Historical learning processes of primary school children in museum collections: Results of an Italian-German research project

Dealing with multiple crises and unavoidable disasters is a current educational challenge because children are affected by environmental and climate change and economic uncertainties in the long term. Crisis-related content is usually addressed in the context of social science education in schools. In Germany, the cross-disciplinary tasks of civic education and education for sustainable development as well as multi-perspectivity in science lessons are relevant (Pech, 2009), while in Italy active citizenship is more stressed (Corradini, 2019). It remains questionable whether institutional teaching contents contribute to overcoming crises, or whether they are rather linked to social reassurance measures that conceal the fact that little is being done to change the causes. This article addresses the fact that actively dealing with crises and unavoidable disasters requires visions for the future. These can be developed in the context of historical factual learning, in which historical change is made tangible. The article presents an empirically based pedagogical approach about how these visions of the future can be developed with children and their interaction with collection objects.

Dealing with multiple crises and unavoidable disasters is a current educational challenge because children are affected by environmental and climate change and economic uncertainties in the long term. Crisis-related content is usually addressed in the context of social science education in schools. In Germany, the cross-disciplinary tasks of civic education and education for sustainable development as well as multi-perspectivity in science lessons are relevant (Pech, 2009), while in Italy active citizenship is more stressed (Corradini, 2019). It remains questionable whether institutional teaching contents contribute to overcoming crises, or whether they are rather linked to social reassurance measures that conceal the fact that little is being done to change the causes. This article addresses the fact that actively dealing with crises and unavoidable disasters requires visions for the future. These can be developed in the context of historical factual learning, in which historical change is made tangible. The article presents an empirically based pedagogical approach about how these visions of the future can be developed with children and their interaction with collection objects.

Parole chiave:; pedagogical anthropology; didactics of material culture; historical-political factual learning processes; ideas of the future; intergenerational mediation

Sandra Chistolini, Bernd Wagner, Historical learning processes of primary school children in museum collections: Results of an Italian-German research project in "EDUCATION SCIENCES AND SOCIETY" 1/2025, pp 132-149, DOI: 10.3280/ess1-2025oa20283