Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt: Towards More Inclusive Curricular Representations and Teaching (Curriculum Studies Worldwide) 3031333454, 9783031333453

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CURRICULUM STUDIES WORLDWIDE

Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt Towards More Inclusive Curricular Representations and Teaching Ehaab D. Abdou Foreword by Dr. Paul Zanazanian

Curriculum Studies Worldwide Series Editors

William F. Pinar Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada Janet L. Miller Teacher’s College New York, NY, USA

This series supports the internationalization of curriculum studies worldwide. At this historical moment, curriculum inquiry occurs within national borders. Like the founders of the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, we do not envision a worldwide field of curriculum studies mirroring the standardization the larger phenomenon of globalization threatens. In establishing this series, our commitment is to provide support for complicated conversation within and across national and regional borders regarding the content, context, and process of education, the organizational and intellectual center of which is the curriculum.

Ehaab D. Abdou

Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt Towards More Inclusive Curricular Representations and Teaching

Ehaab D. Abdou Department of Global Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, ON, Canada

ISSN 2731-6386     ISSN 2731-6394 (electronic) Curriculum Studies Worldwide ISBN 978-3-031-33345-3    ISBN 978-3-031-33346-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Design Pics / Alamy Stock Photo This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

This book is dedicated to all young Egyptians, especially those who continue to inspire and help us dream of a more equitable and more inclusive Egypt—an Egypt that would optimistically look to the future, while critically embracing its long, multi-layered history, and proudly celebrate the various facets and dimensions of its rich diversity. This book is also dedicated to all those working tirelessly on all levels—including grassroots, communal, classroom teaching, teacher education, curriculum development, and policymaking—to render education in Egypt and elsewhere in the world spaces that allow for developing critical thinking and that help promote respect for diversity and pluralism; spaces where all differences are not only tolerated, but also respected and celebrated; where open and respectful dialogues are cherished and promoted; and where meaningful civic engagement and actions are nourished and encouraged.

Foreword

Ehaab Abdou’s book addresses the important question of students’ civic engagement as fostered through the teaching of history in Egypt. At a general level, his main focus is on students’ understandings of state-­ sanctioned official histories, which he refers to as master narratives, and the impact these meanings hold for their political and social integration into their larger societies of belonging. School history programs often transfer usable historical narratives that configure meaningful understandings of national pasts. Their contents usually reflect the main identity markers of a given state’s dominant group and can be influential in how young people employ history when negotiating their sense of national identity and agency. As the experiences and realities of historic minorities are often left out or considered peripherally at most, the denial of alternative pasts can particularly limit students’ feelings of attachment and commitment to the state, especially if they view themselves as part of marginalized communities that have a long history of perceived social exclusion. Such feelings normally tend to intensify when simplified portrayals contradict a minority community’s self-understanding and do not present them as the protagonists of their own stories. Given these circumstances, making room for minority experiences, as Abdou shows, is not easy. At a societal level, it requires navigating complex political group interests and different interplays of power. Pedagogically, it involves promoting the need to complicate the past while also recognizing the need for a simplification or shortcut formula for helping community members make sense of their place in their surrounding world. The real difficulty, however, probably lies in seeking to make room for minority experiences vii

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when their very own perspectives may also be reduced and essentialized and may thus inadvertently provoke the potential for close-mindedness when used as claimed counter histories, histories that are nonetheless needed for making room. Deeply examining the workings of students’ historical consciousness represents a central way of better understanding these dynamics and how they impact students’ civic engagement. As a mode of historical sense production, individuals’ historical consciousness can influence the underlying decisions they make when giving meaning to the past for navigating social reality. Better understanding the ways in which students from dominant and marginalized communities make sense of their common pasts, especially when interacting with the master narratives that are transferred to them in schools, can thus be helpful. It can provide important insight into developing meaningful paths to recognizing and embracing differences while also building bridges. It can moreover offer input into potential strategies for schools to become more inclusive, participatory, and equitable in their approach. This democratic drive for inclusion is a constant among dedicated and engaged scholars, teachers, and activists, interested in making a positive difference in the lives of their students. Egypt’s contemporary context, which is the main focus of Abdou’s book, proves to be a rich terrain for studying these features, especially in light of how the official historical narratives presented in schools might not fully take into account the lived experiences of the country’s cultural and religious minorities. At times, these omissions can lead to feelings of exclusion and marginalization. In concentrating on the consequences of these occurrences, Abdou offers an engaging and pertinent reflection on the workings of young Egyptians’ historical consciousness and how it connects to the ways in which they perceive their sense of civic purpose and responsibility as future citizens of their country. He specifically looks at how Egyptian youth interact with the dominant historical narratives they are taught in schools and how they consequently think about ways of making their country more inclusive and equitable for its marginalized communities. Through his empirical work, Abdou subsequently provides a rich understanding of what it means to be a citizen in Egypt, in light of its multicultural and multi-confessional context, and what an ideal democratic citizenry would ultimately look like. The strength of what Abdou proposes really lies in the nuances that emerge among his research participants and how they critically, and at times even reflexively, interact with the official history that is presented to them. Abdou’s data is significantly

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insightful given how the momentous events of the 2011 uprising and its aftermaths have lent to triggering such thinking among young people. Abdou’s profound knowledge of the Egyptian context, including its culture and educational history, along with a deep understanding of the intergroup dynamics between Egypt’s many cultural, religious, and socio-economic communities deeply enriches the relevance and outreach of his work. Staunchly committed to promoting a participatory and inclusive citizenry, the relevance of Abdou’s research extends beyond the confines of Egypt, holding implications for both what are called “the global south” and the western world. His focus on historical consciousness as a means of inquiry is what opens doors for extending his ideas in this manner. In doing so, he joins a further important conversation, one on the relationship between individuals’ historical sense-making and their capacity for engaging in social action for purposes of seeking political change. Building on my prior work, Abdou makes an interesting contribution to how researchers employ historical consciousness as a means of grasping how individuals and current-day societies operationalize their historical sense-­ making to particularly process and mobilize the meanings they create for reasons of civic engagement. Through my own research in Quebec and its complex dynamic of intergroup relations between the province’s Frenchand English- speaking communities, I have specifically looked at historical consciousness’ role in the structuring of group boundaries. In focusing on educational and community actors, I particularly paid attention to seizing the conditions under which self-identifying individuals from both groups, in using historical knowledge, are open to overcoming We-They dichotomies. Of significance for Abdou’s work, I have found that some individuals, despite demonstrating an ability to portray a certain openness to the realities and experiences of the other competing community they engage with, may instead explicitly refuse to do so for practical, ethical, or political reasons. In such instances, the need to promote their own community holds greater sway than reaching out and embracing the other for who they really are. Moreover, in light of these actors’ differing degrees of resistance or even acceptance of the province’s official historical narrative, the impact of Quebec’s cultural identity politics and related power dynamics on these actors’ historical sense-making becomes apparent. In adopting a similar route, Abdou provides important nuances that emerge among his research participants’ historical sense-making operations. He too finds that his consequent use of contemporary and

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foundational thinker, Jörn Rüsen’s well-known typology of historical consciousness, as I did in mine, holds the beginning points for venturing further into the fluidity of our historical sense-making and the ways in which it influences our thinking. Through particularly elaborating on the critical type from Rüsen’s typology, Abdou develops a working framework, which strives to be a holistic approach to influencing the creation of pedagogy in Egypt with the express objectives of helping to teach history for transformation and inclusion. Abdou does this by bringing Rüsen’s ideas together with my adaptation of his typology, as a repertory of parallel and equal ideal-types tendencies of historical consciousness, along with two models of engaged citizenship developed by educational scholars James A. Banks and Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne. For the purposes of helping Egyptian curricula and classroom practices better promote pluralism, inclusive citizenship, and equity while building on current reform efforts, such a framework, Abdou contends, can serve as a pedagogical guide for teachers and curriculum developers alike. Of interest to the reader, Abdou’s delineation specifically addresses these matters from the angles of critical discourse analysis and critical pedagogy, and thus provides new leads for re-thinking the ways we conceptualize engaged citizenship and action. In ending his book with key reflection areas for improving the teaching of history in Egypt, Abdou’s book proves to also be useful for developing recommendations relevant to other social contexts in “the global south.” While his framework is in the making, it should be seen, I believe, as a pedagogical guide for change-making in Egypt, one that seeks to instill a sense of purpose and responsibility in young Egyptians as future citizens keen on promoting a participatory and inclusive way of life. Department of Integrated Studies in Education McGill University QC, Canada

Paul Zanazanian

Acknowledgements

Given that this book draws on my doctoral research and dissertation, I would like to start by thanking everyone who has been part of that journey from September 2013 until January 2019: my great doctoral supervisors and committee members, my wonderful family members, friends, and colleagues for all their support, encouragement, and guidance. Very special thanks go to my simply great, supportive, and compassionate doctoral co-supervisors and mentors at McGill University: Prof. Claudia Mitchell and Prof. Paul Zanazanian. I would also like to thank my two great doctoral committee members, Prof. Khaled Fahmy and Prof. Khalid Medani for their support, revisions, and excellent feedback and suggestions on several versions of my dissertation. I would also like to express my deep gratitude for all the helpful critiques and suggestions made on earlier versions of this book manuscript by several of my dear friends and colleagues, including Dr. Hania Sobhy, Ms. Nashwa Moheyeldine, Dr. Jason N. Dorio, and Dr. Maha Bali. A very special thank you to Prof. Paul Zanazanian for all his ongoing guidance and additional, extremely helpful insights on this book manuscript, and Prof. Nicholas Ng-A-Fook for his very helpful suggestions and critical insights as an external examiner of my doctoral dissertation and on earlier versions of this book. Very special thanks to the whole team at the American University in Cairo’s Department of Educational Studies (formerly the Graduate School of Education), for all their support and guidance, including to Prof. Nagwa Megahed, my great supervisor and mentor during my field research. xi

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Last but not least, I consider it a real privilege for this book to be appearing as part of the Curriculum Studies Worldwide series. It was a real honor to receive Prof. William Pinar’s kind invitation. In addition to being a great source of inspiration, Prof. Pinar has also been an ongoing generous source of support, guidance, and mentorship over the past several years, for which I remain extremely grateful.

Contents

1 Education,  Competing Discourses, Historical Narratives, and Civic Attitudes  1 2 The  Egyptian Educational System and Curriculum Since the 1800s Until the Present: Key Continuities and Changes 69 3 Young  Egyptians’ Interactions With the Official Curriculum and Its Classroom Enactment113 4 Young Egyptians’ Civic Attitudes and Engagement161 5 Toward  More Holistic Analytical Frameworks and Pedagogical Tools: How Do Interactions With History Shape Civic Engagement and Actions?195

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6 Toward  More Inclusive Curricular Representations and Classroom Practices231 Appendices263 References271 Index291

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 3.4 Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.6 Fig. 3.7 Fig. 3.8 Fig. 3.9 Fig. 3.10 Fig. 3.11 Fig. 3.12 Fig. 3.13 Fig. 3.14 Fig. 3.15

Summary of conceptual framework guiding the study Pre-interview drawing by Alia, a participant from Sharqiyya Pre-interview drawing by Maria, a participant from Fayoum Pre-interview drawing by Mahmoud, a participant from Cairo Pre-interview drawing by Maha, a participant from Cairo Pre-interview drawing by Hussein, a participant from Damietta Pre-interview drawing by Sandy, a participant from Minya Drawing by Fatima, a participant from Giza (produced during participatory visual methods workshop) Drawing produced by a group of participants during participatory visual methods workshop Drawing by Safa, a participant from Cairo (produced during participatory visual methods workshop) Pre-­interview drawing by Karim, a participant from Ismailia Pre-­interview drawing by Laila, a participant from Cairo Pre-­interview drawing by Randa, a participant from Bani Suef Drawing by Teresa, a participant from Cairo (produced during participatory visual methods workshop) Drawing by Farida, a participant from Cairo (produced during participatory visual methods workshop) Pre-­interview drawing by Fatima, a participant from Giza

28 116 117 118 120 121 122 123 124 125 130 132 133 147 151 156

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List of Tables

Table 2.1 Key Features Shaping Egyptian Education (1805-Present) Table 5.1 A proposed integrated model of Rüsen’s historical consciousness and citizenship typologies Table 5.2 Exploring connections between historical consciousness, and civic engagement and action: toward developing a guiding framework

72 204 207

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CHAPTER 1

Education, Competing Discourses, Historical Narratives, and Civic Attitudes

What is the nation? Whose historical narrative counts? How do individuals make sense of various historical narratives? In this day and age, with the plethora of media and sources, should we worry too much about what history young people are being taught in school? How powerful could the enacted curriculum be in shaping young people’s outlooks, perspectives, and civic actions? In contexts like Egypt where there have been two key massive and historic political upheavals in 2011 and 2013, how do these change the dynamics and process of students’ approach to the school curriculum?1 In this book, I seek to elucidate some of these key questions. While I draw and focus on the context of Egypt, throughout this book, I also attempt to make connections with other contexts globally, especially within the global South. As will be outlined in more detail later in this chapter and throughout the book, this study builds on similar studies conducted in various other contexts, including in the context of Quebec, Canada as outlined by Dr. Paul Zanazanian in the Foreword to this book. Taking a critical socio-cultural approach, embedded in critical approaches to curriculum, this book aims to contribute to theorizing how  I take the liberty to use the term ‘revolution’ to refer to the January 2011 events in most instances in this book. However, I also do use the terms ‘uprisings’ or ‘events’ to acknowledge other views that might want challenge the use of the term ‘revolution’ when referring to the 2011 events. 1

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. D. Abdou, Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt, Curriculum Studies Worldwide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0_1

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individuals’ interactions with the dominant historical narrative presented in official curricula shape their civic attitudes and intergroup dynamics (e.g., Apple, 1979, 2000; Giroux, 1983, 2003; McLaren, 2003). Further, based on exploring those dynamics, it seeks to offer some insights into curriculum development and teaching practices that would be more conducive to promoting inclusive civic attitudes and intergroup dynamics. The formal curriculum (including social studies and citizenship education curricula) often offers notions and understandings of the nation and its history that are at odds with competing versions offered by other social, extracurricular sites. These visions—whether the curricular or extracurricular—mobilize, construct, and deconstruct historical narratives in ways that help legitimize and rally others around particular visions and causes. Arguably, dominant ruling elites seek to construct, maintain, and disseminate a master narrative that serves their interests as well as normalize and legitimize particular ideologies, worldviews, and social structures, including through the formal curriculum. Beyond the formal curriculum, socio-cultural influences, including lived experiences and interactions outside of school, also have been found to have strong influences. Studies in several Western contexts have elucidated the influence of various extracurricular sites, including in the United States (e.g., Epstein, 2007), Quebec (Létourneau, 2007; Létourneau & Moisan, 2004), British Columbia (Seixas & Clark, 2004), and Ireland (Barton & McCully, 2005). So, how do young people negotiate those competing—and often diametrically opposed—visions of the nation that they are exposed to in their formal curriculum and other social sites? Given the need for more research, especially on questions of how “students … learn history both in and out of school” (Barton, 2008, p. 250), I hope that this book will make a meaningful contribution to the literature on the generally understudied area of how young Egyptians interact with the country’s master historical narrative. Further, by building on previous and current scholarly efforts especially in other contexts, it attempts to make a contribution to and further advance the conversation on the question of how individuals’ interactions with the past and historical narratives (i.e., their historical consciousness) might shape and inform their civic engagement and actions. Finally, it aims to help elucidate such interactions and, further, to explore some of the nuances and differences that might exist among students. In Chap. 5, I present some insights which I hope will be further critically examined and engaged with, built on, and further refined by other researchers, scholars, and educators toward developing

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more holistic pedagogical tools and frameworks, for the Egyptian context as well as other similar contexts, especially in the global South.

