Children’s Thinking in History: Analysis of a History Lesson Taught to 11 Year Olds at Ihsan Sungu School, Istanbul

Abstract This case study analyses a video recording of a history lesson taught to a class of eleven year olds in Istanbul. It is part of a larger project in which video recordings of history lessons in Bucharest, Cumbria, (England), Lyons and Geneva have been analysed in order to identify ways in which children are involved in historical enquiry rather than didactic teaching as a basis for comparison, discussion and development. In this lesson pupils work in groups to interpret information in texts, maps and pictures in order to reconstruct it in poetry, art, drama and music. The analysis of the transcript explores ways in which pupils extract information, transfer it to new contexts and express it from different viewpoints. It shows how, in discussing sources, pupils gradually become independent of adult support, how they spontaneously use special vocabulary introduced by the teacher in new contexts and how they use causal vocabulary. It is concluded that pupils are engaged in the process of historical enquiry to the extent that, in an embryonic way, they interrogate sources to construct interpretations which include presenting the information from different perspectives and developing arguments, using specialised vocabulary. The significance of classroom organisation and ethos in developing historical enquiry is considered