History education in school : a survey of History teachers’ views in Malta

Abstract

Throughout the years, history pedagogy, like all pedagogies tends to go through various changes and developments. One research method to investigate what is happening in the history classroom with regard to the teaching of history is to target the perspectives of practising history teachers. This dissertation attempted to do precisely this, that is, to see the point of view of the educators involved in the teaching of history in secondary schools in Malta. It builds on similar research conducted in the past, in particular that done by Vella (1996) and De Giorgio (2008). Twelve years after the latest investigation, this dissertation attempts to replicate and improve upon these previous studies so as to examine whether there have been any developments and, if so, in which areas. Therefore, a questionnaire was designed to target various issues namely the background of the participants, the teaching methods and resources employed by the participants, the participants’ views and use of ‘New History’ methods (the Source Method), the relationship between history and technology, virtual history teaching in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and finally, this questionnaire gave the opportunity to the history teachers to pass general comments. The questionnaire was also distributed to history educators in State, Church and Private secondary schools. In all, 37 responses were received, 46% of the history educators in Malta. This makes this study a valid piece of research. This dissertation gives a sound indication of history teachers’ perspectives on history teaching in Malta in 2022.