This is inspired by meeting a perfectly lovely and intelligent 28 year old. We were chatting about going to New York and I mentioned the first time I visited was February 2002: city still mourning the Twin Towers and Ground Zero was a place to pay your respects. She had almost no idea what I was talking about.
Whilst I love history - A level, and an adjacent degree - I really think that the history curriculum should be curated to help young people learn about the worst and best of the past and what we should take forward to create a fairer society.
Yes: 1066: Magna Carta; religious reformation; civil war etc - all important context for our (British) constitution, but no need to study in depth. But matters such as slavery, colonialism (and the historical context behind them); suffrage; the Cold War; the Holocaust; the Nakba should also be included to understand modern society.
In secondary school, history should be a subject for critical thinking rather than rote learning.
Any thoughts? I would especially appreciate input from history teachers.