The Applications of Historical Thinking Skills in Teaching and History Learning: Between Rhetoric and Reality

Abstract

The applications of Historical Thinking Skills in teaching and History learning have become more attention among researchers in Malaysia after the Standard Curriculum of Secondary Schools for History education was launched by the Ministry of Education in 2016. Historical Thinking Skills are consisting five skills such as understanding the chronology, discovering historical evidence, making interpretation, imagination, and rationalization that can help the students cognitively to understand the process of using the historical information, it’s including deciphering context, perspective, point of view, and the perceived facts to understand the past or thinking like as historian. Furthermore, Historical Thinking Skills have been more important as the appropriate skills in history learning, especially for students on how to learn the history subject authentically and dynamically than only memorizing historical facts and events. On top of that, Historical Thinking Skills were compulsory skills which are used in teaching and history learning who must be mastered by students and also teachers in Malaysia with desired the students' aspirations in which embodied in the Malaysian Education Development Plan (2013-2025) can be achieved which is to develop thinking skills among them. As a history teacher, the applications of Historical Thinking Skills must be fostered to their students in which also was emphasized in Standard Document for Curriculum and Assessment of History subject. However, the applications of Historical Thinking Skills in teaching and History learning having many issues, problems, and challenges that acquired by researchers whether it becomes more rhetoric or reality which be the points in our discussion.