Constructing Inclusive Citizenship: Fundamental, Cultural and Religious Rights Narratives in History Textbooks Taught in Elite Schools in Pakistan

Abstract

Given the crucial role of history education in shaping civic identity, this study investigates citizenship rights perspectives constructed in the history textbooks of elite private schools in Pakistan. Following Gagnon and Pagé’s analytical model, this study adopts a qualitative content analysis to probe fundamental rights, cultural rights, religious rights, and related concepts within textbooks. The findings highlight problematic silences, selective narratives, and externally imposed frameworks on rights issues. Deterministic and politically skewed historical accounts impede the development of critical faculties and introspection, which are essential for engaged democratic citizenship. This study has notable implications for reforming unbalanced curricula and decolonizing history teaching toward the objectives of citizenship education, such as educating future citizens to contribute to a peaceful, just, inclusive, and democratic society in Pakistan. The paper not only presents its findings but also looks at what the findings entail for the development of inclusive citizenship education.