,;

Referncia: RSEN, Jrn. THE DIDACTICS OF HISTORY IN WEST GERMANY: TOWARDS A NEW SELF-AWARENESS OF HISTORICAL STUDIES. Anais da VI Reunio da Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa Histrica, So Paulo, 1987, p. 209-216

THE DIDACTICS OF HISTORY A NEW SELf-AWARENESS

IN WEST GERMANY: TOWARDS OF HISTORICAL STUDIES

J Um Rusen (Bochum}

The standard opinion of what lhe didactics of hstory is, how it workj', and where it is situated in the realm of the humanities goes as follows: historical didactics is a formalized approach to teaching history at primary and secondary schools and it plays an important part in transforming professional historians Into teachers of history at these schools. lt is a discipline that mediares between history as an academic discipline and historica1 learning and education at school. Thus, it essentially has nothing to do with the work of h is torians in their own discipline. 11 serves as a tool which transports historical knowledge from the full vessels of academic research to the ernpty heads of pupils. This opnon IS extremely misleading. It fails to confront the real problems concerning historical learnng and education and conceming the relationship between historical didactics and historical research. Furthermore, it ideologically narrows the historians perspectve on ther practce and on the principIes of 'ther discipline. Though I wish to eoncentrate upon the didactics of history in West Germany, I have no injenton of limiting my observations to the development of a subdivision of history and pedagogics in a sngle West European country. Instead I would like to use West Germany as a CII$e study to illustrate the broader ssues of how one thinlc:s about history, what are history's orgns n human oature and what

are its uses for human life. These are lhe basic questions that a valid didactics of history should consider, which, when done, would make lhe didactics of history an integral and importam pan of hisrorical studi~s.1

For general information scc K. Bergmann, A. Kuhn, 1. Rsen, G. Schneider (ed.): Handbuch der Geschichtsdidaktik. Third edition Dsseldorf 1985: K. Bergmann, J. Rsen (ed.}: Geschichtsdidak tik , Theorie fr die Praxis. Dsseldorf 1978; H. Sssmuth (ed.) : Geschichtsdidaktische Positionen. Bestandsaufnahme und Neuorientierung. Paderbom 1980; G. Behre, L.A. Norborg (ed_): Ge,chicl}tsdidaktlk, Geschtchtswissenschaft, Gesellichaft L. Stockholm, 1985; LI. A. J. Bechet, K. Bergmann (ed.): Geschichte - Nutzen und Nachteil ror das Leben. Dsseldorf 1986: E. Weymar: Gesehichtswssenschat und Theorie, Ein Literaturbereht. Stuttgart 1979. E. Weymar: Dimensionen der Geschlchtswssenschaf't. Geschichtsforschung Theorie der Geschiehtswissenschaft - Didaktilc. dor Geachlchte, in: Geschichte 10 Wissenachaft und Unterricht (1982), 1-11. 65-78. 129-153

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For those aware of the history of the discipline of history, especially of its transforrnation into a })rofessionalzed , academic actvty , it should not be surprising that didactics can play an eminent role in historica! writing and understanding. Before historians carne to look at their work as rnerely a matter of methodological research and before they conceived of themselves as "scientists," historians discussed the mies and principies of historical compositon as problems of teaching and leaming. Teaching and learning were conceived in the broadest sense, as beng fundamental processes and phenomena in human culture, not restricted simply to the school. The well known saying, "historta vita, /1laItra" (history is the teacher of life), which defined the task of westem historiography from antquity to the Ias! decades ofthe eighteenth century , indicates that the writing of history was directed by the moral and practcal problems of life, not by the theoretical and empirical problems of methodical cognition. Fven durng the late Enlghtenment when the modem forros of academic research and discourse were being forged, professional historians still dscussed the didactic principies of historical writlng as beng fundamental to ther work. But due to the increasing institutionalizaton and professonalzaton of history , the importance of historica! didactics was either forgotten or mnimized. During the nineteenth century , historians when they defined their discipline began to loose sight of one mportant principIe. Namely , that history is rooted in the social need to orientate lfe within the framework of time. Hstorcal understanding is guided fundamentalJy by basic human nterests: as such, it is addressed to an audience and plays animportant role in the politica! culture of the historian's socety. As nineteenthcentury historians strove to make history a science , lha! audience was forgotten or redefined to include only a smalJ group of trained, like-rninded professionals. The didactics of history no longer was at the center of lhe historian's reflection about his own profession , It was replaced by the methodology of historica! research. The "scientification" of history entaled a conscious narrowing of perspectve , a limiting of bistory 's purpose and goal? In this respect, the scientification of history excluded from the pUIVew of rational historical reflection those dimensions of

