Abstract

The work of Bruner and Hirst suggested to history teachers that history might have its own structure but left open the answer as to what that structure might be. The three most popular approaches to new ways of teaching history state that teaching history: 1. is a matter of handing on substantive historical concepts; 2. must in the end come down to developing children's understanding of structural second-order concepts; and 3. is teaching historical skills, abilities, or procedures. Much of the emphasis of the "new history" has been on giving children experience in handling evidence; not until recently has there been a corresponding interest in historical understanding, explanation, and connected notions of empathy and imagination. A discussion of empathy and imagination shows some of the ways in which assumptions about them affect arguments about history teaching. Philosophy of history is necessary in any attempt to arrive at a rational way of teaching history