Students, history teachers and the national past. Research into students' and history teachers' representation of and beliefs about the national past: an exploration regarding context, methodology and strategy.

Shared knowledge of the past is considered to be important by Western governments since early 19th century. That shared knowledge is meant to serve citizenship and social cohesion (national unity through national identity). History education is thereby considered as an important vehicle. This research project has three main aims: 1) Content-related aim: what are the reference knowledge, basic narratives and beliefs on national history among students and history teachers? 2) Methodological aim: exploration of different approaches in data gathering (essay assignments, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews) and data processing (grounded theory approach with the help of QSR NVivo) 3) Strategic aim: gain know-how with a view to (participation in) international comparative research project applications. Participants in the study are ca 130 undergraduate students (first academic bachelors in history) and 20 history teachers.

Keywords:National past, History education, Narratives, Representation, Beliefs, Students, History teachers

Disciplines:Education curriculum, Education systems, General pedagogical and educational sciences, Specialist studies in education, Other pedagogical and educational sciences