H.-J. Pandel: Historiker als Didaktiker. Geschlchtsdidaktisches Denken in der deutschen Geschichtswissenschaft vom nusgehenden IS. bis zum Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: K. Bergmann, G. Schneider (ed.): Gesellschaft, Staat, Geschichtsunterricht. Beitrage zu einer Geschichte der Geschich tsdidaktik und des Geschichtsunterrichts im 1500-19S0; H. Blanke, J. Rsen (ed.): Von der Aufklarung zum Historisrnus, Zum Strukturwandel des hstocaen Denkens. Paderbom 1984.

historical thought inseparably cornbined with practical lfe. From this point of view, it can be said that sclentflc hstory , despite its rationalistic claims, has led to what I would Jike to call the "irrationalization" of history. That this process can and should be reversed is my major thesis and conternporary developrnents in the didactics of history in West Germany point in this direction. There, the recent development of the didactcs of history can be described as a proccss of reganing the lost scope of historica! self-awarencss. The didactcs of hstory , which had originally been interpreted as an external application of professional hstorcal writing, has achieved a status within the academic discipline where it again can facilitate and enhance historical understandng, but now wthin its new .lghiy rationalized academic forms. Originny, the didactics of bistory in Germany, as elsewhere, had been guided by the practical needs of training teachers of history. This tranng took place on two levels. One was purely pragmatic and dealt with the methods of teaching history in the classroom, The second was theoretical: it focused upon lhe conditons anel the basic purposes of teac.hing and leamng hstory. On the frst level, the didactics of history was learned by dong. We cai.t it the methodology ~f instruction in history (Methodik der Geschichrsunterrichts). On the second levei, theldidactics of history is discussed in relation to those disciplines wbich deal with the phenomenon of teachng and learning , for example with the social scences, whch investigate the social conditions of teaching and leaming, with pedagogcs, whch investigates the aims, forms, and processes of education, and, of course, with hstorical studies, which investigates hstory as subject matter to be taught. On this leveI we speak of the didactcs of education in history (Dldaklik des Geschichtsunterrichts). In my opnion, the second levei should precede the first. The didactics of education in history establishes the objectives and forros of historical education within a given political, social, cultural and institutiona! contexto The methodology of instruction in history establishes the practcal rneans whereby these objectives are to be met. Until the 1960';' the didactics of history in West Germany was treated as a Ufeisteswissenschaftliche Plldagogik", a term whch cannot easiJ.y be translated. i prefer the English verson, pedagogical hermeneutics, or hermeneutical pedagogics, consdered as a liberal art. The best known representatve of this concept of didactics is Erich Woniger.3 According to this view,

Main works: Die Grundlagcn des Geschchtsunterrichts. Untecsuchungen zur geisteswissenschaftlichen Didalctik. Leipzig , Berlin 1926; Neue Wege im Geschichtsunterricht. Frankfurt 1949, 4th ed. J969.

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edncauoa m history can be defined as a historical process and It can be analyzed with the theoreticaJ and rnethodological tools of hermeneutc hstoricism. The teacher has to understand education as the historian has to understand history that is, hermeneutically , as a knd of text constituted by intentional human forces and containing a meaning whieh ean be deciphered to reveal the reader's own intentions and the possibilities of interaction between text and reader. The presupposition of this hermeneutical, historleist conception is the idea that hstory is constituted by mental forces which the bistorian, being an aetve nterpreter, can "rethink" or approprate , and wheh guide hs historcal questions and nterpretatons. Achieving empirical knowledge of the past would lead to an insght nto the moving i\:>rces of the present. "This insght would enable those who acquire hstorical' knowledge to lve within the mainstream of bistorical development and to accomodate their political !ife to it. Both the didactics of history and historical science shared this hstorcst position. They both posited the same idea of the "educatng forces" (BildungskrHfte) of historical development. But the formal relationship between history and the didactics of history was characterized by a strict division of labor. Historical studies were stil! lmited to a pure academic or "scentific" pattem of self -understanding. Ouestons concernng the interrelationship between historcal Tesearch and the experiential woIld (Lebenswetn ofthe investigator as well as all questions concernng nistorical educaton were relegated to a separare extra-hsto:rical discipline: hence, formal history did nt address the essence of hstorical scholarship drectly. Historians considered their discipline to have been legimated by its mere existence , Alfred Heuss made ths clear in the 1950's when he claimed: "History as an academic discipline is a creature which legitimates itself by simply being there." He compared histotical studies and its output of knowledge to a tree producing leaves. "The tree lives as long as it has leaves and it is its destiny to tive and to have leaves.,,4 Heuss explicitly refused to accord history any practical use or real function in those cultural areas where history can serve as a medium for collective identty and for an orientation towards Iife. On the contrary, he thought that the metholodogy of hstorcal research destroys the practical function of history . '{he didactcs of history durirlg this period renforced~1 this narrow -mindedness. It viewed hstorical knowledge as beng generated solely tluough the nternal discourse of professional hstorians. The task of the didactics of history was to trarnsit ths knowledge wthout partaking in the generation of ths discourse, Hstorical didactics compensated for this modest re-

