Course+outline+for+Year+12

**History at Albany Senior High School** Historians are investigators. We weigh up the importance and relevance of historical events, themes and issues and debate their continued significance in today's world, and why.

As historians, we consider whether the past justifies the present and search to find meaning in the causes and consequences of events that have affected people's lives.

Historians seek out relationships between events, identifying strong or continuous themes, movements and events such as terrorism, revolution, nationalism or racial and intellectual prejudice.

Historians base their arguments on investigation of historical evidence – not snap judgments. They become alert to bias and propaganda, and sympathetic to the context driving the perspectives of our sources.

 //**Why study History?**// Studying history can lead to careers in law, politics, journalism and diplomacy. Historians become life-long learners with the skills to approach evidence with an open mind and a drive to understand perspectives that shape our world. //**Course Aims**// 1.To provide students with a knowledge and appreciation of selected areas of history: The Origins of WWII, New Zealand's Search for Security, The Israel- Palestine Conflict.

2.To encourage students to make comparisons between historical events and contemporary New Zealand.

3.To provide students with an introduction to a variety of social science ideas in history: political and religious conflict, nationalism and international relations.

4.To provide students with an introduction to a variety of cultural settings and therefore, points of view.

5.To introduce students to a variety of settings from across the world which will enable them become more globally literate citizens of the world.

6.To provide students with authentic learning experiences where the learning is meaningful and brings the real world into the classroom.

7.To provide experience of a variety of different types of subject matter, evidence and argument.

8.To provide opportunities for students to participate, contribute and relate to others in an encouraging and respectful environment.

9.To provide opportunities for students to use self-management and thinking skills as they use language to research, understand, communicate or explain.

//**This**// //**year we will be studying:**//


 * Mark Sheehan (18 August 2006)** writes in **'The role of school history - Teachers' Toolbox', [], (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 31-Jul-2007**

//"...However, history does not belong to history teachers or historians. It lies at the heart of ideas about identity, heritage and memory and tells us something about what it means to be human. Our students have a sense of the past whether they have studied it formally or not. Historical narratives feature in films, novels and heritage sites and while we as history educators may question the reliability of such sources (and lament the artistic license of writers, directors and curators over interpretation) it is these forms of entertainment that largely shape popular perceptions of the past. Therefore, the teaching of historical thinking demands that in our courses we build on (and critically evaluate) such popular narratives, and not to do so is to leave our students in a glossy, ahistorical vacuum where perceptions of the past are in the hands of Mel Gibson and Stephen Spielberg... ...Taught well, history fosters characteristics that include a toleration of difference, the capacity for critical thought and the ability to see value in reasoned and informed debate...// ..//.our students, [and] their needs that should be at the centre of designing our history programmes."//

__Footnotes__
As at March 2005 at Year 13, 58% of schools taught Tudor–Stuart and 40% taught 19th-century New Zealand (2% both). At Year 12 over 85% of schools taught Vietnam, Russian Revolution and Origins of World War One, and at Year 11 over 90% of schools taught Origins of World War Two, Black Civil Rights and New Zealand's Search For Security (See NZHTA survey February/March 2005, [|http://www.nzhta.org.nz].) Despite the opportunities to do so, there is very little social history, women's history or history of indigenous peoples taught.


 * Mark Sheehan teaches at Victoria University of Wellington College of Education. He taught history in secondary schools until 2003 (Mana College, Wellington Girls' College and Wellington College), has been involved in the history teaching community for almost 20 years (including writing textbooks and sitting on the NZHTA executive) and is currently writing a PhD thesis on the shaping of the current history syllabus .**

**Student course handout** **Form 1** **The student course handout contains the following information:** 
 * **Course Title:** ||


 * **Specialist subject area:** ||

This should be written to the students in plain, friendly language. The description should include an outline the learning and experiences students will be involved in. It should answer the following: What will you learn? What will you do? Why is this learning important? How will you be assessed in your learning? How are the learning experiences related future pathways?
 * **Course Overview**

 External || Credits || Provisional assessment date || Reassessment offered? ||
 * **Achievement/Unit Standards Offered**
 * Standard number || Standard Title || Version number || Domain || Internal/

**Important assessment milestones and dates can also be found on the assessment calendar**
 * **Costs if applicable**


 * **Teacher(s) in charge**