Editorial : Mundus. A History Teaching Review http://www.palumboeditore.it/ Over recent decades, historians have begun to reflect on how important the link between scientific production and widespread knowledge becomes in periods of radical change. As a result of this is the considerable increase in studies on the public use of history. In contrast, and above all in Italy, a lesser degree of attention has focused on another side of the relationship between history and society, that of history teaching. And yet the social importance of this subject is nowadays evident in the fact that over the last twenty years, many countries have changed their syllabuses, sometimes (as in the case of Italy) in a ceaseless series of reforms. Questions that many assumed definitively answered have returned to the public domain. As part of an age-old pact between schools, history and education, factors such as memory, belonging to a community, civic loyalty, the identity with and respect for tradition and the rituals of patriotic public ceremonies seemed to have been firmly consolidated and so immune from further discussion. These areas are now being fiercely debated again in discussion which can often divide society as well as spark controversy both in political circles and, ever more frequently, among the mass media. Furthermore, the past two decades have seen more evident and widespread “difficulties” for those who teach history. These are no longer limited to situations of risk or specific branches of school themselves; from grammar schools to vocational schools, from primary schools to universities, different kinds of teachers (the teacher with a background in Educational Studies and the professor with a degree in Literature and History) share an ever-growing wave of obstacles and handicaps. These include some difficulty in reading and understanding texts and questions, an estrangement from the subject itself and its progressive rejection, the impossibility of finding one’s way in the ocean of problems, images, knowledge and news which make up today’s cognitive society. The end of the last century also saw the explosive arrival of globalisation and intercultural topics in Italian classrooms. Suddenly what was once a simple task had become a political question, sometimes involving international politics, to be resolved in the classroom by teachers: choosing the course content at the start of the school year. How can one reconcile national accounts with the local and global dimensions which now characterise the world’s historiographical universe? How can one give a “sense of unity” to historical narrative which is ever more fragmented? Product of a complex, erudite mediation between the 19th and the 20th century research and history teaching, the “basic account of history”, that vulgate which forms the background of textbooks and school curricula planning, is unable to address the wealth and variety of questions and accounts which world historiography offers today. We all need new summaries that are historiographically solid and didactically effective, yet we all sense the danger that these could be produced in the editorial offices of publishing houses or left to the arbitrary decisions of state administrations or the choices of every single teacher. Italian school tradition had entrusted this group of problems to pedagogical reflection and practice. The inadequacy of this solution over the last half century impelled an entire generation of teachers – either spontaneously or within professional associations – to look for more effective work instruments. In Italy, a so-called “teaching from below” was created, the results of which should not be overlooked and which greatly contributed to a process of updating. On occasions, initial teacher training schools would use this store of didactic know-how for ideas, appropriating materials and even teachers for training activities. These schools represented an element of discontinuity in the history of Italian universities in that for the first time, the question of history teaching as a university discipline was addressed. Such a novelty therefore required a more open approach to international didactic research. Indeed, since the 1960s, all over the rest of the world – and particularly in countries such as Germany, France, England and Spain – history teaching had established itself as a branch of historical studies, examining the history of history teaching itself from programmes to textbooks; it tackles technical questions, such as the production of didactic instruments, but also theoretical problems such as studies on historical consciousness, the canon of historical knowledge and the objectives of historical teaching. It also studies the social impact of the discipline, its learning methods and the mental equipment of historiographical thought. In such a multitude of interests, history teaching adjoins several other disciplines: historical methodology and epistemology, social sciences and geography and psychology, pedagogy and communication studies. This, then, is the horizon of Mundus, a territory open to all types of academics and readers, from university professors to teachers of any level or grade, from the specialisation school student to the trainer or anyone of the numerous professional figures who recognise the social uses of historical knowledge. Mundus is not only a place for questions and discussion, it also aims to supply the teacher with instruments and concrete solutions validated by research. We hope that the time has finally come, even here in Italy, for “militant didactics” to give way to historiographically recognised teaching. Mundus was a sacred place, a well in the centre of ancient Rome, where the sky met the earth. Naturally destined to become eponymous with navel, it instead became the name of the planet thanks to one of the most unpredictable metonymies in history. This Review, then, takes its name from the dialectic between local and global and it reminds us how deep the time of the “world” is: making an analysis of this depth, as teachers and historians, is the distinguishing badge of our profession.

