Expanding the Discourse on Diversity in History Education and “Reading Diversity”

In an era of intensifying pluralism, this study seeks to explore what kind of diversity can be addressed in historical education. The curriculum content, narrowly defined by racial and cultural diversity, has limitations in grasping the full meaning of diversity. Without considering historical context, educational materials and textbooks that only supplement diversity tend to present a tokenistic form of diversity, prompting students to identify diversity through superficially appealing topics or content. By moving beyond the restricted concept of diversity as a subject-specific or narrow category, this study proposes the “three dimensions of diversity.” These three dimensions are: the polyphony of past historical agents and perspectives, emerging from the multiple voices of those engaged in history, including those silenced in the past; the complexity of causal relationships in historical accounts, which allows a broader understanding of past events within wider contexts; and the contestability of historical interpretations, where various interpretations of history, from the past to the present, may conflict, complement, or compete with one another.<br/> To better understand how these three dimensions of diversity have competed throughout the development of history, this study introduces the concept of “reading diversity.” “Reading diversity” refers to the process of analyzing the multiple layers of voices and actions of various historical actors, both visible and invisible, from different perspectives. It involves evaluating the polyphonic causes and the various weights of these causes in historical narratives, as well as comparing and assessing competing historical interpretations of the same event or figure. Through this approach, students can interpret and internalize the meaning of diversity in multiple dimensions, which they can then translate into practice in their own lives.