ABSTRACT
The relationship between history and identity is complex and often controversial. One of the key debates focuses on what should be taught. If history has a role to play in shaping a sense of national, regional and/or personal identity, then it appears logical to assume that the choice of content will affect the sense of identity being developed. To an extent this explains why the history curriculum is contentious in so many countries and why ‘history wars’ have been fought in so many different places to promote particular ways of looking at the national past. It is also important to recognise that identity is not fixed and that people have multiple identities, which makes the issue about what to teach more complex. The interplay between history and identity is also dynamic because our sense of who we are may shape how we interpret the history we are taught, but at the same time the history we are taught may shape who we are. The extracts in this chapter focus on the ways in which history does or could shape a young person’s view of themselves and the world in which they live.
