Reproducing, Rethinking, Resisting National Narratives

Reproducing, Rethinking, Resisting National Narratives
Author: Ignacio Brescó de Luna
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2022-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 164802663X

In his now classic Voices of Collective Remembering, James V. Wertsch (2002) examines the extent to which certain narrative themes are embedded in the way the collective past is understood and national communities are imagined. In this work, Wertsch coined the term schematic narrative templates to refer to basic plots, such as the triumph over alien forces or quest for freedom, that are recurrently used, setting a national theme for the past, present and future. Whereas specific narratives are about particular events, dates, settings and actors, schematic narrative templates refer to more abstract structures, grounded in the same basic plot, from which multiple specific accounts of the past can be generated. As dominant and naturalised narrative structures, schematic narrative templates are typically used without being noticed, and are thus extremely conservative, impervious to evidence and resistant to change. The concept of schematic narrative templates is much needed today, especially considering the rise of nationalism and extreme-right populism, political movements that tend to tap into national narratives naturalised and accepted by large swathes of society. The present volume comprises empirical and theoretical contributions to the concept of schematic narrative templates by scholars of different disciplines (Historiography, Psychology, Education and Political Science) and from the vantage point of different cultural and social practices of remembering (viz., school history teaching, political discourses, rituals, museums, the use of images, maps, etc.) in different countries. The volume’s main goal is to provide a transdisciplinary debate around the concept of schematic narrative templates, focusing on how narratives change as well as perpetuate at times when nationalist discourses seem to be on the rise. This book will be relevant to anyone interested in history, history teaching, nationalism, collective memory and the wider social debate on how to critically reflect on the past.

Identity, Trauma, Sensitive and Controversial Issues in the Teaching of History

Identity, Trauma, Sensitive and Controversial Issues in the Teaching of History
Author: Hilary Cooper
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 570
Release: 2015-10-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1443884731

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?

Insurgent Social Studies

Insurgent Social Studies
Author: Natasha Hakimali Merchant
Publisher: Myers Education Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2022-06-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1975504577

A 2023 SPE Outstanding Book Award Winner Social studies education over its hundred-year history has often focused on predominantly white and male narratives. This has not only been detrimental to the increasingly diverse population of the U.S., but it has also meant that social studies as a field of scholarship has systematically excluded and marginalized the voices, teaching, and research of women, scholars of color, queer scholars, and scholars whose politics challenge the dominant traditions of history, geography, economics, and civics education. Insurgent Social Studies intervenes in the field of social studies education by highlighting those whose work has often been deemed “too radical.” Insurgent Social Studies is essential reading to all researchers and practitioners in social studies, and is perfect as an adopted text in the social studies curriculum at Colleges of Education. Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Education │ Social Studies Methods │ Multicultural Education │ Critical Studies of Education │ Culturally Relevant Pedagogy │ Social Education

Rethinking Social Studies and History Education

Rethinking Social Studies and History Education
Author: Cameron White
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2016-07-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1681234998

The book is unique in that it mixes theory and practical applications in rethinking traditional social studies education. It focuses on essays integrating media, popular culture, and alternative texts for teaching and learning in social studies and history education through a social education lens. Social education integrates social studies, media / popular culture, and cultural studies all within a social justice framework. The text provides 20+ curriculum themes with strategies to connect in teaching and learning, along with resources to extend depth of understanding. In addition, the pedagogical philosophy inherent in the essays is student-centered learning focusing on issues, problem, and project-based instruction. Although the themes are generally social studies and history focused, the links to media and popular culture can be integrated in other disciplines.

Curriculum Studies in Canada

Curriculum Studies in Canada
Author: Anne M. Phelan
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2024-06-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1487551738

The largest specialization in faculties of education in Canada is curriculum studies. Curriculum Studies in Canada represents the present preoccupations of curriculum scholars in Canada. Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributors engage with significant themes, among them ongoing efforts at justice for Indigenous Peoples, the continuing arrival of immigrants and refugees, Canada’s complex relationship to the United States, and issues related to the climate crisis. Addressing such realities through the field of curriculum studies and the school curriculum is critical at this historical conjuncture given the complex and shifting intersections of local and global dynamics restricting education. To this end, contributing scholars serve as intellectual activists to address the critical need for understanding curriculum responsive to the vexed relations among schools, nation-building, social reconstruction, and identity development. Their activism yields more sophisticated understandings of what it means to be educated in Canada. Contributors trace the legacy of their work and reflect on their present scholarly preoccupations in light of their past endeavours. In doing so, Curriculum Studies in Canada offers an invitation to readers: to study, remember, dialogue, and navigate an uncertain world with them.

Social Studies Education in South and South East Asian Contexts

Social Studies Education in South and South East Asian Contexts
Author: Kerry J Kennedy
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2021-07-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000394263

The education of young people is context bound. This edited volume explores the contexts that characterise South and South East Asia and their influence on social studies education. There is not a single context across this broad geographical expanse, rather different religions, different political systems and different values exert influences that create distinctive programmes that characterise different countries. Yet there are also commonalities such as the post-colonial nature of most of the countries portrayed in this book, determined efforts at establishing new national communities and multiple value systems that lead to distinctive local priorities. There are also voices of resistance in these chapters, recognising the realities of local contexts but also recognising the need for change. Social studies education in these contexts may well be descended from its origins in North America, but in South and South Asian contexts, it has taken on new purposes, new forms and new values. Education researchers, policymakers and postgraduate students in comparative education will find the volume useful in its exploration and comparison of the social studies curricular and reforms that shaped them.

Reassessing the Social Studies Curriculum

Reassessing the Social Studies Curriculum
Author: Wayne Journell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2016-05-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1475818130

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 dramatically changed many aspects of American society, and the ramifications of that horrific event are still impacting the domestic and foreign policies of the United States. Yet, fifteen years after 9/11—an event that was predicted to change the scope of public education in the United States—we find that the social studies curriculum remains virtually the same as before the attacks. For a discipline charged with developing informed citizens prepared to enter a global economy, such curricular stagnation makes little sense. This book, which contains chapters from many leading scholars within the field of social studies education, both assesses the ways in which the social studies curriculum has failed to live up to the promises of progressive citizenship education made in the wake of the attacks and offers practical advice for teachers who wish to encourage a critical understanding of the post-9/11 global society in which their students live.

Controversial History Education in Asian Contexts

Controversial History Education in Asian Contexts
Author: Mark Baildon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2013-08-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1135014213

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.

Rethinking Social Studies Teacher Education in the Twenty-First Century

Rethinking Social Studies Teacher Education in the Twenty-First Century
Author: Alicia R. Crowe
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2015-11-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3319229397

In this volume teacher educators explicitly and implicitly share their visions for the purposes, experiences, and commitments necessary for social studies teacher preparation in the twenty-first century. It is divided into six sections where authors reconsider: 1) purposes, 2) course curricula, 3) collaboration with on-campus partners, 4) field experiences, 5) community connections, and 6) research and the political nature of social studies teacher education. The chapters within each section provide critical insights for social studies researchers, teacher educators, and teacher education programs. Whether readers begin to question what are we teaching social studies teachers for, who should we collaborate with to advance teacher learning, or how should we engage in the politics of teacher education, this volume leads us to consider what ideas, structures, and connections are most worthwhile for social studies teacher education in the twenty-first century to pursue.