Accord partiel élargi

Observatoire de l’enseignement de l’histoire en Europe

History is taught as part of the compulsory multidisciplinary courses “Social sciences” and “Human and social sciences” throughout primary and lower secondary education respectively. At upper secondary level, students may take the elective courses “History” and “Art history”, both of which have a final assessment.

As schools follow either the Andorran, French or Spanish curriculum, history is taught in Catalan, French or Spanish respectively. There are two private schools in Andorra, one following the British curriculum and the other the Spanish curriculum. Some schools administered by the Spanish government may have a church affiliation but follow the same curricula as other schools regardless of their affiliation.

The Andorran state, through the Ministry of Education and Andorran schools, prescribes the Andorran school curriculum, with the participation of the schools, teachers and students. The education authorities report that civil society organisations do not participate in curriculum development. Data on the participation of minority groups in curriculum design are not collected.

The authorities report that minority groups (cultural, ethnic, linguistic, national, religious or sexual/gender) are not included in the history curriculum.

The assessment methods teachers are required to use are portfolios, essays, oral presentations/exams, knowledge-based questions, source-based questions and multiplechoice questions.

End-of-stage examinations are taken at the end of the elective courses on “History” and/or “History of art” in the 12th grade as part of the state Batxillerat, which is set at the national level.

At the lower secondary level, there are continuous assessments (contrôles continus) but no final examinations.

End-of-stage examinations assess the following fields of knowledge: historical content knowledge, historical thinking competences (e.g., critical analysis and evaluation of evidence, formulation and justification of historical arguments, consideration of different perspectives), social and civic competences (e.g., conflict resolution skills, demonstrating empathy, respect for diversity), generic skills (e.g., communication, co-operation, use of ICT).

End-of-stage examinations are oral, written and coursework based. Oral examinations consist of student presentations. Written examinations include open-ended questions, close-ended questions, source-based questions and multiple-choice questions and essays.

Teachers are allowed to use materials not licensed by the Andorran government without any restrictions. The approval of educational resources to be used in history teaching takes place at the school level. Teaching methodologies are not regulated by the state and the state does not approve or produce textbooks, teaching materials or other resources.

Policies on the use of different types of educational resources are as follows:

REQUIRED	ENCOURAGED	NO POLICY
Apps for smartphones and tablets with historical content Local cultural heritage (e.g., costumes, food traditions, celebrations) Local and regional festivals and traditions related to historical events Museums and other places of heritage interpretation Primary documentary sources Printed or digital press (newspapers and magazines)	Artefacts (e.g., paintings, architecture, sculptures, contemporary art) Audio sources (e.g., music, the sound of a steam engine) Audiovisual sources (e.g., newsreels, private archives, commercials) Cinema and documentaries with historical themes Literature (e.g., historical novels, graphic novels) Visual sources (e.g., paintings, photographs, drawings)	Historiographical bibliography History textbooks Oral sources (interviews with grandparents, relatives, neighbours, etc.) Reports on historical topics in popular magazines Search engines and websites with historical content not necessarily validated by the education authorities Teacher notes Video games Websites and databases with historical content approved by the educational authorities

History teachers are required to complete an initial teacher-training programme at a French or Spanish university. They are also required to pass an examination administered by the human resources unit of the Ministry of Education. Teachers who obtain a post as a history teacher undergo a probationary period of 10 months, at the end of which they are evaluated by the director of their educational establishment and a national inspector.

Primary school history teachers are trained as teachers of history and of one or more other discipline(s). Secondary school history teachers are trained exclusively or primarily as history teachers.

In-service professional development courses administered by the Ministry of Education are compulsory and take place on a yearly basis. Such courses include training in the methodologies of competence-based pedagogy; content-based training on the history of Andorra for history teachers who did not complete their schooling in Andorra; and training that focuses on the development of ICT skills.