何謂「歷史素養」？探勘美國歷史教育論述發展之一頁

Defining“Historical Literacy”: A Study on the Development of History Education Discourse in the United States

「歷史素養」這個語詞的流行及其詞義變化，與美國的社會文化脈動息息相關，同時也反映了1980年代以來美國歷史教育論述的轉變。「歷史素養」首先被提倡者界定為課堂所需教導、傳統意義上的西方文明歷史，之後這個語詞在學者的論述中獲得新貌，逐漸指向解讀文本的技能和策略。另一方面，也有學者嘗試賦予其更寬廣的意涵，主張歷史素養的教學應該包含對此學科性質的思考。當然，不認同這個語詞而更傾向於使用「歷史思考」的學者，不乏其人。考察歷史素養意義的轉變，可以探知美國自20世紀末以來在歷史教育論述上的重大變化：21世紀前，歷史為「人文學」之視角，乃是討論歷史教學的重要前提；21世紀以來，歷史的「學科」性質成為學者論證強調的核心。

The popularity of the term“historical literacy”and the change of its meaning are closely related to the development of United States society and culture. At the same time, discourses on“historical literacy”over the past 40 years reflect the various different views of historical thinking. Historical literacy was first defined by advocates as the history of Western civilization in the traditional sense that needs to be taught in the classroom. Later, the term took on a new look as scholars gradually stressed the skills and strategies of interpreting texts in their discourses. At the same time, some scholars tried to give it a broader meaning, arguing that the teaching of historical literacy should include the nature and thinking of this discipline. Certainly, there is no shortage of scholars who do not agree with this term at all and prefer to use“historical thinking.”The transformation of the meaning of historical literacy considered in this study reflects a major change in the discourse of history education in United States since the end of the last century: before this century, the perspective of history as one of the“humanities”was an important premise for discussing history teaching; however, during the present century, an emphasis on the“disciplinary”nature of history has become the core of the scholars’arguments.