Cele kształcenia historycznego i ich adekwatność wobec wyzwań współczesności

Abstract

Today’s world is growing very rapidly and the 21st century school should be prepared for these changes by educating young people in a modern way that is open to contemporary challenges. Historical education is a very important part of school education, being a kind of manifestation of respect for the ancestors and their legacy which determines our present life. New core curriculum, which was introduced in 2008, has changed the way of teaching History in Polish schools. These changes affect not only the content and teaching methods, but also the educational goals. According to these assumptions the overall objective of education should be that of preparing students for active and effective learning, self-study, planning and organizing their own work. In this document the content of teaching and skills that students should acquire at subsequent levels of education are expressed in language requirements. In formulating these requirements the authors of the reform put a strong emphasis on educational objectives, recognizing the special role of history in shaping the attitudes of students. The analysis of educational objectives contained in the core curriculum for teaching history allows us to assert that in a vast majority of cases these objectives are relevant to the challenges of modernity. Nevertheless, there are many factors that determine their achievability and therefore, we cannot assess the possibilities of their implementation.