fusal to engage n hstorcal research by translating the resulta of this research into cenera! philosophic preaupp9sitiOnl. It considered these phU~phic cateso.ries as essental elements in shaping one's orentten towards life , Henee, these categories were thought to play a central role in the process of education. However, despite these abstracr components, the primary and secondary hstory curriculum conslsted of nathing more than a simplified abstract of standard historical studies. Thus, at its best, the didactcs of history provided fundamental statements on the educational function of lstorical knowledge and on the corresponding objectives fOI teachng history in school. But it also included a hidden didactic, that of simply reproducing hstorcal studes: in 50 doing, it lawered ts leveI from the mountains of research into the valleys of classes (this is called copy or reproduction didactics). In the sixties and seventies the whole seene cbanged.S The scholarly arrogance that assumed hstorica! studies to be legitimated by its mere exstence lost its persuasive power. A new generaton of scholars radically criticized the traditonal concept of historieal studies and propagated a new theoretical concept which they were able to put nto practce, They conceived of history as a social science with close ties to the other social studies.6 ln so dong, they raised mportant questiona concerning the basic task of hstorical cognition and of the political function of historical studies. Ths redefniton was only a part of a wholescale cultural reorentaton that took place in

For general informaton on the developrnent of historical studies in West-Gerrnany see, Hi-U. Wehler: Geschichtswissenschaft heute, in: J. Habermas (ed.): Stichworte zur geistigen Situation der Zeit. Vol. 11. Frankfurt 1979, p. 709-753; G. Heydemann: Geschichtswissenschaft im geteilten Deutschladn. Entwlck1ungsgeschichte, Organisatlonsstruktur.Funkton, Theore-und Methodenprobleme in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der DDR. Frankfurt 1980; G. G. Iggers: New Drections in European Historiography. Rev. Ed, Mddletown. Connectcut 1984 (chapter 3); J. RUsen: Theory of Hstory in Development of West German Hstorica! Studies. A Reconstruction and Outlook, in: German Studies Review 7 (1984), p. 11-26; R. FIetcher: Recent Developments n West Gennan Hstoriography : The Bielefeld School and 1t5 Critics, in:German Studles Revew 1 (1984), p. 451480.
6

A. Heuss: Verlust der Geschichte. p.44.

Gottingen

1959,

H .. U. Wehler. Historische Sozialwissenscheft. 2nd 00. Frankfurt 1977; id.: Historische Soz alwissenschaft und Geschichtsschreibung, Studien zu Aufgaben und Tradltionen deutlcher Gelichicht.wbsenachaft, Gottingen 1980; 1. Kocka: Sozialgeschichte. Begrlff - Entwicklung - Probleme. Gottingen .2nd ed.1986.

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Germany during that time. Hence, an equally important reorientation towards history was also felt at the schools which resulted n a crises of legitimacy for the teaching of history , The assumption that history played an Integral role in prmary and secondary education was increasingly questioned, especially as the attacks aganst historicism grew n degree and intensity. New forms of poltica! education whith correspondng new contents were introduced nto the schools. The didactics of history also underwent a change that reflected this general cultural reorientation and the shft n the educational system , Its hermeneutical conception was radically altered and transformed into a new mode of argumentation , lt experienced a socalled turn to curriculum theory. 7 Now, historicaJ education has no longer become the sirnple question of translatng the forms and values of professional scholarship into the classroom. 111e basc question that is being posed is whether that knowledge and the form of thought it represents meets a pre-given and extra-disciplinary set of educational eritera.8 Historiam were eonfronted with the challenge of legitimatng history's role in cultural lfe and in education.f They responded to this challenge by broadenng the scope of hstorical self -reflection and self -understanding. Historians began to respect those dmensions of historical studies where needs, interests, and functons appear as determnng factors of historicaJ thinkng.lO In smple terms, the study of history in West Germany underwent what we might describe as a -paradigrn shift. 10~

