Head of History: Mrs C. Paine

cpaine@edgemeadhigh.org.za

Why should learners take the subject?

Gone are the days of old when History books were covered in dust and dates were recited like one’s prayers before a major exam.

History is now made up of:

• Syntheses
• Analysis
• Critical thinking
• Debate

The above skills are imperative in the working world and in the tertiary education phase. The focus is now not so much on knowledge (although this is also important. One has to learn about the past, or how else are we going to move into the future?) ,but rather on the retainment of skills – skills that will make one a well-rounded and gifted individual, one who knows how to analyse and critically think of the world around them.

The History department’s mission:

To create self-functioning and well-rounded individuals, who are able to stand on their own two feet, have an opinion, express that opinion, but at the same time able to listen to others while analyzing what they are saying. To encourage each learner to have the ability to critically evaluate and engage in current affairs while being able to link it to the past

What does our subject involve?

Senior History consists of learning from 1450, the age of the empires in Grade 10 right up to the early 1800s in the world, therefore realizing what shaped our civilization.

In Grade 11, what went on in the world from the 1800s to the early 1900s and then finally Grade 12 sees our learners looking at the world in the later 1900’s up until our current problems and situations. Therefore when a History learner leaves Grade 12, they are aware of the world around them, what shaped them and where they are going. They are able to link current trends into their knowledge framework and thus become well rounded and well-adjusted individuals.

In each Grade we also try to take learners on outings to see History in practice, at the Slave Lodge, Holocaust Museum and Robben Island.

It is really and truly a subject that every learner should take.