Teaching and Learning Difficult Histories in International Contexts: A Critical Sociocultural Approach (Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education)

Grounded in a critical sociocultural approach, this volume examines issues associated with teaching and learning difficult histories in international contexts. Defined as representations of past violence and oppression, difficult histories are contested and can evoke emotional, often painful, responses in the present. Teaching and learning these histories is contentious yet necessary for increased dialogue within conflict-ridden societies, reconciliation in post-conflict societies, and greater social cohesion in long-standing democratic nations. Focusing on locations and populations across the globe, chapter authors investigate how key themes―including culture, identity, collective memory, emotion, and multi-perspectivity, historical consciousness, distance, and amnesia―inform the teaching and learning of difficult histories.

Terrie Epstein is Professor of Education at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA.

Carla L. Peck is Associate Professor of Social Studies Education in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta, Canada.