Controversial issues
The legacy of the past and its impact on the present, as well as the process of interpretation by which accounts of the past are constructed, mean that many topics studied in history may carry an emotional charge. Certain events or developments may have a particular relevance – or resonance – for some young people and their communities, but carry different overtones (or none at all) for others. This section contains advice and resources for teachers who are tackling potentially sensitive topics that may generate emotionally charged responses and explores the issues that may arise as topics studied in the classroom intersect with personal, family and community histories. The materials here will help teachers to reflect carefully on the appropriateness of their objectives and to develop effective teaching strategies for promoting sensitive and productive kinds of discussion, especially when both the past and its implications for the present are disputed. They highlight the risks involved and the ways in which they can be mitigated, and include guidance and advice related to the Prevent Strategy.
-
Teaching about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and events happening there
ArticleClick to view -
Decolonise, don’t diversify: enabling a paradigm shift in the KS3 history curriculum
ArticleClick to view -
Transatlantic slavery – shaping the question, lengthening the narrative, broadening the meaning
ArticleClick to view -
What Have Historians Been Arguing About... migration and empire
ArticleClick to view -
Moving Year 9 towards more complex causal explanations of Holocaust perpetration
ArticleClick to view -
Unravelling the complexity of the causes of British abolition with Year 8
ArticleClick to view -
What have historians been arguing about... decolonisation and the British Empire?
ArticleClick to view -
Family stories and global (hi)stories
ArticleClick to view -
Confronting conflicts: history teachers’ reactions to spontaneous controversial remarks
ArticleClick to view -
‘Its ultimate pattern was greater than its parts’
ArticleClick to view -
My journey to Bosnia: The Balkans Conflict 22 years on
Multipage ArticleClick to view -
‘It’s kind of like the geography part of history, isn’t it, Miss?’
ArticleClick to view -
Defying the ‘constrictive grip of typologies’
ArticleClick to view -
Attempting to reach the heart of the matter
ArticleClick to view -
The History of Afro-Brazilian People
ArticleClick to view -
History Teaching in Belarus: Between Europe and Russia
ArticleClick to view -
International Journal 14.2: Editorial review
ArticleClick to view -
International Journal 14.2: Editorial
ArticleClick to view -
Examining the Value of Teaching Sensitive Matters in History
ArticleClick to view -
From The Holocaust To Recent Mass Murders And Refugees
ArticleClick to view