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Mundus is organised on three different levels: Research: Mundus Questioni and Mundus Ricerche Questions is the opening section of the Review; it presents a selection of debates and problems, concerning history teaching, which have entered political, social and cultural life both in Italy and worldwide. The specific approach adopted here by historians is based on research. Therefore, immediately after Questions we find Research: essays in which answers are provided for numerous teaching problems through Italian and international historical-didactic research. Teaching: Mundus Dossier and Mundus Laboratorio Discussions and specialist research have a clear goal: to teach history as effectively as possible. This aim is realised through the production of working instruments. Mundus offers two kinds of them. The first one looks at study subjects (the dossier). This section analyses topics related to teaching and in every issue they will be provided with a sort of “exemplary handbook” where a group of historians and researchers suggest useful materials a teacher needs before taking a class and to be used within a classroom. The second didactic section, Laboratorio, is purely methodological. It deals with using textbooks, teaching laboratories, media, territory, intercultural features, teaching techniques and so on. It features methodology discussion but also instruments. Information: Mundus Panorama, Mundus Biblioteca, Mundus Strutture The first section (Panorama) lists conferences, exhibitions and other events (from shows to public exams) of interest in historical didactics. The second one (Biblioteca) reviews the production of world and Italian history didactics in each issue. The Review closes with Strutture, presenting an institute (be it an association, a school, a journal) to underline the idea that history teaching is a constant and solid interest both in the world of research and teaching. Next year, in its third issue, Mundus will be supported by an on-line edition which will be particularly focused on the correspondence with readers, debates and the production of teaching materials, on-line conferences, links with associations and schools and dealings with other sites concerning history teaching. This issue Mundus Questioni School curricula have changed. Mundus opens the debate with five experts’ opinions. Then, in a panorama which shifts from Europe to Japan via Greece and Spain, we present an important range of the situations and problems which characterise the difficult relationship between history, politics and society today. Particularly for the context of Italy, Giuseppe Sergi comments on the mania for historical commemoration while Andrea Zannini focuses on historical education in specialisation schools. Mundus Ricerche Liverani’s “dream” opens the essays section of our Review with what an exemplary textbook should be like according to a renowned expert in ancient history. “Socially relevant topics” are areas which give rise to debates and even emotional input in the world of research and society; Charles Heimberg from Geneva University addresses himself to this subject. Luigi Cajani highlights the relationship between history, politics and penal justice in Europe. Lawrence Beaber (Princeton) outlines an example of American study programmes. Mundus Dossier The Neolithic Age is the subject of the first Dossier. Future issues will feature the industrial revolution and the telecommunications and IT revolution. In its first three editions, therefore, Mundus will offer a selection of materials for a basic periodization Here and in the subsequent issues teachers can find materials for the study of the Middle Ages, the Mediterranean civilization and so on; the section aims to provide a form of perfect textbook. This dossier, carried out by Massimo Tarantini (University of Siena), features input from fifteen Italian and international prehistory experts. Mundus Laboratorio The laboratory features a hotly debated subject, that of intercultural relations in a background of conflict. Palestinian and Israeli teachers set up a dialogue considering their future peace. Also in this section, we present a clear example of didactics: how to discuss and study the history of women in post-war Italy at high school level. We also look at two “new” teaching models; computer games edited by José M. Cuenca, University of Huelva, and an excursion-game in an archaeological site, tested and described here by Historia Ludens (Bari). Mundus Panorama, Biblioteca and Strutture Panorama and Biblioteca provide news on events and books which have featured teaching history debates in 2008. In the Strutture section we spotlight the International Society of History Didactics (ISHD), which comprises nearly 200 historians throughout the world. Le sommaire : http://www.palumboeditore.it/Portals/0/download/riviste/Mundus01_1_9.pdf Prix 25 euros en Italie, 35 à l'étranger

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