Scielo RSS http://www.scielo.org.za/rss.php?pid=2223-038620150001&lang=en vol. num. 13 lang. en http://www.scielo.org.za/img/en/fbpelogp.gif http://www.scielo.org.za http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100001&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100002&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en History is laden with contentious issues and the history teacher has to negotiate how to handle such issues in almost every class. One of the propensities of both history teachers and learners is to make moral judgments over the historical issues that they engage with. Indeed, history is a subject that invariably carries the burden of civic education and nation-building and this can be done through identifying right from wrong. In this article, I present the thoughts of selected novice history teachers (who have been in service for at most 3 years) in relation to making moral judgments about the past in the classroom. The teachers identify the historical themes that they have considered making moral judgments about. They also explain the approaches that they have contemplated in this challenge. I then utilise Wineburg's (2001) framework on moral ambiguity to explain the implications of the teachers' views. I conclude that while South Africa's history is flooded with moral references that make it almost impossible to avoid making judgments, the history teacher needs a usable framework that they can rely on for teaching all contentious issues. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en What history should be taught is a question that has vexed curriculum designers from the earliest days of mass education. The question ofcontent becomes particularly pertinent when applied to Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14) as learners are old enough to begin appreciating historical concepts and it is usually the last age at which many learners will be exposed to history in their formal schooling. Decisions about the content of history curricula themselves have a curiously circular history. Although these questions have been discussed consistently throughout the approximately one hundred years that mass schooling has been in place in England, the inferences are fairly uniform. The conclusion that has now generally been reached is that children should be exposed to a healthy balance of world and British history; that they should be patriots, but not narrow-minded in their patriotism and that the procedural nature of history must be taught alongside the substantive content. These conclusions have not been reached without considerable debate and the question of what history should be taught has particular current relevance in light of the controversy around the national curriculum reforms in Britain in 2013 and 2014. There are important lessons to be drawn for South Africa. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en In recent years there has been a growing amount of research concerned with integrating mobile technologies for teaching and learning purposes. In spite of the rapid proliferation of the cell phone as an indispensable mobile tool in the lives of 21st century teachers and learners, it remains a banned item in many schools and (History) classrooms. As a result cell phone technology, such as its Short Message Service (SMS) textingfunction in combination with the Audience Response System (ARS), Poll Everywhere, has not been extensively explored as teaching and learning tools in the school classroom. The purpose of this article is to, through a small scale pilot study, explore and assess how the ARS, Poll Everywhere (www.polleverywhere.com), which is based on the cell phone's SMS function, can be integrated into History lessons to support and enhance the teaching and learning experience of secondary school learners. The article furthermore aims to establish the perceptions and attitudes of History learners (n=52), as well as the experience of the teacher after having had a first-time opportunity to integrate SMS technology and Poll Everywhere into their lessons. The results indicate among others thatalthough most ofthe participants singled out data charges as the biggest possible hindrance to its utilisation, the overwhelming majority had positive perception levels about the integration of cell phone technology and the Poll Everywhere application into their History class. The experiences of the teacher who presented the lessons were positive as well as negative in nature. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100005&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en The status of History education within a Social Science education framework of the Lesotho educational system is a cause for concern. In an attempt to foster the development goals of the Kingdom of Lesotho, education and especially Social Science education were identified as a major role player. In spite of this realisation, History education, and to a lesser extent Geography education was identified as liabilities that could be substituted with other disciplines such as Development Studies. Geography had, however, gradually regained a position as a major Social Science discipline while History education is still considered unimportant in relation to national needs. The evidence is that many schools in Lesotho do not offer History as a subject and both students and teachers of history are not taken seriously as academics. Against this backdrop, this article explores the situation from historical and pedagogic perspectives. I draw considerable examples from contexts such as Cameroon and South Africa, where I have had the opportunity to experience the fragile nature and status of History education both as student and teacher/lecturer. I then suggest why any consideration of Social Sciences with the exclusion of History education will not lead to the desired national goals, thereby justifying the need for a turnaround strategy that favours the teaching and learning of History in Lesotho. The article concludes with recommendations and the prospects for the future, based on the issues raised and discussed. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100006&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en The use of thinking skills is gaining ground in many South African schools and the challenge is how to use these tools so that they really assist learners without becoming prescriptive or forced. Over six months, Marj Brown and Charles Dugmore have been using thinking maps with various classes, and have found their worth is palpable. Many of the maps used come from the Habits of Mind (HoM) (Costa & Kallick, 2008)andThinkingMaps (Hyerle &Yeager, 2007), andareusedin conjunction with HoMapproaches to a task, while others have been devisedby the authors, or adapted from the original maps to suit the task. The maps have been used by pupils to preparefor essays, short tasks in class, as well as to summarise or understandconcepts, politicalstands, cause and effect, the flow of events, with examples at each stage, and to compare and contrast people, and groups, or events. The presentation is offered as a way of inspiring possibilities in learners to learn by mindmapping History so that it does not become a series of facts to be rote learnt. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100007&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en The use of thinking skills is gaining ground in many South African schools and the challenge is how to use these tools so that they really assist learners without becoming prescriptive or forced. Over six months, Marj Brown and Charles Dugmore have been using thinking maps with various classes, and have found their worth is palpable. Many of the maps used come from the Habits of Mind (HoM) (Costa & Kallick, 2008)andThinkingMaps (Hyerle &Yeager, 2007), andareusedin conjunction with HoMapproaches to a task, while others have been devisedby the authors, or adapted from the original maps to suit the task. The maps have been used by pupils to preparefor essays, short tasks in class, as well as to summarise or understandconcepts, politicalstands, cause and effect, the flow of events, with examples at each stage, and to compare and contrast people, and groups, or events. The presentation is offered as a way of inspiring possibilities in learners to learn by mindmapping History so that it does not become a series of facts to be rote learnt. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-03862015000100008&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en The use of thinking skills is gaining ground in many South African schools and the challenge is how to use these tools so that they really assist learners without becoming prescriptive or forced. Over six months, Marj Brown and Charles Dugmore have been using thinking maps with various classes, and have found their worth is palpable. Many of the maps used come from the Habits of Mind (HoM) (Costa & Kallick, 2008)andThinkingMaps (Hyerle &Yeager, 2007), andareusedin conjunction with HoMapproaches to a task, while others have been devisedby the authors, or adapted from the original maps to suit the task. The maps have been used by pupils to preparefor essays, short tasks in class, as well as to summarise or understandconcepts, politicalstands, cause and effect, the flow of events, with examples at each stage, and to compare and contrast people, and groups, or events. The presentation is offered as a way of inspiring possibilities in learners to learn by mindmapping History so that it does not become a series of facts to be rote learnt.