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Citation: 

Sandwell, Ruth. “We Were Allowed to Disagree, Because We Couldn’t Agree on Anything: Seventeen Voices in Canadian Debates over History Education.” In History Wars and the Classroom: Global Perspectives, edited by R. Guyver and T. Taylor, 51-76. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2012.

Abstract/Summary: 

Canadians have long debated the issues concerning history education, with many Canadian academics weighing in on the conversation. The main focus of the chapter is not the issues and debates that have affected history education in Canada; rather it is the reflections of fourteen participants that Sandwell interviewed in the summer of 2010. All of the participants were involved in history education as professionals, mostly at a mid-career point or later. Sandwell herself was one of the voices as well as two anonymous reviewers. The chapter is an oral history that is meant to explore the nuances and ranges of opinions concerning the discussions and debates about history education in Canada. Instead of focusing on the scholarly aspects of the history wars debates in Canada, the author aims to document the discrepancies, conflicts and at times completely incorrect information of the participants as well as their aspirations and qualms. Sandwell aims to capture the myriad of issues and the far-reaching concerns that the professionals have in their own understanding of the meaning of history education in Canada in 2010. Also, she aims to find commonalities and patterns in the collective memories and meaning making of the participants. Sandwell begins with a discussion of history education in Canada and moves into a discussion concerning scholarly discussions on the Canadian History Wars in different arenas such as academia, public history, and school history. She concludes by pondering if Canada truly had a history war.

Source/Credit: 
Erika Smith