Cf. A. Kuhn: Geschichtsdidaktik und Curriculurnentwicklung, in: Handbuch der Geschch tsdidaktk (note 1) 3 nd ed. p. 339-348.
discussed example is A. Kuhn : Einfhrung in die Didaktik der Geschichte. 2nd ed. Mnehen 1977. A frequently

Cf. A. Sywottek: Geschichtswissensehaft in der Legitimationskrise. Ein Uberblick ber Diskusson um Theorie und Didaktk der Geschichte in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1969-1973.Bon

1974.
10 J. Rsen: Fr eine erneuerte Historik. Studien zur Theorie der Geschichtswissenschaft. Stuttgart 1976.

This shft coincided with the urgent need for selfpresentation and legitimacy by hstorians concerned wth the field of education. Together , both moments contributed to the formation of a new historieal movement characterzed by a commitment to a deeper and broder reflection on the fundamentais of historical studes and on its interrelationships with practical lfe in general and with education n particular. This happened at a time when the university systern underwent a great expansion, which created enough flexibility to encourage the formation of new concepts about education and to alIow their implernentation. Thus, positions were created for scholars and teachers who wished to folIow this trend and to realize it by research , training, and teaching. Symptomatic for this new movement in historical stuies and historieal didactics was the establishment of two journals, Geschichte und Gesellschaft and Geschichtsdidaktik. The frst was founded in 1975 and embodied a new concept of historical studies. In the foreword which spelled out its goals, thc editors envsioned a two-pronged approach. First , it would focus on new theoretical and methodologieal approaches and seek to establsh clse connections between history and the other social sciences. Second, it would emphasize the connections between the academic study of history and social practice. The authors of this artcle thought this necessary beeause "historical studies are nfluenced essentially by eontemporary interests as well as by the analysis of historical processes anddecish:ms. Directly or indirectly, historical studi~s react to topical socia! consciousness and practice."ll Geschichtsdidaktik, founded a year later, represents the new way of dealng with the role of history in education and in practicaJ life. In a programmaticaJ article , Klaus Bergrnann , one of the editors, defned historical didactics as follows: it is "a discipline which examines the importance of history-all sorts of history and ali of its constitutive elernents-for lhe receptive and reflecting subjeet.,,12 He considered emancipaton and persona! identity as the two leading ideas of this didactcal reflection, Within the framework of ths new approach to the use of history n practieal life, the didactics of history establshed itself as a special discipline with ts own questions, theoretieal coneeption, and methodological operations. Durng the seventies, this movement was lnked to the need for curricular change. Tlius, it could bediscussed wthout resolving the question of whether the didactics of history should be attached to history or to pedagoges, As long as it seemed cation were defined and explicated outside of historica} studies, the didactics of history stil! served as an auxilary to general didactics: it was still seen as a 11
12

1
1

JO!'

Rsen: Grundlagenreflexion und Paradigma echseJ in der deutschen GeschichtswissensdW"t, in Geschichts didaktik 11 (1986).
j

Geschichte und Gesellschaft I (l97 6), p. 7 Geschichtsdidaktik 1 (1976), p. 8.