Timeliness and Urgency of This Discussion Leading social studies and historical consciousness theorist Peter Seixas (2018) reminded us that history educators are currently facing key challenges and questions, especially “as contemporary political, economic, and social conditions start to shift popular culture’s grand narratives of nation and world civilizations” with significant “implications for history educators” (p. xv). Thus, Seixas (2018) invited us to continue to critically engage with fundamental questions regarding the future of history education, including how “populist vision [would] affect the academic history and history education communities, whose scholars have focused on the flaws and cracks in the grand narratives” (p. xv). Similarly, Williams (2014) pointed to past and ongoing tensions that we need to continue to be vigilant about. We have been witnessing numerous situations where “critical thinking” has been deliberately undermined lest such critical engagement would lead to a weaker “attachment” to a collective national identity; thus, we see many situations where “the imagined national community overrides or slants the pursuit of academic knowledge and understanding” (Williams, 2014, p. 3). Backed by growing exclusionary and extremist movements, several contexts across the globe have been witnessing the rise to power of populist leaders, including in established and longstanding democracies, and arguably largely diverse and pluralist societies. In the case of India, scholars have pointed to ongoing efforts by the leading Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its strategic focus on revising the country’s historical narrative, especially within India’s history textbooks. Similar to other contexts historically and currently, those efforts have often focused on re-narrating national history in ways that essentialize a particular vision of the nation and its desired cultural and religious identity. This clearly comes at the expense of misrepresenting or altogether omitting various of the country’s cultural, religious, and ethnic minority groups’ narratives, contributions, and struggles, which in the case of India would include Muslims, Dalits, and Christians, among others (e.g., Banerjee & Stöber, 2020). As Anand and Lall (2022) noted, textbooks have become one of the BJP government’s most central tools and an “ideal medium for political communication” (p. 79).

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In the United States, similar debates, with clear gains and successes in some contexts, have meant that particular topics that might offer alternative narratives, shed light on systemic discrimination and exclusion, and capture often omitted perspectives and experiences of minority groups are under growing pressures to be banned from discussion in the classroom. For instance, there have been recent calls for banning discussions related to Critical Race Theory in schools in the United States, which would be essential for students to understand the historical and contemporary struggles of African Americans among other traditionally marginalized and racialized groups in the US.  This has prompted many activists and education scholars alike to point to the danger of such omission, calling for actively organizing to resist this censorship movement (e.g., Morgan, 2022; Taylor, Gillborn, & Ladson-Billings, 2023). Growing partisanship and threats against inclusivity and pluralism within such democracies has taken more extreme forms, including the unprecedented and violent threats and actions led by increasingly vocal and emboldened extremist groups. Such actions included the storming of democratic institution, such as the US Capitol in January 2021 protesting the defeat of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections (Bremmer, 2021). Similarly, in January 2023, the Brazilian Capitol and several other federal government buildings in Brasilia were stormed to protest election results in which right-wing, populist President Jair Bolsonaro was defeated (Roy, 2023). Not unexpectedly, some efforts by former President Bolsonaro’s regime and minister of education focused on Brazilian history textbooks. Those efforts included seeking to revise them to portray the 1964 military coup in Brazil in more positive light, within a gradual process that the Brazilian Minister of Education at the time explained is necessary so that “a fuller version of history can be redeemed” (Phillips, 2019, para. 5). Those efforts would be in support of conservative movements in Brazil that continue to argue that the 1964 military coup d’état, which ushered in a military-backed dictatorship, saved the country from turning into a communist state during the cold war era. In other contexts, historical narratives and ‘imagined communities’ continue to be deployed to justify nation-led violence and occupation, as in the case of Russia and its ongoing attack and destructive invasion of Ukraine since 2022. In his analysis of one of Russian President Putin’s key speeches in 2022, Mankoff (2022) explains that at the heart of initiating

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and fueling this war is to fight against “the legitimacy of Ukrainian identity and statehood.” This is deeply informed and shaped by Putin’s expressed worldview which emphasizes, “the deep-seated unity among the Eastern Slavs—Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians, who all trace their origins to the medieval Kyivan Rus commonwealth.” It follows from this worldview that those three nations “should share a political destiny both today and in the future” (para. 1). These are historical narratives that have shaped Putin’s worldview and continue to permeate and inform dominant discourses which shape and inform the country’s “elite discourse” as well as its “political practice” (para. 7). Again, schools and curriculum play a central role in normalizing that constructed narrative and deploying this vision. Such a vision is instilled in young Russians through school history textbooks which negatively portray Ukrainian nationalism and emphasize common history, culture, and destiny among Russians and Ukrainians, depicting Ukrainians and Belarusians as ““branches” or “younger brothers” of the Russians” (Korostelina, 2010, p. 132). In contrast, Ukrainian history textbooks present Ukraine as a largely European nation that is more progressive and culturally developed than Russia, depicting Russia as a largely “violent state of terror and low cultural achievement” (Korostelina, 2010, p. 135). Finally, in addition to the urgency of critically engaging with historical narratives and how they shape young peoples’ civic attitudes, it seems that the discussions around the importance of critically engaging with dominant and competing discourses presented in this book should also prove relevant and timely for some other contexts. Given this book’s critical engagement with competing dominant discourses and meta-discourses, especially religious-based versus nationalistic territorial and arguably secular-­based discourses, the book hopes to offer some relevant insights into other contexts that are being shaped by similar dynamics. For instance, as Ashraf (2018) revealed in the case of Pakistan, ongoing tensions and competing visions of Islamist or traditionalist groups and some modernist elites continue to shape education as well as the curriculum and its enactment in that country. This is arguably the case in several other Muslim-­ majority countries as well as other global South contexts. Thus, this book seeks to make a contribution to some of these urgent and important, ongoing debates and discussions.

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Competing Imaginings of the Nation Since much of the competing historical narratives are embedded in, as well as informed and shaped by, imaginings of the nation, it would be helpful to start with a brief discussion of the ‘nation’ and some of the key theories around it. In their field-changing books Imagined Communities (Anderson, 1983/2006) and Nations and Nationalism (Hobsbawm, 1990), both Anderson and Hobsbawm agree that education was a key tool in shaping national identities in nineteenth century Europe as well as in other eras and contexts. Several scholars agree that since its centralization and standardization in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Europe, especially social studies and citizenship education have played a key role in shaping national identities (e.g., Barton, 2012; Lopez & Carretero, 2012; Lukacs, 1985). Those national visions and projects necessitated that schools diffuse master historical narratives that shape citizens’ national identifications and that connect them to a unified understanding of an ‘imagined’ nation and a shared past (Anderson, 1983/2006). The print industry played a crucial role in consolidating and normalizing these common visions of the nation, mainly through facilitating the spread of ideas captured in written texts and disseminated to increasingly literate populations (Anderson, 1983/2006; Hobsbawm, 1990; Lukacs, 1985). Importantly, print bestowed on language a constructed sense of permanence, credibility, and “fixity” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 61). Relatedly, committing historical narratives to paper or print obscured that in fact, these narratives should still be critically approached as an “invention”; similar to fiction writers, historians invent stories from the chronicles (White, 1973, pp. 6–7). However, with the growing proliferation of and generally easy access to alternative historical knowledge sources, such as social media (Herrera, 2012), those state-produced materials have arguably been facing growing competition that challenges the control and monopoly they might have largely enjoyed and maintained over the past century or more. Similar to other geographical contexts where written texts and print played a key role in reinforcing an interpretation of the past and a sense of national belonging, in the nineteenth century, the Egyptian state sought to introduce written text as a replacement of oral traditions of transmission, especially through its modern schooling project. This was clearly motivated by a quest to create a modern subject that was allied to the modern nation-state, through inscribing standard moral codes that are

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applicable across various contexts and circumstances (Sedra, 2011, pp. 2–3). While ruling elites, influential political groups, and other stakeholders play key roles in defining and negotiating particular constructions of the nation in curriculum, masses also have a role to play in influencing and shaping these narratives. After all, political forces are reflective of—and respond to—“unofficial nationalist sentiments,” which could oftentimes include elements of “xenophobia or chauvinism” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 92). Acknowledging the role of citizens’ agency in shaping historical narratives helps encourage a more nuanced understanding of the dynamic processes shaping historical narratives. Such an approach is also crucial for Critical Pedagogy, with its central aspiration to understand and encourage human agency in ways that challenge power structures and dominant master historical narratives (e.g., Freire, 1968/2000). As early as the nineteenth century, Egypt’s political elite arguably recognized the key role that education needed to play in the “political process of discipline and formation” to help shape people’s understandings of their roles, identities, and civic attitudes (Mitchell, 1991, p. 119). In particular, Mehmed Ali’s rule (1805–1849) and its policies are seen as instrumental in starting to shape the Egyptian people’s sense of national identification, fostering an image and vision of Egypt “as a nation with a purposeful, clear identity” (Fahmy, 1997, p. 17). Such a constructed identity clearly helped Ali serve his ambitious military vision and consolidate his power. For him to be successful in convincing Egyptians that fighting for his dynasty “was tantamount to giving one’s life for the sake of the “nation”,” there was a need to also represent the modern Egyptian nation as having “always already existed,” and thus, “demanded the sacrifices of its citizens” (Fahmy, 1997, p. 19). Such a vision seems to have continued to guide and inform the overall approach to public education in Egypt, as will be further unpacked elaborated in Chap. 2.

Centrality of Historical Narratives in the Modern Nation-Building Project Master historical narratives are essentially the products of, and embedded within, discourses that legitimize nationalist rule through essentializing the concept of ‘nation-states’—representing the nation, its borders, and its national identity as primordial (e.g., Carretero & Van Alphen, 2014;

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Carretero, 2017; Fahmy, 1997).2 Ruling elites and dominant groups seek to shape these nationalist historical narratives in ways that help legitimize contemporary social structures and political arrangements, thus securing their interests and dominance. This is also clearly the case in theocratic rule, even though it is embedded in a meta-discourse and vision that would compete with the nationalistic territorial vision and its meta-­ discourse. Thus, a theocratic rule would necessitate that ruling elites introduce and mobilize another type of revisionist, religious-based historical narrative. For instance, in Iran, where the ruling regime’s religious-­ based—specifically Islamized—discourse essentializes one dominant, exclusionary identity, the curriculum is characterized by an “inadequate sensitivity to cultural and ethnic diversity” (Mehrmohammadi, 2014, pp.  230–231). This underplays the significance of the country’s multi-­ layered, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious nature, including its rich and long, ancient pre-Islamic past (pp. 230–231). In other cases, where societies witness a growing influence of religiously driven ideological movements (e.g., Political Islam or Islamism), a generally secular national elite would seek to safeguard a dominant narrative with a largely nationalistic orientation. However, these supposedly secular ruling regimes—in their quest to appease and accommodate oppositional religious-based ideological forces while maintaining their power—could strategically allow for religious-based narratives and interpretations of the nation and its history to infiltrate or co-exist with these dominant historical narratives. For instance, in the cases of Egypt (Botros, 2012) and Pakistan (Rosser, 2006), we see a nationalist narrative where ruling elite—often backed by a powerful military establishment and Western powers—draw on and reproduce a nationalist discourse. Simultaneously, in an effort to appease an exclusionary religious-based Islamist discourse, they could accommodate a religiousbased orientation or interpretations of some historical narratives that would value and essentialize the majority group’s religious identity at the expense of the particularities and cultural specificities, including those of religious and ethnic minorities.

 Please note that throughout the study, I use the terms ‘master narrative’ and ‘dominant narrative’ interchangeably. In doing so, I use both to refer to the historical narratives which are constructed, maintained, and propagated by the dominant ruling elite, and which would generally serve its interests. 2

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However, this dynamic has arguably been changing in the case of Egypt, with societal and public opinion generally turned against power abuse in the name of religion and theocratic rule after the brief rule of the Muslim Brotherhood (2012–2013). What is important to note and acknowledge for the sake of this discussion is that dominant historical narratives—embedded in and legitimized by dominant discourses—are contested by counter-narratives. Those counter-narratives are often produced by and maintained within community groups and their institutions, including ethnic or religious minority groups whose narratives are either omitted from or misrepresented within these master narratives. Studying nation-building efforts and processes to construct national identities, points to how in some cases these processes necessitate the creation of common languages to tie the national population together, in many cases even constructing “nationalist mythology” through constructing or consolidating an already existing “standardized and homogenized language” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 54). Constructing and manipulating historical narratives play an equally important role in these nation-building efforts. These national histories help legitimize “an originatory present,” presented within a trajectory or storyline of progress toward that present moment in a nation’s history (Anderson, 1983/2006, p. 205). The ultimate aim is often to reinforce their citizens’ sense of belonging and loyalty to a historically constructed “lasting political entity” or a “historical nation” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 73). Driven by their nation-building objectives, these narratives are also defined by, and they would necessitate, some deliberate omissions of narratives or perspectives, or “characteristic amnesias” (Anderson, 1983/2006, p. 204). These nationalist narratives also seek to construct and normalize the homogeneity of the population. This often requires downplaying cultural diversity represented by local ethnic and religious minorities, which could arguably challenge the narrative of a common historical origin. Modern national institutions, including schools and universities, were clearly instrumental in helping construct as well as reproducing national identification and consciousness (Anderson, 1983/2006; Hobsbawm, 1990). In Egypt, there are arguably at least two key competing orientations toward constructing the Egyptian nation and its people’s cultural identity: a nationalistic territorial orientation (which would include secular Egyptianism), and a supra-nationalist orientation. Those two orientations or camps could also be referred to as competing discourses or perhaps

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meta-discourses.3 The supra-nationalist orientation would comprise various ideologies, including Pan-Arabism and Islamism. However, those general classifications are not mutually exclusive as will become apparent below. Within the discussion of supra-nationalist orientations, I pay special attention to Political Islam (or Islamism). Political Islam is arguably the most powerful alternative ideology and vision that has been competing with the nationalistic territorial vision for the past several decades, whether in Egypt or in several other contexts, including several West Asian and North African contexts, such as Tunisia (e.g., Faour, 2012), and South Asian countries, such as Pakistan (Ashraf, 2018). So, how can we better understand and critically engage with those two competing meta-­ discourses and some of their key defining elements? Territorial Nationalism and Secular Egyptianism With the end of the First World War, Europe witnessed an emergence and growth of the “principle of nationality” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 131). In Egypt, with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the early 1900s also witnessed the emergence of territorial nationalism—or ‘Egyptianism.’ Egyptian intellectuals of the early 1900s—in a quest to unify modern Egyptians across religious or other divides against their British colonial enemy—emphasized links and commonalities with ancient Egyptians in various key areas including language, customs, traditions, and religious beliefs (Colla, 2007; Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986; Reid, 1997). Such practice of drawing on “a suitable (or suitably impressive) national state in the past” is common practice among elites seeking to shape and strengthen a collective national identity (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 76, see also Zervas & Abdou, 2022). This Egyptianist orientation has influenced as well as reinforced the Egyptian nationalist historiographical school’s imaginings of the Egyptian nation. Fahmy (1997) points to several of this school’s essentializations and fundamental elements, especially as they emerge in the analyses of their narrations of the Mehmed Ali era. This narrative proposes the 3  I use the terms ‘discourses’ and ‘meta-discourses’ interchangeably throughout this book. However, it is important to note that when referring to dominant ideologies and orientations such as nationalist territorial and religious-based orientations, I prefer that we refer to them as ‘meta-discourses’ or ‘Discourses’ as opposed to ‘discourses.’ This would aim to acknowledge, emphasize, and draw our attention to the fact that within those ‘meta-discourses’ there would be several variations, nuances, and even some inherent fissures and tensions.

