ABOUT THE BOOK The book is entitled History Wars and 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)). ENDORSEMENTS: "An important collection for anyone seeking to
understand the incendiary nature of the history curriculum across the
globe." Sam Wineburg, Margaret Jacks Professor of Education and History,
Stanford University, USA. "A powerfully and impressively wide-ranging
collection of essays, which vividly remind us that the debates on the
teaching of history are global rather than merely national". Sir David
Cannadine, Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University, USA.
CONTENTS: Acknowledgements. Introduction, Tony Taylor and Robert Guyver.
Preface Peter Seixas. Legacies, Ruptures and Inertias: History in the
Argentine School System, Maria Paula Gonzalez. Under Siege from Right
and Left: A Tale of the Australian School History Wars, Tony Taylor. "We
Were Allowed to Disagree, Because We Couldn't Agree on Anything"
Seventeen Voices in Canadian Debates over History Education, Ruth
Sandwell. Controversiality and Consciousness: Contemporary History
Education in Germany, Sylvia Semmet. Denial in the Classroom: Political
Origins of the Japanese Textbook Controversy, Tony Taylor. "Little Is
Taught or Learned in Schools" Debates over the Place of History in the
New Zealand School Curriculum. Mark Sheehan. Transforming Images of
Nation-Building: Ideology and Nationalism in History School Textbooks in
Putin's Russia, 2001-2010, Joseph Zajda. Dealing with a Reign of Virtue:
The Post-Apartheid South African School History Curriculum, Rob
Siebörger. The History Working Group and Beyond: A Case Study in the
UK's History Quarrels, Robert Guyver. Wars and Rumors of War: The
Rhetoric and Reality of History Education in the United States, Keith
Barton. About the Contributors...
