Everardo Perez-Manjarrez | Harvard Graduate School of Education (original) (raw)
Papers by Everardo Perez-Manjarrez
This paper reports on findings from a study of elementary children's perceptions on citizenship i... more This paper reports on findings from a study of elementary children's perceptions on citizenship in Spain, based on individual positioning related to a mass media event of possible identity discrimination. The study analyses empathy and the social positioning of children and how through different dilemmas their positions changed or remained stable. These dilemmas were applied to a sample of one hundred and twenty students of different grades and incorporated both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The implications for global citizenship education are considered, as well as theoretical considerations on how positioning reveals complex dynamics of social performance among children.
Iber: Didáctica de las ciencias sociales, geografía e historia, 2019
La Revolucion mexicana es un hito historico, pues marca el nacimiento del Estado moderno mexicano... more La Revolucion mexicana es un hito historico, pues marca el nacimiento del Estado moderno mexicano, sus principales leyes e instituciones. En este articulo se aborda la recreacion escolar de este acontecimiento, que ocupa un lugar central en el curriculo de historia y en las conmemoraciones civicas que se realizan en los centros educativos.
History Education in the Digital Age, 2022
How do young people discuss history online? What is at stake for them when they engage in debatin... more How do young people discuss history online? What is at stake for them
when they engage in debating colonial heritage? This chapter reports on the ways in which young people debate controversial history on social media platforms. Typically‚ is taken for granted that youth navigates digital environments with a clear understanding of the content and social relations available therein. However‚ research shows that they are underprepared to deal with the misleading narratives that are ubiquitous on the social web. In this sense‚ training youths to scrutinize historical narratives and civic discourses has been keen research interest in history education. Yet‚ how they explain history in interaction with others has yet to explore as it is usually in this way that the sense-making of history occurs in digital environments. Herein is presented a qualitative analysis of three representative online historical debates on Facebook‚ out of fifteen examined‚ in which twenty-one young participants with culturally diverse backgrounds participated. The debates deal with the 2017 remarks from Spain’s public television chief Jose Antonio Sanchez‚ who justified the sixteenth-century Hispanic colonization of the Americas at a keynote public lecture. The findings show three types of approaches to historical debates: mirror talk, battle talk, and persuasive talk. The participants engage with the debate considering different focuses: historical violence, historical actors‚ and/or historical context; these focuses determine to some extent if they debate history from one single perspective or take different angles to discuss the issue. Finally‚ the implications of these three types of historical debate for youth civic engagement and historical understanding are discussed.
This study analyzes how youth assess historical controversies, and the ways they engage in histor... more This study analyzes how youth assess historical controversies, and the ways they engage in historical debates in social media. As 'digital natives', youth express their thoughts, concerns, and commitments on digital platforms more fluently than in offline environments (Bennett et al., 2008; Wineburg, 2018). However, this does not necessarily mean they are better prepared to identify the false narratives and misinformation that are ubiquitous on the web (Amnå, 2012; Gardner & Davis, 2013; Wright & Viens, 2017). The threat posed by a distorted representation of the past is especially worrying as this fosters polarization, hate speech, and undemocratic practices (Bennett et al., 2010; Loader, 2007; Lyons, 2009). In this venue, training students to carefully scrutinize historical narratives and civic discourses appears relevant. It is presented a qualitative analysis of the 2017 remarks from Spain's public television chief Jose Antonio Sanchez, who compared the Aztecs to Nazis during World War II at a keynote public lecture on Spanish history, and of the reactions these remarks caused among young people in social media. Antonio Sanchez in his speech compared the Aztec Empire to Nazis during World War II, claiming that 'mourning the disappearance of the Aztec Empire is like feeling sorry for the defeat of the Nazis in World War II'. The analysis shows that this event is typical of how biased historical narratives are constructed, the historical narratives and civic discourses that accompany them, and the ways youth engage with these narratives in online forums. The findings show how youth accept, reject, or negotiate with Antonio Sanchez's point of view, as well as the implications of these three actions for their civic engagement and understanding of history. Finally, the implications of this study for civic education are discussed.
Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method Articles
History Education Research Journal
This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It pr... more This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It presents a discourse analysis of two representative adolescents' narratives from Mexico and Spain about the 16 th century Spanish Conquest of Mexico. The analysis finds that the adolescents' historical explanations interlace personal historical beliefs, moral concerns, and socially constructed values. This analysis shows the common discourses and moral judgments that allow the participants to make sense of the Conquest, both as a moral and historical issue. The findings highlight the three main functions of moral judgment in the participants' historical explanations: justification of colonization, assignment of blame, and normalization of violence. Such findings suggest the strong influence of moral judgments in the adolescents' historical understanding, as through moral judgments the participants can avoid the violent nature of the event, portraying it as beneficial and acceptable. Finally, the importance of morality to historical understanding is discussed, as well as the implications for teaching history.
Iber: Didáctica de las ciencias sociales, geografía e historia, 2019
En este capítulo se aborda la recreación histórica escolar de la revolución mexicana de 1910, sus... more En este capítulo se aborda la recreación histórica escolar de la revolución mexicana de 1910, sus principales características e implicaciones sociales y educativas. Dicho evento es uno de los hitos históricos de México. Marca el nacimiento del Estado moderno mexicano, sus principales leyes e instituciones, así como de un imaginario colectivo y sentimiento de pertenencia nacional fuertemente arraigados hasta la actualidad. El impacto simbólico e identitario de dicha revolución en la sociedad mexicana ha sido determinado no sólo por su trascendencia histórica sino por el diseño de un proyecto de nación. Como parte de un plan de enseñanza nacionalista, la revolución mexicana se ha enseñado dentro y fuera de las aulas, desde temprana edad y durante todos los niveles de educación básica obligatoria en México. El hecho histórico ocupa un lugar central en el currículo de las materias de historia nacional, así como dentro de las conmemoraciones cívicas escolares obligatorias en todo el país. En términos generales, la conmemoración escolar de 1910 supone para las y los estudiantes "vivir la experiencia" de la revolución, revivir el acontecimiento desde sus personajes principales, ponerse en su lugar, recrear los momentos históricos clave, así como celebrar su legado y reflexionar sobre su trascendencia en el presente.
Researching History Education. International Perspectives and Disciplinary Traditions, 2019
In this chapter, we reflect upon the narrative construction of school history and the intersectio... more In this chapter, we reflect upon the narrative construction of school history and the intersections between history, national identity, and citizenship in education. We aim to contribute to advancing history education research from the discussion of the current approaches in the field, based on the studies we have conducted in Latin America and Spain. These studies’ findings especially evince the influence of nationalism and colonialism in the students’ ideas of history, in tension with their new realities and subjective processes of historical meaning-making. We also point out the main challenges in history education, as well as understudied issues and promising fields that may enhance history teaching towards effective teaching, meaningful historical understanding, and socially relevant history education.
History Education Research Journal, 2017
This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It pr... more This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It presents a discourse analysis of two representative adolescents' narratives from Mexico and Spain about the 16 th century Spanish Conquest of Mexico. The analysis finds that the adolescents' historical explanations interlace personal historical beliefs, moral concerns, and socially constructed values. This analysis shows the common discourses and moral judgments that allow the participants to make sense of the Conquest, both as a moral and historical issue. The findings highlight the three main functions of moral judgment in the participants' historical explanations: justification of colonization, assignment of blame, and normalization of violence. Such findings suggest the strong influence of moral judgments in the adolescents' historical understanding, as through moral judgments the participants can avoid the violent nature of the event, portraying it as beneficial and acceptable. Finally, the importance of morality to historical understanding is discussed, as well as the implications for teaching history.
M. F. González & A. Rosa (Eds.), Hacer(se) ciudadanos. Una psicología para la democracia. Colección Educación, Crítica y Debate. Buenos Aires: Miño y Davila, 2014
This study is an exploratory inquiry of the theoretical and empirical links between history teach... more This study is an exploratory inquiry of the theoretical and empirical links between history teaching and citizenship education in youth civic engagement. One of the central premises of national historical narratives is to provide a story by which every member of the nation feels part of it. This common past is built on the grounds of significant events, foundational facts, and agents’ actions that give meaning to citizens’ identity and their prospects for the future. Nonetheless, what occurs when one of these historical sediments involves conflicting actors to the national storyline of identity and progress? What if this conflicting actor represents an opposite set of moral values to the official ideal of national membership? How do young learners make sense of this tension, embedded in the national narrative taught in schools? Present chapter examines how in the narratives about historical characters, there is an attempt to explicitly or implicitly assign agency and entitlements to certain groups, therefore establishing who is entitled to be a citizen on the grounds of a national history account. The study analyzes twenty Mexican and Argentinean adolescents’ historical narratives about the role of indigenous people in national history. Findings show four narratives about the indigenous people, which determine the extent to which they are entitled to be called “Mexicans” or “Argentineans”, and therefore being able to gain civic rights. The implications for citizenship education are considered, as are also theoretical considerations on the intersections between civic and historical narratives.
