Historical Silences & The Curriculum
Through the articles “Historical silences and the enduring power of counter storytelling,” “Narrative and analytical interplay in history texts: recalibrating the historical recount genre,” and “Narratives of power: historical mythologies in contemporary Québec and Canada,” we are able to see how power plays such a predominant role in historical narratives. Typically, history is written from the perspective of the dominant, often called “victorious” group, which silences all the other perspectives and interpretations of historical events.
The Western views that currently dominate the majority of the world affect and create problems within the curriculum and the “sides” of history students hear and learn about. Specifically in these articles, we look into the history and storytelling of historical concepts and “facts” being instructed regarding Indigenous education and reconciliation, black rights issues combined with intersectionality, and much more. We find that the majority of students are unaware of other possibilities or perspectives in the history they learn in class which leads them only to believe the views set in place by the power of those who create the curriculum. This is an issue as we find the perspectives that are taught are extremely very one-sided and biased, and they are not being questioned or challenged. Currently, some scholars are trying to create new methods of pedagogy and the curriculum in regards to history to recognize these injustices and think critically, questioning and understanding other perspectives and possibilities rather than taking everything at face value.
Moving forward through this critical analysis of historical silences in the classroom and curriculum, I plan to dig deeper in the ways events and specific contexts were misinterpreted and misled as a result of the role western dominance plays. I will look further into the way Indigenous and the Black culture has been affected and silenced. I will see what aspects we have just looked past, never believed, or were oblivious to from the specific western views and perspectives we were only taught. As much as it is too important to understand everything we missed or were mistaken, the next step I need to discover is how we are supposed to interpret the curriculum and perspectives now and go about things. I hope to come across ways that are going to help us stand up to these power western views that are pressured across the world.
This is a very interesting part of the curriculum that many people seem to forget about. Teaching from just one side of history can have a huge impact on how students see the world. Most goals for schools include creating open minded successful citizens of society that celebrate differences among people but our history classes are teaching the complete opposite. I like how you are focusing on Indigenous and Black cultures within the curriculum and how they have been silenced in historical contexts. I think that there are many places in the curriculum that need to be more open besides history classes like language arts and art classes. There are many influential Indigenous and Black writers and artists that are completely ignored in favour of white writers and artists. Good blog post!
Hi Jordelle,
I enjoyed reading your blog posting about the problem with historical silences and the effects that it can have on history in an educational setting. I really liked your point about how western views have dominated the way that history and historical facts have been seen. I also think that with this topic it will be important for you to try and find differences in historical facts and do some more research into what actually happened.
Love the post! The title pulled me in because I also chose a topic that had to do with History! My research so far on Historical Thinking and Curriculum might be able to help you with your next step in curriculum interpretation and how to go about teaching history! It seems we are both wanting to look at similar things… So if you find any more good sources on historical silences or race in history curriculum email me!
You really seem to have your idea mapped out and know exactly what direction you’re headed. I’d be interested in knowing what new methods of pedagogy and curriculum are being worked on to fix these issues. This is a big issue, with a lot of different perspectives you can pull from, it seems like it will be a very interesting topic to learn about.