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existence of a primordial sense of a collective identity which has translated into people’s understanding of themselves as “Egyptians first and foremost,” thus sidelining discussions of how they might have at times predominantly self-identified perhaps as “Muslims” or “Ottoman subjects” or otherwise. This nationalistic territorial historical narrative further proposes that this identity is primordial and only needed a trigger to be ignited, as was the case with the creation of Mehmed Ali’s army, which helped Egyptians rediscover and reconnect with “their true identity” (p. 17). Further, Fahmy (1997) has challenged the dominant assumptions of Egyptian nationalist historiographies that represent the Egyptian nation-state as essentially having always been “a unified, self-contained, clearly recognizable identity” positing it as “a primordial, eternal entity possessing a unified, conscious will” (pp. 312–313). Egyptianist intellectuals and thinkers constructed and envisioned an “Egyptian umma [nation]” with some key defining elements, including “a distinct Egyptian identity and heritage,” “Egyptian colloquial Arabic,” and the “ancient Egyptian civilization” (Tadros, 2013, p. 39). Similar to other Egyptianist intellectuals, Mohamed Husayn Haykal and Ahmed Lutfi El-Sayyid (Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986; Tadros, 2013), advocated that—despite multiple foreign invaders and colonizers over the millennia—a “distinct Egyptian national character” has endured throughout history (Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986, p.  13). This ideology constructed Egypt as “a particular national community … distinct and set apart from the Ottoman order,” thus, in essence mutually exclusive with “any Pan-­ Islamic manifestations” (Di Capua, 2001, p. 97). Several scholars have noted the resilience and influence of this Egyptianist territorial orientation, even within supra-nationalist ideologies. Thus, it has been proposed that even supra-nationalist ideologies of Pan-Arabism and Islamism “were subordinated to the model of the territorial nation” (Piterberg, 1997, p. 49). Thus, arguably, Egyptian intellectuals developed multiple “imaginings,” all somehow connected to and informed by a nationalistic territorial ‘imagining’ of the nation. Testifying to its resilience, Tadros (2013) points to the nationalistic territorial (or Egyptianist) meta-discourse and ideology’s continued ability to prompt mass mobilization, as was evident in the 1919 and 2011 revolutions, both of which were initiated “in the name of Egyptian nationalism,” not in the names of supra-nationalist ideologies, whether “pan-Arabism” or “pan-­ Islamism” (p.  43). Competing with this nationalistic territorial meta-­ discourse, and its visions of the Egyptian nation, have also been

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supra-nationalist ideologies and ‘imaginings’ of Egypt, its history, and future. Supra-Nationalist Ideologies (Pan-Arabism and Islamism) Supra-nationalist ideologies emphasize that Egypt’s cultural identity is fundamentally defined by the commonalities it shares with other larger imagined communities, whether the larger Arab nation or Muslim nation. The emergence of more organized forms of these supra-nationalist orientations is generally attributed as a response to the interwar period’s economic hardships, allowing such orientations to gain further momentum with the emergence of a new “urban, educated middle class of native Egyptians”—or the “new effendiyya” in the 1920s (Gershoni & Jankowski, 2002, p. 11).4 More specifically, many Egyptian Muslims would arguably have started turning away from Liberal Nationalism toward more Islamist orientations, partly because of how the former was perceived to have failed them because of the economic hardships experienced during the First and Second World Wars (Van Doorn-Harder, 2005). The latter clearly called for a more central role for religion in governing the country and in defining and managing its public sphere and affairs. For instance, from the early stages of its formation, the Muslim Brotherhood—a key initiator and defining force of Political Islam or Islamism—“criticized the secular Wafd party and questioned the legitimacy of Copts in places of authority” (p. 26).5 While Islamist discourse has arguably infiltrated public spaces in various ways arguably in more organized ways since the 1960s, perhaps it was made especially more widely accessible to the general public through traditional mass media and social media channels between 2011 and 2013. As presented by many of its advocates, the Islamist discourse advocates for an Islamic system of governance that—in some of its more extreme and strict forms—would possibly require non-Muslims to be ascribed “a 4  This social class is said to have emerged as a result of urbanization, the expansion of a national economy, and the educational institution. Together these factors have arguably resulted in many affluent Egyptian families shifting their alliances from “al-Azhar, the family business, and the neighborhood” toward more “modern avenues of participation in education and professional specialization” (Di Capua, 2009, p. 143). 5   In 1928 Hassan al-Banna, an Egyptian schoolteacher, established the Muslim Brotherhood. Starting off as a “philanthropic society,” it initially called for “a regeneration of society on the basis of Islamic principles and for political and social reforms.” However, it quickly became an influential political actor fighting for Egypt’s independence from British occupation (Gohar, 2008, p. 179).

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subservient status;” further, it might require non-Muslims to pay the jizia (obligatory tax on non-Muslim able male adults), essentially rejecting aspirations for “equality in citizenry rights and responsibilities” (Tadros, 2014, p. 215). In addition to their contentious and commonly critiqued views of the subordinate role of women in society, Islamists are also commonly critiqued for considering non-Muslims as “protected minorities, not full citizens” (Zuhur, 2014, p. 251). In contrast, as an arguably more secular ideology, Pan-Arabism is a more inclusive ideology at least vis-à-vis non-Muslim minorities that have become culturally ‘Arabized’ (i.e., who have become Arabic-speakers or self-identify as ‘Arab’ or ‘culturally Arab’). However, in many instances, the construction of an Arab cultural identity has been closely intertwined with Islamic culture and heritage, a message reinforced by how some Islamists would argue for Arabic—being the sacred language of the Quran—as belonging to Islam and Muslims. These more exclusionary Islamic understandings and interpretations of a Pan-Arab ideology have clearly sidelined and alienated some non-Muslim minorities. The more the Pan-Arabist discourse and ideology “became infused with the notion of a common religion,” the more non-Muslim minorities started to feel alienated by it and thus, “disengage from it” (Tadros, 2013, p.  41). Some scholars have even gone as far as arguing that the embrace of Pan-Arabism by the Nasser regime might have triggered a reaction among some non-­ Muslim minorities to return to “a pre-Arab and non-Arab identity” (Ha, 2016, p. 116).6 This entanglement of the Islamist and Pan-Arab identifications, and the potential resulting alienation it could cause among some segments of society is quite ironic, especially that some of the key founders of Pan-Arabism and its most enthusiastic pioneers in the early and mid-­1900s were “Arab Christian minorities, Copts, Maronites and Greek Catholics” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 68). The roots of the tensions and the centrality of the religious component within the modern Egyptian subjectivity are captured well by Di Capua 6  Several scholars and activists have proposed that the 1967 defeat against Israel was a turning point after which Egyptians—both Muslims and Copts—turned away from the Pan-Arab ideology. As Van Doorn-Harder (2005) explains, “Liberal Nationalism of the Wafd Party, Nasser’s socialism, and Pan-Arabism” had all but failed them, as embodied in that devastating defeat (p.  27). Thus, arguably in seeking to resist and reject these ideologies, many Egyptians would have started to seek refuge and salvation in religiously inspired political ideologies through which they could find consolation, possibly repentance, and most importantly meaning in the wake of a defeat which some would have interpreted as a result of society’s loss of its moral compass by abandoning religion and its rightful central role in society and public life.

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(2001); he explains that with the advent of the Nasser regime to power in 1952 and with the regime’s adoption of a Pan-Arab vision that emphasized the centrality of the Arab element of modern Egyptians’ cultural identity, the country was already generally divided between two competing ideological visions and discourses. These visions, with their competing historical narratives vying for people’s loyalty and support, included the one articulated by the legacy of the National Party (founded by anti-­ colonialist leader Mustafa Kamil) with its understanding of Egypt as essentially part of the Ottoman Empire. The other was the Wafd Party’s alternative nationalistic territorial vision (p. 97). Such tensions have arguably resulted in “two different versions of the nation’s past” (Di Capua, 2001, p. 98). Contemporary manifestations of that religious identity were clearly informed by and embody what Starrett (1998)—based on his analyses of public discourse and religion textbooks of the 1990s—aptly referred to as a “functionalization” of Islam. That functionalization entails not only interpreting religion as a general guide for Muslims and society in modern times, but also more fundamentally reinterpreting Muslim religious texts and tradition in ways that help “legitimate the authority of policymakers … helping to bring religious instruction into the conscious service of independent social and political ends” (Starrett, 1998, p. 138). As illustrated above, these ideologies and identifications are not necessarily mutually exclusive, whether in the Egyptian case or in other contexts. Hobsbawm (1990) eloquently reminds us that nationalism imposed its “limits on religio-ethnic identification” (p.  69). However, interactions between the two discourses and their visions “resist simple generalizations” (p.  71). Having strong nationalistic sentiments could clearly co-­exist with other identifications and belongings. An individual’s national identifications are “always combined with identifications of another kind,” and carry the potential to “change and shift” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 11). Resurgence of a Nationalistic Territorial (Egyptianist) Meta-Discourse? As will be discussed in more detail in Chap. 2, such imaginings of the country’s cultural identity, including the role of religion in society, had significant ramifications on envisioning modern Egyptian education since the 1800s. It might be too early to judge the impact of this, however, it is

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clear that—partly in response to the brief but clearly theocratic and exclusionary rule of the Muslim Brotherhood (2012–2013)—there has been a strong resurgence of interest among many Egyptians in Egypt’s cultural identity. Drawing on what could be seen as strong Egyptianist ideological commitments, it is also clear how the current regime—led by President El-Sisi—is heavily investing in emphasizing the centrality of ancient Egyptian history as a key pillar of the Egyptian cultural identity. This is exemplified in investments made into museums as well as the millions of US dollars spent on the impressive production of the “Pharaohs’ Golden Parade” in April 2021, marking the transportation of the mummies of some of ancient Egypt’s most prominent kings and queens from the national museum in downtown Cairo to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (Hussein, 2021). Further, in 2021, another multi-million-dollar, national celebration took place to mark the inauguration of the renovated and restored “Avenue of Sphinxes” in Luxor (Gubash & Cahill, 2021). Such an ideological commitment could also be sensed in the revival of some discussions to mandate the teaching of the ancient Egyptian language and its hieroglyphs in Egyptian schools. Such efforts are seen by the Egyptian Ministry of Education as important in helping Egyptian students better learn about “their ancestors, their history, writing and their monuments” (Egypt Independent, 2021, para. 5). Further, as could be witnessed in several of his public speeches, President El-Sisi has been a strong proponent of reforming Islamic religious discourse, seeking to work closely with and support Al-Azhar and other leading institutions, in an effort to reform and offer more progressive and inclusive interpretations of religious texts and practices (e.g., Bano, 2018). Thus, in terms of supporting and strengthening a more secular and inclusive Egyptian identity—very much rooted centrally in Egyptianism and perhaps informed by some elements of Pan-Arabist orientations— there have been some key positive indicators. Although some are more symbolic in nature, they remain much needed and positive signals, especially for religious minorities. For instance, President El-Sisi’s initiatives toward Egyptian Christians (Copts) have been widely welcomed. Those include supporting the construction of Africa’s largest Cathedral in the new administrative capital of Egypt as well as his own unprecedented presidential visits and heartfelt speeches at Coptic Orthodox Christmas Mass celebrations over the past few years, which call for respecting and celebrating religious diversity in Egypt and globally (Aljazeera, 2015; Egypt

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Independent, 2017; El-Shamy, 2018; Kingsley, 2015). Further, in a clear defiance of extremism and fundamentalism, the Egyptian military has been actively involved in helping reconstruct and restore some of the churches that have been burned down or destroyed by extremist or terrorist radical Islamist groups during the 2011 events and their aftermaths (Christiansen, 2015). Such efforts were further ratified and institutionalized by the Egyptian Cabinet in 2016, which introduced a law that sought to ease historical restrictions on building churches and to facilitate “the legalization of unlicensed churches.” Those reforms basically seek to reverse years of hurdles and impediments faced, especially by Coptic Christian communities in obtaining official permissions to renew old churches or build new ones in Egypt (Farouk, 2018). It is worth noting that some of these developments, including the building of the New Administrative Capital (e.g., Sims, 2015), as well as organizing lavish celebrations such as the parade of the ancient Egyptian royal mummies (e.g., Uddin, 2021) were critiqued by some who are questioning their economic rationale, arguing that such funds would be better directed toward fulfilling and addressing other more urgent priorities and needs. Further, within that direction that promotes more inclusivity, there have been some government-led moves toward female empowerment. For instance, in addition to the unprecedented prominence of female ministers appointed to lead some of the key ministries in the Egyptian cabinet over the past decade, among the positive developments have been the appointment—for the first time in modern Egyptian history—of two female governors to head two Egyptian governorates (provinces). Currently the governors of Behaira and Damietta are both women. It is worth noting as well that the governor of Damietta is not only a woman, but also a Coptic Christian (Shaban, 2018). Thus, despite the ongoing tensions between the competing ideologies and meta-discourses and their visions and imaginings of the Egyptian nation including its cultural identity, there seems to be a resurgence of and an emphasis on strengthening more of a nationalistic territorial orientation.

