A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
How curriculum frameworks cultivate democratic and historical consciousness
Authors: Sharp, Heather; Alvén, Fredrik; Ammert, Niklas; Edling, Silvia; Löfström, Jan; Nally, David
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Citizenship, Social and Economics Education
ISSN: 1478-8047
eISSN: 2047-1734
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14788047261443214
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1177/14788047261443214
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/523448597
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
This article elaborates on findings made in a special issue collection of research in Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, in terms of how History curricula in different countries frame the development of democratic and historical consciousness. Collectively, these contributions provided analyses across nine countries. The function of this present contribution is to weave together several threads introduced in this special issue and to foreshadow a potential trajectory for further research, guided by the inquiry question: What is the role of historical consciousness in facilitating democratic consciousness? First, an overview is provided of how historical consciousness influences the ways democracy is characterised and engaged with across the nine nations examined in the special issue. Second, the workings of a comparative methodology is explored that sketches out how protective, developmental, and disruptive types of democracy occur in various curriculum documents. It is followed by a discussion about the convergences and divergences between the curriculum texts, in terms of how forms of democracy are articulated in the curriculum. These considerations suggest how the History curriculum in each country influences how understandings of democratic consciousness are developed in tandem with moral and historical consciousness. The conclusion makes the case for how each country might cross-pollinate forms of democracy that are aligned with providing educational equity and producing active and informed citizens.
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Funding information in the publication:
The International Network of Historical Conscioussnes and Democracy (INoHiDe) was funded by the Swedish Research Council.
