History teachers are increasingly used to the idea that helping pupils reflect on and understand identities is one of the central purposes of history education. In this article Jamie Byrom and Michael Riley reflect on what thinking about identity historically might mean; by considering the history of encounters between the West and Islam in their full complexity, they suggest that history can ‘shake up' simplistic and singular notions of identity and help pupils think in plural and complex ways.
Gary Howells offers us a challenge: are we sure that we are teaching the study of interpretations correctly? It is much criticised at GCSE, but do we really engage our students in the process of writing history, and in understanding how history works, from 11-14? Or do we use reductive techniques which, as at GCSE, result only in our students jumping through hoops?