Qualitative Psychology, 2019
This article addresses two understudied topics in history and identity research: How individuals ... more This article addresses two understudied topics in history and identity research: How individuals assign and take up positions while they explain controversial history and the personal identity negotiation they experience in this process. The study uses positioning analysis to examine adolescents' negotiation of history and identity through their historical explanations. Positioning analysis examines the cluster of social rights and duties, which people assume and assign to others to make sense of society and themselves. This study conducts an in-depth analysis of the historical narratives of two 16-year-old Mexican and Spanish adolescents about the 16th century Hispanic Conquest of Mexico. The analysis focuses on the positions that participants establish to explain history and how they use these positions to configure their own identities. The outcomes show three common types of positioning used by participants to explain the Conquest, which oscillate between the legitimization and rejection of colonialism. Findings also suggest that positions allow adolescents to mediate tensions between cultural affiliation and historical explanation, as well as creating their own versions of collective and personal identities. Finally, the implications of these findings for historical understanding and the analysis of the psychological impact of colonialism are discussed.
Books by Everardo Perez-Manjarrez
Historical Reenactment, 2022
Long dismissed as the domain of hobbyists and obsessives, historical reenactment—the dramatizatio... more Long dismissed as the domain of hobbyists and obsessives, historical reenactment—the dramatization of past events using costumed actors and historical props—has only in recent years attracted serious attention from scholars. Drawing on examples from around the world, Historical Reenactment offers a fascinating, interdisciplinary exploration of this cultural phenomenon. With particular attention to reenactment’s social and pedagogical dimensions, it develops a robust definition of what the practice constitutes, considers what methodological approaches are most appropriate, and places it alongside museums and memorial sites as an object of analysis.
This paper reports on findings from a study of elementary children's perceptions on citizenship i... more This paper reports on findings from a study of elementary children's perceptions on citizenship in Spain, based on individual positioning related to a mass media event of possible identity discrimination. The study analyses empathy and the social positioning of children and how through different dilemmas their positions changed or remained stable. These dilemmas were applied to a sample of one hundred and twenty students of different grades and incorporated both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The implications for global citizenship education are considered, as well as theoretical considerations on how positioning reveals complex dynamics of social performance among children.
Iber: Didáctica de las ciencias sociales, geografía e historia, 2019
La Revolucion mexicana es un hito historico, pues marca el nacimiento del Estado moderno mexicano... more La Revolucion mexicana es un hito historico, pues marca el nacimiento del Estado moderno mexicano, sus principales leyes e instituciones. En este articulo se aborda la recreacion escolar de este acontecimiento, que ocupa un lugar central en el curriculo de historia y en las conmemoraciones civicas que se realizan en los centros educativos.
History Education in the Digital Age, 2022
How do young people discuss history online? What is at stake for them when they engage in debatin... more How do young people discuss history online? What is at stake for them
when they engage in debating colonial heritage? This chapter reports on the ways in which young people debate controversial history on social media platforms. Typically‚ is taken for granted that youth navigates digital environments with a clear understanding of the content and social relations available therein. However‚ research shows that they are underprepared to deal with the misleading narratives that are ubiquitous on the social web. In this sense‚ training youths to scrutinize historical narratives and civic discourses has been keen research interest in history education. Yet‚ how they explain history in interaction with others has yet to explore as it is usually in this way that the sense-making of history occurs in digital environments. Herein is presented a qualitative analysis of three representative online historical debates on Facebook‚ out of fifteen examined‚ in which twenty-one young participants with culturally diverse backgrounds participated. The debates deal with the 2017 remarks from Spain’s public television chief Jose Antonio Sanchez‚ who justified the sixteenth-century Hispanic colonization of the Americas at a keynote public lecture. The findings show three types of approaches to historical debates: mirror talk, battle talk, and persuasive talk. The participants engage with the debate considering different focuses: historical violence, historical actors‚ and/or historical context; these focuses determine to some extent if they debate history from one single perspective or take different angles to discuss the issue. Finally‚ the implications of these three types of historical debate for youth civic engagement and historical understanding are discussed.
