Geena Kim

Since Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, history education has been shaped by nationalist and anti-communist ideologies that reinforced authoritarian regimes and perpetuated colonial and Cold War epistemologies. This study examines the role of South Korean history teachers, particularly those belonging to the National Association of History Teachers (NAHT), as postcolonial intellectuals striving to decolonize and democratize the history curriculum. It draws on the conceptualization of teachers as postcolonial intellectuals, informed by Henry Giroux’s notion of transformative intellectuals, Frantz Fanon’s critique of colonial subjectivity, and Edward Said’s analysis of imperial knowledge production. In addition, this study employs the framework of Asia as Method to investigate South Korean history teachers’ engagement in epistemic resistance and critical consciousness formation. It demonstrates how the NAHT challenged dominant historical narratives by promoting democratic citizenship education; integrating marginalized voices, such as those of women, workers, and colonized nations, into the curriculum; fostering peace education rooted in historical reconciliation and transnational solidarity; and decentering Western-centric perspectives to reframe the world history curriculum. The findings highlight the transformative potential of educators in postcolonial societies and offer insights for other societies seeking to decolonize the curriculum.

This study explored how U.S. middle school students made sense of a variety of topics from world history. I conducted qualitative, task-based, small group interviews with 66 sixth and seventh grade students enrolled in world history courses. Findings indicated that students assimilated new information from world history to their prior knowledge of U.S. history, often mixing content knowledge from U.S. history into their understanding of world history. They also used a narrative theme of progress to structure world history knowledge and centered historical narratives on individuals rather than larger social/political circumstances. Thus, narratives that served as tools in students’ reasoning about U.S. history were found to wield significant influence over their understanding of world history topics. These findings suggest that conceptual changes are necessary for students to develop more complete and nuanced historical understanding.