Fostering historical thinking and democratic citizenship? A cluster randomized controlled intervention study

Abstract

Historical thinking has gradually become a central goal for history education. Its complexity, however, makes it difficult to foster among students and little is known about the role of students' epistemological beliefs. At the same time, several history education scholars have argued that historical thinking may not only contribute to disciplinary goals, but also to civic ones. They assume students to spontaneously transfer historical skills, knowledge and dispositions to contemporary contexts. Although there is some evidence to support such a spontaneous transfer, general educational literature indicates that a transfer of learning is difficult to obtain. This study examines the disciplinary effects of a lesson series aimed at fostering students' historical inquiry compe-tence via a cluster randomized controlled intervention study in Flemish history education (control: n = 266; intervention: n = 402). It also examines whether a spontaneous transfer to contemporary topics occurs. To this end, a pre-and posttest examines (1) changes in students' historical inquiry competences and epistemological beliefs about history and (2) the transfer to democratic skills and dispositions. Multilevel and linear regression models showed that the lesson series was effective in enhancing students' historical inquiry skills and procedural knowledge; no effect was found on their epistemological beliefs. The lesson series did not directly improve students' democratic skills and dispositions. However, changes in students' historical inquiry competence did significantly predict their democratic skills at posttest, although in a limited way. These results caution for an excessive optimism regarding the idea that historical thinking automatically contributes to democratic citizenship.