Resources

A survey of the opinions of some students indicated that they viewed the teaching/learning of history they had undergone in pre-university levels of education as a wasted effort. The teaching consisted of narration, while the learning took the form of memorization of contents to be recited at the time of the examination. The majority considered a revision of the method of teaching history to be a national and cultural necessity. Given that the teaching of history has in view the acquisition by the student of basic skills, such as analysis, synthesis and composition, there is a need to change the teaching/learning process from narration to a targeted development of civic consciousness and critical thinking. The problem is posed within three frameworks: The geographic-demographic framework relating to the composition of the Lebanon; the psychological-educative framework relating to the understanding of history and how it is constructed. through the utilization of critical thinking; the social-educational framework relating to the educational paradigm to be used in the teaching of history and the intellectual activity of the student. This requires the intertwining of several educational elements such as the utilization of the various historical sources, discussing the sequence of events therein and reading them critically, while at the same time studying the thinking of the personalities who influenced the historical developments, and their cultural backgrounds.

The main questions here is: Why do we teach history in schools? At which level do we start? What are the targets in each level? The answers to these questions can be many: Defining the national identity; strengthening civic thinking; developing a national culture; making the student aware of what ties the Lebanon to the surrounding region; acquainting ourselves with the cultural heritage of the people; strengthening the attachment with the land; teaching to learn to accept the other. Following an investigation of the Lebanese directives for the teaching of history, as well as the international ones, a hypothesis was proposed: the development of objective critical thinking through the study of history would consolidate the concept of the acceptance of the other. Indeed, the religious and sectarian pluralism of the Lebanon constitutes a source of cultural wealth. It is a factor of national cohesion. The history is a history of a land of many peoples with differing religious persuasions.