Given the well-established finding that educators often find it difficult to deal with the conflictual past as it is considered a sensitive or controversial topic3, our aim with the present recommendations is to contribute to the... more
Given the well-established finding that educators
often find it difficult to deal with the conflictual past
as it is considered a sensitive or controversial topic3,
our aim with the present recommendations is to
contribute to the enhancement of the capacity of
educators to successfully overcome this obstacle.
More particularly, we propose a powerful set of
suggestions for teaching practices that follow inquiry-based
constructivist approaches in history education.
often find it difficult to deal with the conflictual past
as it is considered a sensitive or controversial topic3,
our aim with the present recommendations is to
contribute to the enhancement of the capacity of
educators to successfully overcome this obstacle.
More particularly, we propose a powerful set of
suggestions for teaching practices that follow inquiry-based
constructivist approaches in history education.
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This chapter examines the evolution of practice regarding the teaching of controversial and sensitive issues in the secondary education sector in Northern Ireland. The latter presents an interesting context for such teaching. Northern... more
This chapter examines the evolution of practice regarding the teaching of controversial and sensitive issues in the secondary education sector in Northern Ireland. The latter presents an interesting context for such teaching. Northern Ireland is emerging from three decades of violent conflict. It is a deeply divided society where the great majority of Protestants and Catholics are educated in segregated schools yet, unlike many areas affected by conflict, its education system shares many of the sophisticated characteristics of modern western states. Untypically, educators there began addressing the relationship between education and conflict at an early stage in the 1970s when violence was endemic, envisaging that education should have an interventionist role in contributing to a more peaceful society. Consequently, over the next four decades curricular provision and pedagogy have evolved in response to evaluation and research, educational trends and changes in political circumstances. Observers have commented on a ‘culture of avoidance’ (Richardson & Gallagher 2011) prevalent in Northern Ireland which may help people to cope with difference but works against them participating in the difficult conversations necessary for the transformation from conflict. Hence, educational initiatives have frequently placed an emphasis on facilitating dialogue around controversial issues as a way of clarifying young people’s views and preparing them to contribute to a more cohesive society.The chapter traces the development of policy and practice around controversial issues in two phases. The break between these phases roughly corresponds to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), 1998. Prior to that, work was centred on fostering better community relations through building mutual understanding between individuals and groups. The Cross-curricular theme of Education for Mutual Understanding was to be infused into all subjects but, in reality, it sat at the periphery of the curriculum and its more contentious aspects were often side-stepped. After the GFA, in a climate which is becoming more conducive to cross-community dialogue, the educational focus has shifted to addressing structural inequalities in society, largely through the introduction of a Local and Global Citizenship programme founded on Human Rights principles. The chief characteristics of each phase are drawn out. In the conclusion, the generic learning from the Northern Irish experience is distilled and principles of practice are presented.
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This paper explores issues related to the teaching of sensitive issues in Irish history in secondary level education.
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Abstract A common line amongst teachers and policy-makers seeking to theorise a workable relationship between history and the new subject of citizenship is to say that there must be a link with the present. This is harder than it sounds.... more
Abstract A common line amongst teachers and policy-makers seeking to theorise a workable relationship between history and the new subject of citizenship is to say that there must be a link with the present. This is harder than it sounds. if the implication is that the study of the ...
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... Its experience supports recent research (Fearon et ai, 1997, pp.7-13) which indicates that ... In the United Kingdom, generally, a citizenship component in the curriculum is being developed and ... of controversial issues will be... more
... Its experience supports recent research (Fearon et ai, 1997, pp.7-13) which indicates that ... In the United Kingdom, generally, a citizenship component in the curriculum is being developed and ... of controversial issues will be central to this (QCA, 1998b, p.8). In Northern Ireland it is ...
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Research Interests: Sociology, Perception, Education, Politics, War, and 5 moreIrish, Interviews, Interview, Educational, and Teaching Methods
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This paper explores the relationship between history teaching and the construction of national identity. Drawing upon recent theoretical and historical work in the field, it provides a comprohensive analysis of important developments... more
This paper explores the relationship between history teaching and the construction of national identity. Drawing upon recent theoretical and historical work in the field, it provides a comprohensive analysis of important developments within the history curricula oin England, Wales, Northern ireland and Scotland, and also explains why history has become politicised in Britain over the past few decades. The paper speculates about the implications of these developments within history education by considering the capacity of history to influence pupils' collective identity alongside other potentially more powerful factors.
