French History Textbooks as Inspiation for Czech Schools

5 ABSTRACT: The present thesis deals with history textbook usage in lower secondary school classes. It focuses on the work methods in French history books and their possible application within the Czech system while taking the pupils' perspective into consideration. The theoretical part introduces history instruction in France and work methods used in their textbooks. The focal point of the thesis is its practical part, a case study of two study units that were prepared based on French textbooks; "Townsmen, trade and slavery" and "Women and feminism in 19 th century". These were taught in two year-eight history classes. The results and discussion consist mainly of the analysis of work outputs and pupils' feedback on the used materials. The conclusion outlines possible means of inspiration for Czech schools by the French methods analysed in the case studies. KEY WORDS: Secondary school history History textbook History didactics French textbooks Inquiry-based learning Constructivist teachin