The 6th book of the International Review of History Education Series, Contemporary public debates over history education, presents public debates on history education as they appear in 14 different areas of the world, in Asia, Europe, North and South America. In alphabetical order: in Brazil, by Maria Auxiliadora Schmidt and Tânia Braga Garcia, in Canada, by Peter Seixas, in England, by Rosalyn Ashby and Christopher Edwards, in Greece, by Irene Nakou and Eleni Apostolidou, in Israel, by Eyal Naveh, in Japan and South Korea, by Yonghee Suh and Makito Yurita, in Northern Ireland, by Alan McCully, in Portugal, by Isabel Barca, in Quebec (Canada), by Jean-Francois Cardin, in Singapore, by Suhaimi Afandi and Mark Baildon, in Spain, by Lis Cercadillo, in Turkey, by Dursun Dilek and Gülcin (Yapici) Dilek, and in the United States, by Peter Stearns. By illuminating common trends, national peculiarities and differences, this collective book further enriches our knowledge about crucial issues concerning public perspectives over history education in diverse parts of the world. It opens new questions and issues to be further investigated by all who are interested in this field, in terms of its historical, educational, global, national, ethnic, cultural, social and political dimensions in the current transitional and multicultural environment. This international dialogue therefore addresses historians, history education researchers, university professors, school teachers, policy makers, publishers, parents and all those who insist that history education is very important, especially if it enables young people to orientate in the present and the future in historical terms

How is history represented? As just a record of the past, as a part of a present identity or as future goals? This book explores how historical contents and narratives are presented in school textbooks and other cultural productions (museums, monuments, etc) and also how they are understood by students, in the context of increasing globalization. In these contemporary conditions, the relation between history learning processes, in and out of school, and the construction of national identities presents an ever more important topic. It is being studied by looking at the appropriation of historical narratives, which are frequently based on the official history of a nation state. Most of the chapters in this volume are educational studies about how the learning of history takes place in school settings of different countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Latin America, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Covering such a broad sample of cultural and national contexts, they provide a rich reflection on history as a subject related to patriotism, cosmopolitanism, both or neither.

History Education is a politically contested subject. It can be used to both promote xenophobia and to develop critical thinking, multiple perspectives, and tolerance. Accordingly, this book critically examines complex issues and constructivist approaches that make history relevant to students’ understanding of the modern world. As such, it has global appeal especially in North and South America, Canada, Europe and Asia. The book’s authors address the major challenges that History Education faces in an era of globalisation, digital revolution and international terror, nationalism and sectarian and religious conflict and warfare. Central to this volume are controversial issues, trauma, and questions of personal and national identity from a wide range of international settings and perspectives. The research in this book was undertaken by leading history educators from every continent. Their interdisciplinary research represents an important contribution to the teaching of social sciences, social psychology, civic education programmes, history and history education in schools, colleges and universities. The book offers new approaches to history educators at all levels. In addition, the chapters offer potential as required reading for students to both develop an international perspective and to compare and contrast their own situations with those that the book covers. Section I considers issues related to identity; how can history education promote social coherence in multicultural societies, in societies divided by sectarianism, or countries adapting to regime changes, whether Communist or Fascist, including, for example, South Africa, previously Communist countries of Eastern Europe, and previous dictatorships in South America and Western Europe. It discusses such questions as: How important is it that students learn the content of history through the processes of historical enquiry? What should that content be and who should decide it, educators or politicians? What is the role of textbooks and who should write and select them? Should history be taught as a discrete discipline or as part of a citizenship or social sciences curriculum? Sections II and III explore ways in which memory of sensitive issues related to the past, to war, or to massacres may be addressed. Are there new methodologies or approaches which make this possible? How can students understand situations involving intolerance and injustice?

