“We will continue our struggle for success”: French Canadian students, narrative, and historical consciousness

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent theories of historical consciousness focus on the role narration plays in contemporary people’s attempts to give meaning to the past and orient their practical life as citizens. This article examines the need for probing students’ historical ideas and for developing narrative competence as a way to engage them critically in contested memories of the collective past so as to expand their historical consciousness beyond memory and cultural traditions. Relying on a narrative approach, this study surveyed 635 French Canadian students from different regions of Canada. Canada, a multicultural state made up of nations-within (French, English, Indigenous), represents an interesting case for studying young citizens’ representations of the collective past in a highly diversified society. This study offers new results on how these learners think about national history in the 21st century, and it discusses the implications for the development of narrative competence as a way to bridge the divide between the “cultural curriculum” and “historical thinking.” We argue that history educators need to take more seriously students’ narrative ideas if they truly want to have a lasting impact on their historical learning.