Goals
The educational material prepared for the teaching of History is pedagogically compatible with the interdisciplinary approach. Its goal is to familiarize the young pupils with the concept of “historical time” in which historical processes unfold. Pupils learn about history in a way that is linked to their immediate surrounding area (their hometown, their village, their region, etc.). The study of history is combined with the study of the area where pupils live, and its geography. It thus acquires some functional usefulness, as pupils discover History’s relationship with the lives of local people and with the changes brought by time.
The material consists of autonomous thematic “cards” (they are actuallyinformation sheets) that provide information on big historical topics, i.e. the basic part of historical knowledge. Each topic is organized in units that are interconnected, and also connected with the rest of the school curriculum.
The History information sheets, a.k.a. K.I. contain short texts for teachers and pupils with basic historical information and illustrations or pictures. They also include bibliography for teachers and indicative connections (cross-linkages) with other items produced by PEM, in other words, cross-references to other books and other school material. The cross-linkages, that appear in the back of each K.I., often show a connection to a unit to come, sometimes provide further explanation on certain topics, and frequently refer to other school material. The cross-linkages, therefore, are a means to the interdisciplinary organization of the History course.
The K.I. are to be employed autonomously from textbooks, because each card approaches a topic dealt with in a textbook from a different perspective. Teachers are free to use as many K.I. as they deem necessary for their class.
The material of K.I. is structured in such a way as to make their use possible in classrooms with pupils of different language fluency and knowledge levels. Teachers can organize their class according to the general level of their pupils, focusing on the text, or part of the text, or even on the pictures and illustrations.