The Egyptian Context In addition to being the region’s most populous country (one in every four Arabic language speakers in the world is Egyptian) and being the third most populous country in Africa, the centrality and importance of

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Egypt’s education in the regional context has been discussed by several scholars (e.g., Cochran, 1986). Thus, a study of Egypt would hopefully help elucidate dynamics within similar contexts, where perhaps relatively less space for participation and civic engagement is available, entailing impediments and restrictions on political participation, as well as engaging in non-political civil society activities (e.g., Abdel Rahman, 2004; Gohar, 2008; Onodera, 2015; The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, 2016). The Egyptian education system will be extensively discussed in Chap. 2. For now, as a brief background, in terms of the number of students enrolled, the Egyptian public educational system continues to be the largest in the West Asia and North Africa region (Farag, 2012, p.  81). According to the Egyptian Ministry of Education, in early 2020, there were approximately 24 million students enrolled in Egypt’s pre-university education (Egypt Today, 2020). Approximately 80% of the country’s students study in state-run public schools which “teach the national curriculum devised by the Ministry of Education” (Farag, 2012, p. 81). While approximately 7% of Egyptian students attend private schools, approximately 10% attend the Islamic-based education system of Al-Azhar. The Al-Azhar education system is a semi-autonomous system that runs its own schools from the elementary to the end of secondary levels. Private schools include a large portion that teach in Arabic and are not high fees schools, as well as foreign language schools characterized by high fees and elitist education. Further, private and modern Islamic schools—which by extension only cater to Muslim students—have also emerged in the 1990s under the supervision of the Ministry of Education (MOE) (Herrera, 2006; Starrett, 1998). A few observations would be pertinent to share to help understand the Egyptian context and trends shaping it, especially regarding this book’s main focus. A Growing Interest in Historical Roots (or Nostalgia for the Past) Among Egyptians Connected to and further shaped by the 2011 and 2013 revolutions and their aftermaths, it is easy to detect how especially during that period there was a growing sense of interest in the past and in history among many Egyptians. For instance, the past few years have witnessed a growth in the number of history-related best-selling books. Those include best-selling historical fiction books, such Ahmed Mourad’s Ard Al-Ilah (the Land of

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the Lord) (2015) and his novel ‘1919’ (2014).7 Set in ancient Egypt, the former offers an alternative narrative to the Biblical Exodus narrative, while the latter focuses on the country’s social history during the historically significant year of 1919. Similarly, Youssef Zeydan’s (2011) novel Azazeel—which first came out in 2008 and offers an alternative fictional narrative to the history of early Christianity in Egypt—continues to be among the bestselling historical fiction novels. In addition, several nonfiction history books continue to be among the bestselling nonfiction books’ lists, including historian Khaled Fahmy’s seminal Koll Rijal Al-Basha (All the Pasha’s Men), the Arabic version of which was released in 2001. The book challenges the nationalistic territorial historical narrative and offers a counter-narrative about Mehmed Ali’s rule (Assem, 2016; Quessy, 2016). A growing interest in Egyptian history among many Egyptians, especially younger audiences, can also be witnessed in the large viewership and following garnered by the Egyptian-produced documentary series entitled “Om El Donia” (Mother of the World). Released in 2022/2023, the series has launched its documentary series focusing on ancient Egyptian history to then be followed with series focusing on Coptic, Islamic, and modern history (Essam, 2022). Similarly, while this merits further study and analyses, suffice it to have a quick look at popular TV series since that offers a glimpse into that growing interest, especially in the country’s modern history. A review of social media websites and YouTube videos, with their many historical themes, also attest to that growing sense of interest in history and perhaps sentiments of nostalgia, especially among a growing segment of Egyptians whether for particular eras such as the 1980s (e.g., Darwish, 2017), or earlier eras, such as the reign of King Farouk or ancient Egyptian history. Another indicator of this trend is the number of significant independent initiatives that have been established to offer alternative approaches to learning history and the growing interest as translated in the number of participants. For instance, the Cairo Institute for Liberal Arts (CILAS)— having graduated its first cohort in 2013—continues to offer various courses and programs, taking a critical and postmodernist approach to the 7  In 2021, Mourad’s novel 1919 has been turned to a major long feature Egyptian film under the title “Kira & El Gin.” The film is said to be one of the largest productions in the long history of Egyptian cinema industry since its inception in the early 1900s (Nile FM, 2021).

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humanities and social sciences. Similarly, initiated in 2010, the Ehki Ya Tarikh (Narrate to Us, O History!) workshop series encourage alternative and more subaltern narrations of history. The workshop series attempt to do that through capturing oral histories of various segments of Egyptians. These initiatives also aim to help their participants develop knowledge of historical research tools and their applications (Abdelrahman & Yehia, 2019). Since 2011 other new initiatives emerged with more religious interpretations as well, including Sheikh Al-Ammoud (The Sheikh of the Pillar), focusing on teaching Islamic history since the early days of Prophet Muhammad until modern day society. Another prominent initiative is Mobtadaa which aims to help secondary school students learn about and develop critical approaches to the humanities and social sciences (Abdelrahman & Yehia, 2019). All of those groups have been able to attract secondary school students, post-secondary university students, as well as recent university graduates. Similar to other civil society initiatives, these efforts would continue to face challenges especially relating to sustaining themselves or in expanding their scope because of the generally restrictive regulatory framework governing civil society work in Egypt. Despite the need for further study, these observations begin to offer a sense of an emerging and strengthened interest in the past, especially among young Egyptians. Egyptian Youth I draw on the United Nations’ definition—widely used in African and Arab States—which refers to youths as individuals between 15 and 35 years of age (UNESCO, 2018). I focused on recruiting post-secondary (i.e., university) students and recent university graduates. Focusing on participants who have graduated over the past few years from Egyptian secondary schools introduced several advantages. Such recent graduation from school ensured that impressions of their schooling experiences remained largely fresh and vivid. Further, having already graduated from their secondary schools—albeit quite recently in some cases—enabled many of the participants to take the needed critical distance to reflect on their schooling experiences. It is important to note that, given that only approximately 4  million Egyptians go on to pursue and complete university studies (Galal, 2021), this would be considered a relatively exclusive group.

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About the Study This book is largely based on field research that I was able to conduct in Egypt in 2016 and 2017. In this study, I sought to explore how young Egyptians’ interactions with the country’s master historical narrative might shape their sense of identity and their subjectivities, as manifested in their choices for civic engagement. To be able to investigate various societal and cultural influences and how they shape meaning making mental processes among individuals and groups, it was pertinent to adopt a socio-­ cultural approach, which offers helpful tools and approaches to explore the dynamics of and influences of cultural production and consumption (Wertsch, 1998, 2000). Within this socio-cultural approach, I approach this study with a constructivist understanding of knowledge as being constructed by the knower and the researcher, and thus, seeking to be open to interpretation and contestation. Such an understanding encourages me to seek to be critically aware of, and to acknowledge that, as a researcher, I am part of “the production of reconstructed understandings of the social world” (Lincoln & Guba, 2005, p. 184). In striving to recruit as diverse a group of participants as I could, I employed both purposeful sampling (Creswell, 2014), and snowball sampling techniques (Lichtman, 2013). I was able to recruit a total of 39 participants (approximately 70% female and 30% male; 80% Muslims and 20% Christians). Their ages ranged between 18 years old and 29 years old. They represented 12 Egyptian governorates (out of a total of 27 governorates) and were mostly recent graduates from the Egyptian educational system (Thanawiyya ‘Amma—equivalent of a High School Diploma— whether in the sciences/maths track (‘ilmi) or literature/social sciences (adabi)), having completed all their schooling in their respective home governorates. Two of the participants had graduated from the Al-Azhar system schools, managed by Al-Azhar Islamic education system, which is the largest government-supported and funded semi-autonomous educational system. All data collection was conducted in Cairo, Egypt. Data collection tools included a detailed written exercise. In developing this, I drew on and was inspired by several earlier efforts of some scholars who used this method to explore individuals’ understanding of history and their historical consciousness including but not limited to Létourneau (2007), Zanazanian (2013), Angier (2017), Sant et  al. (2015), among

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others. The written exercise was then followed by individual semi-­ structured in-depth interviews (e.g., Chase, 2011).8 Inspired by participatory visual methods, especially the works of leading scholars including Claudia Mitchell (e.g., Mitchell, 2011; Mitchell & De Lange, 2013; Theron, Mitchell, Smith, & Stuart, 2011), the interviews entailed asking participants to hand-draw their understanding of Egypt’s history. I found this hand-drawing exercise important in capturing nuances that the narrative writing exercise might not have captured. It is worth noting that the use of hand-drawing was also inspired by earlier studies that sought to explore individuals’ interactions with historical narratives, probing participants to hand-draw their understanding of history or particular dimensions of it (e.g., Duraisingh, 2012, 2017; Lee, 2004). Participants in this study were also given the option of partaking in a participatory visual methods workshop, in which I prompted them to individually and in groups draw and discuss representations of events or groups they felt were misrepresented or omitted from their history curriculum. Several of the participants actively participated in those two workshops. Using multiple data collection methods sought to help strengthen the study’s “rigor, breadth, complexity, richness and depth” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005, p.  5). Further, using various methods of data collection helped capture nuances and offer an arguably more holistic analysis that perhaps using one or two data collection methods might not have allowed for (Flick & Foster, 2008). The data analyses were inspired by Grounded Theory, allowing us to be totally open to what emerges from the data (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007; Charmaz, 2006; Glaser, 1978; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). As Glaser (1978) explains, Grounded Theory “is based on the systematic generating of theory from data, that itself is systematically obtained from social research”; it thus offers “a rigorous, orderly guide to theory development that at each stage is closely integrated with a methodology of social research … guided and integrated by the emerging theory [emphasis in original]” 8  The written exercise questions were written in Modern Standard Arabic. Please see Appendix II for a translation of the exercise’s guidelines, prompts, and questions. As can be seen in the guidelines, participants were encouraged to feel free to complete the form in whichever language that would help them express themselves better, including Egyptian Arabic or English.

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(p. 2).9 As Charmaz (2006) advises us, I examined all the categories for “their power, purpose, and patterns,” collapsing or simply removing those that were irrelevant to the purposes of this study (p. 159). To probe and explore participants’ historical consciousness, I analyzed how they narrated the country’s history as they presented it in a written exercise/questionnaire that I designed, as well as in their responses to the subsequent semi-structured interviews. Further, I analyzed how they explained the function and role of history and history education, as well as what they might have chosen to problematize about social studies and citizenship education curricula they studied, including their misrepresentations or omissions. Regarding exploring their civic engagement and actions, I analyzed what emerged in their detailed narratives (in the written exercises as well as subsequent in-depth interviews) especially regarding their responses about their past, current, and future envisioned role and contribution to their communities or Egypt more generally.

Why This Study? I consider myself someone who is strongly committed to promoting social justice and better respect for diversity and inclusion—clearly inspired by efforts that seek to create more just, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable societies. With this social justice agenda and constructivist paradigm as a foundation, I am guided by socio-cultural approaches to studying social studies and citizenship education curriculum. Such commitment propels me to be strongly interested especially in interrogating how “processes of production and consumption of historical narratives” influence and shape individuals’ social identities and subjectivities (Bermúdez, 2012, p. 204). Such approaches put a strong emphasis on interactions that individuals have with their surroundings and different social sites, and the influence those have on shaping their subjectivities (see e.g., Carretero et al., 2012; Wertsch, 1998, 2000). Thus, together, constructivist and socio-cultural 9  For a detailed account of all the recruitment, data collection, and data analyses methods employed in this study as well as copies of approvals obtained from McGill University’s Research Ethics Board (REB) (received in July 2016) and the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Institutional Review Board (IRB) (received in October 2016), please feel free to review the full dissertation accessible through the McGill University portal: Abdou, E. D. (2019). How young Egyptians’ interactions with Egypt’s master historical narrative shape their social identities and civic attitudes. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, Montreal.

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approaches offer supplementary perspectives on historical understanding (Barton & McCully, 2005). On one hand, the constructivist approach contends that students are not passive recipients but continually engage in a process of active construction that attempts to make sense of the world. On the other hand, socio-cultural approaches affirm that the information that students are exposed to are historically and socially constructed. Thus, instead of focusing on analyzing the specifics of the developmental cognitive historical thinking abilities of individuals—which could be referred to as a “discursive-rhetorical model” (Bermúdez, 2012, p.  217)—-I have chosen to focus more on how historical understanding is fostered and shaped through the various socio-cultural factors, sites, and interactions. This book seeks to build on earlier studies that have explored young Egyptians’ understandings of, and interactions with, the country’s dominant historical narrative(s) and of the official school curriculum (e.g., Moheyeldine, 2016, 2019; Sobhy, 2012, 2015). Further, it seeks to present some insights toward building a framework that connects individual’s understandings of history (i.e., historical consciousness typologies) to their choices of civic engagement and action (i.e., citizenship and civic actions typologies). To date, the literature on historical consciousness and that on citizenship and citizenship education remain largely separated. Thus, this book attempts to make that connection based on a literature review and the findings emerging from the Egyptian context. I am seeking to find ways that Egyptian curricula and classroom practices could help foster a stronger sense of inclusivity and promote the values of pluralism, participation, and active citizenship. Through this study presented here, I explore how students’ understanding of history contributes to shaping their understanding of their roles as citizens and their civic engagement. Based on these explorations, I offer some insights that could hopefully inform the further development and refinement of pedagogical approaches, tools, and practices for curriculum developers as well as teachers and teacher educators in Egypt, and potentially similar contexts in the global South. More specifically, through this study I seek to fulfill a few objectives. First, I am keen to contribute to a better understanding of how young Egyptians interact with the country’s history. Second, I attempt to contribute to an understanding of how curriculum and its enactment might contribute to shaping young Egyptians’ understanding of their roles as citizens, and their civic engagement and actions. Drawing on Critical Pedagogy and Critical Discourse Analysis (as will be unpacked later in this

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chapter), such analysis also seeks to critically engage with the generally understudied questions of the complex relationship of docility and resistance, as well as agency and passivity of individuals and groups vis-à-vis the master historical narrative. Third, it is my sincere hope and aspiration that the book offers Egyptian policy makers, curriculum developers, as well as those engaged in extracurricular history-related initiatives and efforts, some critical and constructive insights into areas of curriculum where there are successes that could be built upon, while also shedding light on shortcomings that would need to be critically engaged with. Observing the current efforts led by the Egyptian state—led especially by its Ministry of Education, including their attempt to reform the educational system and render curricula more inclusive and engaging—I believe that some of these recommendations could be further studied and that some could potentially be adopted and successfully implemented. Finally, as stated earlier, I am hoping that studying the Egyptian context would inform and inspire curriculum development in other contexts across the global South which seek to create more inclusive, critical, and multi-perspectival curricula, curricular tools, and classroom practices toward more just, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable societies. My hope is that some of the findings presented in this book would prove insightful and helpful for some educators, teacher educators, and curriculum developers in other contexts as well. One of the key contributions would include insights offered in Chap. 5 aiming to inform and inspire efforts to develop more holistic ‘historical consciousness-civic engagement’ frameworks. As discussed above, I believe these discussions could prove timely, especially in response to growing tensions, increasing polarization, and heated debates in various contexts across the world over the past two decades, including within established modern democracies, such as the United States and India. Oftentimes, curricular content and classroom practices are at the very heart of those debates and tensions, including questions such as what historical narratives, experiences, perspectives, and worldviews are allowed to be taught and how. Finally, by focusing on curriculum in the context of Egypt while also seeking to shed light on curriculum studies within other geographical contexts, this book aspires to contribute to the conversation and field of research carved and led by curriculum theorist William F. Pinar and his colleagues’ ongoing efforts in the space of internationalization of curriculum studies.

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Key Questions Explored In this book, I am interested to engage with and explore how young people—mainly post-secondary students—particularly in the case of Egypt, engage with the nation’s master historical narrative, and the more resilient schematic narrative template it is embedded within (outlined in Chap. 2).10 Further, I sought to better understand the implications that this interaction has on their social identities and civic attitudes. The overarching research question that has intrigued me and guided my research is, How do young Egyptians’ interactions with the country’s history inform and influence their social identities and civic attitudes? Relatedly, I was also interested in exploring: (a) How do young Egyptians interact with Egypt’s master historical narrative, especially the narrative presented in the official curriculum, including its possible omissions and misrepresentations? and (b) How do young Egyptians’ interactions with that master narrative, and competing extracurricular narratives, shape their social identities and civic attitudes? Interaction here refers to the various strategies and tactics that they might adopt in interpreting and reacting to the country’s master historical narrative. This includes whether they might passively appropriate or internalize or perhaps alternatively resist and challenge it. In the following sub-sections, I attempt to unpack and better define some of the key terms and concepts used in this book. I also seek to shed some light on the Egyptian context. Social Identity and Civic Attitudes Postmodernist understandings would generally contend that identities and subjectivities are neither “unitary” nor “singular” (Luke, 1995, p. 14). Thus, identity is seen as fluid, “always producing itself through the combined processes of being and becoming, belonging and longing to belong” (Riessman, 2008, p.  8). Gee (2011) agrees that identities are 10  In this book, to the extent possible, I have tried to draw on the contributions of non-­ Western scholars who have written about historical consciousness. However, as has become clear from my extensive literature review, those remain very few, which points to the clear need for more contributions and theorizations examining individuals’ and communities’ historical consciousness, especially in non-Western contexts and by non-Western scholars and researchers.

