A da sens (în predarea) istoriei
To make sense (in the teaching) of history

Summary/Abstract: The present article belongs to an analytical approach aiming to enlarge the reflections about the current theoretical background that underpin History teaching. Following a previous paper that focused on the concept of powerful knowledge (SAI, 2023), a concept which belongs to the sociology of knowledge, the present one is focusing on a concept first developed in field of management, that is sense making (SM). The aim of the paper is foremost to analyse the way in which teachers are making sense of the knowledge (in terms defined by M. Young, L. Yates, and A. Chapman) that is embedded in the History curriculum, and how do they reflect on their own practice. Some of the current theoretical approaches represent the first pillar of the discussion. The second one is Shulman’s analysis of the various types of knowledge that are part of the teachers’ qualification (Shulman 1986, 1987). The increase in the amount and diversity of knowledge that students, and teachers, have to cope with is among the significant factors that influence teaching. Moreover, teaching is always situated. Material conditions, cultural patterns, educational ethos, the way in which a subject is expected to be taught, all these have an influence on the way in which the teacher reflects on his/her educational practice. practice. This interplay between the History curriculum, the teachers’ self-reflective practice, and sensemaking as part of History teaching will be analysed on the basis of two focus-groups; the first included experienced teachers (over 15 years of teaching experience); the participants to the second focus-group were teachers in the first two years of teaching. Results indicate that there are differences and commonalities between the two groups, in particular in the way in which SM becomes operational in school practice

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