Nationalism, Conservatism and Progressivism in the Danish History Curriculum and History Textbooks

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the Danish public-school system has been entangled in a conflict between conservative ideologies bent on preserving cultural traditions and national loyalties, and progressive ideologies aimed at developing skills for the future and introduce the students to “the art of living.” This conflict is apparent in the introductory paragraphs of the Danish Educational Act, which affirms the school’s obligation to develop students’ competencies as well as its obligation to familiarize the students with Danish culture and history.
The subject of history is particularly susceptible to this conflict. History is an important subject for transmitting “Danish culture and history” to the next generation, and the history curriculum for primary and secondary education contains a canon list, mostly referring to important events in Danish history. On the other hand, the history curriculum emphasizes the development of the students’ historical thinking skills, which are perceived to be of value for the labor market as well as the students’ participation in public life.
Even though (national) conservatism and progressivism in the history curriculum constitute conflicting positions, they can both be explained by processes of modernization which have led to the establishment of the modern, democratic nation-state. At least, scholars agree that nationalism is intrinsically modern. It is true that nationalists often adopt a conservative position and romanticize the pre-modern origins of the nation, but these origins are only important because they function as the starting point for the history of the nation’s progressive development into the modern present. For that reason, it is sometimes difficult to detect which position is progressive and which is conservative in relation to the political climate of a given society.
This paper explores the conflict between conservatism and progressivism in the Danish history curriculum and in history textbooks commonly used in primary and lower-secondary education. The curriculum analysis focuses on curriculum changes and the political debate surrounding them from 1993-2015 – a period which saw the introduction of the canon list as well as the concept of historical consciousness and historical thinking into the curriculum. The textbook analysis focuses on book chapters about Jellingestenen – a runestone which commemorates the christening of king Harald Bluetooth. Where the curriculum analysis illustrates the relationship between conservative and progressive positions in the curriculum vis a vis declared conservative and progressive positions in the political debate of the given society, the textbook analysis illustrates how pre-modern events come to constitute the progressive history modern Denmark.
Finally, the paper argues that Hannah Arendt’s concept of authority and the conservative attitude in education can help bridge the gap between the conservative “canon position” and the progressive “competencies position.” As such, the two concepts might function as a mediator between the conflicting tendencies inherent in modern, democratic societies and hold important implications for democratic education.