American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
114
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajsshr
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue04 2025
PAGE NO.
114-117
10.37547/ajsshr/Volume05Issue04-26
Stages of Development of
Students’ Historical Thinking
Based on Media Content
Tolepov Bekmurat
Independent researcher of the Department of Pedagogy, Nukus State Pedagogical Institute named after Ajiniyaz, Uzbekistan
Received:
23 February 2025;
Accepted:
20 March 2025;
Published:
22 April 2025
Abstract:
In essence, any process has a multi-stage nature. After all, the process and the event assumed with its
help, according to the degree of complexity, record private (separate) and general results. Each individual result
is achieved at a specific stage. Individual results ultimately guarantee a holistic, generalized result. Multi-stage
design prevents major, serious errors or flaws from occurring in a process that ranges from simple to complex. In
general, this prevents the failure of targeted activities. The development of historical thinking of students based
on media content also occurs in a multi-stage process. The article examines the stages of the corresponding
process, their particular and general results.
Keywords:
University, students, thinking, historical thinking, development, development of historical thinking,
stage, development of historical thinking of students.
Introduction:
The modern educational trajectory, the
leading role of innovative ideas against the background
of innovative changes have formed the need for a new
approach to the educational process. This need, in turn,
“led to the emergence in the teaching staff of the
opinion about the need to search for new forms and
technologies in teaching history” [6,
- p. 150].
When teaching historical disciplines in higher
education institutions, students should not only have
the necessary concepts in the relevant area, experience
in their practical application, but also be able to
independently analyze the content of historical events,
processes, evaluate their social significance, study the
place and role of human development in acquiring a
progressive or regressive character, and also master
the competencies of assessing their impact on existing
and future social relations. This process is directly
accompanied by the development of historical
thinking.
Market relations, as well as the phenomenon of global
informatization, naturally require a fundamental
change in social relations, the principle of “active
person - developed soc
iety.” The presence of highly
developed consciousness and thinking is an important
condition for achieving individual activity.
Sources that illuminate historical facts that occurred at
a certain time and in a certain place in different periods
of human d
evelopment form the “foundation,” “core”
of historical sciences.
According to Polish researcher Teresa Maresch,
“sources are historical facts, traces of people’s views
and actions. Therefore, sources provide the initial
information to a person (historian, student, reader,
researcher, reader and others) only for the
presentation of historical facts. Therefore, historical
facts are based from the very beginning on a subjective
interpretation of the individual, which raises a number
of questions” [5, p. 64]. T
he author also emphasizes the
feedback between historical thinking and historical
knowledge: “Historical thinking is formed on the basis
of historical knowledge, just as historical knowledge is
developed with the help of historical thinking” [5, p.
68].
Historical thinking develops in social subjects such
competencies as analysis (highlighting specific aspects),
synthesis (identifying general aspects), and conclusion
(assessing the significance for humanity or a nation,
studying
the
causes
that
caused
negative
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
consequences, and taking measures to prevent their
occurrence in the future) of the essence of general or
territorial realities that occurred in the past of
humanity.
Researchers positively evaluate the possession of
historical thinking of the individual. The approach of
J.J.Shodiyev in this regard expresses the following
content: “change in the consciousness and thinking of
citizens is an important condition for ensuring the
development of society and plays an important role in
the process of change. Historical consciousness and
historical thinking serve as the main factor in the
formation of an individual’s sense of social equality,
patriotism and belonging to a particular society” [9, p.
125].
In
this
case,
remembering
the
theoretical
interpretation o
f the concepts of “historical
consciousness” and “historical thinking” allows one to
fully understand the author’s approach.
Historical consciousness is a set of views on the past
and chronology of humanity, reflecting the specifics of
both the general and individual links of society as its
integral part [3]; the interpretation of the world in time
and the assessment of this process [4, p. 55].
By studying sources that illuminate issues of
consciousness and historical consciousness, one can
theoretically ex
plain the concept of “historical
consciousness.” Historical consciousness is a subjective
reflection in the consciousness of an individual of
knowledge containing information about the past of
humanity or about the past of a particular nation or
people.
Historical thinking is the ability to understand historical
events and phenomena, to comprehend the essence of
historical processes, to generalize the content of the
interrelations and relationships between historical
events and phenomena, to establish cause-and-effect
relationships between them[2]. Thus, historical
thinking means understanding the essence of historical
events, phenomena and processes through analysis,
generalization,
providing
cause-and-effect
relationships and conclusions.
Based on the given definition and description of the
concept of “thinking,” it becomes possible to interpret
the concept of “historical thinking” as follows: historical
thinking is a mental activity that ensures the formation
of a subjective attitude through the perception of the
essence of chronological sequence through the
formation in the consciousness of an individual of ideas
about events, processes that took place in the historical
development of mankind or a certain nation,
identifying the relationship between events that took
place at different times and in different spaces.
“Theory and Methodology of Historical Sciences.
Dictionary of Concepts” (“Theory and Methodology of
Historical Science. Terminological Dictionary”) in its
essence, historical thinking is divided into two groups:
1) historical thinking based on logic;
2) historical thinking expressed figuratively.
The content of these forms of historical thinking is
elucidated by the authors as follows: logical historical
thinking includes mental operations and is aimed at
understanding the course of historical events, their
causes and consequences; figurative historical thinking,
based on ideas and associations, is aimed at modeling
historical reality, serving not to take into account the
historical result, but to understand the social
significance of the value relations behind it [8, p. 311].
Any process, including pedagogical, has a multi-stage
nature. According to the lexical interpretation, the
concept of “stage” means "a special period, stage of
some process o
r activity” [10]. As a rule, at each stage
of the process, specific tasks are solved step by step and
are aimed at achieving the main goal.
