A reflection on current issues in the history curriculum

Richard Harris draws on their own and others’ research to take stock of where the history teaching community is in terms of curriculum thinking. Harris argues that despite a number of positive developments in recent years, certain issues continue to have undesirable effects on curriculum design. Such issues include inertia and unclear rationales when selecting topics, constraining examination specifications, overbearing accountability cultures in schools, and over-emphasis on second-order concepts. Harris suggests possible new directions to counteract these issues, including greater emphasis on substantive concepts, frameworks of reference, historical consciousness, and what content is selected to be taught...