Schools, Students, and Community History in Northern Ireland

Alan McCully; Keith C Barton

Schools, Students, and Community History in Northern Ireland

Alan McCully, Keith C Barton

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

Our work in Northern Ireland has been motivated by the need to understand the impact of school curricula on young people’s ideas. Community division there is justified by differing historical interpretations, but schools aim to provide a balanced and evidence based approach to historical inquiry, rather than a consensual national narrative. But how far does this influence students’ ideas, particularly in relation to the narratives they encounter outside school? Despite methodological challenges, our research provided a hopeful view of students’ willingness and ability to move beyond partisan views of the past. Other critical issues remain unanswered, such as the role of emotions in learning conflicted history, the impact of specific instructional techniques, and the motivation for history teachers to take risks.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Contemplating Historical Consciousness: Notes from the Field
Editors	Anna Clark, Carla Peck
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	Berghahn Books
Chapter	1
Pages	19-31
Number of pages	13
Volume	36
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-78533-930-1
ISBN (Print)	978-1-78533-929-5 , 978-1-78920-837-5
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2018

Publication series

Name	Making Sense of History: Studies in Historical Cultures

Bibliographical note

Alan W. McCully is a Senior Lecturer in Education (History and Citizenship) at Ulster University. During forty years as a teacher, teacher educator,
and researcher spanning the period of conflict and post-conflict transformation in Northern Ireland, he has engaged with interventions in the fields of
history and social studies seeking to contribute to better community relations
in the province. Recently, he worked with the Consortium for Education
and Peacebuilding (Ulster, Sussex, and Amsterdam) on a four-country study
(Myanmar, Pakistan, South Africa, and Uganda) to strengthen educational
policy and practice which promote sustainable peace.

Keith C. Barton is Associate Dean of Teacher Education, Professor of
Curriculum & Instruction, and Adjunct Professor of History at Indiana University. He teaches history and social studies teachers and educational researchers, and he has conducted research on the teaching and learning of
history in the United States, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, and Singapore. He is co-author, with Linda S. Levstik, of Doing History: Investigating
with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools; Teaching History for the Common
Good; and Researching History Education: Theory, Method, and Context; and he
is also the editor of Research Methods in Social Studies Education: Contemporary
Issues and Perspectives.

Keywords

Northern Ireland
conflict
pedagogy
divided societies
curriculum
students

Cite this

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Schools, Students, and Community History in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Publication series

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Cite this