At the beginning of the 20th century, the Republic of Kazakhstan entered a new path of its development, designated as the period of the Third Modernization, the main goal of which is global competitiveness. Today, the factor of intellectual and spiritual development of society began to acquire great importance, which has as integral part historical knowledge and historical thinking. In this regard, the experience of the leading countries in shaping the humanitarian potential for young Kazakhstan is significant and important. The article deals with the formation of historical knowledge among students as an example of the secondary and higher schools on the basis of foreign experience. In their works foreign researchers analyze the experience of teaching historical disciplines in their countries in the context of globalization and integration processes. The authors note the importance of historical disciplines in the formation of the collective identity of society, the formation of a common understanding of iconic historical events, analyze the features of historical knowledge among the young generation of different age groups, and discuss the peculiarities of teaching historical disciplines in the context of globalization. In their works, foreign authors give an analysis of the results of sociological research that allows us to understand the role of historical knowledge from the point of view of European and Asian researchers dealing with the modernization of the modern system of historical education, to identify the prospects of historical discipline, to determine the ways out of the spiritual and intellectual crisis of modern consciousness.
Feature of historical knowledge is a close communication with ideology. The essence of given attitude is that history is perceived as important mechanism of social continuity. According to the opinion of Russian researcher, presence of the common historical memory allows to the people to test sensation and consciousness of participation, belonging to determined society [1; 129]. The common memory of generations is the basis of the unity of society and social groups. Accordingly, the destruction of historical memory leads to a crisis of national identity, the disintegration of society. Therefore, the historical memory of the people is its value, any attempt on it evokes the desire to defend and assert it. This explains the increased attention of young states, for example, the Republic of Kazakhstan, to their national history. The main function of historical disciplines in the school is the formation of historical consciousness among students in which it stated «Historical consciousness — knowledge of history, comprehension of historical experience and lessons resulting from it, social forecasting (based on an understanding of the essence of the present, the invariance of the past and alternative future), awareness of responsibility for their activities» [2; 203].
Fundamental features of modern world are accelerated changes of global scale:
- the information world;
- the world, where ideas are constantly reconstructed, are rechecked and are reinterpreted;
- the world, where its own thinking should be constantly adapted to thinking of other;
- the world, where it is necessary to respect seeking to clarity, accuracy and thoroughness;
- the world, where work skills should develop constantly and to be
Along with an active position in the modern international life, Kazakhstan develops historical studies on the history, culture and traditions of ethnic groups living in the republic. So, by the order of the Head of the state, in different years, steps were taken to restore the history of Kazakh statehood and this was reflected in the state projects and programs «The Year of the History of Kazakhstan» (2000), «Madenimura» (2004– 2011), «Ruhanizhangyru» (since 2017), which were aimed at a thorough and comprehensive study of national history. In order to form historical knowledge, including the history of Kazakhstan, state standards and uniform textbooks were developed.
The importance of national history in educational programs is also noted in foreign practice. For a long time, in many educational institutions in Europe, preference was given to Western or American history. According to the reformers, students must know their own history and culture before they can appreciate other cultures [3]. At the same time, the role and importance of world history was limited by a chronological review of historical events and a description of the contribution of historical personalities. Although in the 60 years of the twentieth century, world history was the second most popular secondary school course, by the mid-1970s the importance of this subject had fallen dramatically. Instead of a rate of World history, many educational institutions offered alternative courses of «world research», usually based on cultural geography. The situation in modern Kazakhstan has not changed significantly, since the introduction of two independent courses of world and national history with an emphasis on national history has led to the fact that the volume of hours for studying the history of the world has significantly decreased not only in schools but also in higher educational institutions of the republic.
Since the late 80-ies of the twentieth century, an increasing number of public and private educational institutions in the United States and European countries began to reintroduce the course of world history in their curricula. This was explained by the complication of the political map of the world, the emergence of new actors in international relations, the processes of democratization, increased attention to social history and the non-Western world. The changing world began to demand from the students a broader experience of historical knowledge than that which gave the course of national, in this case, Western history. In 1983, the National Commission for the Improvement of Education in the United States issued a report entitled
«A Nation at Risk», which noted that the educational system in the United States is in great danger:
«The educational foundations of our society are being undermined by a growing wave of mediocrity, which threatens the future of the nation and the people» [4].
Five years later, an important national study, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), was funded from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In the course of which the knowledge of all eleven-graders of the country was studied and tested. The results of the study turned out to be very gloomy, because schoolchildren were able to demonstrate skills only in 54.5% of questions on US history, since this course was the only subject in history. Therefore, the authors of the national research Ravitchand Finn developed important recommendations for studying world history.They argued that the completion of a year-long world history course had a positive effect on U.S. history scores: — It is also the case that those who have studied a year of world/Western history perform significantly better than those who have studied it for half a year or less. The authors recommended that every secondary student take two years of world history and that the world history program should include more than just Western European history. By specifically recommending at least two years of world history for every secondary student, this influential report marked the first step in creating national history standards for world history [4].
History, the report stated, — should occupy a large and vital place in the education of the private person and the public citizen. The Commission found that at least fifty percent of high school students did not take any world history or Western Civil courses in high school.
They recommended that ― every student should have an understanding of the world that encompasses the historical experiences of the peoples of Africa, the Americans, Asia, and Europe [5].
A similar situation developed not only in the social sciences, but also in the natural sciences. In 2000, the authors of the report on education in the United States wrote: «We believe that the conclusions and concerns contained in the report can not only be understood, but possibly unite politicians, teachers, representatives of the business world, parents, students, citizens. The proposed goals and strategies may seem for one too large and unattainable and others — not bold enough. However, we are convinced that if they are ignored, our children and our country will soon pay a high price, which always accompanies indifference» [6].
In the practice of historical education there was a paradoxical situation, when the teaching of history was limited only by the simple memorization of objective facts and data. In this regard, the role of the history teacher as an authoritative bearer of historical knowledge was paramount, and the students were not given the opportunity to choose alternative methods of cognition. This situation did not contribute to the activation of historical thinking. As for the interest in education and its influence on the formation and development of human society and civilization as a whole, it has always been huge, especially in recent years at the turn of the century. Thus, in the early 1990s, UNESCO adopted 15 international normative acts, including 1 declaration, 5 recommendations, 9 conventions, agreements and protocols [7].
Therefore, at the beginning of the 21st century, the paradigm of the educational process radically changed in many leading educational institutions. The main participant in it is a learner, a pupil, a student. According to foreign researchers, the main task of the teacher is to enable students to build their own way of comprehending historical truth, while relying on existing standards. Only in this case, write American teachers, «our students are increasingly surprise us that they produce. It can be video, it can be a new use for mobile application; this can be a series of posts in blogs; it can be a map overlay; or it could be a combination of any or all of them».
In the foreign practice of teaching history in the beginning of the XXI century, three levels of historical knowledge are distinguished, which are of the greatest importance for ordinary people. Firstly, it is a family, local, history of the surroundings: something is quite often transmitted orally, but worthy of attention in school practice. This level of history is especially important for the primary classes, when children begin to explore the world outside their home, their environment. Up to the present time still currently relevant the utterance of K.D. Ushinsky, who wrote: «The sharpest, most striking difference of Western education from ours is ... that a Western man, not only educated, but even semi-educated, is always better acquainted with his fatherland: with his native language, literature, history, geography, statistics, political relations, financial situation, etc., and the Russian person is all the less familiar with the fact that everything is closer to him: with his homeland and everything that relates to it» [8].
The second level is a national history where political power is concentrated. History, being the main of the basic disciplines in the education system, embodies the social, spiritual and moral experience of the people, accumulated over the centuries. It is an important factor in the socialization of the individual. Historical knowledge is formed through the organization of historical education, in which the teacher plays a decisive role. The teacher is the key figure in achieving the cognitive and philosophical goals of the school history course. The modern teacher of history acts as a teacher and citizen, a witness and participant in many studied events. Complementing the material of the textbooks with personal knowledge of the history of the country and the experience of its comprehension, the teacher introduces students into a dialogue of times and generations. He helps students to see the facts and processes of the history of the fate of real people. Thanks to this, schoolchildren will come to a deep understanding of the history of the Motherland, an awareness of their place in the relay race of generations.
And finally, the third and final level — global history in which we study intensive contacts at the international level. These last two levels are related to higher education and secondary specialized education (colleges), that is, they are associated with such periods of development of students when they begin to actively participate in public life, are preparing to assume civil responsibility.
One of the problems of modern historical education is the inability of students to explain the causes of certain historical events, the actions of historical personalities. Dutch historians Tim Huijgen, Carla van Boxtel, Wim van de Grift and Paul Holthuis are trying to overcome this shortcoming.
In their opinion, the important skill of historical knowledge is the so-called «Historical Perspective Taking», that is, understanding historical events, decisions and actions in accordance with the conditions of a particular time [9]. Although people in different historical epochs have the same goals, intentions and beliefs, for example, the goal is to succeed, live in favorable conditions, it is also important to understand that the modern person and the person of the past live in different historical circumstances. Therefore, the development of the habit of taking a historical point of view in students can overcome the subjective understanding of history, understand the actions of people, based on certain objective reasons.
According to the studies of Dutch authors, three important components are necessary for «historical perspective taking». The first component is the realization of a possible current, modern perspective and the consequences of this perspective when considering the past. Modern thinking is prejudice, so people assume that in the past there were the same goals, intentions, attitudes and beliefs that exist today. Therefore, often students perceive the actions of people of past years as rash, even strange.
This perspective can lead to misconceptions, which in turn lead to incorrect conclusions about the past and thus hinder the successful adoption of a historical point of view.
