The History we Need: Strategies of Citizen Formation in the Danish History Curriculum

Teaching history in schools can be a significant policy instrument for shaping the identities of future citizens. The Danish curriculum for teaching history of 2009 aims at strengthening a sense of ‘Danishness’ which calls for theoretical analysis. Focusing on this particular case, the paper develops a political theoretical frame for evaluating such strategies. While David Miller sees promoting a national identity to be a legitimate strategy of citizen formation in a liberal democracy, this view has been challenged by among others Arash Abizadeh. Miller could answer Abizadeh’s challenges once the debate is viewed in a pedagogical context where children are in the process of citizen formation. While their debate offers central elements to the evaluative frame, the final frame developed includes cooperative practices.