Why Teach History for Adults? Trends in history teacher education from a national discipline to diversity, cross-cutting themes and learning outcomes with an emphasis on Europe and Norway

Abstract

In this chapter I argue that history is not static, and that it does not finish; when society changes, history changes with it. As a result, teaching history needs ongoing revision. By exploring research and policy-documents from the Norwegian government, the OECD, and the Council of Europe, I suggest that the subject of history experiences a shift from nationalism to diversity and cross-cutting themes. I furthermore argue that there has been a development from input-oriented knowledge of history to learning outcomes relevant for society in general and the labour market. History as a topic is expected to produce competencies for a democratic culture, at least in the Western world, through the development of relevant values, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and critical understanding (Council of Europe, 2018). At the same time, history and history teaching are challenged to contribute to the transformation of labour markets in a world characterised by ever-changing economic and industrial structures. History has, however, always been about change and transformation, and history is an important dimension to include when developing transformative competencies for the labour market as formulated in the OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 (OECD, 2019). In conclusion, I strongly recommend new history education and learning for adults, simply because much of the history adults were taught in primary and secondary is irrelevant for today's society and labour markets.