History education is an activity to teach kno1edge about the past of human beings and, based on the knowledge, to develop historical thinking power and insight and cultivate desirable a historical value system and attitude. To attain these goals, stud...
History education is an activity to teach kno1edge about the past of human beings and, based on the knowledge, to develop historical thinking power and insight and cultivate desirable a historical value system and attitude. To attain these goals, students should actively participate in the process of historical exploration rather than passively memorizing facts in the past. That is, by exploring history through critical and analytical thinking and historical imagination, they should practice historical thinking and acquire abilities to contribute to the development of the individual, the country, the society and all mankind. This is the objective of history education. Thus, in order to overcome the tendency of history education inclining to the memorization and transfer of historical knowledge and passive learning, the present study purposed to provide students with opportunities to experience the thinking process that historians use to understand history. As a specific method of applying such opportunities, we suggested a history learning program based on postmodern history theories. The objectives of the history learning program based on postmodern history theories are as follows. First, postmodern history theories refrain from typified historical evaluation of facts in the past. This feature can change the fixed idea that history is the permanent truth and make students see history as an object of questioning and, furthermore, provide them with opportunities to participate actively in historical study rather than learning passively. Second, postmodern history theories are focused on individuals and groups alienated by grand discourses in historical description. The history of individuals and groups alienated in historical description is mostly related to families, communities, etc. that students can experience easily around their everyday life. The use of such materials of history learning stimulates students interest and fosters their understanding and. ultimately, enhances the efficiency of history learning. Thus, we designed the method of disintegration of historical description for approach from various historical viewpoints, and that of reading through small things from the viewpoint of using historical learning materials available around the students. The disintegration of historical description considers existing historical description not to have as unchangeable firm objectivity as the rules of natural science but to be changeable and flexible. Thus, it disintegrates existing historical description and changes the view of past facts from a new angle. The disintegration of historical description is compatible with the goals of elementary history education, which are to develop abilities to find and explore the basic concepts and principles of social thoughts and, based on the abilities, to raise democratic citizens equipped with comprehensive and rational discernment. Reading through small things aims at history learning through the history of community that the students can contact easily, and excavating the history of people alienated from existing historical description. This helps students have learning based on their family and community to which they belong so that they can overcome the macroscopic view of the central government in the contents of existing social studies textbooks. Summing up, the application of postmodern history theories to history education is considered to stimulate students interest and various ways of thinking based on materials available to them and ultimately to make them active learners.