The Didactics of History in the French-Speaking World:

Development and Empowerment of a Scientific Discipline

Abstract

This article deals with the field of history didactics in France, Quebec and Switzerland. It puts into perspective questions, research axes, theoretical discussions and empirical results since the first works in the 1980s. This portrait is based on the definition of the didactics of history as a scientific discipline that takes into consideration the three poles of the didactic triangle: the process of construction of historical knowledge, the modalities of its teaching and the conditions of its appropriation by students. It discusses the relationship of these three dimensions to the aims of history teaching and to social demands, the articulation between the empirical and the theoretical, epistemological choices and methods of investigation.