Difficult and controversial knowledge: Representation of atrocity in history classes 7th to 9th grade in Danish public schools

The purpose of history teaching in Danish public school is for students to deal with people's lives and
living conditions throughout the ages. This means that students encounter crimes and violations against
people such as the Holocaust, genocide, human trafficking, acts of terrorism as well as war crimes to
name a few. This raises ethical and didactic dilemmas not only about what students should learn about
and from the content. But also what the content does to the students and, in that context, what could be
fruitful ways to go didactically. By using the terms difficult knowledge and controversial knowledge, this
presentation shows that atrocities are an essential part of the content of history lessons, and that both
historical antipathy and historical empathy should be taken seriously as important factors in students'
understanding and meaning-making when they meet representation of atrocity.
The study shows that aspects of atrocities in historical representations that are perceived by students as
difficult and controversial emerge in situations and is constructed through the narratives produced in the
classroom as teachers and students interpret and make sense of the content from a contemporary moral
and existential point of view. The study is based on an ethnographic approach and an analysis of the
narratives produced in the dialogues between teacher and students and in peer-to-peer conversations.
Data originate from classroom observations of three history teachers' teaching in five classes in Danish
public schools (7th to 9th grade) collected from August 2019 to December 2020.