Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

History is the most contested of curricular subjects in all western democratic states. This article begins by setting out competing models of a history curriculum highlighting the shifting trends that have taken place in different types of schools in England in recent years. The different models of a history curriculum are critiqued from the dual perspectives that underpin social justice, namely, redistribution and recognition. In identifying different priorities in school history, this article draws from two small-scale empirical research projects which elicited the perspectives of different groups of teenage school students towards history, and included students based in multi-ethnic schools as well as those in largely white, homogenous, schools in more deprived areas. An inclusive, multi-perspective and dynamic approach towards history curriculum development is offered as a way forward for addressing issues of social justice within a history curriculum.

Keywords

disciplinary history history curriculum social justice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahonen

(2005) Historical consciousness: a viable paradigm for history education? Journal of Curriculum Studies 37: 697–708.

Barton

McCully

(2005) Learning history and inheriting the past: the interaction of school and community perspectives in Northern Ireland. International Journal of History Learning, Teaching, and Research 5: 41–49.

Boyle

Charles

(2011) Education in a multicultural environment: equity issues in teaching and learning in the school system in England. International Studies in Sociology of Education 21(4): 299–314.

Burn

(2014) Teaching History 156: HA Secondary News. London: Historical Association.

Burn

Harris

(2011) Survey of History in Schools in England 2011. London: Historical Association.

Burn

Harris

(2013) Survey of History in Schools in England 2013. London: Historical Association.

Christian

(2005) Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. London: University of California Press.

Clegg

(2010) Speech on social mobility, London, 18 August. Available at: http://www.libdems.org.uk/nick_clegg_delivers_speech_on_social_mobility (accessed 20 April 2015).

Counsell

(2011) Disciplinary knowledge for all, the secondary school curriculum and history teachers’ achievement. The Curriculum Journal 22(2): 201–225.

10.

Culpin

(2006) Keynote address to HTEN conference annual conference of the History Teacher Education Network, Liverpool, July.

11.

Cultural Learning Alliance (2013) Cultural Learning Alliance. Available at: http://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/userfiles/files/CLA_Arts_GCSEs_research_2013.pdf (accessed 20 April 2015).

12.

Davies

Hughes

(2009) The fractured arms of government and the premature end of lifelong learning. Journal of Education Policy 24(5): 595–610.

13.

Department for Education (2014a) School and College-Level Strategies to Raise Aspirations of High-Achieving Disadvantaged Pupils to Pursue Higher Education. London: Department for Education.

14.

Department for Education (2014b) The National Curriculum in England: Key Stages 3 and 4 Framework Document. London: Department for Education.

15.

Evans

(2012) 1066 and all that. New Statesman, 23 January. Available at: http://www.newstatesman.com/education/2012/01/british-history-schools (accessed 24 September 2014).

16.

Fraser

(1995) From redistribution to recognition? Dilemmas of justice in a ‘post-socialist’ age. New Left Review, July–August, 68–93.

17.

Fraser

Honneth

(2003) Redistribution or Recognition: A Political-Philosophical Exchange. London: Verso.

18.

Gove

(2010) All pupils will learn our Island story. Conservatives, 5 October. Available at: http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2010/10/Michael_Gove_All_pupils_will_learn_our_island_story.aspx (accessed 24 September 2014).

19.

Grever

Stuurman

(2007) Beyond the Canon: History for the 21st Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

20.

Grever

Haydn

Ribbens

(2008) Identity and school history: the perspectives of young people from the Netherlands and England. British Journal of Educational Studies 56(1): 76–94.

21.

Grever

Pelzer

Haydn

(2011) High school students’ views on history. Journal of Curriculum Studies 43(2): 207–229.

22.

Harris

Burn

(2011) Curriculum theory, curriculum policy and the problem of ill-disciplined thinking. Journal of Education Policy 26(2): 245–261.

23.

