Measuring the relevance of history project

In the literature about history teaching research, ‘significance’ is one of the categories commonly included in lists of important concepts (e.g. Counsell, 2004; Seixas & Morton, 2013).

The concept refers to the importance of historical topics for people in the past (e.g. the Black Death was significant because it had a major impact on medieval life) as well as to the importance of history for people nowadays (e.g. the impact of the slavery past on current societal debates about discrimination). In the context of meaningful history education aiming at the development of citizenship competences, this double meaning can be confusing.