Book chapter
Mapping historical discussions: Effects of personal investment and issue type on the flow of discourse
Global Perspectives on the Role of Dialogue in History Education, pp.136-152
Routledge research in education, Routledge
2025
DOI: 10.4324/9781003535898-10
Abstract
Genuine discussions of historical content are rare in K-12 classrooms. This chapter examines the role that two factors might play in promoting it: type of issue (empirical vs. moral/political) and personal investment in the topic (high vs. low). The study employs a novel mapping technique to visualize the flow of discourse within discussions, pinpointing moments when dialogic interaction emerges or stalls. Three ninth-grade discussions are analyzed in this way, on the Gulf of Tonkin incident (empirical / low investment), the moral standing of Vietnam War (moral / higher investment), and the successfulness of the American Civil Rights Movement (empirical / high investment). The findings suggest that moral/political issues may prompt sustained student-student dialogue more readily than empirical issues do. However, even empirical issues can spark such dialogue when the topic implicates students' sense of self or challenges deeply held beliefs. These insights underscore the importance of selecting topics that tap students' own commitments, especially when they lack experience discussing events that seem distant from their present-day lives.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Mapping historical discussions: Effects of personal investment and issue type on the flow of discourse
- Creators
- Eric B. Freedman
- Contributors
- Mario Carretero (Editor)Everardo Perez-Manjarrez (Editor)
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Global Perspectives on the Role of Dialogue in History Education, pp.136-152
- Publisher
- Routledge; Abingdon, Oxon
- Series
- Routledge research in education
- DOI
- 10.4324/9781003535898-10
- Alternative title
- Mapping historical discussions
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2025
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Quantitative Foundations; Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9984757277002771
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