Harris

Haydn

(2009) ‘30% is not bad considering’: factors influencing pupil take up of history post Key Stage 3: an exploratory enquiry. Teaching History 134: 27–36.

24.

Hawkey

(2007) ‘Could You Just Tell Us the Story?’ Pedagogical approaches to introducing narrative in history classes. Curriculum Inquiry 37(3): 263–277.

25.

Hawkey

(2012) History and super diversity. Educational Sciences 2: 165–179.

26.

Hawkey

Prior

(2011) History, memory cultures and meaning in the classroom. Journal of Curriculum Studies 43(2): 231–247.

27.

Haydn

Harris

(2010) Pupil perspectives on the purposes and benefits of studying history in high school: a view from the UK. Journal of Curriculum Studies 42(2): 241–261.

28.

Historical Association (2009) Teaching History 135: To They or Not To They. London: Historical Association.

29.

Hunt

(2011) If we have no History, we have no Future. The Observer, 28 August. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/28/tristram-hunt-history-teaching-schools (accessed on 20 April 2015).

30.

Jones

(2012) Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class. London: Verso.

31.

Klein

(2000) On the emergence of memory in historical discourse. Representations 69(1): 127–150.

32.

Mansell

(2010) BTECs lead the chase. Times Educational Supplement, 27 August. Available at: https://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6055947 (accessed 20 April 2015).

33.

Massey

(1991) More Than Skin Deep. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

34.

Milburn

(2009) Unleashing Aspirations: Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions. London: Cabinet Office. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/227102/fair-access.pdf (accessed 23 September 2014).

35.

Miliband

(2014) Hugo Young memorial lecture, 10 February. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2014/feb/10/ed-miliband-delivers-hugo-young-memorial-lecture-video

36.

Nicholls

(2004) Crisis in the classroom. History Today 54(8): 18–22.

37.

Ofsted (2003) The Key Stage 3 Strategy: Evaluation of the Second Year. London: Ofsted. Available at: http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/HMI%20518.pdf (accessed 20 April 2015).

38.

Ofsted (2007) History in the Balance: History in English Schools 2003–7. London: Ofsted. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141124154759/http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/history-balance (accessed 27 April 2015).

39.

Phillips

(1992) The battle for the big prize: school history and the national curriculum. Curriculum Journal 3(3): 245–260.

40.

Pickett

Wilkinson

(2009) The Spirit Level. London: Penguin.

41.

Price

(1968) History in danger. History 53(179): 342–347.

42.

QCA (2007) History: programme of study for key stage three and attainment target. Available at: http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/BAAA2085-2E7E-4B0F-B6B4-13F715630293/0/FW_HistoryNC.pdf (accessed 20 April 2015).

43.

QCA (2008) A big picture of the curriculum. Available at: www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/secondary/curriculum_design/aims/ (accessed 24 September 2014).

44.

Reay

(2012) What would a socially just education system look like? Saving the minnows from the pike. Journal of Educational Policy 27(5): 587–599.

45.

Rogers

(1979) The New History: Theory into Practice. London: The Historical Association.

46.

RSA (2014) Opening Minds. Available at: www.rsaopeningminds.org.uk/ (accessed 24 September 2014).

47.

Seixas

(2009) National history and beyond: An introduction. Journal of Curriculum Studies 41(6): 719–722.

48.

Sleeter

(2012) Confronting the marginalization of culturally responsive pedagogy. Urban Education 47: 562–584.

49.

White

(ed.) (2003) Rethinking the School Curriculum: Values, Aims and Purposes. London: Routledge.

50.

White

(2008) Middle-class subjects’ alienate deprived pupils’. The Guardian, 4 June. Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jun/04/schools.uk3 (accessed on 24 September 2014).

51.

Wineburg

(2001) Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

52.

Wineburg

(2007) Unnatural and essential: the nature of historical thinking. Teaching History 129: 6–12.

53.

Young

(2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education. London: Routledge.

Whose history is this anyway? Social justice and a history curriculum

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References