THE PRESENT IN FLEMISH SECONDARY HISTORY EDUCATION THROUGH THE LENS OF WRITTEN HISTORY EXAMS

The present plays an important part in history education, in particular in efforts to make the study of the past relevant for today. This contribution examines how the relationship between past and present is dealt with in current Flemish secondary history education by analyzing 190 written history exams for the 11th and 12th grade. Ten percent of the questions address the present in an autonomous way and 8% relate past and present to each other. A more fine-grained analysis of the present-related questions reveals a variety of ways to integrate the present in history education, including the study of recent interpretations of the past.  LE ROLE DU PRESENT DANS L’ENSEIGNEMENT DE L’HISTOIRE AU SEIN DES ECOLES SECONDAIRES FLAMANDES ANALYSE A PARTIR D’EXAMENS ECRITS EN HISTOIRE  Le present joue un role important dans l’enseignement de l’histoire, dont celui de rendre pertinente l’etude du passe dans le contexte contemporain. Cette contribution explore de quelle maniere l’enseignement de l’histoire, tel que prodigue au sein des ecoles secondaires flamandes, traite les relations entre le passe et le present. Pour ce faire, les auteurs ont analyse 190 examens ecrits en histoire, completes par des eleves de 11 e et 12 e annee. 10 % des questions abordent le present de facon autonome, alors que 8 % font un lien entre le passe et le present. Une analyse plus poussee des questions traitant du present devoile une variete de pistes pour integrer le present dans l’enseignement de l’histoire, incluant l’etude des interpretations recentes du passe.

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