Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

United Kingdom

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Conflict and History Education in the Post-Cold War Era

  • 528 Accesses

Abstract

Haydn explores the transformation of history education in the UK, from an uncontested body of knowledge about the nation’s past to alternative models of history as espoused by the ‘Humanities Curriculum Project’, among others. The existence of two contrasting models of school history marked the outbreak of a ‘history war’ in the UK. The ensuing curriculum of 1991 represented an uneasy compromise between the ‘great tradition’ mode of education and components borrowed from ‘the new history’ approaches. However, the proposed changes circulated under the Conservative government in 2013 led to widespread condemnation among the history-teaching public. This debate highlights the stark divergence in opinion between governing politicians and history education professionals as to what the aims, content and form of history education should be.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    R. Phillips, History Teaching, Nationhood and the State: a Study in Educational Politics (London: Continuum, 1998); D. Sylvester, ‘Change and Continuity in History Teaching 1900–93’. In Teaching History, ed. H. Bourdillon, 9–23 (London: Routledge, 1994); J. Keating and N. Sheldon, ‘History in Education: Trends and Themes in History Teaching, 1900–2010’. In Debates in History Teaching, ed. I. Davies, 5–17 (London: Routledge, 2011).

  2. 2.

    R. Phillips, History Teaching, Nationhood and the State, 1.

  3. 3.

    M. Price, ‘History in Danger’, History 53 (1968), 342–347.

  4. 4.

    L. Stenhouse, ‘The Humanities Curriculum Project’, Journal of Curriculum Studies 1 (1968) 1, 26–33.

  5. 5.

    ‘Draft: National Curriculum for History’, 7 February 2013, accessed 29 May 2017, https://www.history.org.uk/ha-news/news/1715.

  6. 6.

    T. Haydn, ‘Secondary History: Current Themes’. In Debates in History Teaching, ed. I. Davies, 30–45 (London: Routledge, 2011).

  7. 7.

    J. Eales, ‘The Historical Association’s Response to the Draft National Curriculum’, last modified 24 May 2013, accessed 29 May 2017, http://www.consider-ed.org.uk/historical-associations-response-to-the-draft-national-curriculum/.

  8. 8.

    Department for Education, ‘National Curriculum in England: History Programmes of Study’, last modified 11 September 2013, accessed 29 May 2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-history-programmes-of-study.

  9. 9.

    M. Gove, ‘Children to Learn Poetry by Heart in Tory Return to “Traditional” School Lessons’, The Times 6 (2010) March.

  10. 10.

    M. Gove, ‘Speech to the Conservative Party Conference’, 7 October 2009, accessed 29 May 2017, http://conservative-speeches.sayit.mysociety.org/speech/601288.

  11. 11.

    C. Hake and T. Haydn, ‘Stories or Sources?’, Teaching History 78 (1995), 20–22.

  12. 12.

    I. Davies, Debates in History Teaching.

  13. 13.

    The Historical Association, The T.E.A.C.H. Report: Teaching Emotive and Controversial History, 3–19 (London: Historical Association, 2007).

  14. 14.

    P. Lee and R. Ashby, ‘Progression in Historical Understanding among Students Ages 7–14’. In Teaching, Knowing and Learning History, ed. P. Seixas et al., 1999–222 (New York: New York University Press, 2000).

  15. 15.

    P. Lee, ‘Learning the Right Stories or Learning History: Developments in History Education in England’, Newsletter of the Organisation of American Historians 27 (1999).

  16. 16.

    N. Ferguson, ‘Reduced to Odds and Sods’, Guardian Education, 29 March 2011; S. Schama, ‘My Vision for History in Schools’, Guardian, 9 November 2010.

  17. 17.

    R. Evans, ‘The Wonderfulness of Us’, London Review of Books 33 (2011) 6, 9–12.

  18. 18.

    S. Schama, ‘My Vision for History in Schools’.

  19. 19.

    Office for Standards in Education, History in the Balance (London: Ofsted, 2007).

  20. 20.

    See ‘History Curriculum Newsprint and BBC Debates’ for a more developed and detailed account of public debate on the history curriculum 2013–2014, accessed 29 May 2017, http://historyworks.tv/news/2013/06/04/history_curriculum_debate_updates_new_bbc_r3_night/.

  21. 21.

    N. Robinson, ‘Michael Gove—Battling “The Blob”’, BBC News, 3 February 2014, accessed 29 May 2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26008962.

  22. 22.

    Gove, M., ‘I Refuse to Surrender to the Marxist Teachers Hell-bent on Destroying our Schools: Education Secretary Berates “the New Enemies of Promise” for Opposing his Plans’, The Daily Mail, 23 March 2013, accessed 29 May 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2298146/I-refuse-surrender-Marxist-teachers-hell-bent-destroying-schools-Education-Secretary-berates-new-enemies-promise-opposing-plans.html.

Further Reading

  • Aldrich, R. ‘Class and Gender in the Study and Teaching of History in England in the Twentieth Century’. Historical Studies in Education 1 (1989) 1, 119–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannadine, D., J. Keating and N. Sheldon. The Right Kind of History: Teaching the Past in Twentieth-Century England. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, I., ed. Debates in History Teaching. 2nd edn. London: Routledge, 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haydn, T. ‘History Teaching in the United Kingdom’. In Facing – Mapping – Bridging Diversity: Foundation of a European Discourse on History Education, edited by E. Erdmann and D. Hasberg, 319–343. Schwalbach/Ts.: Wochenschau Verlag, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haydn, T. ‘Longing for the Past: Politicians and the History Curriculum in English Schools, 1988–2010’. Journal of Education, Media, Memory and Society 4 (2012) 1, 7–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, P. ‘From National Canon to Historical Literacy’. In Beyond the Canon: History for the Twenty-First Century, edited by M. Grever and S. Stuurman, 48–62. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, P. ‘Historical Knowledge and the National Curriculum’. In History in the National Curriculum, edited by R. Aldrich. London: Kogan Page, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office for Standards in Education. History in the Balance. History in English schools 2003–07. London: Ofsted, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shemilt, D. ‘“Drinking an Ocean and Pissing a Cupful”: How Adolescents Make Sense of History’. In The Problem of the Canon and the Future of Teaching History, edited by L. Symcox and A. Wilschut, 141–210. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater, J. The Politics of History Teaching: A Humanity Dehumanised? London: Institute of Education, University of London, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tosh, J. Why History Matters. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  • A collection of quotations about school history in the United Kingdom can be found here: ‘The purposes of school history’, accessed 29 May 2017, http://www.uea.ac.uk/~m242/historypgce/purposes/purposesquotesintro.htm.

  • The current national curriculum for history can be accessed at: ‘National curriculum in England: History programmes of study’, accessed 29 May 2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-history-programmes-of-study.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Modern History and History Didactics, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy

    Terry Haydn

Authors
  1. Terry Haydn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Terry Haydn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Modern History and History Didactics, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy

    Luigi Cajani

  2. German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, USA

    Simone Lässig

  3. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Maria Repoussi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Haydn, T. (2019). United Kingdom. In: Cajani, L., Lässig, S., Repoussi, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Conflict and History Education in the Post-Cold War Era. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05722-0_54

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05722-0_54

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05721-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05722-0

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation