Introduction

Disciplinary approaches to research in history education have framed the concept of history as that which is practiced by professional historians; within this framework, the immediate aim of history education is to develop young people’s understanding of the nature of history as an academic discipline. Since the beginning of the 21st century, sociocultural approaches to research in history education have proliferated. The approach examines how political, social and cultural contexts influence the historical narratives produced by national, subnational or transnational communities. Historical consciousness is a framework used primarily in parts of Europe. A critical sociocultural framework also contributes to a sociocultural framework through its criticality: It is grounded in the assumption that all historical narratives are embedded in asymmetrical power relations at classroom, community and national levels. It is within a critical sociocultural framework that the concept of difficult histories fruitfully can be explored.