History as a 'GPS': On the uses of historical narrative for French Canadian students' life orientation and identity

• Formatua: Liburua
• Argitaratua: UCL Press, 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z.
• Gaiak: article
• Sarrera elektronikoa: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 1474-8479; 10.18546/LRE.15.2.07
• Keywords: HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS; HISTORICAL NARRATIVE; NATIONAL IDENTITY; HISTORY EDUCATION; Education; L
• Source: London Review of Education, Vol 15, Iss 2 (2017)

This article presents the results of a study that analyses students' historical narratives of the nation in relation to historical consciousness and how their sense of self-identification with groups affects their narrative structure and orientation. This study was conducted with French Canadian students registered in two high schools (n=58) and one university (n=18) in Ottawa, the federal capital of Canada. I found that a strong sense of identification leads young people to construct more engaging and militant stories of the collective past, with greater historical appropriation (using the collective 'we') and a sense of continuity with past actualities. I then discuss the implications of this study for research on the narrative competence of historical consciousness and what history education might do in school to promote historical consciousness in Canada.