The field of education in America--oft-viewed as a catalyst for change and self-improvement--has a racist history, which is often undiscussed by teachers and likely unknown to students. This article guides high school students to explore how educational texts, tasks, and policies have been products and producers of racist ideas in the past and…

Although Asa Packer enjoyed much success in his life, both in terms of being an entrepreneur as well as a politician, not much is readily known about his politics and his views about government in general. By examining his life and various aspects of his career, this research effort is an attempt to highlight key events in his life to better…

In this article, the author details an undergraduate senior seminar titled "History and Literature," for which the main project was a close reading of a big book: Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (1862). Despite reservations about the style of the material, the "great books" approach to teaching, and the challenge of compelling…

In the 2020s, there are both societal and academic reasons to reflect on the field of history of education. In this article, we focus on the issue of the social, which remains central to the field as we acknowledge that society shapes education and education shapes society. By exploring the social on theoretical, methodological and broader…

"Why do people hate history classes?" That is a common question that the author, like countless other history instructors, poses to his students on the first day of class. From a recent survey of the author's "Introduction to Asian American History" course, which the author has taught at the University of California, Los…

Academic ballet is one of the iconic manifestations of High Culture. In Nineteenth-century Spain, it failed to take root in the form of stable companies, schools, and venues. There were various social, political, and cultural reasons for this, even though conditions at the time seemed propitious. Those reasons and conditions form the subject of…

This paper addresses the question of what role the historical discipline might play in informing the selection of substantive knowledge for school history curricula. In the process, it seeks to clarify the usefulness and limitations of Young's social realist theory of powerful knowledge in the case of school history. The paper proposes that…

Folklife, a type of inquiry that focuses on "ways of life" as its central lens, is constantly changing. Rather than focus on cultural loss or salvaging, folklife inquiry is more powerful when it is positioned to offer insights about human experience through the sharing of personal lived histories in safe and supportive environments. At…

The paper discusses the Finnish core curriculum (curriculum framework) for basic education, with focus on how lower secondary education in general, and history teaching specifically, is meant to develop the student's democratic citizenship. Developing the student's democratic citizenship is not an explicit aim of history teaching in the current…

Curricular battles within the United States are often simplified as ideological clashes between progressive and conservative forces. One notable example is the Harold Rugg textbook controversy of the 1930s. This case study discusses how historical-comparative case study methodology was used to evaluate the reliability of the popular narrative used…

African music educators have been on a journey of indigenization, closing the gap between community arts experiences and school arts. However, although African music educators have advocated for indigenizing the musical arts curriculum, entanglements in western colonial art education models hinder designing a thoughtful indigenous curriculum and…

This article explores how the Misak (Guambianos) from the Colombian southwest are revitalising their collective memory and militant politics in a nation that has historically prioritised its Spanish heritage. Through the analysis of twenty-month collaborative research conducted by three Misak University (MU) students and the article's author (a…

Digital humanities (DH) is one of the fastest-growing interdisciplinary fields, driven by rapid technological advancements. However, the majority of DH tools, databases, and methodologies have been developed primarily for research purposes, with comparatively few designed explicitly for teaching and learning. This study adopts an experimental…

The importance of storytelling in African American quilt heritage is critical to understanding the context in which these objects were and are created and the meaning this art has for the maker, their communities, and wider audiences. Quilts made by African American artists have been overlooked and misinterpreted by those who do not have access to…

Crises and emergencies are a common occurrence in higher education. In 2024 alone, college and university communities faced increased bomb threats and school shootings, protests and police violence, climate disasters, and more. These incidents, and countless others, have changed the fabric of higher education, including the very people and…