There are two intentions I wrote this paper with: (1) to hopefully make Sirkka Ahonen more widely known, particularly in my own writing context of Australia, and (2) to highlight what learnings educators might benefit from when reading her work. The case I am making in this paper is that Ahonen’s understanding of historical consciousness can serve as a catalyst for embedding a social justice approach within history curricula. She explains this concept through a variety of case studies, involves a dynamic interplay between awareness of the past, historiographical traditions, and individual and collective identities. Each relational engagement with historical consciousness, however, is idiosyncratic to its localised cultural, historical and political context. This aspect makes it difficult to analyse and a subject of constant debate over definitions and applications.

By adopting this lens to analysing historical consciousness, professionals working in history education move beyond traditional narratives to encompass a wider range of perspectives, including those who have been historically marginalised. In an Australian context, this framing in historical records includes Indigenous peoples, women and populations who are illiterate (or categorised as non-literate). It has only been with the introduction of a national curriculum that there was more consistent acknowledgement of Indigenous demographics in particular. Part of the process in integrating Indigenous knowledges authentically involves encouraging a critical engagement with how the past is represented, and how it continues to shape contemporary social, economic, and political realities. Notably, Ahonen has engaged with the histories of several countries and how these circumstances play out. She writes that in Estonia and Finland, there is a distinct focus on what national identities look like, to distinguish their present consciousness from a past that was under Russian, then Soviet, dominion. In South Africa meanwhile, the school curriculum encourages the visage of a Rainbow Nation that has progressed since Apartheid, while the wealth disparities between rich and poor are still significantly aligned along pre-1994 lines.

A key point that is made in the article, that the inclusion of historically marginalised perspectives paves the way for a more authentically democratic way of thinking about the past, as it requires evidence-based reasoning and a commitment to fostering relationships that shape inclusive dialogue. Applied to a classroom context, this approach prospectively has a higher likelihood of giving students a more thorough understanding about the value of democracy.

The imperative for fostering of historical consciousness is found in the need for an authentic concept of social justice, by way of showing how pasts can be engaged with in a series of dialogic relationships. In this way, those who have previously been excluded might be more readily included over time, in localised and national narratives. My motivation for exploring this topic stemmed from a concern about the challenges posed by what has been termed the "post-truth" context, characterised by misinformation and societal fragmentation. Ahonen provides insights into how societies construct and negotiate shared pasts, drawing from diverse national experiences including Australia and New Zealand, Finland and Estonia, thereby contributing to a broader discussion about how the discipline can foster more equitable and politically coherent societies.

The History Education Research Journal, with its focus on the critical examination of history education, provides an ideal forum for engaging with these theoretical and practical considerations.

How can historical consciousness catalyse a social justice approach to history? by David Nally (University of Newcastle Australia, Australia) is part of the HERJ Special Series, History education in historical perspective and published in History Education Research Journal, volume 22.

David Nally has previously held roles coordinating HSIE Faculties and Gifted and Talented Programs at various schools in Sydney. His PhD research, based at the University of Newcastle, focuses on Post-Truth, the impacts of its related issues (such as misinformation, inequalities and AI) on education, and how educators can address them.

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