Students’ prejudice as a teaching challenge: How European history educators deal with controversial and sensitive issues in a climate of political polarization

Abstract

ABSTRACT Growing polarization in European societies has changed not only political landscapes but also public debates about the past, which has, in turn, had an impact on the way history is taught and talked about in schools. This article explores how these trends are experienced by history educators across Europe and asks which issues history educators perceive to be controversial and sensitive and how they approach the prejudices they frequently encounter when addressing controversial and sensitive issues. Based on focus group discussions with 33 participants from 25 European countries, the article identifies three different forms of prejudice and describes how the focus group participants tried to undermine nationalism, counter xenophobia and fight anti-Semitism. Interpreted from a practice theory perspective, the examples shared by the focus group participants indicate that teaching strategies from the disciplinary approach “toolbox” can help to undermine nationalist stereotypical thinking if they are fine-tuned to the interests and emotions of the learning group and that history teaching routines shaped by the disciplinary approach need to be interrupted on occasion in order to reflect on and deconstruct xenophobic or anti-Semitic prejudice. Overall, the article argues that history teachers need to be aware of the affective dimension of historical learning, including underlying or open prejudices held by students, in order to support the teaching of democratic education goals such as respect and openness to cultural otherness.