Tony Taylor

Robert Guyver

The book is entitled History Wars in the Classroom: Global Perspectives and examines how ten separate countries have experienced debates and disputes over the contested nature of the subject, for example the 'Black Armband' and 'Whitewash' factions in Australia who adopt opposingly celebratory or denigratory views of Australian history, especially when evaluating episodes of poor racial relations. There are also tensions between traditional/patriotic views of history teaching and reformed or 'new' history. There are issues of political control of the curriculum and parallel issues of who writes it (very topical in England at the moment over two expat 'big picture' historians who work at Harvard and Columbia (Niall Ferguson and Simon Schama)).

Global Perspectives

History Wars and The Classroom

Capitalizing on the current movement in history education to nurture a set of shared methodologies and perspectives, this text looks to break down some of the obstacles to transnational understanding in history, focusing on pedagogy to embed democratic principles of inclusion, inquiry, multiple interpretations and freedom of expression. Four themes which are influencing the broadening of history education to a globalized community of practice run throughout Teaching History and the Changing Nation State: · pedagogy, democracy and dialogue · the nation – politics and transnational dimensions · landmarks with questions · shared histories, shared commemorations and re-evaluating past denials The contributors use the same pedagogical language in a global debate about history teaching and learning to break down barriers to search for shared histories and mutual understanding. They explore contemporary topics, including The Gallipoli Campaign in World War I, transformative approaches to a school history curriculum and the nature of federation.

Robert Guyver

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