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""'
pedagogic discipline. This was exacerbated by the traditional nerrow-mtndeuness of many professional historians who excluded all questions of hstory's practical function from serious historical self-reflection. The resons ot rrs attitude were to push historical ddactics closer to pedagogics and to open up a gap between it and normal hstorical studies This had probJematic consequences, The fascmation with curricular reforms tended to underestimate the peculiar charaeter of history as a field of learning . History could be invtrurnentalzed for the non-hstorical oojecw.<e'i> ..,{ ching and learning. The specific role of history n the whole area of the social sciences and in polrrical education became unclear History could thu be easily replaced by other branches of polincal and 'o ia! education. Those who were opposed to t his rendencv to 10, t.':'Wll",J}tlll.i.l<.'l. 'lir.mfl'Y s ressed lhe peculiaritj and umqueness of histrica I thinking and e xplanarion and sought to differentiate thern from lhe medes of thought employed to lhe other social -ciences Tlus moverncnt brought lhe drdactics of history very close to lhe kind of historica self-reflectjon that J would like to LaU hstorcs [Historik}, a terrn Ihat points 10 the similarity 01' these reflections with lhe type of questions posed by Gustav Droysen m his famous drew arguments from this new conception of history n order to explicate the specific and peculiar nature of historical thinking and explanation. Once formulated this idea af history became the rnedurn and objective of learning and education. Thus, the baste uniqueness of historical thought guided the practical problem of formulating a new historical currculum, The didact ics of history joined practice-orentated concerns about teaching and Iearning in lhe classroom to a theoretical awareness of the processes and funcuons ot rstorical consciousness in general. Given this orientarion , the perspectives of the didacucs of rustory have been grearly expanded , They nave been extended to go beyond merely considering the problerns of the teaching and learning of history in school Ihe didactics of history now analvzes alI the forms and lhe functions of historical knowledge and reasornng in daily . practical Iife , This includes a study of the role of history to public opinion and of presentatrons in the mass media: it considers the possbilines and limits of visual historical presentations in museurns and it explores the manifold fields in which historians equipped with this expanded vision ean work , The analysis of these non-traditional activities for hstorians has just begun. Hence, a clear disciplinary design for the didactics of history has not been completed. But the general outlines for sueh a desgn have been tormulated, a forrnulation which is respondng to the present challenge to historical studies in Germany due to the extreme shortage of openings for teachers of history in Germany's school system. In this sense it could be said that the study of history is shiftng its ernphasis from teaching and learning in a narrow sense to a more broadly , yet less clearly defined goal. It is stiU an open question whether the emphasis upon pub lic life in the didaeties of history will find a positive echo. But it should be clear that since the public cannot digest the output of the highly specialized discipline of professional history whithout mediation , there s a definite need for trained people able and willing to accornplish this mediation. What should be evtdent is that the normal skills acquired by a professional bistorian are not suffcient to effeet this rnediation. In West Germany today , fOUI main issues dominate the discussion about the didactics of history. They deal with the methodology of instruction, the function and use ofhistory in public Ife , tbe establishment of the goals of historical education in the schools and verifyng that these have been met , and the general analysia 't' lhe nature. function. and tmportance of historical conscousness Let me deal briefly with each. The methodology of mstruction in the classroom still is an imponant probem Here the concentration upon curriculum has becn predominant. Combined wth the assurnption that there exists a general theory of school utruction (Unt~"ichtsleJrn). the teaching of history in the clllSSroom has tended to become a

t=-

..

Lectures on Encyclopedy and Methodology of History

(1857 ).13 venties.14 ry frorn a historical This kind of theory flourished in thc seIt accompanied the transforrnation of nistohermeneutical and historicist discipline 10 a social science lS The .idactifs of history

\3

J. G. Droysen. Hstorik , ed. P. Leyh. Stuttgart 1977 (English translatian of his 'GrundiB der Histom' Outne of the Principies of History Boston 1883. Reprint New York 1967)

14

a.

the series "Theorie der Geschichte. Betrage zur Historik ". Vol. 1 . R. Koselleck W J. Mommsen, J. Rsen (ed.) Objektivitt und Parteilichkeit in da Geschichte. Mnchen 1979, vol. 2: K. G. Faber, Chr. Meier (ed.). Historische Prozesse. Mnchen 1978: vol. 3 J. Kocka , Th. Nipperdey (ed.) Theorie und Erzahlung in der Geschichte. MW1chen 1979. vol. 4: R. Koselleck, H. Lutz, J Riisen (ed.). Formen der Geschichtsschrebung. Moochen 1982; vaI. 5: Chr. Meier. J. Rsen (ed.). Hstorsche Mctmde. M'h\~hen 1987.

