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 |
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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 |
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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