Teaching history, teaching nationalism: a qualitative study of history teachers in a Polish post-industrial town

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse Polish history teachers’ perceptions of the role of historical education in the context of nationalism, class and locality. Drawing on the results of qualitative research conducted in the post-industrial and post-German city of Wałbrzych in Poland, we argue that teachers are not fully aware of the role of nationalist politics in representations of the past. Teachers regard these nationalist representations as natural and taken for granted. They are not only unable to assume responsibility for promoting nationalism among students but also reproduce a dominant nationalist discourse by using history to nurture their students’ attachment to the idea of a homogeneous and solidary nation that transcends class divisions and erases local specificity. They see their role primarily in terms of reinforcing the dominant structures of collective memory in their pupils.