Seminar on History Teaching in 21st Century Education, 17-18 January 2023

Studying history through analysing various evidence from primary sources, archaeological evidence, and other material evidence enable people in each society to learn about their own history, both in terms of success and failure, that led to today’s social and cultural situation. This knowledge can then be used as one of the deciding factors for future action. The use of lessons learned in the past as a case study will encourage learners to understand and embrace the similarities and differences of each society, whether in the context of social, economic, or political aspects. As a result, members of the society will have a sense of unity and share a common national identity, fostering people’s sense of awareness and pride in being a nation.

On the other hand, the analytical approach to studying history is also a process of creating intellect, which can be used and applied in learning other subjects as well as in daily life. This can aid the development of students’ competencies to become intellectuals of society. History teachers, therefore, play a crucial role in enhancing the knowledge and understanding that history is the study of the past that involves asking questions and seeking answers based on evidence. It is not only just recounting the narrative for the sake of memorising, which will lead to a lack of critical thinking and the ability to produce knowledge by oneself. This creates a boring atmosphere in the classroom and ultimately results in the learner’s lack of interest. This emerging issue has been also taken into serious consideration of Ministry of Education Thailand that needs to be resolved or reduced.

Therefore, the Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts under the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO SPAFA) in response to the Ministry of Education Thailand’s will to strengthen the capability of teachers who are teaching history in Thai schools to be well-equipped for present day situations, is going to organize a 2-day seminar as a quick-off activity to understand and exchange the view of well-known Thai historians and new wave scholars in relevant fields as well as teachers and educators teaching history in the efficient and effective teaching methods which will be collected for developing the innovative tools, techniques or methods for the 21^st century education in the near future.

1. To present and exchange history teaching approaches that are in line with 21st century education principles among history teachers.
2. For teachers to recognise the importance of the history subject, which serves as one of the tools for developing individuals in society.
3. To encourage teachers to design history teaching processes that are relevant to the current social situation and provide students with an engaging learning experience.
4. To introduce various formats of teaching materials from diverse sources that can be applied in history teaching.

1. Increase history teachers’ understanding on the importance of the history subject in various aspects and encourage them to develop teaching methods that are more suitable for the education and students in the 21st century.
2. Provide the opportunity for workshop participants to share their opinions in order to address common issues, which will lead to the development of a more effective way of history teaching.
3. The meeting report can be developed further as a history teaching guideline for the Ministry of Education or it can lead to future seminars.