Pedagogical Entanglements and the Cold War : A Comparative Study on Opening History Lessons on the Cold War in Sweden and Switzerland

Thorp uses the case studies of two classrooms, one Swiss, one Swedish, exploring different pedagogical approaches to the Cold War and addressing the challenges posed to teachers of history in general. There is, he argues, a tension inherent in history that arises because history is both fixed yet also contingent upon who relates it. In this chapter, Thorp examines the degree to which the two teachers in his case study operate within this contingency. Thorp’s model of the narratological uses of history allows him to formulate a pedagogical approach which prioritises critical enquiry and the awareness of historical consciousness. Teaching the Cold War particularly reinforces this conclusion, because the topic can be addressed from radically different perspectives