ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out an overview of the existing literature in the field of history education. It focuses on England, but makes reference to history education in the United States, Canada, Australia and Denmark among others. The chapter firstly sets out four categories of history education research, including the literature defining to the purpose of school history, explorations into the practice of history education, political or historical approaches to researching history education and finally research into history teachers. The chapter then goes on to cover contemporary debates in history education, from concerns over the fostering of national identity in the history classroom to debates over the place of substantive and disciplinary knowledge in the history classroom. An overview is provided of existing literature on history teachers and the experience of teaching history, including some comparison with American literature on this topic. There is a consideration of existing literature on the history of history education in England. Finally, literature on how teachers have enacted curriculum and policy is explored and summarised.
