Living and thinking about teaching history in face of social and identity demands of the twenty-first century

Abstract

This article discusses the challenges encountered by the History teacher, in face of some of the social and identity demands of the twenty-first century, especially in relation to intercultural dialogue, cultural heritage, and the imagined past in the media. The main objective is to reflect on the academic role of the History teacher in relation to these issues. Dialogue is accomplished with theoretical perspectives on teacher training, memory, and History, from Antonio Nóvoa, Andreas Huyssen, Hayden White, among others, articulated with experiences, observations, and research carried out by the authors. It is argued that the teaching of History nowadays is a very diverse practice compared to earlier times, since the demands that society has placed on the curricula and role of teachers have multiplied and are linked to unique social, ethnic, and cultural movements, which call into question the relationship between history, memory, identities, and their meaning in History class. These questions demonstrate the complexity of teaching in and out of the classroom, which goes beyond the idea of methodological adaptation of academic background and knowledge is reached in proposals of questioning and dialogue between many stories and past events.