Abstract
Much of the concern with young people's historical knowledge centres on factual attainment or disciplinary skills. However, relatively little attention is paid to the relevance that young people attribute to history and how they use the past, and various social representations of history, to relate to the present. Research in this realm tends to emphasize the impact of collective memory narratives on individuals, rather than individuals' agency in using them. In this article, I will examine the ways 155 Jewish and Arab Israeli adolescents related the past to the present as they discussed the Jewish–Arab conflict and its resolution. Discussants made diverse references to the past: from family history, via biblical allusions and collective memories, to formal, schooling-based historical documents. Individuals used these references to the past to negotiate the present and future of inter-group relations. Furthermore, they made strategic use of references to others' narratives. Thus historical knowledge and collective narratives, which are usually perceived as constraining and structuring learners' perceptions, can be seen as repositories of resources and affordances.
Highlights
Much of the concern with young people’s historical knowledge centres on factual attainment or disciplinary skills
This tendency is more pronounced among minorities (Clark, 2016; Conrad et al, 2013; Rosenzweig and Thelen, 1998). Even when they do not ‘get the facts right’, individuals have an essential need to use history or narratives of the past to discuss the past and engage with the present (Barton, 2009). These narratives stem from social representations of the past, transmitting collective memory in ways that are oriented to present interests and collective needs in increasingly diverse and dialogic ways (Halbwachs, 1992; Olick, 2008)
When using the past to engage with the present, for example to make sense of the news, learners might make use of their classroom history and be influenced by teachers’ perspectives on the relationship of history to the present (Mosborg, 2002). They may draw on a host of other ‘useful pasts’ to cope with current social problems, especially those whose roots are still alive in collective memory (Goldberg et al, 2008)
Summary
Much of the concern with young people’s historical knowledge centres on factual attainment or disciplinary skills. Discussants made diverse references to the past: from family history, via biblical allusions and collective memories, to formal, schooling-based historical documents Individuals used these references to the past to negotiate the present and future of inter-group relations. When using the past to engage with the present, for example to make sense of the news, learners might make use of their classroom history and be influenced by teachers’ perspectives on the relationship of history to the present (Mosborg, 2002) They may draw on a host of other ‘useful pasts’ to cope with current social problems, especially those whose roots are still alive in collective memory (Goldberg et al, 2008). This may be especially true when young people try to explain the causes of an ongoing inter-group conflict and deliberate over the way to solve it
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