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A volume of papers presented at a VGN / HTEN/ Euroclio Conference at the University of Amsterdam in 2007. The papers offer comparisons between history teaching in the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom.
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A resource book for schools investigating the history of North Antrim and the Glens in the late sixteenth century.
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The article draws on a considerable wealth of international scholarship to present some well-founded and practical suggestions about how teachers might handle controversial issues in the classroom. Although the emphasis is on teaching in... more
The article draws on a considerable wealth of international scholarship to present some well-founded and practical suggestions about how teachers might handle controversial issues in the classroom. Although the emphasis is on teaching in Northern Ireland, the potential to translate the messages and strategies to other contexts is clear.
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The “Back to the Future” workshop that spawned this chapter was an important infl uence in deepening my understanding of ‘memory’ as a fertile area for academic exploration. The variety of approaches found in the papers presented—the... more
The “Back to the Future” workshop that spawned this chapter was an important infl uence in deepening my understanding of ‘memory’ as a fertile area for academic exploration. The variety of approaches found in the papers presented—the knowledge explored and the methodologies employed, particularly those that were arts-based—were challenging and stimulating. As a formal high school teacher educator, this was an academic environment with which I was unfamiliar. Yet, the workshop did two things for me. First, it emphasized the value of bringing interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on its theme of productive memory and social action. Second, it encouraged me to concentrate on the particular role of formal history education in promoting that productivity and action. My path to the workshop lay in previous research that explores the interface between history learned in communities and that learned in formal history classes in schools. That had led to myself and my co-researcher (Barton &...
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This chapter argues for the role that oral history might play in helping young people better understand the legacy of the recent past in Northern Ireland. The latter is a society that is emerging from nearly forty years of conflict.... more
This chapter argues for the role that oral history might play in helping young people better understand the legacy of the recent past in Northern Ireland. The latter is a society that is emerging from nearly forty years of conflict. First, previous more benign uses of oral history in schools are described. Next, the challenges posed to civil society in general, and schools in particular, when trying to come to terms with the violent recent past are discussed. It is argued that the characteristics of oral history are investigative and that storytelling has the potential to foster empathetic understanding
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This paper addresses the challenges of educating teachers during the initial teacher education phase to teach history in a society which is emerging from a sustained period of violent communal conflict. Briefly, it draws attention to the... more
This paper addresses the challenges of educating teachers during the initial teacher education phase to teach history in a society which is emerging from a sustained period of violent communal conflict. Briefly, it draws attention to the reluctance of manyeducators in Northern Ireland ...
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Abstract In countries that embraced democracy after the fall of communism, education became a particular focus for policy change, particularly within their citizenship programmes. Schools that had been used to inculcate obedience to and... more
Abstract In countries that embraced democracy after the fall of communism, education became a particular focus for policy change, particularly within their citizenship programmes. Schools that had been used to inculcate obedience to and unfailing support for authoritarian regimes were now being required to adopt citizenship programmes incorporating democratic values. This paper reports a study in Malawi that explored the school as a location where democratic citizenship is practiced. Using a multiple case study approach in three different kinds of secondary schools to explore students’ participation in school affairs, the study found that different forms of participation were being encouraged, with each school apparently socialising students to distinctive kinds of citizenship roles. The paper highlights a conflict between democratic values and traditional roles of schools leading to new and hybrid school cultures. Providing scope for student voice to be heard can lead to tensions and paradoxical practices.
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Abstract This paper examines the distinctive locus of teacher education in Northern Ireland (NI) in respect of Fundamental British Values (FBV). It is written from the perspective of teacher education tutors in a PGCE programme that... more
Abstract This paper examines the distinctive locus of teacher education in Northern Ireland (NI) in respect of Fundamental British Values (FBV). It is written from the perspective of teacher education tutors in a PGCE programme that explicitly subscribes to pursuing the Shared Future agenda as outlined by NI Government policy in 2005. First, it establishes the inappropriateness of pursuing an FBV agenda in NI where the historical and contemporary context has been characterised by division expressed through opposing British and Irish identities; and, emerging from conflict where future political progress requires greater accommodation between these two often hostile positions. Second, using data from a previous Teaching and Learning Research Programme study (2005) on Values in Teacher Education as an indicator of student teacher social and political attitudes, it draws on later NI census (2011) and Life and Times Survey data (2005 and 2008) to identify the challenges and opportunities facing teacher educators wishing to encourage a more nuanced awareness among student teachers as to how identity issues impact on education. Finally, one teacher education initiative designed for this purpose is examined and its approaches offered as a means that Initial Teacher Education might contribute to producing teachers better equipped to contribute to a more accommodating society in NI in the future.
