Students’ views of historical significance – a narrative literature review

Abstract

This narrative literature review describes and critically discusses 21 years of international research addressing students’ views of historical significance. The data consist of 32 educational research articles published between 2000 and 2021. The review shows that the research area has been slowly expanding since the beginning of the millennium in regard to the number of articles and geographical representation, as well as methodological and theoretical plurality. The review identifies some representational imbalances and power gaps in this research area. Most studies represent North America and Western Europe. LGBTQ+, environmental and class-related perspectives are not found in the research. The analysis shows that students primarily identify historical substantive knowledge as significant if it is connected to official narratives. The content of these narratives is also seldom challenged. Students’ interest in the ‘darker pages’ of history, in vernacular history and in history in other places could be interpreted as providing ways to challenge these traditional narratives. Almost all researchers conclude that it is important for history education to include students’ different identities as perspectives, and to take a more disciplinary and critical approach. According to the reviewed research, this could open the way for a history education that is more relevant for students, and that meets at least some of the future challenges of a more globalised and diverse history classroom.