The Published Discourse of History Teachers 2004-2013
This thesis is a study of history teacher published discourse. It draws on ten years of teacher publication in the journal Teaching History and uncovers (a) the nature of the discourse, (b) the principal themes addressed in the discourse and (c) the ways in which teachers contributing to the published discourse drew on the academic discipline of history. It argues, by means of a citation analysis, that, in the years in question, a number of sustained conversations emerged in the public discourse. In the textual analysis that builds on this, this study shows that curricular questions were those that most commonly concerned teachers writing in Teaching History. This study reveals, finally, that teachers drew on the academic discipline in this published discourse to (a) define the nature of what is taught, (b) to set gold standards for pupils and (c) to justify what takes place in the classroom as history. This analysis indicates that teachers see themselves as active participants in a form of disciplinary practice, which calls into question common assumptions about teacher knowledge and the relationship between school subject and academic discipline.
History education, Academic disciplines, Teachers, Teacher discourse
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