This study analyzes how youth assess historical controversies, and the ways they engage in histor... more This study analyzes how youth assess historical controversies, and the ways they engage in historical debates in social media. As 'digital natives', youth express their thoughts, concerns, and commitments on digital platforms more fluently than in offline environments (Bennett et al., 2008; Wineburg, 2018). However, this does not necessarily mean they are better prepared to identify the false narratives and misinformation that are ubiquitous on the web (Amnå, 2012; Gardner & Davis, 2013; Wright & Viens, 2017). The threat posed by a distorted representation of the past is especially worrying as this fosters polarization, hate speech, and undemocratic practices (Bennett et al., 2010; Loader, 2007; Lyons, 2009). In this venue, training students to carefully scrutinize historical narratives and civic discourses appears relevant. It is presented a qualitative analysis of the 2017 remarks from Spain's public television chief Jose Antonio Sanchez, who compared the Aztecs to Nazis during World War II at a keynote public lecture on Spanish history, and of the reactions these remarks caused among young people in social media. Antonio Sanchez in his speech compared the Aztec Empire to Nazis during World War II, claiming that 'mourning the disappearance of the Aztec Empire is like feeling sorry for the defeat of the Nazis in World War II'. The analysis shows that this event is typical of how biased historical narratives are constructed, the historical narratives and civic discourses that accompany them, and the ways youth engage with these narratives in online forums. The findings show how youth accept, reject, or negotiate with Antonio Sanchez's point of view, as well as the implications of these three actions for their civic engagement and understanding of history. Finally, the implications of this study for civic education are discussed.
Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method Articles
History Education Research Journal
This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It pr... more This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It presents a discourse analysis of two representative adolescents' narratives from Mexico and Spain about the 16 th century Spanish Conquest of Mexico. The analysis finds that the adolescents' historical explanations interlace personal historical beliefs, moral concerns, and socially constructed values. This analysis shows the common discourses and moral judgments that allow the participants to make sense of the Conquest, both as a moral and historical issue. The findings highlight the three main functions of moral judgment in the participants' historical explanations: justification of colonization, assignment of blame, and normalization of violence. Such findings suggest the strong influence of moral judgments in the adolescents' historical understanding, as through moral judgments the participants can avoid the violent nature of the event, portraying it as beneficial and acceptable. Finally, the importance of morality to historical understanding is discussed, as well as the implications for teaching history.
Iber: Didáctica de las ciencias sociales, geografía e historia, 2019
En este capítulo se aborda la recreación histórica escolar de la revolución mexicana de 1910, sus... more En este capítulo se aborda la recreación histórica escolar de la revolución mexicana de 1910, sus principales características e implicaciones sociales y educativas. Dicho evento es uno de los hitos históricos de México. Marca el nacimiento del Estado moderno mexicano, sus principales leyes e instituciones, así como de un imaginario colectivo y sentimiento de pertenencia nacional fuertemente arraigados hasta la actualidad. El impacto simbólico e identitario de dicha revolución en la sociedad mexicana ha sido determinado no sólo por su trascendencia histórica sino por el diseño de un proyecto de nación. Como parte de un plan de enseñanza nacionalista, la revolución mexicana se ha enseñado dentro y fuera de las aulas, desde temprana edad y durante todos los niveles de educación básica obligatoria en México. El hecho histórico ocupa un lugar central en el currículo de las materias de historia nacional, así como dentro de las conmemoraciones cívicas escolares obligatorias en todo el país. En términos generales, la conmemoración escolar de 1910 supone para las y los estudiantes "vivir la experiencia" de la revolución, revivir el acontecimiento desde sus personajes principales, ponerse en su lugar, recrear los momentos históricos clave, así como celebrar su legado y reflexionar sobre su trascendencia en el presente.