This book examines both history textbook controversies AND teaching historical controversy in Asian contexts. The different perspectives provided by the book’s authors offer numerous insights, examples, and approaches for understanding historical controversy to provide a practical gold mine for scholars and practitioners. The book provides case studies of history textbook controversies ranging from treatments of the Nanjing Massacre to a comparative treatment of Japanese occupation in Vietnamese and Singaporean textbooks to the differences in history textbooks published by secular and Hindu nationalist governments in India. It also offers a range of approaches for teaching historical controversy in classrooms. These include Structured Academic Controversy, the use of Japanese manga, teaching controversy through case studies, student facilitated discussion processes, and discipline-based approaches that can be used in history classrooms. The book’s chapters will help educational researchers and curricularists consider new approaches for curriculum design, curriculum study, and classroom research.

Inquiry plays a vital role in history as a discipline which constructs knowledge about the past and it is a vital organizing principle in history education in many countries around the world. Inquiry is also much debated, however, and although it has prominent contemporary advocates around the world, it also has prominent critics in education studies. This volume in the International Review of History Education explores the role of historical inquiry in history curricula and in history classrooms and addresses a series of linked questions, including the following: • What does historical inquiry mean in history classrooms? • What forms does classroom based historical inquiry take, and to what extent is it understood in differing ways in different contexts? • What do we know about the affordances and constraints associated with inquiry-based learning in history –what is the evidence of the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of inquiry based historical learning? We address these questions in the volume by presenting seventeen papers from eight different international contexts exploring historical inquiry that will be of interest both to history teachers, curriculum designers and history education researchers - seven papers from England, three from the US, two from Sweden and one each from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, and Singapore. The volume adds to our knowledge about teachers’ thinking about inquiry and teachers’ inquiry practices. It adds to our knowledge about the impact and value of inquiry in developing children’s’ historical learning. It also explores the challenges that implementing inquiry can present for history teachers and provides support for implementation and examples of successful practice. ENDORSEMENT: "A wonderful overview of the global story of historical inquiry. Canvassing everything from finding opportunities to teach history through all levels of education, through to the complexities of navigating different views on the past inside and outside of the classroom, History Education and Historical Inquiry provides a practical and empowering approach for educators around the world. Recommended reading for anyone who wants to feel the support of educators from around the world in strengthening the place of inquiry in complex times." — Marnie Hughes - Warrington, University of South Australia

This volume comprises a broad interdisciplinary examination of the many different approaches by which contemporary scholars record our history. The editors provide a comprehensive overview through thirty-eight chapters divided into four parts: a) Historical Culture and Public Uses of History; b) The Appeal of the Nation in History Education of Postcolonial Societies; c) Reflections on History Learning and Teaching; d) Educational Resources: Curricula, Textbooks and New Media. This unique text integrates contributions of researchers from history, education, collective memory, museum studies, heritage, social and cognitive psychology, and other social sciences, stimulating an interdisciplinary dialogue. Contributors come from various countries of Northern and Southern America, Europe and Asia, providing an international perspective that does justice to the complexity of this field of study. The Palgrave Handbook of Research in Historical Culture and Education provides state-of-the-art research, focussing on how citizens and societies make sense of the past through different ways of representing it.

This Handbook provides a systematic and analytical approach to the various dimensions of international, ethnic and domestic conflict over the uses of national history in education since the end of the Cold War. With an upsurge in political, social and cultural upheaval, particularly since the fall of state socialism in Europe, the importance of history textbooks and curricula as tools for influencing the outlooks of entire generations is thrown into sharp relief. Using case studies from 58 countries, this book explores how history education has had the potential to shape political allegiances and collective identities. The contributors highlight the key issues over which conflict has emerged – including the legacies of socialism and communism, war, dictatorships and genocide – issues which frequently point to tensions between adhering to and challenging the idea of a cohesive national identity and historical narrative. Global in scope, the Handbook will appeal to a diverse academic audience, including historians, political scientists, educationists, psychologists, sociologists and scholars working in the field of cultural and media studies.