History Education and Social Identity

Abstract

Many scholars have stressed that teaching about the past plays the major role in the formation of national, ethnic, religious, and regional identities, and intergroup perceptions and relations. This article analyzes the impact of the content of history education on several aspects of social identity, including forms, modes, and concepts of identity. Based on examples from Taiwan, Northern Ireland, North Korea, and China, the article shows that history textbooks not only create loyalties and increase salience of particular national or ethnic identity, but also play an important role in the development of the specific forms and meanings of those identities. The analysis reveals the main trends and mechanisms employed by history education in the process of forming the preferable form and concept of identity.