History matters : A field study about Indian teachers and their outlook on the importance of history

Abstract: In the light of a Nordic history didactical field this study examines how the Indian teaching practice handles the history didactical field. Why is history important to learn according to Indian history teachers? Which teaching methods and didactical tools do they use to teach history? How do Indian teachers process the use of history in their teaching? The historians Klas-Göran Karlsson and Ulf Zander argues that the mediation of history should take form in such a way where the teachers are aware of the following aspects of history; the use of history, history writing and the link between past, present and future. Through interviews with history teachers in upper secondary school in India, the teachers experience and described teaching practice are discussed and compared with the Nordic history didactical field. The result shows that the described practice and the awareness of history didactical aspects differs from the Nordic theory field. The Indian teachers rather describes a practice of the use of history to form the student’s identities, than teaching about it in an objective way which Karlsson and Zander means is the main importance of history didactics and history mediation.