Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-9-2012 12:00 AM The History Classroom as Site for Imagining the Nation: An Investigation of U.S. and Canadian Teachers' Pedagogical Practices Lisa Y. Faden The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Wayne Martino The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Goli Rezai-Rashti The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Education A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Lisa Y. Faden 2012 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons Recommended Citation Faden, Lisa Y., "The History Classroom as Site for Imagining the Nation: An Investigation of U.S. and Canadian Teachers' Pedagogical Practices" (2012). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 540. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/540 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running head: THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION: AN INVESTIGATION OF U.S. AND CANADIAN TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES (Spine title: The History Classroom as Site for Imagining the Nation) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Lisa Y. Faden Graduate Program in Education A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Lisa Y. Faden 2012 THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Co-Supervisors Examiners ______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Goli Rezai-Rashti Dr. Allan Pitman ______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Wayne Martino Dr. Allen Pearson Supervisory Committee ______________________________ Dr. Jonathan Vance ______________________________ Dr. Marianne Larsen ______________________________ Dr. Simone Schweber The thesis by Lisa Yoshiko Faden entitled: The History Classroom as Site for Imagining the Nation: An Investigation of U.S. and Canadian Teachers’ Pedagogical Practices is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ______________________ _______________________________ Date Chair of the Thesis Examination Board ii THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION ABSTRACT This multiple case study compares the enacted history curricula in one U.S. and one Canadian school district in order to understand how high school teachers engage in the construction of national identities and the conceptualization of the “good” citizen. Following Anderson’s (1991) concept of nations as “imagined communities,” compulsory history classes are key sites for imagining the nation. In the context of contemporary processes of globalization, the study explores the process of imagining the nation within a global “social imaginary” (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010). Data sources include interviews with seven teachers in the U.S. state of Maryland and six teachers in the Canadian province of Ontario; classroom observations of five of those teachers; classroom artefacts; and local, state, and provincial curriculum documents. Existing empirical research has devoted little attention to the specific historical narratives that are used to tell the nation’s story. Wertsch’s (2002) concept of narrative dialogicality provides a useful framework for understanding how narratives act as cognitive tools to distribute collective memory throughout a social group. Classroom observations focused on the study of World War II in required high school history courses. In telling the story of the nation, teachers used historical narratives that ran counter to popular images of their respective nations. Despite Canada’s image as a “peacekeeping” nation, triumphal military narratives dominated the Canadian classes. Conversely, in the United States, the world’s dominant military power, political narratives dominated, with military narratives playing a supporting role. In enacting the curriculum, teachers negotiated neoliberal policies of accountability in various ways. For the Maryland teachers, the level of surveillance was more intense due to iii THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION locally developed standardized course examinations, resulting in very limited autonomy for curriculum development. The Ontario teachers also reported increased surveillance of their work, but they retained a high degree of professional autonomy. In keeping with previous research, there were notable differences between the curriculum experienced by students from high and low socioeconomic status communities. Key Words: history education, United States, Canada, globalization, citizenship education, comparative education, national identity, curriculum studies, democratic education, history teachers, historical narratives, World War II iv THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First I would like to thank the teachers who generously opened up their classrooms and their practices to take part in this project. I hope that their dedication to teaching, their creativity, and their reflective insights are evident in my representations of their work. My committee has provided invaluable support and mentoring. My co-supervisors Wayne Martino and Goli Rezai-Rashti have supported me in developing a project that combines my questions about social education with their vision for theoretical and methodological rigor. I am grateful for their attentive feedback and patient guidance. Marianne Larsen has brought her experience as a researcher, theorist, and teacher, to this project. Western University Faculty of Education is a wonderful community. It would be impossible to name all of the faculty members, students, and staff who have shared invaluable feedback, guidance, logistical support, and a listening ear. In particular, I would like to thank the faculty who have mentored me through research assistantships, Kathy Hibbert, Roz Stooke, Rachel Heydon, and (again) Marianne Larsen. My colleagues Claudine Bonner, Dorothy Vaandering, Liz Coulson, Lori Kirkpatrick, Lucy Karanja, Natasha Wiebe, and Wendy Crocker have been especially present and vocal sources of support throughout my doctoral studies. I would also like to acknowledge the librarians and library staff, who go out of their way to assist graduate students with warmth and professionalism. A number of scholars in Canada and the United States have assisted me with their interest and thoughts related to the project. Stéphane Lévesque provided critical guidance in the early stages of this project, supporting the development of an international comparative v THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION case study design. Bruce VanSledright, Kent den Heyer, Ruth Sandwell, James Williams, Carla Peck, and Alan Sears have been generous with their advice and insights. The Comparative and International Education Society New Scholars Workshop brought me together with Dierdre Williams, who has been the epitome of a critical friend, as we have worked through issues of theory, research methodology, writing, and the development of emerging scholarly identities, in our weekly conversations. My family has been a tremendous source of support making my graduate study possible. I would like to thank Janice and Michael Faden and Betty Jo and Duncan MacDougall for providing encouragement and childcare so that I could complete this work. My children Yuki and Eli have provided me with motivation to imagine engaging social education for a better word. Most significantly, I would like to thank Rob MacDougall for providing essential intellectual, emotional, domestic, economic, and technological support, without which I would not have been able to pursue graduate study. I am blessed to have you as a partner in this and all endeavors. This project was supported by funding from Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. vi THE HISTORY CLASSROOM AS SITE FOR IMAGINING THE NATION TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION .................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 The History Classroom as a Site for Imagining the Nation ............................... 1 Introduction........................................................................................................... 1 Framing the Research Problem .............................................................................