Jun 21, 2013

history education and national identities ( mario carretero )

i feel one of the influential experience by the choice of my analysis interests is how having been taught school history when having been an adolescent. having been born in morocco where i lived till having been seventeen. when i later moved to spain, i encountered the very same influential 800 year muslim heritage by the iberian peninsula that was presented utilizing a rather negative and distorted fashion in spanish schools. this discovery surprised me and led me to contemplate history education currently being a fascinating topic. i recently gave a lecture for this topic at stanford university, where i presented my ideas relating out to the relationship between history education and national identities. 
my current analysis project proposes a comparative study of history education in 3 latin american countries ( argentina, brazil, mexico ) and spain, and its relationship onto the construction of national identities in these societies. 
a comparison of history education in spain and latin american countries reveals a fascinating array of experiences. i had another terribly influential personal educational experience the initial time i observed patriotic rituals in argentina and mexico replete with historical content that influenced each teachers and students from 6 to 18 years recent. currently being a matter of truth, the sort of ritual isn't terribly differ activities performed at several schools and historical sites in different elements as to firmly the world, despite the fact that the latin american ones are typically terribly traditional. surprisingly, the sort of activity which is certainly each educational and historical doesn't exist in spain, where they actually could be thought of rather authoritarian and virtually fascist educational practices. i've developed my ideas for this topic inside my bookconstructing patriotism : teaching history and memories in world worlds ( info age publishing, 2011 ), where i present my analysis by the relationship between patriotism and history education in numerous countries. 
i feel that in an effort to study this relationship it's essential to get into account that since its inception in school curriculum within the whole late 19th century, history education has served 2 terribly totally different purposes. by the one hand, it really has served to kind and sustain a cohesive sense of national identity and affiliation within the whole voters as to firmly the nation-states. by the different hand, it really has served to foster in voters a vital understanding with the society’s past and present. 
this opens a number of latest problems and queries for analysis and follow. will these 2 goals of history education coexist productively ? how do folks negotiate the competing demands of faithfully loving their country and developing a vital understanding of history ? how do people’s understandings as to firmly the totally different narratives inform their understandings with the civic roles and responsibilities utilizing a multicultural and globalized society ? 
it is considerable to inspect how history education resources and practices communicate totally different historical narratives ( dominant and different ) ; what's their affects students’ understanding with the society’s past and present, and onto their sense of civic identity and agency ? i've recently printed, with mikel ascensio and maría rodríguez-moneo, a comparative study of them problems inhistory education and of course the construction of national identities ( info age publishing, 2012 ) that includes perspectives of researchers from canada, france, germany, usa, and different countries.