2021 Volume 95 Pages 25-36
This article aims to clarify how to design a lesson in which students can inquire into “Difficult History” from the “Critical-Sociocultural Approach” perspective. This article consists of the following four points; (1) “CriticalSociocultural Approach” as a theoretical framework for history education that aims to address the sociocultural contexts that makes “Difficult History” “Difficult”, (2) The lesson design principles based on “Critical-Sociocultural Approach”, (3) The characteristics and limitations of actual design cases, and (4) The directions of transforming in history lesson design principles that are required in the future.
It was concluded that first, lesson design principles based on the “Critical-Sociocultural Approach” need to connect the Humanitarianism-based “Sociocultural approach” with “Historical thinking.” Previous studies have been divided the “Sociocultural Approach,” which focuses on Humanitarianism and “Historical Thinking.” The “Sociocultural Approach” is used to research the students’ historical perceptions and understanding. Meanwhile, the “Historical Thinking” approach focuses on concepts that promote the students’ cognitive development; however, these concepts need to be combined when inquiring into “Difficult History.” Second, to apply “Difficult History,”the research methodology also should be transformed. “Difficult History” is context-driven, and thus it is difficult to extract the general principles from the practice. In the future, it will be necessary not only to examine the connection of previous Japanese Social Studies research but also to reexamine the effectiveness from a practical perspective.
