Some criteria for
determining significance
What makes an event or topic worthy of our
attention? It is a question worth repeating with pupils as they encounter the
demands which the learning of history makes on them.
Why is this topic prescribed, and not that
one? What is the basis for the selection of content, whose significance is to
be assessed? Geoffrey Partington suggests the following interrelated criteria
in answer to this question. It can help to be aware of them, and to bring them
into discussions with pupils when discussing 'Why, and to what extent it
matters'.
Partington's 5 criteria
for historical significance
- Importance-to the people in the
past
- Profundity- how deeply people's lives
have been affected
- Quantity- how many lives have been
affected
- Durability- for how long have people's
lives been affected
- Relevance- in terms of the increased
understanding of present life
Partington, G. (1980) The idea of an
historical education, Slough, NFER: 112-116.
Some exercises
designed to explore significance
Back to History
PGCE
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