Resources and ideas about children's understanding of
Time
Ideas about progression in pupils’
understanding of time and chronology
What does in mean, "To get better in
understanding time and chronology" in history?
1980
David Sylvester History HMI, Making Progress
in History, Teaching History, February 1980.
At 12 years of age:
Know what "generation",
"century" and "decade" are.
Know the terms B.C and A.D., pre-history,
ancient, medieval and modern.
Be able to put a date in correct century
Can make a simple time chart
At 14 years of age:
Know sequence of Roman, Norman, Tudor,
Stuart, Hanoverian/Georgian, Victorian.
Be aware of some major historical
"period" terms such as Renaissance, Reformation.
At 16 years of age:
Can use terms which relate to some
particular historical period studied, eg. 19th century, free
trader, chartist, evangelical, imperialist.
1985
HMI, History in the Primary and Secondary
Years, London, HMSO, 1985: p. 18
At 8 years of age:
Can use basic time vocabulary (eg.
"now", "long ago", "then",
"before", "after")
Begin to understand the chronology of the
year (eg. seasons) and begins to record on a wall chart sequence of stories
heard.
Can put some historical pictures and objects
in sequence.
At 10 years of age:
Knows terms BC and A.D.
Understands "generation" in a
family context.
Knows sequence of prehistoric, ancient
times, middle ages and modern.
Can put a wide range of historical pictures
and objects in sequence.
Can make a simple individual sequence chart.
At 12 years of age:
Understands "century" and how
dating by centuries works.
Can put dates in correct century.
Knows sequence of Roman, Saxon, Viking,
Norman, Tudor, Stuart, Victorian.
Is aware of some historical period terms
(eg. Reformation).
Can make a time chart using scale.
At the age of 14:
Is able to put an extensive range of
historical pictures and objects in sequence.
Can make a time chart that compares
developments in contemporary civilisations (eg. Iron Age Britain and
Ancient Athens, or 16th century Europe and Aztec/Inca South
America.
Can make a time chart that records events in
different aspects of history (eg. war, politics, buildings, costume).
1991
Attainment Targets for the National
Curriculum for History (Mark 1) 1991
The attainment targets in AT1 (a) focused on
the concepts of Continuity and Change; there was no explicit reference to
"time" related vocabulary.
Pupils should be able to:
Level 1- place in sequence events in a story
about the past
Level 2- place familiar objects in
chronological order
Level 3- describe change over a period of
time
Level 4- recognise that over time, some
things have changed and others stayed the same
Level 5- distinguish between different types
of historical change (rapid/gradual, local/national)
Level 6- show an understanding that change
and progress are not the same thing
Level 7- show awareness that patterns of
change can be complex.
1995
Attainment Targets for the National
Curriculum for History (Mark 2) 1995
("By the end of Key Stage 1, the
performance of the great majority of pupils should be within the range of
Levels 1 to 3, by the end of Key Stage 2 it should be within the range 2 to
5 and by the end of Key Stage 3 within the range 3 to 7." Level 8 is
available for very able pupils, and descriptors of "exceptional
performance", above Level 8, but these levels do not stipulate further
achievements with regard to time and chronology beyond those stipulated in
Level 7.)
The levels are "best fit"
descriptors of "the type and range of performance that pupils working
at a particular level would characteristically demonstrate." A major
departure from the 1991 model was the reinstatement of the need to develop
pupils’ "time vocabulary."
Level 1- Pupils recognise the difference
between present and past in their own and other people’s lives. They show
their emerging sense of chronology by sequencing a few events and objects
and by using everyday terms about the passing of time.
Level 2- Pupils show their developing
sense of chronology by using terms concerned with the passing of time,
by ordering events and objects and by making distinctions between aspects
of their own lives and past times.
Level 3-Pupils show their understanding of
chronology by their increasing awareness that the past can be divided into
different periods of time, their recognition of some of the similarities
and differences between these periods, and their use of dates and terms.
Level 4- Pupils use their factual knowledge
and understanding "to describe characteristic features of past
societies and periods and to identify changes within and between
periods." They are beginning to produce structured work "making
appropriate use of dates and terms."
Level 5- Pupils use their factual knowledge
and understanding "to describe and to begin to make links between
features of past societies and periods." They select and organise
information to produce structured work "making appropriate use of
dates and terms."
Level 6- Pupils use their factual knowledge
and understanding "to make links between features within and across
periods." They select, organise and deploy relevant information to
produce structured work "making appropriate use of dates and
terms."
Level 7- Pupils make links between their
outline and detailed factual knowledge and understanding of the history of
Britain and other countries drawn from the Key Stage 3 programme of study.
They use this to analyse relationships between features of a particular
period or society. They select, organise and deploy relevant information to
use of dates and terms."
1999
The attainment targets for pupils’
understanding of time and chronology in the National Curriculum for History
(Mark 3) can be found in The National Curriculum: Handbook for teachers in
England and Wales (http://www.nc.uk.net)
Other than slight changes in wording, they
are substantially the same as in the 1995 version.
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