Information on History Option
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History Option Activities and Outings
History Option Careers
General introduction to the subject:
The goal of teaching this subject is to get people interested in and excited about studying what people did in the past by making connections to the present. Students become acquainted with the question “How do we know?” through the investigation of various types of primary and secondary sources and, at the same time, develop lifelong educational skills and competences.
Topics studied:
Half of the topics studied are about the European/International history and the other half are about Maltese history.
History consists of:
European and International topics:
• Renaissance and Reformation
• The Age of Exploration and Colonisation
• The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era
• The Unification of Italy and Germany
• The Industrial Revolution
• The Causers of the First World War and the Peace Treaty of Versailles
• The rise of Hitler to power and the Causes leading to the Outbreak of the Second World War
• The Cold War and West European Integration
• The fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 and its aftermath
Maltese history topics:
• Significant projects and achievements of the Order of St John in Malta
• Problems for the Order in the eighteenth century
• The French invasion and occupation of Malta
• Nineteenth century Maltese political and constitutional development
• Nineteenth and twentieth century social and economic development in Malta
• Malta during the Two World Wars
• Twentieth century Maltese political and constitutional development
• Malta and its foreign policy since Independence
Class activities involved:
• Observing and analysing visual, digital and text primary and secondary sources in the form of historical maps,
portraits, paintings, caricatures, document extracts, reports, statistical data, graphs, video clips etc.
• Individual, pair or group work tasks involving source analysis, interpretation, extrapolation; questioning techniques
aimed at enhancing historical thinking;
• Class discussions; workout worksheets; creative writing; note-taking; oral presentation; communicating history.
Homework assigned:
Selected reading from textbooks and other material provided by the teacher; guided online research related to the syllabus; graded worksheets aimed at assessing knowledge, understanding of concepts and skills in the subject; creative writing skills in the form of summaries, fact sheets, paragraph or essay writing, usually at the end of the topic.
Assessment given:
Formative assessment is practiced during lessons were students’ input in their classwork and homework is discussed in class;
Individual assessment when the teacher evaluates work done by the students and a mark or a grade is given at the end of each topic covered.
Skills acquired while studying the subject:
• analyse primary and secondary source to establish their reliability, objectivity, bias, omissions, perspective, interpretation;
• understand and interpret data in historical maps;
• develop and master an understanding of historical chronology and sequencing;
• develop an awareness of change and continuity over the passage of time;
• understand the connections between motives, cause and effect when analysing significant historical events;
• identify similarities and differences between different periods in history;
• to develop historical empathy with people in the past during their everyday life and during significant events;
• learn to integrate Malta’s history within a wider international context.
Skills required to study the subject:
• an adequate level of reading, understanding, and writing in Maltese and English;
• confidence to express oneself orally or in writing when communicating history;
• basic research skills from books and the Internet;
• organisation and presentation skills when designing digital or printed projects.
This subject can lead you to the following Career Paths:
Diplomacy/Foreign Relations
Curator in a Museum
Tourist Guide
Archeologist
Archivist
Conservator
Journalist
History Teacher