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“socially situated” allowing individuals to take multiple identities based on different practices and contexts they encounter and experience (p. 41). In all these definitions, text—which is shaped by social structures and discursive practices—in turn, contributes to shaping these socially situated identities. These interactions and dynamics will be further explored and elucidated when discussing this study’s key findings emerging from the Egyptian context. In defining social identity and subjectivity, I find it appropriate to draw on social representation theorists’ Wagner and Hayes (2005) definition; they define a person’s social identity as essentially an “individual’s place and embedding in its social group” (p.  196). Further, following Gee’s (2011) lead, I consciously use the terms ‘social identity’ and ‘subjectivity’ interchangeably since both terms, ‘socially situated identity’ and ‘subjectivity’ emphasize and point to the fluidity and “the multiple identities we take on in different practices and contexts” (p. 41). Social identity is a fluid construct that attempts to capture how individuals understand and enact their place in society and the world. Further, it also entails helping unpack how such understandings shape individuals’ interactions within their own social groups as well as with other groups. I attempt to avoid essentializations that perceive identities as fixed or rigidly defined. Alternatively, I approach them as constantly evolving and changing. Curriculum theorists remind us that defining racial identity through “origins,” “ancestry,” “language,” or “cultural unity” are being challenged “by the immense processes of hybridity, disjuncture, and renarration.” As a result, subjectivities and identities are continually being negotiated, redefined, and reshaped within numerous traditional and newly emerging spaces, including social media (McCarthy, Bulut, & Patel, 2014, p. 39). These spaces, including social media, are also shaping young people’s understanding of their roles and their civic engagement, as we witness in different contexts, including in Egypt (Herrera, 2012). Relatedly, civic attitudes entail individuals’ understandings of their past, current, and future roles in society, including how those shape their civic engagement in their communities or the public sphere, including through volunteering. Given that civic attitudes and values are by definition “rooted in social relations” (Flanagan, 2004, p.  724), I employ the term ‘civic attitudes’ to capture participants’ understandings of their role in society as well as their attitudes vis-à-vis cultural diversity and other groups in society.

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General Approaches Framing the Study11 As noted earlier, this study is generally inspired by Grounded Theory. Given that Grounded Theory calls on researchers to allow the data to help guide us toward theorizing about the context being studied, adopting a Grounded Theory approach could be interpreted as requiring us to refrain from taking theoretical or ideological stances. However, Denzin (2007) offers important insights into this potential tension or conundrum, clarifying that in reality Grounded Theory allows Critical Pedagogy to subject “structures of power, knowledge, and practice” to inquiry. Thus, through its critical reading and analysis, it attempts to hold to account those “systems of authority” (p.  462). He suggests that perhaps this could be referred to as a ‘critical’ Grounded Theory embedded in Critical Pedagogy. Inspired by his arguments, I would refer to the overall approach I take in this study as one of a critical Grounded Theory. The research which this book revolves around has its roots in a number of theoretical perspectives (please see Fig. 1.1). They are generally informed by Critical Theory and its various manifestations, including Critical Pedagogy and Critical Discourse Analysis. Further, I draw on theoretical perspectives that are more specific to the teaching of history, namely Historical Consciousness.

11  Cognizant that many of these theoretical perspectives emerged from Western contexts, I sought to mitigate some of the shortcomings of imposing them on the context of Egypt and to ensure that I am not inadvertently silencing or missing important nuances and particularities of the Egyptian context. This attempt entailed three key strategies: First, whenever relevant, I  outline and  engage with  critiques of  the  theories presented. Second, in employing a Grounded Theory approach my intention was to give precedence to findings emerging from the data collected, analyzed while taking the Egyptian context into full consideration. Relatedly, in  adopting and  adhering to  critical socio-cultural approaches, my analyses were embedded in the Egyptian context and how the educational system has evolved over the past two centuries, as I have outlined in the next chapter.

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Historical Consciousness

Critical Discourse Analysis (e.g., Fairclough, 2003; Gee, 2011; Luke, 1995)

Critical Theory

Understanding dominant historical narratives

Schematic Narrative Templates (Wertsch, 1998, 2004)

(and key discourses that help shap them)

Critical Pedagogy (e.g., Apple, 1979, 1982; Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2003; Freire, 2000; Giroux, 1983, 2003; hooks, 1994, 2010; Kincheloe & McLaren, 2005)

(e.g., Kölbl & Konrad, 2015; Rüsen, 2005; Seixas, 2004; Zanazanian, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017)

Understanding how humans interact with historical narratives (and influences on subjectivity, civic attitudes, engagement, and actions)

Civic Engagement and Actions (e.g., Banks, 2008; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004)

Fig. 1.1  Summary of conceptual framework guiding the study. (Since I engage more fully with the typologies offered by Banks (2008) and Westheimer and Kahne (2004) in Chap. 5, I mainly focus in this discussion on the other theories I draw on)

Critical Pedagogy12 Historically, Critical Pedagogy evolved to respond to power asymmetries in society and to challenge, “the impact of capitalism and gendered, racialized relations upon the lives of students from historically disenfranchised populations” (Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2003, p.  2). Within this vision, curricular content and its textual representations is an extremely important component of the whole schooling and educational experience where battles between competing visions, ideologies, and interests play out (Apple, 1979, 2000; Giroux, 1983, 2003; Pinar, 2014a, b). As a result, Critical Pedagogy scholars and activists are understandably inclined 12  Epistemologically, Critical Pedagogy is strongly influenced and  inspired by Critical Theory. The  latter has its origins in  the  Frankfurt Institute of  Social Research (or the  ‘Frankfurt School’), which emerged in  Europe in  the  1920s. Strongly influenced by Marxism, the Frankfurt School is committed to connecting theory and practice with the key aim of  combatting various forms of  hegemony and  domination (Cherryholmes, 1991; Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2003; Giroux, 2003). Scholars have generally embraced “Critical Social Theory” along with “Critical Pedagogy,” widely considered its “pedagogical counterpart” (Herrera & Torres, 2006, p. 3).

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toward adopting a more comprehensive and expansive definition of curriculum. This would encompass content, but also strongly emphasize the need to understand the overall context including the competing ideologies, interests, and forces shaping that content. This becomes apparent in how Peter McLaren (2003), one of the key Critical Pedagogy scholars, defines curriculum. He sees it as, “the introduction to a particular form of life” which “serves in part to prepare students for dominant or subordinate positions in the existing society” (p. 86). Critical Pedagogy scholars have understandably paid special attention to social studies curricula. Despite their varying approaches, manifesting perhaps in different emphases such as on radical democracy (e.g., Giroux, 1997), socio-economic inequality and knowledge production (e.g., Apple, 1979, 1982), or on race-based divides and inequalities (e.g., hooks, 1994, 2010; Howard, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 2003), they all seemingly agree on social studies as one of the most suitable subject matters to understand as well as perhaps seek to confront and negotiate society’s most daunting challenges and prejudices. Further, ideally speaking, social studies and citizenship education are seen as uniquely positioned to help produce “citizens who are both democratically enlightened and democratically engaged” (Parker, 2008, p. 76). Critical Pedagogy is guided by an ultimate vision of society in which traditionally and historically subordinated groups in society are empowered and emancipated, and where more egalitarian, inclusive, and functional democracies are established. One of Critical Pedagogy’s key missions is to unmask, problematize, and educate about asymmetrical power dynamics that continue to serve the interests of dominant and privileged groups at the expense of marginalized groups (Apple, 1979, 1982; Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2003; Eisner, 1992; Giroux, 1983, 2003; hooks, 1994, 2010). It seeks to help explore and unmask “issues relating to social justice, participation, and democracy” as well as problematize schools as social sites that largely reflect and reproduce “injustice, passivity, and authoritarianism” (Herrera & Torres, 2006, p. 3). However, beyond simply deconstructing or pointing to injustices or deficiencies, Critical Pedagogy seeks to empower transformative action and offer a sense of hope and possibility. Along with other scholars, Henry Giroux—widely credited for coining the term ‘Critical Pedagogy’ in the early 1980s—continue to make important contributions to bridge gaps between Critical Pedagogy and other traditions which also approach schooling as a space

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for promoting a “transformative social action in the interest of oppressed communities” (Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2003, p. 3). Scholars conducting significant work on schooling in the North Africa and West Asia region have demonstrated how critical approaches offer a suitable framework to engage with curriculum in various contexts, whether in schools or higher education institutions in Arabic-speaking countries (e.g., Herrera & Torres, 2006; Dorio, 2016, 2017; Dorio et al., 2019). Scholars adopting such critical approaches have argued that schools in Arabic-speaking countries, including Egypt, have been “complicit in the reproduction of the despotic personality,” which is partly achieved through “the monopoly of the decision-making processes and the negation of difference and alternate points of reference” (Herrera & Torres, 2006, p.  12). Consequently, these critical approaches offer analytical insights that could help elucidate some of these dynamics in different contexts. In the case of Egypt, Moheyeldine (2019) has drawn on such approaches in examining how life events shape Egyptian students’ citizenship perceptions and sense of agency. Within that vision of society, education, and curriculum, some key elements define and distinguish Critical Pedagogy’s approaches, including the central place given to students’ agency, as will be outlined in the following sub-section.  entrality of Students’ Agency and Resistance C The ability of individuals to problematize and critique constructions of historical narratives is placed centrally by Critical Pedagogy, which sees such an ability as key to its vision for empowering marginalized students and teachers especially. Informed by that commitment, Critical Pedagogy theorists critique the lack of focus on student agency emerging from other theoretical approaches, such as the highly influential cultural production theory advanced by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. They critique Bourdieu on two bases: that his structural approach is too mechanistic, negating that human agency that could be fulfilled through reflexivity and critical self-consciousness. Further, Bourdieu is critiqued for arguably proposing that the culture of domination is a one-way process, thus sidelining the working class’s own cultural production, which it achieves through various means including strategies of resistance, incorporation, or accommodation. Critics have also pointed to how Bourdieu adopts a pure cultural lens, rendering the analysis incomprehensive with its lack of focus on other forces, including economic ones (e.g., Giroux, 1983). Inspired by the

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same emphasis on human potential and agency, critical scholars have critiqued Foucault’s work, finding that it largely neglects potentials for “resistance” and for “possible change” (Scheurich & McKenzie, 2005, p.  861). Alternatively, Critical Pedagogy theorists and activists alike approach schools not only as sites where different forms of oppression are manifested in subtle and overt ways to reproduce asymmetrical power relations in society at large. They also see them as sites where the marginalized can resist and negotiate oppression and inequalities, as well as develop a sense of agency to challenge the status quo (Apple, 2000; Giroux, 1983, 2005; McLaren, 2003). Earlier studies have explored how Egyptian students have also adopted various strategies and tactics when interacting with curricular content or dominant discourses that they might not fully agree with (e.g., Moheyeldine, 2019; Sobhy, 2015). These important scholarly contributions regarding students’ agency have informed this study and will be further unpacked, explored, and nuanced in this book. Critical Discourse Analysis Approaches to critical discourse analysis offer a helpful framing as well as tools to explore how textual representations and their classroom enactment shape students’ subjectivities, which are central themes of this book. Critical discourse analysis brings together social theory with discourse analysis to help better understand how discourse “constructs, becomes constructed by, represents, and becomes represented by the social world” (Rogers et  al., 2005, p.  366). Discourses define, shape, and “articulate particular fields of knowledge and belief” (Luke, 1995, p. 15). To succeed in doing that, “some texts, textual practices and discourses” are elevated, valorized, and made “to count as official knowledge,” while others are “silenced or omitted” (Luke, 1995, pp. 36–37). Discourses, thus, define how we view, interpret, and act in the world; in other words, they become the ‘common sense’ or lenses that shape how we interpret the world and our experiences of it (Apple & Christian-Smith, 1991; Darder, Baltodano, & Torres, 2003). Interdisciplinary in essence, approaches to discourse analysis mainly bring together “poststructuralist discourse theory, feminist theory, functional linguistics, and neo-Marxian sociology” (Luke, 1995, p. 39). Critical discourse analysis is especially committed to advancing a social justice agenda that reveals how language naturalizes power asymmetries and injustices. Such a commitment manifests in how discourse analysis methods help us analyze language to “unmask ideologically

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permeated and often obscured structures of power, political control, and dominance, as well as strategies of discriminatory inclusion and exclusion” (Wodak et al., 2009, p. 8). Similar to other social sites, the official curriculum reinforces dominant ideologies, very often in implicit and more subtle ways. For dominant ideologies to succeed and permeate various levels of society and ensure the buy-in and alliance of various segments and key stakeholders, they have to continue to shape people’s worldviews and to present themselves as the ‘common sense.’ For example, as demonstrated by Huerta-Charles’ (2007) analyses, for capitalism to have succeeded across most of the world’s modern economies, it needed to create a “public social consent,” through permeating various facets of society, including “several discourses, institutions, and social practices.” Such efforts work in tandem to ensure that citizens consent to a dominant ideology and economic system as an inevitable and ““given” reality,” that is to simply be accepted “along with its social inequalities” (p. 251). Subsequently, exploring the connection between discourse and subjectivity formation is a key concern for Critical Pedagogy scholars, who remind us that “linguistic descriptions” do not simply refer to the world, but “serve to construct it” (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2005, p. 310). This starts to explain critical researchers’ and theorists’ commitment to explore how dominant discourses construct reality or help serve as “a form of regulation and domination” (p. 310). In further explaining critical theorists’ approach to discourse, Kincheloe and McLaren (2005) eloquently defined “discursive practices” as: [A] set of tacit rules that regulate what can and cannot be said, who can speak with the blessings of authority and who must listen, whose social constructions are valid and whose is erroneous and unimportant … establishing one correct reading [emphasis added] that implants a particular hegemonic/ ideological message into the consciousness of the reader. (p. 310)

As Williams (2014) put it, analyzing official curricula and textbooks offer helpful insights not only into the “official knowledge a society wants its children to acquire—facts, figures, dates, seminal events.” Through analyzing the curricular framing of “the facts, figures, dates, and events,” we gain important insights into what is implicitly being transmitted to construct a collective identity of “who “we” are (and who we are not) as well as who “they” are” (p. vii).

