Nally, D.; (2025) How can historical consciousness catalyse a social justice approach to history? History Education Research Journal , 22 (1) , Article 5. 10.14324/HERJ.22.1.05.

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Abstract

Historical consciousness has been increasingly visible in Australia and other English-speaking countries in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1992. To a significant extent, it has been linked with incorporating a wider variety of perspectives into history curricula, and what constitutes best educational practice, as well as attempts to integrate Indigenous knowledge systems in schooling within post-colonial contexts. Sirkka Ahonen has significantly influenced these implementations of historical consciousness by advocating that it is intimately connected with the transmission of stories and myths that generate, change and discard aspects of group identity as it evolves over time. This article explores how Ahonen’s understandings of historical consciousness can guide a social justice approach to implementing history curricula, which counters post-truth conditions. In particular, this latter concept is an umbrella that includes misinformation, widening inequality, polarised politics and fragmented sociopolitical cohesion that characterise a post-truth context. To address this proposition, the first section provides an overview of the historical context in which Ahonen developed her theories of historical consciousness. The second section dissects how aspects of her analyses work against factors that characterise a post-truth context. Finally, the last section examines how Ahonen’s thinking might be adapted and operationalised in other contexts, using Australia as a case study.

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