‘What’s the point of learning history?’

The enquiry sequence on which Alex Benger reports in this article was inspired by two specific concerns: a sense that history education must have more to contribute to young people’s understanding of and ability to confront the climate crisis; and a desire to help pupils to engage more broadly with the question of history’s relevance. The lesson sequence that he planned drew inspiration and insight from several environmental historians and placed considerable emphasis on the power of a local story. Benger also explains how he formulated questions that would allow him to dtermine not merely what his pupils had learned in terms of substantive knowledge or disciplinary thinking, but also what that learning had meant to them – the value that they attributed to it and how it had shaped their understanding of their world...