The second component Dutch researchers call is expression of historical empathy. Historical empathy is to put yourself in the place of a historical actor in order to understand his motives and values regarding decisions and actions. Although there is an opinion that historical empathy can never be fully achieved, because it is impossible to put oneself in the place of a historical character, many scholars have come to the conclusion that historical sympathy contributes to an understanding of important historical decisions.
The third component is the reconstruction of the historical context. The authors of this article argue that students should have historical contextual knowledge that includes knowledge of the chronology before they can interpret the historical phenomena and actions of historical agents. To restore the historical context, students can use different frames of reference, including a chronological reference system, a spatial coordinate system or a social reference frame. Chronological structure includes knowledge of the time and period, as well as the sequence of significant events. For example, trying to understand why people in Germany in the 1930s voted for the Nazi party, it is important to know the sequence of the First World War, the economic crisis of 1929 and Hitler's coming to power. On the contrary, the spatial structure focuses on knowledge of geographical locations and scales, such as knowing where Germany is in Europe, which countries share borders with Germany and which countries are near to Germany. The social context includes not only knowledge of human behavior and social conditions of life, but also knowledge about socio-economic, socio-cultural and socio-political events such as knowledge of the economic conditions of the poor in Germany and the Germans' anger towards the Treaty of Versailles.
Thus, we can say that the adoption of a historical perspective taking is a very big step in understand- ing history, through which it is possible to explain to students one or another event in an unusual form for them, passing this event through themselves.
The next very interesting method of forming historical knowledge is the use in the educational process of the possibilities of historical computer games. According to Dawn Spring, a specialist in military history, computer games on historical topics allow students to create an initial view of historical events of different eras and periods [10]. At the same time, he and his colleagues, revising the standard attitude to computer games as simple entertainment, note that the gaming history allows to avoid linear narration of history and turn teachers and learners into players interacting with history.
Video games provide a more extensive potential for creating and presenting a historical event than other entertainment media products. Researchers do not exaggerate the teaching capabilities of historical games, but note that computer historical games help understand how ancient and medieval societies functioned, how the economy and culture developed and allowed to recreate the image of the era.
At the same time, the author of the article notes that there are material and technological difficulties associated with the creation of such computer products. For the Republic of Kazakhstan, this direction for developing and creating national video game tutorials is new and relevant, considering the heroic past and the experience of the struggle for independence.
In the article the author analyzes already created computer games and highlights important advantages that can be successfully used in the educational process. For example, in the series of games «Empire: Total war» (2009) the action takes place in the 18th century and immerses players in the period of industrialization, the American revolution and the colonization of India. The game «Napoleon: Total war» (2010) gained its popularity due to visual effects and the use of interesting storylines that unfold in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East. Total war: Shogun II (2011) immerses the participants of the game in the events taking place in Japan of the shogunate era [10].
Although the storyline of the games is aimed at recreating the political history of the events of the new time, but much attention is paid to social, economic, religious history, the characteristics of material culture, including clothing, weapons, and technology. Asan illustrative material, historical map sand painting sare drawn. Although the main developers of such games are experts in the field of computer technology, the history teacher, in the author's opinion, can be the producer of the game.
At all times the school was a kind of model of society. Today, it must regain the role of accelerator of social development. The restructuring of pedagogical education, the overcoming of its mass reproductive nature, leads education to a personal level, ensures the identification and formation of the creative individuality of the future teacher, the development of his unique «technology» of activity. The teacher of the history of the 21st century constantly improves pedagogical skills, mastering new information technologies. These technologies present the teacher and students with tremendous opportunities to choose sources of various information. For Kazakhstan's teachers of history the possibilities of computer games in teaching, especially the history of ancient and medieval Kazakhstan, are very wide. For example, games on the confrontation between the Saks and Persians, the struggle of the Kazakh people against the Dzhungar invasion, the creation of the Kazakh Khanate, the appearance of medieval cities on the Great Silk Road would have made it possible to more clearly and figuratively understand the uniqueness of the historical era.
Updating the content of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan sets a major goal: improving teachers' pedagogical skills in the context of updating the educational program and introducing a criterial evaluation system. This program is based on the development of a spiral form of education, based on the cognitive theory of D. Bruner. The spiral form of education suggests that re-examination of material that will become more complicated throughout school education will give a greater advantage in the development of a modern student than traditional forms of instruction. Also, the development of Kazakhstan’s students will take place through the introduction of active forms of instruction, during which it is assumed that students will independently develop functional literacy, actively «obtain» knowledge, with a great desire develop communication skills of peer interaction, and be creative in solving problems. The task of teachers in the application of the updated program is to instill in students basic human norms and morals, to create tolerance and respect for other cultures and points of view, to raise a responsible, healthy child. Based on the ideas of the updated program, the main pedagogical task will be the ability to become a mentor, counselor, consultant, co-author for students. One of the important tasks of the renewed program is «To teach — to learn», to study throughout life, which will contribute to the development of a new competitive, harmoniously developed, functionally competent personality.
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