What is it about?
In an unstable world, history teachers face the challenge of sharing hope for the future with students while also staying true to historical facts. We examined whether and how history teachers navigate the frictions between their personal views and hopes, historical facts, and the sharing of hopeful perspectives with their students.
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Why is it important?
We show that although there is no one way to do it, teachers universally find it important to support their learners, share a sense of hope with them, and show bright possibilities for the future. They use history to show that one can take action and change the future, even in the most difficult conditions.
Perspectives
Writing this article was in itself a great source of hope. Having the opportunity to reach teachers from all over Europe and see that no matter where they are and how they see the world, they all want their students to have an open and safe future is a great reassurance of the good in the world. Although many conversations focused on difficult topics I am grateful I got to gather the distinctive perspectives and share the hopes and struggles of history educators.
Agata Kowalak
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Hope in conflict: History teachers balancing personal hope and professional responsibility., Peace and Conflict Journal of Peace Psychology, March 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/pac0000833.
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