ABSTRACT
Researchers interested in students’ historical understandings have expressed interest in the ways in which one’s identity can shape a person’s interpretations of history. L. S. Levstik argues that research on students’ historical thinking should always include questions of identity: Making sense out of history— perhaps especially national history— can never be a simple task. Students in the same group sometimes interpreted their timeline in different ways due, in part, to their ethnic identifications. In addition, some students drew on more than one narrative template to locate themselves in the history of the nation. At first blush, the debate over the planned reenactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham appears to be solely a matter of differing perspectives on the significance of an historical event; a matter best left to historians to sort out. However, embroiled within this debate are issues directly related to identity, citizenship and belonging.
