1. WAYS HOW TO TEACH HISTORY IN POSTMODERN ERA Pavel Hanes
Slovakia

2. Critical Thinking For students For teachers
…to be skeptical enough to look for more than one account of an event or life
For teachers
…to understand the postmodern challenge to the discipline of history
Three parts of the following presentation
Assessment of the sources (the “what” of history)
Understanding of the forces (the “why” of history)
Learning the moral of the story (the “so what?” of history)

3. Aims of Christian teaching
Education in general
[Whitehead] The essence of education is that it be religious. …A religious education is an education which inculcates duty and reverence.
Teaching history
[Nietzsche] …I demand that man should above all learn to live and should employ history only in the service of the life he has learned to live

4. Postmodernism
[Eagleton] “The word postmodernism generally refers to a form of contemporary culture, whereas the term postmodernity alludes to a specific historical period. Postmodernity is a style of thought which is suspicious of classical notions of truth, reason, identity and objectivity, of the idea of universal progress or emancipation, of single frameworks, grand narratives or ultimate grounds of explanation.“ (The Illusions of Postmodernism)

5. The “what” of secular view of history
Troeltsch’s “three principles” (Poythress)

6. The “what” of Christian view of history
Christian reply to Troeltsch

7. The “why’s” of a Christian view of history

8. The “why’s” of a secular view of history

9. The “why’s” of a postmodern view of history

10. The goal of history
“So what?” question from the students

11. Workshop task
Use the above principles to explain the beginnings of Christianity
from a secular view
from a Christian view
from a postmodern view

12. Thank You for Your Attention!