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Teaching history in a society that has experienced violent and on-going conflict, at least partially as a consequence of contested views of national identity, presents significant challenges for educators. This is particularly true in... more
Teaching history in a society that has experienced violent and on-going conflict, at least partially as a consequence of contested views of national identity, presents significant challenges for educators. This is particularly true in Northern Ireland, where the continued existence of two parallel educational systems often has been implicated in the perpetuation of community divisions, and where new directions in education are regularly promoted as important contributors to peace and reconciliation (Murray, Smith and Birthistle, 1997). This chapter examines the role of formal history instruction in Northern Ireland schools and points to some of the ways history teaching may help to overcome — or perpetuate — perceptions of community antagonism rooted in the past. In particular, we explore whether an emphasis on evidence-based inquiry and the avoidance of questions of identity, provides the most appropriate balance of historical approaches in a setting such as Northern Ireland.
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The chapter compares and contrasts the teaching of controversial and sensitive issues in the fields of History and Citizenship and identifies core principles of practice.
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This paper examines the response of the history curriculum, and history teaching, in Northern Ireland to the challenges posed by conflict, and post conflict reconciliation in the period, 1968-2001 and discusses the implications for other... more
This paper examines the response of the history curriculum, and history teaching, in Northern Ireland to the challenges posed by conflict, and post conflict reconciliation in the period, 1968-2001 and discusses the implications for other vsocieties emerging from conflict.
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The chapter provides a general overview of the Northern Ireland situation from both geographical and historical perspectives. It is designed for sixth form students in the Far East and Australia
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This chapter examines the principles underpinning the handling of controversial issues in the social studies programme developed by the Schools Cultural Studies project at the New University of Ulster and then applies these to the... more
This chapter examines the principles underpinning the handling of controversial issues in the social studies programme developed by the Schools Cultural Studies project at the New University of Ulster and then applies these to the teaching of Irish history.
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The chapter examines the role for history teaching in societies in, or emerging from, conflict. Practice and research in Northern Ireland is positioned alongside experience from other areas of conflict. Principles of practice are... more
The chapter examines the role for history teaching in societies in, or emerging from, conflict. Practice and research in Northern Ireland is positioned alongside experience from other areas of conflict. Principles of practice are identified and the specific part history education might play in dealing with the recent past is explored.
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Research Interests: History and Curriculum
Beginning teachers in Northern Ireland and the United States conducted structured inquiry projects in which they investigated elementary children’s understanding of history and social studies. Interviews with the teachers and analysis of... more
Beginning teachers in Northern Ireland and the United States conducted structured inquiry projects in which they investigated elementary children’s understanding of history and social studies. Interviews with the teachers and analysis of their written assignments indicate that these investigations challenged their beliefs about children’s prior knowledge and their own instructional techniques. Teachers initially believed that inadequate cognitive development and lack of background knowledge limited children’s ability to understand history and social studies; however, after taking part in these projects, they developed a new appreciation for children’s prior ideas and a clearer commitment to their own role in building on that knowledge. These findings suggest that structured investigations, focused on specific disciplinary content, have the potential to encourage beginning teachers’ reflection on their students’ cognition and to enhance their own sense of professional responsibility.
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The chapter provides a comparative critique of the current role of history teaching on the island of Ireland in the context of changing political relationships as a consequence of the Irish peace process and the rapidly expanding impact... more
The chapter provides a comparative critique of the current role of history teaching on the island of Ireland in the context of changing political relationships as a consequence of the Irish peace process and the rapidly expanding impact of globalisation.Initially, it examines the vacillations in the relationship between history teaching, north and south over the last 150 years. It traces this, first, through its common origins under British rule, then the abrupt divergence caused by partition and, latterly, the influence of internal and international political, economic and cultural change which has brought history education back toward a common educational purpose. The chapter then explores the potential for history teaching to contribute to transformative thinking amongst young people. It concludes that this can only occur when issues of national and global identity are directly problematized and history’s relationship with citizenship education is more effectively articulated through practice.