The International Didactics of History, Geography and Citizenship Education Symposium

Main Theme: New Paths in Research and Practice in History, Geography and Citizenship Education

Call for Papers

The HGEC (Histoire, Géographie et Éducation à la Citoyenneté) symposium has served as a vehicle to share innovation among French-speaking researchers in Europe. Over the past thirty years, research in both French and English on the didactics of History, Geography and Citizenship Education has increased significantly across Europe as elsewhere, influencing teaching practices and curricula. What new paths have been opened as a result of recent research in the didactics of History, Geography and Citizenship Education throughout the world? The symposium, a joint initiative of the HGEC and the AQDHG (Association Québécoise pour la Didactique de l’Histoire et de la Géographie), aims to find answers to this broad question.

Topic 1: Learning Progression and the Assessment of Competencies

The introduction of curricula focusing on the development of competencies has led teachers and scholars to review their understanding of assessment. This raises questions concerning the nature of the tools being used to assess students and the object of that assessment.

Can we truly assess competencies? On what experimental data can high level skills and competencies be validated? What kinds of assessment tools are being made available to teachers and how are they using them?

The theme of assessment also raises the question of progression. What are the indicators of competency development? On which theoretical frameworks is the model of progression based? How does the model of progression influence how teachers teach and students learn?

Topic 2: In-Class Practices

History, geography and citizenship education teachers are often inspired by a variety of existing practices and cultural values. They also take into consideration more general aims such as the development of critical thinking, the interpretation of sources, etc.

Which factors lead a teacher to believe that their choices and decisions reflect the prescribed curriculum? What rationale underpins teachers’ choice of teaching strategy?

Which strategies are given priority to help students reinvest the knowledge acquired in history, geography and citizenship education classes in their everyday lives? Which teaching strategies take into account both the level of intellectual and social development of students and the nature of social issues and controversies?

Topic 3: Teaching Tools and Methods

Increasingly, teachers and students turn toward digital technologies and virtual environments (multimedia, social networking, etc.) to find, interpret and share information. Even so, traditional teaching tools (textbooks, handbooks, etc.) are still in use and enjoy enduring credibility with students, teachers and student teachers.

However, research holds these more traditional tools responsible, in part, for the permanent gap between a curriculum based on the development of critical thinking and the more static understanding of history and geography demonstrated by many students. This situation questions the capacity of transferring the results of research into practice and the relevance of research in this specific context.

In what way do teachers and students use these digital tools provided in the classroom? Which tools prove more successful in promoting a teaching approach that allows re-contextualized knowledge to find meaning in the classroom? Which tools promote the development of a critical consciousness of citizenship?

Topic 4: Student Teachers and Practicing Teacher Education

Brought about by changing social norms, numerous changes have influenced the teaching of geography, history and citizenship education. The current evolution is characterized not only by a redefinition of curriculum orientations specific to these disciplines, but also by a change in classroom dynamics. Having to master new forms of teaching, teachers have to face students whose identities, values, behaviours and knowledge have been considerably altered. This raises the question of tensions between identities, values, etc. of students and the construction of one’s identity as a teacher.

With regard to these transformations, do student teachers receive adequate training while attending university? Which changes are required in this field? Do practicing teachers receive the training they need to renew their approaches? Which tools are needed to help teachers face the new challenges arising from the current social context?

Manuscript proposals can either be:

• a paper based on empirical research (including action research),
• a paper based on the analysis of in-class practices relevant to at least one of the conference topics,
• a paper based on the analysis of official documents, textbooks, assessment material, etc. that does not claim to share the same rigorous theoretical and methodological framework as an empirical enquiry but still proposes a solidly argued commentary.

Proposals must be sent to both marc.andre.ethier@umontreal.ca and carolinefrezal@wanadoo.fr by September 22th, 2011 at the latest (a notice of receipt will be sent to the author). Proposals must respect the following instructions. They should

• not exceed 6000 characters,
• include the name, title, and professional e-mail address of at least one of the authors of the proposal,
• have a short and meaningful title,
• indicate the chosen topic and the type of paper and
• include five key words at the end of the document.

Proposals must be written in Arial 11 font and must be submitted in either Word or PDF format.

Manuscripts may be submitted in either French or English, but could also be accompanied by a text in the language of the author if it is other than the languages specified here.

Participants will have 20 minutes to present their paper.
Manuscript proposals will be examined in September 2011 by the conference’s scientific committee.
Authors will receive notification of the committee’s decision by mid-October 2011, at the latest.
Authors will have until September 2012 to submit an article related to their paper. The scientific committee will then select articles for publication.

It is possible to propose a workshop (the length of which must not exceed 90 minutes).
Proposals must contain:

• an overview of the issue discussed in the workshop (around 6000 characters),
• a summary of each paper (6000 characters), with a maximum of 4 papers and
• the name of a keynote speaker, who must not be part of the same laboratory/research group as the members of the session. The keynote speaker will have the task of defining the issue and questioning the papers presented in the workshop in order to facilitate discussion.

Workshop participants must come from at least two different laboratories/research groups.