Researching History Education. International Perspectives and Disciplinary Traditions, 2019
In this chapter, we reflect upon the narrative construction of school history and the intersectio... more In this chapter, we reflect upon the narrative construction of school history and the intersections between history, national identity, and citizenship in education. We aim to contribute to advancing history education research from the discussion of the current approaches in the field, based on the studies we have conducted in Latin America and Spain. These studies’ findings especially evince the influence of nationalism and colonialism in the students’ ideas of history, in tension with their new realities and subjective processes of historical meaning-making. We also point out the main challenges in history education, as well as understudied issues and promising fields that may enhance history teaching towards effective teaching, meaningful historical understanding, and socially relevant history education.
History Education Research Journal, 2017
This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It pr... more This study discusses the relevance of morality in the explanation of controversial history. It presents a discourse analysis of two representative adolescents' narratives from Mexico and Spain about the 16 th century Spanish Conquest of Mexico. The analysis finds that the adolescents' historical explanations interlace personal historical beliefs, moral concerns, and socially constructed values. This analysis shows the common discourses and moral judgments that allow the participants to make sense of the Conquest, both as a moral and historical issue. The findings highlight the three main functions of moral judgment in the participants' historical explanations: justification of colonization, assignment of blame, and normalization of violence. Such findings suggest the strong influence of moral judgments in the adolescents' historical understanding, as through moral judgments the participants can avoid the violent nature of the event, portraying it as beneficial and acceptable. Finally, the importance of morality to historical understanding is discussed, as well as the implications for teaching history.
M. F. González & A. Rosa (Eds.), Hacer(se) ciudadanos. Una psicología para la democracia. Colección Educación, Crítica y Debate. Buenos Aires: Miño y Davila, 2014
This study is an exploratory inquiry of the theoretical and empirical links between history teach... more This study is an exploratory inquiry of the theoretical and empirical links between history teaching and citizenship education in youth civic engagement. One of the central premises of national historical narratives is to provide a story by which every member of the nation feels part of it. This common past is built on the grounds of significant events, foundational facts, and agents’ actions that give meaning to citizens’ identity and their prospects for the future. Nonetheless, what occurs when one of these historical sediments involves conflicting actors to the national storyline of identity and progress? What if this conflicting actor represents an opposite set of moral values to the official ideal of national membership? How do young learners make sense of this tension, embedded in the national narrative taught in schools? Present chapter examines how in the narratives about historical characters, there is an attempt to explicitly or implicitly assign agency and entitlements to certain groups, therefore establishing who is entitled to be a citizen on the grounds of a national history account. The study analyzes twenty Mexican and Argentinean adolescents’ historical narratives about the role of indigenous people in national history. Findings show four narratives about the indigenous people, which determine the extent to which they are entitled to be called “Mexicans” or “Argentineans”, and therefore being able to gain civic rights. The implications for citizenship education are considered, as are also theoretical considerations on the intersections between civic and historical narratives.
Qualitative Psychology, 2019
This article addresses two understudied topics in history and identity research: How individuals ... more This article addresses two understudied topics in history and identity research: How individuals assign and take up positions while they explain controversial history and the personal identity negotiation they experience in this process. The study uses positioning analysis to examine adolescents' negotiation of history and identity through their historical explanations. Positioning analysis examines the cluster of social rights and duties, which people assume and assign to others to make sense of society and themselves. This study conducts an in-depth analysis of the historical narratives of two 16-year-old Mexican and Spanish adolescents about the 16th century Hispanic Conquest of Mexico. The analysis focuses on the positions that participants establish to explain history and how they use these positions to configure their own identities. The outcomes show three common types of positioning used by participants to explain the Conquest, which oscillate between the legitimization and rejection of colonialism. Findings also suggest that positions allow adolescents to mediate tensions between cultural affiliation and historical explanation, as well as creating their own versions of collective and personal identities. Finally, the implications of these findings for historical understanding and the analysis of the psychological impact of colonialism are discussed.
Historical Reenactment, 2022
Long dismissed as the domain of hobbyists and obsessives, historical reenactment—the dramatizatio... more Long dismissed as the domain of hobbyists and obsessives, historical reenactment—the dramatization of past events using costumed actors and historical props—has only in recent years attracted serious attention from scholars. Drawing on examples from around the world, Historical Reenactment offers a fascinating, interdisciplinary exploration of this cultural phenomenon. With particular attention to reenactment’s social and pedagogical dimensions, it develops a robust definition of what the practice constitutes, considers what methodological approaches are most appropriate, and places it alongside museums and memorial sites as an object of analysis.