Introductory activity:

I broke the audience into randomly assigned groups of three with the intention of creating groups of participants from a number of countries. I began by linking my session to topics that had arisen in preceding discussions, notably the integration of South Eastern European national histories into a "European history. I gave all groups the following task: "Imagine that your team has been given the assignment of creating a history textbook for this region (South-Eastern Europe or the Balkans, even the vocabulary defining the region had been contested earlier in the conference so I specifically avoided using either term). How would you approach this task? What would you include?" The groups work intensely for half an hour while I circulated, observing lively discussion and excellent participation and interaction.

Processing:

I asked representatives from the groups to share their responses to the following questions:

• How did you approach this task?
• What difficulties/obstacles did you face?
• What themes did you develop?

Groups had developed diverse textbook outlines. Some started with the present and worked backward, trying to explain the formation of the current political boundaries. Others followed a more traditional chronological approach but developed unifying themes focusing on the common experiences of the peoples of the region as they struggled with the Ottoman Empire and experienced nationalism and communism in more recent years. Some groups felt that they could not avoid creating a collection of national histories in one volume.

Discussion:

After hearing from each group and encouraging dialogue among groups about the relative merits and challenges of the various approaches taken, I began my lecture by eliciting responses to the question: "What is the purpose of history?" A young man from Serbia rushed to the front of the lecture hall from the back of the room and asked if he could write his answer on the blackboard. He wrote: "History = politics" This encouraged lively discussion; other participants noted that history provides a sense of humanity, insight into current events, and several quoted the dictum: "Those who don't know history are bound to repeat it."

I used this opportunity to note how history is a dynamic process, not a static "collection of facts". We noted how history is constructed and I wrote on the blackboard: Content - Values. We spent some time discussing the interconnection of the two in the teaching and learning of history. We discussed examples of this from U.S. history and their national histories.

Then I introduced a third element: Skills. I wrote this word on the blackboard to show that history involves this triad: content, values, skills. I explained how important skills were to the process of constructing and interpreting history. I suggested that by focusing on skills we can help students and citizens make the transition from passive recipients of information to active participants in the process of constructing and interpreting history. I then solicited examples of the kinds of skills that historians develop and use. This list included: evaluating sources, identifying bias, formulating questions, recognising multiple points of view or perspective, etc. These are critical thinking skills that are important for all kinds of applications. After some discussion of the applications of these skills to other arenas, such as citizenship in a democracy, I asked the concluding question: "What is the responsibility of history?" This led to a summarising discussion about the roles of teachers and learners, as well as citizens. We referred back to the introductory activity and discussed ways that the effort they had used in that discussion might be applied to their work in the future.

Lynn R. Dole, M.A.