15 A syternatic

approach

to these ba sic factors is J

Rsen. Hstorische Vernunft. Gmndzilge einer His

torik I Die Grundiagen der geschichtswissenscht Gottingen 1983. id .. Rekonstruktion der Ver pnpnheit. Gnindztlae eins Htorik II Die Prindpen der hist8'riachen FolSchung. Gott~en 1986

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mechanical affair. It still has nOI been resolved how lhe pecularity of historical conscousness - those mental structures and processes which constitute a spectfic form of numan cultural activity - ean be integrated into ths pattern of educaton. A gap still exsts between the pragmatic intution of a good hstorv teacher and the formal tranng he or she receives in the practice of teachng hstory , The reason for this gap is that the discussion concernng historicaJ consciousness and the constituting factors of historical thought has not been Integrated into the pragrnatics of teaching and Ieaming. The inslghts gained in the didactics of history about the processes,structures, contents and funcons of historcal conscousness have not been translated into the analysis of teachng and learning In the classroern 1 " . One example for this should suffce. On lhe abstract level of a general theory o hstorical conscousness, we know somethng about the patterns of sgnificance which govern lhe experence of the human past and its nterpretaton as meaningful history.17 But we know very little about the way hstory is perceived and the effects of history nstructon in the classroorn , Some ernprical research we have done at Bochurn suggests that lhe pattern of exemplary education - history as a collection of examples leading to general rules of human behavior - s the way history is appropriated by pupils, without the teachers even being aware o this. The teachers were sure that they were implementing the patterns of rnodem historica! studies. But the realty of the learning 'experience showed quite a different pattern. Thus the prcess of teaching and learning in the c1assroom is govemed by a structure of Wstorical conscousness not ar all recognized by the participants themselves. The second problern of anayzing the function of historcal knowledge and explanation in public life is a new field. Since there are very few theoretical and methodological approaehes to this problem, there are not very many empirical studies in it available. \\-na! we do have are the first steps n defrning the disapline, discussions of what are the problems and what

18 should and could be done. In order to establish an adequate research strategy in this area for the didactics of history, it is necessary to synthesize its perspectives, questions and methods with those of lhe specialzed disciplines that analyse public life. For exampe , if one applies the modem approach of the didactics of hstory to the use and function of hstory in the rnass media, one is required to come to terms with journalsm. Ths means that the specific insights of the didactics of history - its eoncepts of the specificity of hstorical understanding and its recognition of hstory's functon in shaping soclal apd individual identty must be translated into lhe language of OUI understanding of mass comrnunication, lha! s, for example, into the semantics of the cinema and into the poetics of visual communication. TIre third issue, establishing the goals of historical education and discoverng how these goals have been met has been one of lhe most important ssues in West Germany. 19 For over a decade , the most desired and discussed objective of historical learning was defined as "emancipation."zo It was hoped thal through historical awareness, pupls would gain the ability or self-determnaton, that they would actively participate in the poltica! decision-making whch influenced their daily lives.21 This objectve, however, was not simply a historica! issuc: it was closely connected to the other social sciences and to general poltica! education. As sueh, tbe hstorcal content of this program was difficult to define precisely. Though this issue has yet to be resolved, the desire to establish a curriculum with c1early defined objectives and the need to determine ir lhe objectives have been met led to a critica! investigation of the contents of historical education. History as a subjeet to be taught and learned has to pass a didactical examnation concerning its applcability in orientating one to Iife?2
18 19

See e. g. Geschichtsdidaktik

11 (1986),

N.o 4.

16 The best approach

to this aim is K .. E. Jeismann: Didalctik der Geschichte: Das spezifische Bedingtmgsfeld des Geschichtsunterrichts, in: G. C. Behrmann, K. E. Jeismann, H. Sssmuth: Geschichte und Politik: Didaktische Grundlegung eines kooperativen Unterrichts. Paderborn 1978. Rsen. Die vier Typen des historischen Erzahn: Koselleck/Lutz/Rsen (ed.). Formen der Ge~htsschreibung (note 14), p. 514-606; id .. Gc3chichtsdidaktische Konsequenzen aus einer ~tultheoreti~chen Histork, n: S. Quandt, H: SUamuth (ed.): Historsches Erzhlen. Formen und F Jonen.Gottingen 1982.p:129-170.

Representative examples are J. Rohlfes, K. E. Jeismann (ed.): Geschichtsunterricht.lnhalte und Ziele. Stuttgart 1974, J. Rohlfes (ed.). Geschichtsunterricht , Entwurf eines Curriculums fr die Sekundarstufe I. Stuttgart 1974. (GWU Sonderheft). J. Rsen: Geschichte als AufkJarung? Oder: Das Dllemma ces historischen Denkens zwischen Herschaft un Emanzipation, In: Geschichte und Gesellschaft 7 (1981), p. 189-218. Einftihrung chte (note 8).
I

20

I ~ J,

21 A. Kuhn:

in die Didaktik

der Geschi-

tens.