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 iscourse and Social Identity D Critical discourse analysis theorists and scholars assert that national identity is in reality “the product of discourse,” because ultimately the nation is “constructed and conveyed in discourse, predominantly in narratives of national culture” (Wodak et  al., 2009, p.  22). Thus, critically analyzing and understanding dominant discourses—as I attempted to outline the key elements of some of the competing dominant discourses in the case of Egypt—becomes key because of these discourses’ strong influences on shaping social realities and identities. As McLaren (2003) explains Discourses and discursive practices influence how we live our lives as conscious thinking subjects. They shape our subjectivities (our ways of understanding in relation to the world) because it is only in language and through discourse that social reality can be given meaning. (p. 84)

Critical discourse analysis approaches call our attention to how individuals’ meaning making of and interactions with texts help shape how they enact themselves in the world. Thus, among its utmost commitments is developing and offering the tools needed to help analyze how making meaning through “text and talk”—or what could be referred to as a “process of texturing”—influences individuals’ “acting, relating, being, and intervening in the material world” (Fairclough, 2004, p. 231). With these insights in mind, how can approaches to critical discourse analysis help us unpack and better understand how ‘texts’—including curricular and textbook representations of historical narratives—might shape students’ understandings of their worlds and their places in it? Influences of Curricular Content and Enactment on Human Subjectivities and Identities My understanding of ‘curriculum’ and my general approach to this investigation are informed and inspired by the work of leading curriculum theorists, such as William Pinar, especially his approach to curriculum as currere (e.g., Pinar, 1994, 2011; Pinar & Doll, 2018). In contrast to some narrow perceptions of curriculum that might normalize, essentialize, or confine our definition of curriculum as curricular or textbook content perhaps, this conception of curriculum centers and emphasizes the need to adopt more expansive conceptualizations and definitions. For the purposes of this book, I especially draw on Pinar’s emphasis through currere

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on reconceptualizing curriculum (Pinar, 2004), through which he encourages us to seek to explore how curricular content gets developed and enacted as well as how it gets negotiated, thus informing and shaping subjectivities and civic attitudes. Pinar (2011) further clarifies that this conception would also entail approaching teaching and classroom practices not as separate from, but as “subsumed within curriculum” (p. 150). As Pinar (2011) reminds us, currere entails an emphasis on the formation of the subject as it dwells on the meaning of academic study for (not only human) life, restructuring—as new events and research occur— questions of culture, society, politics (p. 125)

As outlined above, the influence of text on human subjectivity and civic attitudes is of central interest for this book. In order to establish the significance of that ‘text-human’ subjectivity connection, it would be pertinent to start by at least briefly discussing arguments advanced by scholars regarding this relationship and its dimensions. Demonstrably, the influence of curriculum and the discourse shaping it on student subjectivity is of key interest to Critical Pedagogy scholars. They see curriculum as “much more than a program of study, a classroom text, or a course syllabus” (McLaren, 2003, p. 86). On one hand, some critical discourse theorists propose that the fundamental focus of critical discourse analysis should be on deconstructing and analyzing the text and its context; therefore, the main purpose is not to analyze the “social effects of texts” (e.g., Fairclough, 2004, p. 229). On the other hand, some scholars seem to assert that seeking to understand a text’s influence on human subjectivity is an integral part of any comprehensive critical discourse analysis (e.g., Gee, 2011; Luke, 1995). In an important reminder, Luke (1995) states that, “texts position and construct individuals [emphasis added], making available various meanings, ideas and versions of the world” (p. 13). Within this understanding, narratives are approached as “important sense-making devices” which are ‘encoded’ by individuals and, therefore, shape their social interactions and experiences (Gee, 2011, p. 161). Texts not only “stipulate a selective version of the world and of ‘being’ and ‘doing’ in that world,” but also define how a reader is included or

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excluded within that world (Luke, 1995, p. 18). This sense of inclusion and exclusion is arguably partly achieved through dominant historical narratives and representations. Further, in turn, these textual representations and historical narratives are arguably shaped and informed by societal discourses. By extension, texts and textual representations help inform and shape collective cultural subjectivities. Whether referring to them as ‘cultural models’ (Strauss & Quinn, 1997) or ‘cultural categories’ (Luke, 1995), scholars have argued that texts and discourses play an important role in shaping and defining groups’ subjectivities, including informing how they negotiate between master or competing historical narratives. Cultural models or “everyday theories (i.e., storylines, images, schemas, metaphors, and models) about the world” help shape individuals’ understandings of the world (Strauss & Quinn, 1997, as cited in Gee, 2004, pp. 40–41). These models shape individual and group subjectivities through a “hierarchical social grid” which introduces “cultural categories” as well as categories of “gender identity, sexual desire, ethnic identity, class and work, regional solidarity, citizenship and national identity” (Luke, 1995, p. 14). Since they are used “to mobilize others, and to foster a sense of belonging,” narratives—and discourses within which they are embedded and negotiated—arguably play a key role in forming group subjectivities (Riessman, 2008, p. 8). Further nuances emerging from the Egyptian context will be further elaborated and unpacked, especially in Chaps. 3 and 4. Before outlining the key theoretical approaches that I draw on in this book, it might be helpful to remind ourselves that while it is important to acknowledge the key role that texts play in shaping subjectivities, it is also key to acknowledge how individuals and groups are not passive consumers or recipients. Individuals and communities have and continue to negotiate, resist, and subvert, some of these intended constructions, while exhibiting an ability to create and offer alternative, and often more inclusive, historical narratives. While the above sections attempted to offer insight into theoretical perspectives that guide my understanding of how dominant historical narratives of the past are constructed, the rest of the chapter is dedicated to outlining theoretical approaches to understanding how humans interact with historical narratives, namely historical consciousness.

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Theoretical Approaches to Understanding How Humans Interact with the Past Several scholars have been making important contributions that aim at exploring questions related to how humans interact with historical narratives and representations, including through the fields of reception theories (e.g., Holub, 2013; Thompson, 1993), cultural memory studies (e.g., Assmann & Livingstone, 2006), and social representation theories (e.g., Howarth, 2004, 2006; Wagner & Hayes, 2005). I have chosen to focus on historical consciousness, which I believe—along with other theoretical frameworks discussed above—introduces important contributions to such questions. One of the key contributions that this book aims to make is toward the theorization of examining individuals’ historical consciousness, especially in non-Western contexts. Beyond this general contribution, I also see the book more specifically building on previous and current scholarly efforts and contributing to the conversation on the question of how individuals’ historical consciousness tendencies shape their civic engagement and actions. Thus, in Chap. 5, I engage in a brief discussion of some of the most widely used citizenship and civic actions frameworks (i.e., Banks, 2008; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004) that I deem as helpful starting points to build on in the quest to develop more holistic guiding frameworks and models. The aim here is to help us unpack and better explore and study connections between individuals’ historical consciousness tendencies on one hand, and their civic engagement and actions, on the other. Theoretical Approaches to Historical Consciousness Historical consciousness—as a theoretical approach—can be said to have reached Western history education in the 1970s, via Germany, witnessing a growing scholarly interest since then (Kölbl & Konrad, 2015; Laville, 2004). An important shift took place, moving the field from purely ‘metahistorical’ efforts seeking to analyze historical consciousness on the societal level (e.g., Gadamer, 1987; Lukacs, 1985; White, 1973), toward also seeking to theorize historical consciousness and its manifestations on the individual level (e.g., Rüsen, 1989/2004, 2005; Zanazanian, 2012,

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2015).13 Arguably gaining even more relevance and momentum over the past two decades, research into historical consciousness, including individuals’ and communities’ meaning making and interactions with history, is a growing field (Carretero, Berger, & Grever, 2017; Clark & Peck, 2019; Metzger & Harris, 2018; Popa, 2022). It also gains a growing sense of urgency and timeliness, given the drastic political changes taking place in many parts of the world, with the rise of several populist and exclusionary movements and leaders.  efining ‘historical consciousness’ D Seixas (2016)—widely credited for introducing the concept of historical consciousness within North American academic circles—contends that Rüsen’s theory filled an important gap by offering “a scheme” that elucidates how “people in the larger culture looked to the past for orientation in the present” and to define future expectations (p.  429). At its core, historical consciousness is a framework interested in how an understanding of the past informs an individual’s interpretation of the present and their orientation toward the future, shaped by moral values (Ahonen, 2005; Rüsen, 1989/2004, 2005; Seixas, 2004; Straub, 2005; Zanazanian, 2008, 2012, 2015). Through his empirical studies and theoretical 13  Notably, Rüsen (2005) and other scholars theorizing about individuals’ interactions and meaning making processes vis-à-vis the past, envision their work as supplementing Jean Piaget’s work which had clearly provided foundations to understand “the category of time … within the framework of the natural sciences,” but which were largely silent on questions of the historical consciousness of individuals (p. 35). It is also worth noting that, while many studies focus on the historical consciousness of individuals, a few national and regional studies suggest generalizations regarding ‘collective’ historical consciousness. To illustrate, the findings emerging from the Canadian, American, and Australian national studies all pointed to an increased interest in the past. In their commentary on this key finding, the Canadian authors (Conrad et al., 2009) explain that this significant ‘historical turn’ could be a result of contemporary challenges, including those posed in the context of globalization and rapid technological change to cultural identities and social authority. They see these factors as influential in shaping these societies’ connections with their past and the growing historical consciousness among their populations. These observations that point to a ‘collective’ historical consciousness and its characteristics could also help frame some of the initial observations made earlier in this chapter about the seemingly growing interest in Egypt’s history, especially among young Egyptians.

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contributions, Zanazanian (2015) has also attempted to demonstrate how historical consciousness allows us to examine “the role history plays in informing human identity and agency,” and how that defines the “means of knowing and acting in instances of group interaction” (2015, p. 116). Thus, historical consciousness as a theoretical framework is also concerned with how interactions with the past help shape intergroup dynamics. Key to historical consciousness is human beings’ awareness and sense of temporal continuity across generations (Rüsen, 1989/2004, p. 66), basically achieved through narrative. In this conception, a ‘narrative competence’ is fundamental to achieving a historical consciousness (Rüsen, 2005), defined as “the ability to narrate a story by means of which practical life is given an orientational locus in time” (Rüsen, 1989/2004, p. 80). This competency allows individuals to temporally situate themselves between the past, present, and future (e.g., Carretero & van Alphen, 2014, pp. 290–291). Further, such competence allows humans to make “narrative connections” and give “coherence” to events and actors (Straub, 2005, p. 54). This uniquely human ability is informed by a “pull of the future” which shapes our decisions and actions (Lukacs, 1985, p. 158). Nietzsche’s earlier definition of historical consciousness emphasized how temporal connection and orientational function are both foundational and defining elements of historical consciousness, given that historical consciousness entails how humans “look back” in ways that shape how they decide to approach the future (e.g., White, 1973, pp. 348–349). An individual’s “self-consciousness” is an additional essential element in defining their historical consciousness tendencies (Lukacs, 1985, p. 14). However, arguably beyond an individual’s ability to develop a deeper self-­ awareness or consciousness, a deeper historical understanding necessitates that individuals exercise “self-criticism” as well (Gadamer, 1987, p. 86). Such self-criticism is seen as an ability that would allow individuals to generally adopt a critical approach to history, so that an individual “no longer listens sanctimoniously to the voice that reaches out from the past” (Gadamer, 1987, p. 90). Further, reflexivity—closely related to the self-­ awareness and self-criticism components of an evolved historical consciousness—is seen as key. This skill enables individuals to appreciate “the possibility of a multiplicity of relative viewpoints,” as well as situate events in their contexts, helping them realize their significance and value (Gadamer, 1987, p. 89).

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Thus, since it informs how they engage with and organize various experiences and expectations, including change, the level and depth of an individual’s critical self-reflection—or reflexivity—evidently shapes their historical consciousness (Kölbl & Straub, 2001; Straub, 2005). Rüsen’s typology most clearly demonstrates how individuals exhibiting such critical and self-reflective abilities are seen to have more sophisticated and evolved historical consciousness. Such critical self-reflective abilities are also proposed by Critical Pedagogy theorists as key toward achieving the desired critical consciousness or what Freire referred to in Portuguese as “conscientização” (e.g., Freire, 1968/2000). In their edited volume entitled Contemplating Historical Consciousness: Notes from the Field, Clark and Peck (2019) propose that historical consciousness “refers both to the ways people orient themselves in time, and how they are bound by the historical and cultural contexts which shape their sense of temporality and collective memory” (p.  2). These more expansive definitions of historical consciousness are helpful as they call upon us to pay closer attention to the various forces, discourses, and institutions influencing and shaping individuals’ as well as communities’ relations with history and various historical narratives. J örn Rüsen’s Typology of Historical Consciousness Nietzsche’s contributions regarding historical consciousness have remained influential and are still being drawn on by various scholars (e.g., Seixas & Clark, 2004). However, German historian Jörn Rüsen’s (1989/2004, 2005) work—especially on the progression of individuals’ historical consciousness—has continued to gain interest and currency within recent scholarly efforts. Rüsen’s (2005) typology contends that four types of historical consciousness exist among individuals: the traditional, exemplary, critical, and genetic types. They are organized in a logical sequence where each stage is a prerequisite for the following one. However, these stages should not be approached as mutually exclusive, but as potentially co-existing in “complex admixtures” (Rüsen, 2005, p. 37). It is important to emphasize this non-linearity of the progression between the types and that they can commonly co-exist simultaneously within the same individual. Thus, even if an individual attains some of the proposed higher types of Rüsen’s historical consciousness model, they might not ever abandon “the lower levels” (Kölbl & Konrad, 2015, p. 19). In Rüsen’s (2005) model, the traditional type possesses a strong sense of continuation of “an obligatory life form in temporal change” based on

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traditions. Thus, it approaches the past as extremely significant and influential in shaping the present and future. The exemplary type draws on particular past cases or examples to distill key “messages” or “lessons” relevant to the present and future. Meanwhile, the critical type challenges and rejects the validity of such patterns, while attempting to offer a “counter-­narrative.” Finally, the genetic type embraces change and values it for giving history meaning. Thus, uniquely within this type’s approach, the past’s lack of permanence, its dynamic nature, and “internal temporality” are all acknowledged and appreciated (p. 32). As a result, the genetic type approaches diverse perspectives and narratives whereby that are “integrated into an embracing perspective of temporal change” (p.  33). As Zanazanian (2012) clarifies, individuals with ‘genetical’ tendencies clearly recognize “the complexity, temporality, and variability of both knowing and acting in the world” realizing that the temporality of “one’s moral obligations” fundamentally entails a “sincere openness to different viewpoints if a more complete vision of reality is to be attained” (p. 219). Although only briefly discussed and theorized, how these types of historical consciousness shape and manifest in an individual’s sense of citizenship, civic engagement, and civic actions, Rüsen (1989/2004) offers some helpful insights to build on. Three categories are most relevant to discussing how historical consciousness influences the external orientation of individuals, namely: orientation of external life; relation to moral values; and, relation to moral reasoning (Rüsen, 1989/2004, p. 72). In this theorization, a traditional historical consciousness’ external orientation would be limited and defined by affirming “pregiven orders by consent about a valid common life” and a “moral validity” that seeks to achieve “an unquestionable stability by tradition” (p. 72). Contrarily, a critical historical consciousness type would delimit “standpoint against pregiven obligations,” and definitively break “the moral power of values by denying their validity” (p. 72). Finally, a genetic historical consciousness type is shaped by tendencies to accept “different standpoints within a comprising perspective of common development,” taking temporal changes into full consideration. Further, within this type, individuals show an ability to historicize and contextualize their approach to moral values (p. 72). Some helpful delineations have been proposed between the first two (traditional and exemplary), and the latter two types (critical and genetic) in Rüsen’s typology (e.g., Duquette, 2015; Zanazanian, 2015, 2017). The first two types are proposed to be labeled “non-reflective,” and the latter two are proposed to be labeled as solely attainable through a

