“Oh, not History again!” Investigating Boredom in Teaching History

Abstract

This current thesis examines the way with which the meaning of boredom is approached by two different groups of participants. Specifically, it refers to the investigation of pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions as far as boredom during the history lesson is concerned. Therefore, the relevant factors, the effects it brings about to pupils and teachers and the possible ways of its overcoming will be pointed out. The opinions the partners of the educational procedure have about the solution of this issue are concerned to be of high importance, since the pupils can detect the elements which induce feelings of boredom to them, recognizing the conditions under which they feel bored, while teachers, as “indirect supervisors”, spend a lot of time in class and they definitely have their own aspect of the topic. The detection of boredom by the teachers also becomes important seeing that by using their teaching and methodological knowledge they are capable of understanding their pupils’ needs and adjusting their teaching methods to them.