National pride and students' attitudes towards history: an exploratory study

Andrews, Rhys, McGlynn, Catherine and Mycock, Andrew (2010) National pride and students' attitudes towards history: an exploratory study. Educational Studies, 36 (3). pp. 299-309. ISSN 0305-5698

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Abstract

Recent debates about “Britishness” have drawn increasing attention to the inculcation of national values within the school history curriculum. To date, however, few studies have explored young people's attitudes towards history or how these are related to their sources of national pride and shame. This paper draws on a survey of over 400 undergraduates' experiences of secondary education, investigating their attitudes towards the history curriculum and how these relate to their feelings of national pride. Using principal components analysis we found that students' attitudes towards history loaded on to two distinct factors: traditional/conservative and multicultural/liberal. Bivariate correlations then revealed that pride in national sporting and economic achievements and a sense of shame about immigration were positively associated with a traditional attitude towards history. Pride in British civil liberties and social diversity and a sense of shame about racism and UK foreign policy were associated with a multicultural attitude. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Schools:	School of Human and Health Sciences School of Human and Health Sciences > Centre for Research in the Social Sciences School of Human and Health Sciences > Academy for British and Irish Studies
Related URLs:	Author Author
Depositing User:	Sara Taylor
Date Deposited:	19 Apr 2011 11:30
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2011 11:30
URI:	http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171

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