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knowledge of one’s “own subjectivity vis-à-vis his understanding of the past” (Duquette, 2015, p. 53). Such an argument underlines the importance of critical self-awareness and reflexivity in arguably attaining more evolved levels of historical consciousness (e.g., Gadamer, 1987; Lukacs, 1985; Straub, 2005). Thus, the critical and genetic historical consciousness types would embody and exemplify an evolved, multi-perspectival, “reflexive and metaperspective engagement with history,” as opposed to non-­reflective traditional approaches to the past—such as collective memory—often not approached in reflexive or scrutinizing ways (Trofanenko, 2008, p. 584). Shedding light on intergroup dynamics and boundaries, the genetic type is argued to be qualified to consider “the significant Other’s realities and experiences when developing one’s own perspectives of the past” (Zanazanian, 2012, p.  229). On the other hand, the critical and the genetic types would be expected to embrace diverse perspectives, which translate into how they would structure intergroup boundaries. Further, they would demonstrate more flexibility, a better ability to historicize events, as well as a strong awareness of ethical considerations (Zanazanian, 2015, p. 118).  istorical Consciousness and External Orientation H Of key interest for this book is exploring how understandings of and interactions with dominant historical narratives help shape individuals’ outlooks and external orientations toward others and society at large. Regarding the important role that an individual’s historical consciousness plays in shaping such orientations those purposes, clearly historical consciousness offers “practical life a temporal frame and matrix” or an understanding of the “course of time,” thus guiding “human activity” and “course of action” (Rüsen, 2005, pp. 24–25). A key prerequisite is a narrative competence, which in turn enables individuals to develop their historical consciousness and orients them in time. Such an orientational function serves in shaping individuals’ identities and their interactions. Historical narratives also serve to help individuals “come to an agreement with themselves about who the other people are with whom they have to live,” playing a formational role in framing intergroup interactions (Rüsen, 2005, p. 86). Consequently, historical memory and historical consciousness have important roles to play to “delimit the realm of one’s own life—the familiar and comforting aspects of one’s own life-world—from the world of others” (Rüsen, 2002, p. 1). Individuals

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engage in various strategies with the key purpose “to keep the world and self familiar,” propelling them, especially in some cases of “extraordinarily disturbing experiences of change,” to redefine and re-narrate themselves and their new realities, in ways that enable them “to reacquire this familiarity” (Rüsen, 2002, p. 1). I ntroducing Additional Nuances to Rüsen’s Typology Scholars have challenged Rüsen’s typology’s uniformity or consistency, especially when exploring the various types’ relationships and influences on dimensions such as social interactions. This entailed some productive attempts to provide additional nuances to the model. To illustrate, a study by Zanazanian (2012) demonstrates that while some Francophone Quebec teachers exhibited “an equal capacity to problematize and somewhat transform pre-established meanings of the past”—potentially exemplifying the genetic type—they did diverge in how they relate to “the Other” (p. 225). This points to the importance of attempting to explore individuals’ “ethical, practical or political” considerations and how they might be shaping their historical consciousness and social interactions (Zanazanian, 2012, p. 225). Such nuances compelled Zanazanian (2012) to start to create sub-­ categories, such as “Quasi-Genetic” and “Genetic-Resistant,” both of which would not fit squarely or be considered fully within the genetic type. While the ‘Quasi-Genetic’ exhibits genetic tendencies under most of the thematic contexts, ‘Genetic-Resistant’ refers specifically to those who consciously “refuse either to recognize the complexity of a certain aspect of the past or to seek to better understand it” (Zanazanian, 2012, p. 224). Further, Zanazanian (2015) offers a ‘repertory of ideal-type tendencies of historical consciousness.’ The repertory builds on Rüsen’s typology, highlighting connections between the various historical consciousness ‘types’ and individuals’ civic attitudes, especially vis-à-vis other groups. The repertory outlines some key ‘tendencies,’ thus, opening the door for other scholars to capture nuances arising from other contexts. Providing further nuances into the repertory, Zanazanian (2015) proposes that members of a minority group with ‘traditional tendencies’ more likely accept the past including its “pre-given identity narratives or symbols” to facilitate their connection “to their fellow group members” (p. 117). On the other hand, individuals exhibiting exemplary tendencies would approach the past as “unquestioned rules of life patterns that extend across similar (historical) contexts” helping them to “construct reality and

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to guide conduct” (p. 117). Expectedly, individuals of these two tendencies are most likely to maintain a stronger sense of “We-They dichotomies” (p.  117). Importantly, their uncritical stances vis-à-vis historical narratives could mean that they would seek to ‘assimilate’ into the “dominant community” and its narratives. Alternatively, they could revert to their “own community’s essentialized historical memories as a form of resistance, and thereby mobilize them for sustaining differences and structuring boundaries rigidly” (p. 118). Arguably exhibiting more self-reflexivity, the two other types demonstrate an ability to transcend and challenge the dominant as well as their own community’s narratives, exhibiting the ability to engage with “a diversity of viewpoints,” thus potentially unsettling “We-They dichotomies” and the “pre-defined Self and Other” constructions (Zanazanian, 2015, p. 118). Individuals with critical tendencies deconstruct these “pre-­ given means,” while those with genetic tendencies “go further and are more prone to transcending their own positionality in the world and thus their own imposed limits for grasping the many realities around them” (p. 118). Building on this engagement with some of the defining features and functions of historical consciousness advanced by some of its key theorists, I now turn to some critiques of dominant approaches to historical consciousness. Highlighting and engaging with those insights is helpful since they inform the more critical and holistic approaches I seek to adopt and promote through this book. Lack of Attention to Societal Power Dynamics and Structural Dimensions For analyses of historical narratives and individuals’ interactions with them to be as comprehensive as possible, they arguably need to go beyond focusing solely on the consumption side or the “cognitive-instrumental rationality” (Wertsch, 1998, p. 64). Such a need becomes even more obvious when we are reminded that like all other “sociocultural settings,” such production and consumption, “inherently involve power and authority” (Wertsch, 1998, p. 64). Historical consciousness theorists, such as Rüsen, are generally aware of power dynamics and how they shape historical narratives, including elite groups’ efforts to “construct, deconstruct and reconstruct collective identity” (Rüsen, 2005, p.  130). However, aside from these brief mentions, only a few historical consciousness

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scholars—including Rüsen himself—emphasize these questions of power dynamics or attempt to further explore them in an in-depth manner. Structural questions related to power relations and dynamics and the way they shape competing historical narratives gain little attention within historical consciousness frameworks. To illustrate, while Rüsen’s critical type potentially provides a starting point toward problematizing power dynamics and interests, his model entails little theorization of how individuals might develop a critical historical consciousness vis-à-vis structural issues, including historical injustices. Thus, there seems to be an urgent need to connect historical consciousness frameworks to questions of power and injustice, especially given that, in many instances, historical narratives are constructed in ways where “differences are used to exercise power and justify social, political, and economic inequalities” (Kölbl & Konrad, 2015, p. 21). To provide further nuances, within the paucity of historical consciousness studies exploring these power dynamics, even fewer studies focus on individuals’ intersectionalities and how they shape their interactions with historical narratives. Studies and theoretical frameworks inspired by historical consciousness seem to mainly focus on specific aspects of marginalization, ignoring arguably equally important dimensions that potentially exacerbate the marginalization of particular individuals or groups. For instance, studies researching historical consciousness tendencies of minoritized students have been found to only rarely examine these students’ multiple identities, including “intersections of various social categories” (Kölbl & Konrad, 2015, p. 23). Kölbl and Konrad (2015) stress the crucial need for such explorations, highlighting these dimensions’ important influences on shaping intergroup dynamics: A world turned global requires a modern historical consciousness, most importantly in respect to increased awareness of difference and otherness. Such an awareness may be both urgent and insufficient in a world where differences are used to exercise power and justify social, political, and economic inequalities. (p. 21)

Other scholars have also alerted to this gap within historical consciousness discussions and theorization. For instance, building on Pandel’s work, scholars such as Lücke have proposed two layers of consciousness, which he contends, are important tools to approach such questions, including a

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“consciousness of categories” and “consciousness of levels.” On the one hand, a ‘consciousness of categories’ aims to capture an individual’s specific awareness of “difference that led to social inequalities.” On the other hand, a ‘consciousness of levels’ entails an ability to contextualize and historically situate these inequalities (Kölbl & Konrad, 2015, p. 22). As Kölbl and Konrad (2015) remind us, most of Pandel’s and Lücke’s writing is available only in the German language, thus arguably rendering it largely inaccessible to many. As will be further demonstrated throughout this book, the importance of adopting critical approaches to engage discourses and power dynamics within discussions and analyses of historical consciousness is key for teacher educators, teachers, teacher candidates, and students. Such importance stems from the fact that school curriculum and teacher education curriculum shape and are shaped by dominant societal discourses which often gain their hegemonic nature by permeating various facets, being presented as ‘common sense,’ and thus become “discourses of truth” (Foster & Crawford, 2006, p.  3). Such discourses gain their legitimacy and hegemony from creating discursive regimes, which in turn permeate and shape textbooks and nation-state curriculum policies. Curricula and classroom practices further propagate and teach the public a formally approved national historical narrative as well as legitimated approaches to history and civic engagement. For now, as I outline earlier, Critical Pedagogy— given its strong and central emphases on power dynamics and inequalities—provides a helpful and complementary theoretical framework to be adopted alongside historical consciousness.

Schematic Narrative Templates A ‘schematic narrative template’—a term coined by James Wertsch (1998)—aims to distill and capture the common recurring structure and defining elements manifesting across diverse historical narrations, which might have their own “particular setting, cast of characters, dates” (Wertsch, 2004, p.  57). In other words, a schematic narrative template represents the underlying and deeply embedded “common narrative theme” which manifests through various, even sometimes seemingly different, historical narratives (Carretero & Van Alphen, 2014, p.  293). Given their power and enduring influence on shaping individuals’ perceptions and understandings of historical narratives, individuals would often retain elements of a narrative only as far as it “can be blended with or

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subsumed by the … narrative template” (VanSledright, 2008, p.  123). Such arguments clearly point to the importance of not stopping at analyzing the ‘specific narratives,’ but whenever possible to attempt to analyze the underlying and enduring ‘schematic narrative template.’ To confirm the applicability of such a framework, studies have illustrated how individuals place new information they might be exposed to within pre-defined narrative templates, reflecting the resilience and endurance of dominant schematic narrative templates. In the Canadian province of Quebec, in clear contradiction to the tone of the curricular content they study in school, French-speaking students appropriate and internalize an extracurricular narrative characterized by a regressive “melancholy, nostalgic awareness … of a conquered, reclusive people” (Létourneau & Moisan, 2004, p. 117). Similarly, secondary school students in Quebec were found to conveniently oversimplify new historical narratives they were encountering by placing them into a dichotomous and binary storyline—or template—of ‘us versus them’ (Lévesque, Létourneau, & Gani, 2012). Influenced by community leaders and public figures, students deploy these narrative templates to conveniently unpack and digest past complexities. Largely molded during a child’s young formative years, these original narrative cores and basic matrices and structures arguably remain intact unless families or teachers help students displace or challenge such representations (e.g., Létourneau, 2007; Létourneau & Moisan, 2004). Further, Zanazanian (2015) builds on those discussions, illustrating how Quebec students adapt and deploy traditional and critical types of historical consciousness in their interactions with the master narrative or schematic narrative template they are exposed to. Schematic narrative templates, or “charters,” constitute a nation’s “account of its origin and historical mission, which will have been amended and renegotiated over time to reflect changing circumstances, and frame its responses to new challenges.” Accordingly, these templates are expected to play a key role in explaining “the group’s present” and “its future” (Liu & Hilton, 2005, p. 537). Further, these templates arguably possess a “prescriptive” nature, outlining “roles for a group (‘defender of the free world’, ‘light of civilization’, or ‘beacon against militarism’, etc.)” and legitimizing “actions … justified as the ‘right thing to do’ through reference to historical experience” (p.  537). Notably, the general public’s informal acceptance of those templates, charters, or “social representations” would be key for those representations to succeed in gaining power and serve

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their purpose of legitimizing “a society’s current social and political arrangements” (p. 539). Studies have shown how powerful and enduring schematic narrative templates are across various contexts. In the US, high school students who were unable to necessarily remember specific historical narratives, still demonstrated a strong familiarity and attachment to the dominant “story arc” employing it as they sought to understand and interpret various US historical events or actors they were confronted with (VanSledright, 2008, p.  125). Similarly, a schematic narrative template often endures across generations, as in the case of Russia. To illustrate, Wertsch’s (2004) comparative analysis of historical narratives of Soviet era and post-Soviet individuals reveals that, while their specific narratives appeared to be different in terms of the content or how they employ them, a closer analysis showed how the schematic narrative template remained mostly unchanged, consistently adhering to the Russian template of “triumph-over-alien-forces” (p. 57). In the case of Canada, Faden (2014) applies Wertsch’s model vis-­ à-­vis to a specific historically significant event (World War I), demonstrating how it helps reveal a key element of the Canadian template in which Canada needs to prove “itself on the world stage” (cited in Williams, 2014, p. 8). So, how can the concept of schematic narrative templates help us gain a deeper understanding and analysis of historical narratives, as well as some of their more resilient elements? Further, how can it help us critically engage with how those might influence and shape individuals approaches to those narratives? This is what I seek to unpack in this next section. Engaging with Schematic Narrative Templates As highlighted earlier, it would be inaccurate to assume that citizens are simply passive consumers of these templates. They have agency and clearly negotiate these templates as well. As discussed, in the case of Quebec students whose narrative template diverged from the one in their curricula, they negotiated that while maintaining the template gained from outside the classroom and their curricula. Similarly, where a dominant Soviet narrative was imposed on Estonian students, they mastered it, but did not fully appropriate or internalize it (Ahonen, 2001; Wertsch, 1998, 2000). Post-Soviet Estonia students learned the official narrative on a cognitive level, while not “believing or appropriating” it; instead, they reverted to

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narratives which they were exposed to through “alternative, unofficial accounts” including through their families (Wertsch, 2000, p. 42). Consequently, within the same society, different groups could possess varying narrative templates, mainly based on their trusted sources of historical knowledge (Seixas, 2004). Thus, knowing or encountering particular narratives or social representations does not mean that we passively accept or internalize them (Howarth, 2004, 2006). Generally misrepresented in British curricula, Black students have been found to take a critical stance vis-à-vis dominant social representations of their communities. Instead of passively succumbing to curricular narratives and symbols reinforcing a ‘troublesome Black youth’ narrative, they articulate how these representations “inform the realities they experience.” As a result, they are able to identify and adopt means to “resist and reject such representations or ‘versions’ of themselves and their position at school” (Howarth, 2006, p. 68). In resisting dominant historical narratives, students turn to their trusted sources, including community or family narratives, especially when the latter narratives are not being confronted by their teachers. This could be seen in the case of Quebec (e.g., Létourneau, 2007; Létourneau & Moisan, 2004). Further, trusting and potentially drawing on these alternative sources is also the case when a history education attempts to present a neutral, multi-perspectival approach, but stops short of offering clear guidance regarding the desirability of particular narrative approaches. This has been found to be the case of students in Northern Ireland (e.g., Barton & McCully, 2005). Findings emerging from these two contexts point to the power of socio-cultural influences on students’ attitudes, where such extracurricular narratives and narrative templates encourage students “to discount or transform the content of the curriculum” (Barton, 2008, p. 247). Further, the concept of schematic narrative template has also inspired visions and efforts to critically engage with power dynamics toward social justice and more meaningful inclusion, especially of traditionally marginalized minority historical narratives, as illustrated in efforts toward helping English-speaking students in Quebec develop their abilities to make meaning of the past and their sense of identity and civic engagement (e.g., Zanazanian, 2015, 2017; Zanazanian & Popa, 2018). As designed by Zanazanian, building on the concept of schematic narrative templates, a proposed “Narrative Template Tool” offers “a core skeletal storyline or narrative script,” which aims at “producing and promoting much-needed