12

Cf. the surnmarising .essay o~ R. Sehorken: Der Ia~e Weg zum Gescluchtscumculum. Curriculumverfahren unter der Lupe, in. Geschicht sdidalctik 2 (1977), p. 254-269,335-353 .

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The fourth problcm, the analysis of lhe nature, function, and importance of historical consciousness s, in my opinion, the most interesting issue for scholars of historical studies. Historical eonsciousness s the general category that deals not only with the learning and teaching of history, but covers every form of historical thinking: through it one expcriences the past and interprets it as history , Its analysis thus covers historieal studies as well as the use and function of history in privare and public life. The German discussion of this subjcct has been rich and varied and it is impossiblc for me to surn it up here.'Let me, therefore, mention what I consider three of the most important points. Frst, historieal consciousness cannot be merelv equated with the simple knowlldge of the pasto Hist~rical consciousness struetures historical knowledge as the medium for understanding present time and for antieipating the [uture. It s a complex combnaton that contains an apprehension of the past regulated by the need to understand the present and expect the future. If historians come to realize the essential connecton of the three time dimensions in the structure of historical consciousness, they could avoid the widely accepted academic prejudice that assumes history to deal only witb the past: that it has nothing to do with the problems of the present and even less to do with the future. Second, historical consciousness can be analyzed as a coherent set of mental operations that deftne the peculiarity of historical thinking and the function it plays in human culture. Here the discusson about the narratve 1tructure of historieal explanation is extremely usefu1.24 Historical narraton s more than a, single specific form of historiography. Contemporary interpreters of this issue (e.g. Hayden White and Paul Ricoeur) present historcal narration as a basic mental procedure that makes sense of the past in order to

orien tate practieal life within time.zs To understand this operation ful1y we must first dentify the procedures of historical narration, define ts manifold components, descrbe ther coherence and interrelatons, and construct a typology that includes their a.J'learance under dfferent ercumstances and times. When this is done we can acquire an understanding of how the past acquircs its specfic historical design, and of how history is eonstituted by speefie speech acts, forms of communication, and patterns ofthought. AU of ths can give us an nsight into the cultural {unetion of historical thought and argumentation in social Ife. Here the theory of history (whch analyzes the fundamentals of historical studes): and the didactics of history (which analyzes the fundamentais ofhistorical education) concide n their anaIyses of the narrative operations of historical eonseiousness wth its attendent systematic connectons?7 In so doing, they overcome the unfortunate separation that has existed between scholarly reflection upon the nature of history and didactic refiection on the use of history in practcal lfe. The didactics of hstory has reganed the position it had occupied at the beginning o history's development as an professionaI discipline, namely as playing a central role in the process of reflection on the historian 's activities. The discipline of history can no longer be considered as an activity divoroed from the needs of practicallife. Third, through its analyses of the operations oi the historical consciousness and the function it fulfls, that s, by orientating life within the frameworlc of time, lhe ddactics of history can bring about new insights into the role of historical knowledge and its argumentation In practical IIfe. We can learn that the historicaI consciousness can play an important role in those mental operations which shape human identity, enabling human beings, thereby, to preserve themselves through communication with others, By focusing

23 Above all see.

J. E. Jeismann. Geschichte ais Horizont der Gegenwart. Uber den Zusammenhang von Vergangenheitsdeutung, Gegenwartsverstandnis und Zukunftsperspektive. Paderborn 1985; furthermore R. Schorken: GeschichtsdidaJctik und Geschchtsbewusstsein, in: Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 23 (1972), p. 81-89, U A. J. Be cher: Personale und hstorche Identltt, in. Bergmann/Rsen (ed.): Geschiclltsdidaktk: Theorie
tr die Praxis (note 1), p. 57-66.

25

H. White: Meta-History. The Historical Imaginanon n Nineteenth Century Europe. Baltimore 1973; id.: Tropes of Discourse. Essays in Cultural Critcismo Baltimore 1978; id.: The Questionof Narrative in Contempomry Historical TheOJ}', in. History and Theory 22 (1984) p. 1-33, P. Ricoeur: Narrative Time, in. Critical lnquiry 7 (1981), p. 169 190; id .. The Narratve Function, in: Semeia 13 (1978). p. 177-202. Cf. J. Rscn: Die vier Typen ~muens (note 17) des historischen Er-

26 24

Sssmuth (ed.). Hstorisches Erzahen (note 17), U. A. J. Becher. Didalctische Pnnzipien der GeschlchtsdarstelIung, in K. -E. Jeismann, S. Quandt (ed.). GeschichtsdarstelJung. Deterrninanten und Prinzipien. Gottingen 1982. p. 22-38: J. RUsen. Historische Vernunft (note 15).

a. Quandt,

27

Ci. J. Rsen: Historisches .EIzahlen als gesehichtsdidaktisches Prinzip, in: Bohre{Norborg (ed.). Geschichtsdidalctik, Geschicbtswissemcblft, Gesellschaft (note 1).

