This article examines the gaps in relation to the Sámi people and the colonization of Sápmi (Sámi homeland) in Finnish history textbooks. In the Finnish school system, there is very little knowledge ...about the Sámi and the colonization of Sápmi. The article uses the concept of the absent curriculum in order to highlight the gaps in history textbooks. The absent curriculum refers to topics and themes that could have, but have not, been included in the curriculum. Using discourse analysis, the article analyses two different time periods described in textbooks: the 19th and 20th centuries as well as prehistory. The results show that colonialist interventions in Sápmi are not conceptually tied to colonialism in the textbooks, even though some textbooks include descriptions of Finnish assimilationist acts in Sápmi. As regards to prehistory, the textbooks vary in their descriptions of the Sámi: some textbooks clearly define them as a distinct indigenous people, whereas others do not mention them at all. Finally, this article proposes some improvements that could enhance the inclusion of Sámi and colonization of Sápmi in history textbooks.
History as a school subject relates to cultural heritage in a specific way because the remnants of tangible and intangible culture are, in fact, historical sources. As historical sources, they can be ...used to analyse and practice historical skills. This paper compares the position of heritage in the old curriculum and the new curriculum and shows how these differences are presented in history textbooks for primary school.
Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States is a polarizing historical survey that has become a common subject of social studies curricular battles. This mixed methods study uses survey ...data and interviews with teachers who frequently assign the book to understand who uses this text and why. Findings reveal that the text has functional, pedagogical, and political appeal for teachers who are committed to including multiple perspectives and critiquing historical narratives. That these teachers are not primarily animated by Zinn’s intention for the text to inspire students’ participation in social movements should undermine critics’ fears of indoctrination and sloppy history teaching, but may disappoint supporters of the text hoping for more critical pedagogical motivations.
This book tells the story of humankind as producers and reproducers from the Paleolithic to the present. Renowned social and cultural historian Merry Wiesner-Hanks brings a new perspective to world ...history by examining social and cultural developments across the globe, including families and kin groups, social and gender hierarchies, sexuality, race and ethnicity, labor, religion, consumption, and material culture. She examines how these structures and activities changed over time through local processes and interactions with other cultures, highlighting key developments that defined particular eras such as the growth of cities or the creation of a global trading network. Incorporating foragers, farmers and factory workers along with shamans, scribes and secretaries, the book widens and lengthens human history. It makes comparisons and generalizations, but also notes diversities and particularities, as it examines the social and cultural matters that are at the heart of big questions in world history today.
Throughout Turkey's geography, migration has been an immutable reality and an essential part of its presence. Anatolia, the geography of civilizations shaped by migration, has not only been the ...destination of migration but also the path of migration. It has contributed along with the push and pull factors for migration movements at different times. The concepts of migration have become more prominent in academic literature, especially after the Syrian Civil War outbreak in March 2011. The prerequisite for living in peace with millions of refugees, who were supposed to be guests at first, but now seems permanent in our country, is to eliminate xenophobia. Xenophobia can only be combated with an essential humanistic attitude, which politics must support. Education is the most important means of achieving this humanistic attitude, and teaching history is one of the most appropriate subjects for eliminating xenophobia in education, which can help build a culture of coexistence. Therefore, the historicity of migration that is equated equating the historicity of migration with the history of humanity and representing migration with an emphasis on the humanistic side of it in history textbooks could be constructive ways to combat xenophobia and promote a healthy community life through education. The aim of this study is to analyze the level of representation of migration and relevant concepts in 2018 and 2019 compulsory high school history textbooks published by the MoNE (The Turkish Ministry of National Education). Based on this study's findings, it is recommended to improve the quality and quantity of the representation of migration and relevant concepts in the history textbooks for the youth to develop a sense of empathy with migrants on the threshold of adulthood.
This study explores and compares the ways in which indigenous peoples are depicted in current secondary school history textbooks in Brazil and Norway. This study seeks to show both convergence and ...divergence in narrative patterns by employing qualitative data analysis. Convergence is found, in particular, in: the mandatory inclusion of the topic of indigenous peoples in national curricula; school textbooks describe these groups as homogeneous groups and ethnic minorities that still suffer discrimination and exclusion. Regarding divergence, we highlight that: the definition of indigenous peoples is context dependent. In Brazil, textbooks are explicit regarding violence, while the Norwegian ones provide minimal descriptions of it; in Brazilian textbooks, indigenous peoples are depicted as part of the Brazilian society, both victims and agents of their destiny, while the Norwegian ones depicted them as “the other” and focused on their victimization. The article reflects on the social implications of these narrative patterns for these groups.
The development of acculturation of Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic cultures in Indonesia is studied as a part of Indonesian national historical textbooks. In order to understand and discover the ...elements of acculturation in historical events, this study is conducted based on the historical textbook theory and cultural acculturation theory. This study is aimed at finding the relationship and values in historical education. Critical discourse analysis is used as a method of analysis to unveil the acculturation values contained on history textbooks in schools. Hence, the study results showed that there is a relation between textual study of history textbooks and the acculturation of Hindu, Buddha and Islam culture.
While decades of scholarship demonstrate that U.S. history textbooks have incrementally told a fuller story of U.S. history, our review of nine prominent high school history textbooks illustrates how ...these texts perpetuate systemic racism and uphold the socially constructed centering of whiteness. Those contemporary textbooks' accounts of 13 unjust government actions directed against different minoritized groups reveal three narrative strategies that continue to displace systemic racism from the nation's narrative: omitting refuses to acknowledge the existence of unjust actions; minimizing reduces the pernicious effects of those actions; and severing disconnects those actions from governmental culpability. We conclude with recommendations for how textbook creators might work against the systemic racism that has permeated the collective memory of the U.S..
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