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A structural and functional differentiation of knowledge for the history curriculum.

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Title: A structural and functional differentiation of knowledge for the history curriculum.
Authors: Smets, Wouter1 (AUTHOR) smets@essb.eur.nl, Savenije, Geerte2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Curriculum Studies. Aug2025, Vol. 57 Issue 4, p495-506. 12p.
Subject Terms: *History education, *Curriculum planning, *Theory of knowledge, *Educational objectives, Historical literacy
Abstract: Which historical knowledge is worthwhile teaching? Over the last decades, this question has been answered differently by history scholars. In many Western countries, arguments to avoid Eurocentric and nationalistic curricula challenge the current selections of historical knowledge in the curriculum. Epistemology in history education also changed following the appreciation of historical thinking and reasoning. Yet most scholars agree that a certain basis of orientation knowledge is needed to achieve the key targets of the history curriculum. Consequently, it is difficult for curriculum developers to select knowledge for history teaching. The aim of this article is to scaffold curriculum developers' content selection by proposing guiding questions. It aggregates and elaborates theories of knowledge in the field of history education. Young and Muller's concept of powerful knowledge is applied to the subject of history teaching. Arguments for a structural differentiation of vertical and horizontal discourses are presented. Also, the functional aspect of history teaching is elaborated by relating three purposes of education to knowledge selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Curriculum Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: A structural and functional differentiation of knowledge for the history curriculum.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Smets%2C+Wouter%22">Smets, Wouter</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> smets@essb.eur.nl</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Savenije%2C+Geerte%22">Savenije, Geerte</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Curriculum+Studies%22">Journal of Curriculum Studies</searchLink>. Aug2025, Vol. 57 Issue 4, p495-506. 12p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22History+education%22">History education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Curriculum+planning%22">Curriculum planning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Theory+of+knowledge%22">Theory of knowledge</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+objectives%22">Educational objectives</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Historical+literacy%22">Historical literacy</searchLink>
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  Data: Which historical knowledge is worthwhile teaching? Over the last decades, this question has been answered differently by history scholars. In many Western countries, arguments to avoid Eurocentric and nationalistic curricula challenge the current selections of historical knowledge in the curriculum. Epistemology in history education also changed following the appreciation of historical thinking and reasoning. Yet most scholars agree that a certain basis of orientation knowledge is needed to achieve the key targets of the history curriculum. Consequently, it is difficult for curriculum developers to select knowledge for history teaching. The aim of this article is to scaffold curriculum developers' content selection by proposing guiding questions. It aggregates and elaborates theories of knowledge in the field of history education. Young and Muller's concept of powerful knowledge is applied to the subject of history teaching. Arguments for a structural differentiation of vertical and horizontal discourses are presented. Also, the functional aspect of history teaching is elaborated by relating three purposes of education to knowledge selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Curriculum Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/00220272.2025.2455687
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: History education
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      – SubjectFull: Curriculum planning
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      – SubjectFull: Theory of knowledge
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      – SubjectFull: Educational objectives
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