ABSTRACT
Researchers have produced a great deal of significant and insightful research on teaching difficult histories in recent decades, but in order for the field to have an impact on practice, a more dynamic tradition is needed, one that moves beyond analyzing factors that inhibit controversy and suggests ways of overcoming those constraints. Such research would focus less on static portrayals of avoidance and resistance and more on understanding circumstances in which curricular, pedagogical, and cognitive changes can take place. In an applied field such as education, the goal of research must be to improve practice. This means asking questions about how change takes place, using research methods that elucidate change, and employing theoretical frameworks that explain change. Change (in curriculum, pedagogy, or cognition) may be less common than stasis, but studying change best enables us not only to contribute to academic knowledge but also to improve education.
