Divided Memories: Comparing History Textbooks

Comprehensive Unit165 pagesGrade Level: High School – Community CollegeIncludes curriculum unit + CD-ROM We study history, many say, to learn from history's mistakes. But what happens when our interpretations of history differ? Such disagreements have sometimes escalated into heated disputes or even conflicts. Because the past continues to influence the present, and because our sense of history helps shape our perception of the world, debates over how history is taught in schools can become extremely controversial and political. History textbooks, too, have become arguably the most politically scrutinized component of modern education. In part, this is because school textbooks provide an opportunity for a society to record or endorse the "correct" version of history and to build a shared memory of history among its populace. This unit examines prevalent history textbooks from five Pacific Rim societies and compares their coverage of certain sensitive historical episodes of the 20th c