relation to each other, making sense of them. This opens up the potential of acquiring a finely-tuned sense of history and, with it, of developing historical competence to the point of being able to work with it independently.
Since taking such a theoretical approach makes certain special demands, there follows a sketch of how this idea could be put into practice.
In order to provide a suitable basis for the kind of reflective activity intended in this first main lesson block, it would probably be best to begin on two fronts, the one being the philosophy of history, the other being student-centred; in other words, the students would be asked to put together a comprehensive survey of all the material on cultural history previously covered, although this would involve the teacher presenting some new additional material as well. Approaching the problem of dividing history into periods, as well as coming to terms with the notion of history as narrative with inbuilt intentions can be accomplished through reflecting upon the nature of time, either in the abstract, or in terms of concrete events defined by a certain duration. Following on from this, by comparing various different ways of grounding historical periods, the students can be made aware that historical change can be described and interpreted differently according to the intentional framework. Through studying lengthy extracts from the writings of philosophers of history (e.g. Wilhelm von Humboldt, Friedrich Hegel, and Karl Jaspers [Arnold Toynbee, G.M. Trevelyan etc. etc. etc.]) and other additional information, some of the well-known varieties of historical discourse can be distinguished (e.g. classical, teleological, focused upon the principle of salvation or upon the history of consciousness, Marxist, sociological, and economically oriented). Carrying on from here, using the material gathered by the students from the work of previous years together with further primary and secondary source materials, key changes in cultural history can be considered in terms of the following categories:
The material covers the following cultural phases:
The concepts required for understanding historical change can be made much clearer by comparing the processes that have shaped specific areas of human life; areas such as the world of work, social forms (distinguishing perhaps between family and society/state), ideas of human nature and the nature of the world (e.g. in relation to ideas of the after-life). Taking a student-centred approach here (teamwork, research projects, presentations) will make the subsequent task of evaluating the effects of the previous years’ work upon the growth of the students’ historical consciousness all the easier. Further refining of the ability to understand historical change can be accomplished through similar treatment of other cultural-historical phenomena, such as the history of the warrior and the idea of war, the history of human individualisation (and its counter-tendency), or the history of globalisation.
This suggestion for the class 12 curriculum favours an approach based upon cultural history (which can also be understood as a history of consciousness). Once the world of current events comes into the picture, of course, it inevitably acquires a political dimension. This, in turn, demands a world-historical perspective, which, through the elements of philosophy and historical narrative theory included, has the necessary richness of context. Thus, in addition to its breadth, the time-structure of the main lesson acquires a certain depth as well. The lesson could, of course, be done in an entirely different way, but however it is conceived, the aim is the same; namely, to lead the students towards basic questions concerning the meaning of human life and of their own identity, as well as awakening their political aspirations for a society based on cultural diversity and respect for human dignity.
It is in the second history block in class 12 that the political, social and cultural phenomena of the present era (20th/21st century) come into their own. This can also find a place in history running lessons, and, where appropriate, in connection with preparations for state examinations. In view of the highly complex problems involved, and the moral and intellectual abyss that opens up in our most recent history, attention is necessarily focussed on the mind, social nature and political and individual responsibility of the human being. The context of this topic can be deepened by viewing and discussing it in connection with ideas of human nature and evolutionary assumptions identifiably at work in history, or by critical reflection upon the power of certain interpretations of history in the formation of collective (national) identities, and how such interpretations can be integrated into an approach which takes multiple perspectives into account.
Suggested lesson content