New approaches in history teaching : the megalithic temples of Malta as a case study

Abstract

History as a school subject has lost popularity in recent years, being considered at the bottom of 'useful and interesting' subjects and top in the list of 'useless and boring' subjects. It competes on the school timetable with science and language subjects which are considered to be more relevant and worthwhile than history. This dissertation is an attempt to show that if taught by the right methods, history can be reconsidered as a useful and interesting subject. with regards to the period of history chosen, pre history offers the teacher a chance for the production of a number of audio-visual aids. Moreover it deals with a period of half-legendary times and the fantastic achievements of a few people who built magnificent temples. Thus the period chosen will surely arouse the interest of the 10 to 12 year old child for whom the audio-visual aids are intended. This dissertation is made up of three distinct sections. Section A consists of the theory about new methods of history teaching, section B provides information about the megalithic temples which can be used as background knowledge by the teacher, and section C comprises a list of audio-visual aids compiled by the author to illustrate the topic - the Megalithic Temples, and a handbook on the use of audio-visual aids presented.