In 2009, the newspaper El Norte de Castilla published an interview with the recently deceased Fernando García de Cortázar , in which he presented his book Little history of the world , aimed at children. In it, the historian affirmed: “The disinterest in history exists because it has been told badly.” The Bilbao historian was right: history is told (and taught) badly because, traditionally, […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: history

Who are the protagonists of the story we teach?

History made the world we live in: here’s what you’ll learn if you choose it in years 11 and 12
History is for students curious about the world. It involves discovery, evaluation and imagination. Around 40% of Australian senior students chose to study year 11 and 12 history in 2016. It was more popular than other humanities subjects such as geography and psychology and more girls chose to enrol (23%) than boys (18%). Here’s what you need […] … learn more→

History is not learned with dates and feats: students do not know the past
History is a subject that is often put at the center of political and identity debates. However, despite the numerous educational reforms that have taken place in Spain, the law changes, but the contents contained in the successive decrees are repeated almost unchanged. This mantra character alludes to deep roots that are difficult to remove. And it […] … learn more→

History’s confinement to older universities must not be repeated
Like many people of my generation, I was the first person in my family to earn a degree. The son of a pastry cook and a dressmaker from Cyprus, I was born in London but I couldn’t speak English when I began school in 1967. Still, by the time I took my A levels 14 […] … learn more→

How history textbooks will deal with the US Capitol attack
How soon can we expect this attack to be included in history textbooks? Wendy L. Wall, professor of 20th-century American history at Binghamton University The unprecedented nature of this attack, combined with the widespread sense that it marks a historical turning point, ensures that it will appear in textbooks as soon as publishing turnaround times allow. In […] … learn more→

‘I spoke about Dreamtime, I ticked a box’: teachers say they lack confidence to teach Indigenous perspectives
The Australian government has allocated tens of millions of dollars to commemorate the anniversary of Cook’s voyage to the South Pacific and Australia in 1770. Though several events have now been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, others will take place online. This could also be an opportunity for teachers to disrupt the same white-washed versions of […] … learn more→

Don’t despair if your teen wants to major in history instead of science
It might be your worst nightmare. Your child, sitting at the kitchen table, slides you a brochure from the local university. “I’ve been thinking of majoring in history.” Before you panic and begin calling the nearest computer science department, or worse, begin to crack those tired barista jokes, hear me out. This might just be […] … learn more→

The importance of teaching history for the future of students
When we talk about historical research, several concepts such as the past, history and a series of images and notions about what, supposedly, happened long ago, come to mind. This linear, rigid, objective and monolithic perception of history that is often confused with the past is the introduction to this article. And we say this since the past is not understood […] … learn more→

I was an expert witness against a teacher who taught students to question the Holocaust
When I first set out to research how the Holocaust was being depicted in textbooks in New Jersey’s public schools, my hope was to see what students were being taught about the systematic state-sponsored killingof 6 million Jewish men, women and and children. I never imagined that my work would lead me to serve as a witness against […] … learn more→

3 things schools should teach about America’s history of white supremacy
When it comes to how deeply embedded racism is in American society, blacks and whites have sharply different views. For instance, 70 percent of whites believe that individual discrimination is a bigger problem than discrimination built into the nation’s laws and institutions. Only 48 percent of blacks believe that is true. Many blacks and whites also fail […] … learn more→