Nature and Scope of History · SHS1 History

Lesson notes

Learning Objectives

Indicator: 1.1.1.LI.1 - Trace the origins and meanings of the word ‘history’ using conventional and non-conventional sources.

By the end of the lesson, learners can:

Explain the Greek origins of the word “history” from the term “historia” and describe what it originally meant.
Identify at least three Ghanaian language terms for history (such as “abakɔsɛm” in Akan, “taarihi” in Dagbani, “blema saji” in Ga, and “gbe ƒenyawo” in Ewe) and state what each term reveals about how different cultures understand the past.
Compare the conventional (Greek) and non-conventional (Ghanaian) meanings of history, noting at least one similarity and one difference between them.
Use the REC criteria (Relevance, Causes, Consequences) to determine whether a past event they have witnessed or heard about qualifies as historically significant.
Work collaboratively in mixed-ability groups to present findings on the origins and meanings of history using oral, written, or visual formats.

This lesson opens Strand 1 (Historical Inquiry and Writing). It introduces learners to the origins of the word “history” and prepares the ground for Week 2, where they will analyse the nature and scope of History as an academic discipline, and Week 3, where they will investigate misconceptions about studying History. This lesson focuses only on tracing origins and meanings; it does not yet analyse the discipline’s nature or misconceptions in depth.

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Curriculum details

Strand: Historical Inquiry and Writing (Strand 1)
Sub-strand: Nature and Scope of History (1.1)
Content standard: 1.1.1.CS.1 - Demonstrate understanding of the origins, meanings, and nature of history as a discipline. 1.1.1.LO.1 Use appropriate historical sources from the environment to communicate effectively the origins, nature and scope of history while demystifying common misconceptions associated with the study of history. 1.1.1.LO.2 Use relevant sources from the environment to communicate meaningfully the role of history in society.
Indicator: 1.1.1.LI.1 - Trace the origins and meanings of the word 'history' using conventional and non-conventional sources.
Suggested placement: Semester 1, Week 1 (Week 1 of the year)
Our suggestion, laid out in curriculum order across three terms of twelve weeks. NaCCA does not fix the week, so follow your school's scheme of learning.
Source document note: The official curriculum document has a fault in this entry, so the curriculum text above is transcribed exactly as printed:

content standard text - p.27: the document prints this content-standard code as "1.1.1CS.1", with the separator before the type token missing. It is the only malformed code in the document apart from the eleven L1 occurrences. Normalised to 1.1.1.CS.1 for storage
exemplars - p.27: the last letter of the Gonja example is stored here as U+AB3C LATIN SMALL LETTER ENG WITH CROSSED-TAIL, which is what the text layer carries (a Calibri subset set inside an otherwise Gill Sans line). A 400 dpi render shows a plain italic eng with no crossed tail, so the intended letter is very probably U+014B; it is left as the file has it rather than corrected by eye. The Akan and Ewe letters in the same sentence (U+0254, U+025B, U+0260) are correct and print as encoded
Curriculum reference: NaCCA curriculum document, p. 27

Exemplars (from the NaCCA curriculum)

Enquiry Routes: What events have you witnessed in the past? What was the event about? Which people took part in those events? When did the events happen? Why are these events significant? Where did these events happen? What were the cause(s)? Did the cause(s) have short-term or long-term consequences? Were the events a one-time event or continue to impact the society? if the latter, in what ways?
Experiential Learning:
- In pairs or small mixed-ability groups, learners recount activities they have experienced in the past by recollecting old photos, narratives, diaries, songs, documents, or stories told to them by their grand/parents, etc.
- Learners conduct a survey on common terminologies used in their community to describe history. E.g., 'abak ɔ s ɛ m', in Akan; 'Taarihi' in Dagbani; 'blema saji' in Ga; 'gbe ɠ enyawo' in Ewe; 'Adrash3 ꬼ ' in Gonja; etc. HINT: This would be better done in ethnic groupings that outline what each one has and then brings to a synthesis. As groups share events peculiar to their ethnic groups, encourage members to examine biases and prejudices and be tolerant towards other cultures.
- Learners trace the origin of the word 'History' from the Conventional (Greek perspectives) and Non-Conventional (Ghanaian) perspectives.
Collaborative Learning: Working in pairs, learners develop a chart with diverse meanings of history from different scholars.
HINT: Note that History may have multiple meanings to different people.
- Using Talk for Learning technique, learners explain that History deals with the study of significant human past activities through time.
- Learners use a criterion (e.g., REC - Relevance, Causes, Consequences) to show which events in the past are significant.
- Using a personal diary, learners record significant activities in life.
- In mixed-ability groups, learners arrange some historical events in Ghana in chronological order.
- Using Jigsaw technique, learners develop a poster on the origins and meanings of the word 'History'.
Teaching and Learning Resources:
- Personal/other diaries
- old photographs
- Archival documents/materials
- Newspaper cuttings/Old Newspapers
- Magazines
- Museum pieces
- Archaeological finds (material culture)
- A chronological chart showing significant historical events.
- Internet access
- A chronological timeline
- Archival documents
- Art Forms
- Cultural Materials
- Epic poems
- Myths
- Old Letters
- Memoirs/ biographies
- Presidential speeches
- Parliamentary debates/ Hansard
- Computers/ laptops, LCD projector/screen, video/ audio player
- Questionnaires
- Audio/tape recorder
- Documentary on misconceptions associated with the study of history.
- Autobiographical/ biographical narratives of/by students.
- A chart showing the REC criteria for determining historical significance.
- Resource persons
Assessment (1.1.1.AS.1). The document marks these depth-of-knowledge levels for this indicator: Level 2 Skills of conceptual understanding; Level 3 Strategic reasoning.