From a psychological point of view, the stages of
development of thinking in the dynamics of personality
are characterized by a connection with the formation
of individual mental activity and are defined as follows:
Stage 1. Visual-active (or sensorimotor) thinking. This
type of thinking is manifested in a combination of
complex actions (sitting, standing, walking, expressing
speech sounds, etc.), as well as simpler actions
performed with the help of objects in areas perceived
by the eye. This period, which, according to the
definition of psychologist L.S. Vigotski, is “pre
-speech
thinking,” appears at the age of 2
-2.5 years.
2. Visual-figurative thinking, that is, according to the
definition of physiologist I.P. Pavlov, “concrete
thinking,” “object thinking,” “thinking expressed with
the help of the hand,” and according to the definition
of psychologist J. Piaget
–
“huma
n thinking before
practical actions,” that is, thinking in the form of
purposeful actions carried out with the help of various
objects. This type of thinking manifests itself at the age
of 2-2.5 to 4-5.5 years.
3. Figurative thinking. Psychologist J. Piaget notes that
“the performance of concrete practical actions is a
stage of thinking that manifests itself in mental
images,” in which actions are carried out with the help
of concrete and generalized concepts, and abstract
concepts are used in such a way that their essence
cannot be understood. This period covers the period
from 4-5 years to 8-11 years.
4. Conceptual thinking (logical, abstract, theoretical,
understandable, general thinking, expressed in words).
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
Psychologist J. Piaget defines this period as
“practical
actions based on formalism - thinking carried out
through logical actions based on various types of ideas
and concepts.” This period covers the age from 11
-12
to 14-15 years[7].
In many studies conducted in the pedagogical
direction, the stages of the process characterizing the
essence of the problem under study and the definition
of the tasks solved in them were assessed as an
important structural element of the activity. For
example, researcher E.V. Ankudinova defines the
important stages of the economic socialization of the
individual as follows:
1) the adaptation stage - during which the individual
adapts to the conditions of the surrounding socio-
economic processes;
2) the leveling stage - during which the individual's
actions are organized, aimed at self-expression in a
certain socio-economic group;
3) the stage of individualization - in accordance with
this, a person occupies one of the most effective places
of life activity in the social environment;
4) the stage of high individualization - in essence,
during this period the individual achieves an extremely
high level in the socio-economic environment[1].
From the point of view of age and professional
orientation in the process aimed at developing
historical thinking in students based on media content,
priority is given to specific features (acceptance of
human or national history as an object for thinking;
thinking on specific subjects; mutual harmony of
historical and social thinking; mastery of the dialectic of
historical and cultural development).
The current situation allowed us to conclude that the
process of developing students’ historical thinking
based on media content during the period of scientific
and pedagogical research proceeds on the basis of the
following stages:
1.
The stage of mastering basic theoretical
historical thinking. This stage is characterized by
reliance on knowledge, skills and abilities acquired by
students in general and professional educational
institutions in historical disciplines when completing
academic assignments. The educational and cognitive
activity of students consists of acquiring knowledge
provided by the teacher or in educational literature
(textbooks,
teaching
aids,
methodological
developments). Educational tasks mainly consist of
retelling the topic, completing simple test tasks and
preparing an essay. The manifestation of the
corresponding type of thinking mainly occurs in the first
two to three months of the first stage of study at the
university.
2.
Stage of mastery of subject-practical historical
thinking. This stage is reflected in the fact that students,
when completing educational assignments, begin to
reason on the relevant subject of history, based on the
specifics and main features of the subject. It is
characteristic that at this stage students are not limited
to acquiring knowledge provided by the teacher or
educational literature (textbooks, teaching aids,
methodological developments), but try to familiarize
themselves with additional sources on relevant topics.
At the stage of providing students with cases on
historical topics, level tests will give the expected
results. This stage, which is of particular importance in
professional development, occurs in the second half of
the first stage of higher education.
3.
Stage of mastering logical and effective
historical thinking. At this stage, when studying texts,
historical documents, and analyzing the essence of
historical events, students do not simply perceive
information about them, but ask themselves many
questions and try to find answers to them. At this stage,
involving students in conducting small studies, creating
educational projects on current topics, based on the
essence of the subject, develops their educational and
cognitive activity. Also at this stage, the first scientific
work of students is prepared - a term paper. This stage,
expressing the nature of professional improvement, is
implemented at the II and III stages of higher education.
4.
Stage of intuitive-productive thinking. At this
stage, students, along with studying texts and historical
documents, strive to study the essence of historical
processes based on an analytical, critical and creative
approach, independently conduct scientific research,
publish articles based on scientific findings, evaluate
the content of historical events, their causes and
consequences as an expert specialist. At this stage,
students prepare their first complex scientific work - a
final qualifying work and a master's dissertation. This
stage, which is important in professional development,
includes the stage of the bachelor's and master's
degree of higher education.
Thus, defining the stages of organizing the scientific
and pedagogical process and the tasks that need to be
solved at each of them contributes to the successful
implementation of activities. For this reason, the stages
of the process aimed at developing students’ historical
thinking based on media content were defined.
Through theoretical analysis and observation, assessing
the activities of student respondents, it was established
that the process of developing students’ historical
thinking based on media content consists of the stages
of mastering initial theoretical historical thinking,
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
117
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
mastering
subject-practical
historical
thinking,
mastering logical-effective historical thinking, and
mastering intuitive-productive thinking. A unique
approach to each stage, the correct formation of
educational tasks ensures the effective completion of
the planned stages.
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