Václav Sixta
Title: Anthropocene in the History Textbook?
Abstract: Along with the process of domestication of the concept of the anthropocene in historical scholarship, questions about the potential and limits of the use of this concept in historical education are also coming into focus. This situation brings a number of difficulties. How to functionally connect the concept of the Anthropocene with the dominantly anthropocentric and in modern ways of thinking anchored historical education? How to incorporate this abstract concept into lessons that are comprehensible for young people around the age of 15? Which sources are suitable for this purpose? The paper will present a reflection on the experience of creating an inquiry-based history textbook, which included the topic of the anthropocene. In the presentation, I will try to show, against the background of the current academic debates on history education in the Anthropocene era, the functional practices as well as failures and experiences of piloting in primary schools in the Czech Republic related to the creation of the textbook. The aim of the paper is to formulate general principles on which historical education respecting the Anthropocene situation can be built, especially in the context of post-socialist countries.
Selected references:
Dipesh Chakrabarty, The Climate of History: Four Theses, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Winter 2009), pp. 197-222.
Tyson Retz, Teaching history on the scale of the Anthropocene: Three ethical
challenges. Historical Encounters, 9(2),2022, s. 7-17.
Caitríona, Ní Cassaithe, Arthur Chapman, History Education in a Climate of Crisis. In: Public History Weekly 9 (2020) 1.
Kenneth Nordgren, The Anthropocene and the Need for a Crisis in Teaching. In: Public History Weekly 8 (2021) 9.
Stéphane Lévesque, Penney Clark, Historical Thinking: Definitions and Educational Applications, in The Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning, ed. Scott Alan Metzger and Lauren McArthur-Harris (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2018), 117–48.
Pinkas Jaroslav et al., Soudobé dějiny: pro 9. ročník základních škol a víceletá gymnázia (Contemporary history: a textbook for 9th grade of primary schools and multi-year grammar schools), Plzeň, Fraus ve spolupráci s Ústavem pro studium totalitních režimů, 2022.
Bio: Mgr. Václav Sixta Ph.D. is a researcher in memory studies, history pedagogy and practitioner in public history. He is a co-author of a book dealing with exhibiting contemporary history in east-central Europe and several research articles on recent cultures of memory. He is also an author of several educational tools for history and civics teachers and he is also a member of the authorial team of the inquiry-based textbook of contemporary history.