-215-

UpOR the queston of hislorifa! identity , the didactics of hstory stresses a erueial elernent in the understanding of the intcrnal structure of historieal thought and <Ugw"'m,i'.u,tl\)T\ '" 'wtlb 'Iil> v.. 't;s function n human life, If we can eonsider historical edueation as an ntentional and organized process of identty formation that remembers the past in order to understand the present and anticipate lhe future, then the didaeties of history ean no longer be dismissed as being extraneous to the concerns of professional historians. They now ean consider and explicate ther own historical research as part of that crucial process of dentity formation. Historians can now consider their research and writng as beng specfic ways to realize those operations of lhe historical consciousness which provide human beings with securty and self-persistence in the face of change. In addition, they ean preStnt the results of their research as conclusions arrived at through the use of reason, This reason can be applied to ali those forros and uses of historical thinking where arguments, no! power or domination, should solve problems. To eonclude this discussion, I would like to raise one more questiono With 'I1,?,;.c,?, {~ml of historical investigation, with which theoretical framework and methodological approach eould the didactics of history be treared as a homogenious par! of historical studies? How can a11those points I have mentioned - the methodology of classroom instruction, curriculurn reform, researeh in the area of publie life, and investigation into lhe structure , process and function of bistorical consciousness - be combined? The didaetics of history should have th structure of a special discipline. We should be able to distinguish it from other, related disciplines sueh as epistemology, the socology of knowledge, pedagogics, and psychology. Given this imperative , the definition of the didactics of history as that discipline that nvestigates the historical conscousness s toa broad. I would l~ke to propoSt' a more modest definition of the ddactics of history 's object of in~liry. Its goal s to investgate historieal learning? Historica!

learning is one of the dirnensions and manifestations of historical consciousness. It is a fundamental process of human socialization and individuation and forms the core for ali oi these operations. The basic question asks how the past is experienced and interpreted in order to understand the present and anticipate the future. Leaming is the framework in which the different fields of didactical interest are united into a coherent structure. It determines the subject matter of the bistory of didactics as well as the specific theoretcal and methodological approaches to it. Theoretically, the didactics of history has to conceptualize historical consciousness as a structure and process of learning. Here it is necessary to reformulate ideas about historical consciousness as belng a basc factor in the formaton of human identity by relating these concepts to the educational process, which is also basic to human development. Methodclogically, the didactics of history ean use established rnethods of psychology and socology and restructure them to accord to the pecularity of the historical conscousness.V With respect to the reflections upon the speciflc teaehing and learning processes in lhe classroom, the didactics of history ean choose lhe elemen ts of pedagogics tha t pertain to the pecularity of the historical conscousness. Whal one must remembr.r here is that teaching history affects leaming history and lhe learning of history shapes lhe ability to orierate oneself 10 lfe and to forming a coherent and stable historical identity. So too , in the field of public life, the focus upon the leaming experience should lead to a coherent program of researeh and explanatlon. Finally, with respect to the real process of history instruction in the school, the emphasis upon historical learning can reanimate lhe teaching and leaming of history by emphasizing lhe fact that history is a matter of experience and interpretation. As so conceived, the didaetics of history , or the science of historical learning, may demonstrate to lhe professional historian the interna! eonnections between history and practical life and learnng. This, more than anything else , can give new meaning to the pllflllle, historia vitae magistra.

28

J. Rohlfes: Umrisse einer Didaktk der Geschchte. Gottingen 1971, 4th ed. 1916; J. Rsen: Anslltze
zu einer Theorie des hstorschen Lernens L Formen und Prozesse, in: Geschchtsdidaktik 10 (1985), 249-265., part 11. to be published ibid. 12 (1987).
29

1
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Cf. W. Reulecke. Lernpsychologische Anmerkungen zum 'hstorischen Lernen', in: Geschichtsdidaktik 10 (1985) 267-211.

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