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coherent identity frameworks among [Quebec’s] English-speakers’ increasing cultural, regional, and generational differences” (Zanazanian & Popa, 2018, p. 370; also see Zanazanian, 2017, for details). So, how can those critical analytical approaches toward historical narratives, schematic narrative templates, and discourses be brought together productively to help offer some insights into some of the key dimensions shaping historical narratives and representations as well as individuals’ interactions with them? Building on the above discussions, which sought to outline some key contributions and scholarly efforts, in the following section I offer some insights into how those could continue to be brought together to further enrich and deepen our analyses. Schematic Narrative Templates: A Connection to Locate Historical Narratives Within Dominant Discourses? The concept of schematic narrative templates can be seen as a helpful bridge for us to establish a clearer understanding and delineation between specific historical narratives and representations on one hand, and dominant discourses, ideologies, and worldviews, on the other hand. Historical narratives and representations are informed by and help reproduce dominant discourses. Further, in a circular relationship, as outlined above, historical narratives and representations shape individuals’ and groups’ subjectivities, which in turn inform and shape discourses in various ways. Similarly, dominant discourses and ideologies shape historical narratives as well as people’s interactions with them. Thus, to gain a fuller understanding—and perhaps identify more productive ways of building a critical consciousness or “conscientização” (Freire, 1968/2000) among individuals and groups—it would be important to go beyond analyzing historical narratives. Ideally, we would strive to better understand the arguably more resilient structures, and thus commit to the more challenging pursuit of critically engaging elements of the schematic narrative template. Beyond those two layers—the historical narrative analyses and schematic narrative template analyses—from a critical discourse analysis perspective, it would also be helpful to pay attention to the dominant discourses, realities, worldviews, and ideologies that such constructions of the historical narratives and schematic narrative templates normalize, essentialize, and subtly present as the ‘common sense.’ In the following, I seek to delineate and better clarify this proposed three-layered approach: An analysis of historical narrative and

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representations might prompt us to ask questions related to how particular groups, events, and figures are represented. Within that analysis, a schematic narrative analysis would encourage us to focus on identifying and distilling the more resilient and recurring elements and constructions across narrations of some of this nation’s various historical events. Such analyses start to encourage us to pay closer attention to how such constructions of these resilient elements might be shaping, limiting, and foreclosing a more critical and multi-perspectival understanding of a nation’s history. While some of these questions—related to how these constructions and representations shape subjectivities—are embedded in a schematic narrative template analysis, a critical discourse analysis angle would further insist on asking us to more explicitly seek to analyze and critically engage with some additional core questions. Those would include asking about what these historical narrative representations and constructions, including their more resilient elements that emerge from a schematic narrative analysis, essentialize and normalize about particular dominant social structures, institutions, socio-economic realities, and access to power and resources. In short, ‘which groups stand to gain, and which groups stand to lose from such representations and constructions?’ would be among the key questions a critical discourse scholars would insist that we ask. Thus, adopting these three layers of analysis seeks to make sure that all these critical questions are asked, and that these dimensions afforded the needed amount of attention and focus. Such a proposed three-layered analysis gains even more relevance when we are seeking to analyze individuals’ historical consciousness. Stopping at the first layer of how individuals interact with historical narratives and representations—which, as demonstrated above, has arguably shaped many past studies analyzing individuals’ historical consciousness—risks missing other important and more elusive forces that shape such interactions, including resilient elements of the schematic narrative template. Further, critically engaging with discourses that individuals interact with is also key. Importantly, this would include not only dominant discourses and narratives, but also those that individuals who might be critical of dominant narratives and discourses might revert to and draw on uncritically. To elucidate how some of those elements could be productively applied in tandem, in the next sub-section I offer some illustrative questions that seek to demonstrate how those various layers might supplement each other.

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Illustrative Questions To illustrate, I offer some questions that we might want to ask on each of the levels outlined above. In doing so, I draw on and am inspired by some of the key questions offered by various key critical discourse analysis theorists (e.g., Fairclough, 2003), leading textbook analysis scholars (e.g., Clark, 2007; Pingel, 2010), and critical pedagogy scholars and theorists (e.g., Kincheloe & McLaren, 2005). I further draw on some of my own attempts at offering insights toward developing more holistic textual analyses models (e.g., Abdou, 2018). As noted above, the first layer which engages with historical narratives would seek to analyze curricular constructions and representations of various events, groups, and social actors. Some questions would include: What is being essentialized about particular actors, their roles, and sense of agency? How are their relationships and interactions with other actors, institutions, or groups presented? Linguistically, what are some key characteristics and traits attributed to particular historical figures, groups, and actors? How are the significance and continuity of particular groups’ and actors’ historical contributions presented? How are historical struggles and injustices presented? How do visual representations reinforce or challenge some of those constructions? How does the space afforded to this event, group, or social actor reinforce or challenge some of those constructions, including their role or the significance of their contributions? On the second layer which would focus on analyzing the schematic narrative template, some questions to consider asking would include: What key common and resilient elements, themes, or patterns seem to emerge across the analyses of various historical narratives about some of the above? What might emerge as the skeletal, foundational storyline within which this nation’s historical events, its key actors, institutions, and groups would fit into? On the third layer of critically analyzing discourses, some questions that we might want to ask include: What economic and political ideology seems to be normalized through the historical representations and the resilient elements of the schematic narrative template? What do the historical narratives and representations, along with the emerging elements of the schematic narrative template, seem to value and represent as the key or indispensable actor(s)/propagator(s)/saviour(s) of the nation? How are various social structures, institutions, and power relations and dynamics represented? What realities do those constructions normalize? What purposes and interests do those constructions serve? And, along the same lines, what do they negate or downplay? Further, are these constructions serving and normalizing a

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particular discourse or meta-discourse (e.g., a nationalistic territorial meta-­ discourse or a religious-based one? or perhaps others)? Finally, although not emphasized above as a standalone analytical category, it might be helpful to consider also introducing an additional layer of critically engaging with ‘ways of knowing’ that are being valorized by the dominant discourse or meta-discourse. This layer of analyses would invite us to engage some of the following questions: What ways of knowing are being valued and legitimized? Which ones are being negated or undervalued? Relatedly, what knowledge(s) is valued and what is represented explicitly or implicitly as perhaps less valuable? What is the place of oral tradition, myths, and spiritual or transcendental narratives—as opposed to the value attributed to and the place reserved for text and printed matter? What is the place of knowledge produced by particular groups versus others? Such an approach that acknowledges how historical narratives, schematic narrative templates, as well as various discourses shape individuals’ historical consciousness could hopefully begin to offer a more holistic analytical framework. Although these are merely some illustrative questions— and not in any way an exhaustive or comprehensive list of questions—it is my hope that they offer a sense of how those different layers can potentially work together to help shed light on different dimensions that I believe are important to deliberately seek to engage with. Analyzing and Deconstructing Master Narratives Master or dominant narratives clearly normalize and essentialize “eddies within a grander linear flow of time to a meeting with destiny,” which could take the form of either “the Eschaton or national sovereignty” (Al-Azmeh, 2002, p.  61), arguably informed by whether the narrative constructed is a religious-based or a nationalistic territorial one as well as the type of discourses these narratives are embedded within. As discussed earlier, albeit to varying degrees, states continue to control schooling. Thus, schools remain a key player and arguably “the most important channel of imparting historical information”; as a result, expectedly, “history— mainly national history—occupies an important place in all known systems of public education” (Hobsbawm, 1997, p. 275). Importantly, such analyses would need to explore the various sites that continue to help advance, legitimize, and spread the master narrative and perhaps variations of it, including, “writers of fiction,” “film producers,” and, “makers of television … programmes,” among others (Hobsbawm, 1997, p. 276). Thus,

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given the emergence of multiple sources of historical knowledge and their significance in shaping individuals’ understandings of and interactions with historical narratives, there is a clear need to look beyond curricula and textbooks. As will be illustrated further in this book, I seek to take a socio-cultural approach that aims to better understand individuals’ various sources of historical knowledge, including both curricular and extracurricular.

Studying the Historical Consciousness of Individuals With these general theoretical perspectives and observations, here I attempt to engage with key studies examining how students interact with the master narrative. Borrowing language from his typology to depict various types of narratives, Rüsen (2004) contends that ‘traditional’ narratives are easiest for students to digest. However, the most widely circulated in history curricula are exemplary narratives. Given that the critical and genetic perspectives would be the most challenging for both students and teachers to engage with, they are arguably largely avoided in history curricula and classrooms (p.  80). Studies show that students could often deploy these dominant pedagogical approaches in their interactions with various historical narratives. A study of Canadian students (Seixas & Clark, 2004) and another on Finnish students (Löfström, 2013) both demonstrate that most students exhibited tendencies of the exemplary or critical types. Further, only very few had the ability to question historical methods or to historicize the historical events and actors under discussion. Such approaches and abilities would have been indicative of the genetic type. These studies and others do shed light on students’ interactions with historical narratives and their historical consciousness tendencies. Another area that merits further study and exploration is understanding extracurricular social sites—or what some scholars refer to as ‘historical culture’— and their roles in shaping students’ interactions with the past (e.g., Ahonen, 2001; Barton & McCully, 2005; Epstein, 2000; Frisch, 1989; Kölbl & Straub, 2001; Létourneau, 2007; Létourneau & Moisan, 2004; Lévesque et  al., 2012; Seixas, 2004; Wineburg, Mosborg, Porat, & Duncan, 2007). Research points to how students’ connections to history and historical narratives are significantly shaped by extracurricular sites and social

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institutions, including the family.14 Students from minority and traditionally marginalized groups especially have been found to revert to their family narratives, finding them more trustworthy than other sources. Much of their communities’ histories are either largely missing or misrepresented in the classroom and other institutions, including museums. Therefore, it is understandable that many students from these communities would revert to their families and other communal institutions. To offer some insights into how this manifests, I briefly discuss studies conducted in the contexts of Argentina, Austria, Palestine, and in Latin America. To study the influence of Argentinian master narratives offered in history education on students’ subjectivities, Carretero and Van Alphen (2014) analyze historical narratives’ production and consumption. Most participating Argentinian students were found to have largely adopted and appropriated the dominant narrative. Among Grade 8 and 11 students, they found the dominant narrative to be “reproduced wholly or in part by students … indicating its perseverance” (p. 307). In advancing a model that examines how macro national discourses get challenged by or reproduced in micro discourses, such as in daily social interactions, Wodak and her colleagues provide some helpful insights and analytical tools. Their multi-year national exploration of the discursive construction of the Austrian national identity found that elite discourses were being reproduced by citizens. To highlight the pervasiveness of these dominant master narratives, such internalization manifested even in “formulations or rhetorical set pieces” that the researchers argue seem to have been appropriated directly from Austria’s “official political discourse” or school curricula (Wodak et al., 2009, p. 191). In the context of Palestine, Hammack (2010) examines—from a cultural psychology perspective—how the Palestinian master narrative 14  The four large studies conducted in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia, showed that museums and families emerged among the most trusted historical sources. They generally ranked in positions higher than history teachers and textbooks. This was found to be especially the case among minority groups, including African Americans (Epstein, 2000; Rosenzweig & Thelen, 1998), immigrant communities in the United Kingdom (Harris & Reynolds, 2014; Hawkey & Prior, 2011; Wilkinson, 2014), and Indigenous communities in the United States (Rosenzweig & Thelen, 1998) as well as in Australia (Hamilton & Ashton, 2003), and Canada (Conrad et  al., 2009). However, studies on Korean American high school students in the US, such as An’s (2009), capture a different and more positive pattern of these minority students’ interaction with the US master narrative. This latter study seems to potentially challenge or disrupt possible generalizations on the relationship between racial/ethnic minorities and official master narratives.

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manifests in young Palestinians’ personal narratives. In line with findings emerging from the Argentine and Austrian cases, he concludes that Palestinian youths’ personal narratives “reveal the positions of subjects within a matrix of power relations and the internalization of discourse [emphasis in original],” helping shed light on the complex and multi-­ dimensional process of “person–culture co-construction” (pp. 509–510). Studies have also explored students’ interactions with narrative templates in other Latin American contexts. For instance, in the case of Brazil, students were found to approach curricular representations of Europe’s colonial legacy of Latin America through the prism of a defeatist and victimized narrative. Such findings propelled these scholars to argue that such a narrative would contribute to shaping students’ weak sense of agency, or their interest in solving societal issues and challenges (da Conceicao et  al., 2011). Exploring how Egyptian students interact with some subtly normalized constructions and representations—including the ancient and resilient nature of the Egyptian nation-state, and the cyclical nature of history—offers some additional insights into this, as will be further explored in the following chapters.

How This Book Is Organized In Chap. 2, I offer a brief history of modern Egyptian education and curriculum, with the specific focus on how the official curriculum constructed Egyptian citizens and how it included or excluded various minority groups, such as Egyptian Christians (Copts). Based on field research that I conducted in Egypt (2016–2017), Chaps. 3 and 4 then present key findings related to what has emerged from the study in terms of young Egyptians’ interactions with the official curricular content and how it is enacted in the classroom. While Chap. 3 focuses on young Egyptians’ understandings of, and interactions with, the country’s dominant narrative presented in the official curriculum, Chap. 4 focuses on discussing young Egyptians’ civic attitudes and actions, including their choices of community engagement and volunteering. Based on the discussion of these findings, Chap. 5 then proposes a ‘historical consciousness-civic engagement’ framework that aims to connect the often-disconnected frameworks of historical consciousness typologies with citizenship and civic actions’ typologies. Finally, Chap. 6 highlights some of the key findings and potential areas for reflection and consideration.

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CHAPTER 2

The Egyptian Educational System and Curriculum Since the 1800s Until the Present: Key Continuities and Changes

Education as a Tool to Control the Masses and Shape Cultural and Social Identities? The key goal to indoctrinate young Egyptians into ruling regimes’ visions as well as their roles within it as citizens has consistently guided modern Egyptian education. Since Mehmed Ali’s schools, Egyptian education was generally envisaged to train and produce subjects who were skilled and productive in various professions and sectors, yet not highly engaged or critical citizens (Brand, 2014; Fahmy, 1997; Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986, 2002; Mirshak, 2020; Mitchell, 1991; Starrett, 1998). In nineteenth century Egypt, landowners largely perceived modern education as a tool to develop the skills of their subjects, while also controlling and turning them into “docile … political subjects” (Sedra, 2011, p.  14). This vision was clearly informed and strongly influenced by the Lancaster monitorial system of education in England. This vision—mainly introduced to Egypt by foreign missionaries and Western-inspired Egyptian educationalists—approached schools as spaces to help elites control “lower orders” of society, thus ensuring stability and social order (Sedra, 2011, p.  15). Such approaches helped ensure that schools remained spaces where the state practiced its “discipline” and control over Egyptian bodies (Mitchell, 1991, p. 35). Thus, a key objective for

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the ruling regime as well as the Egyptian economic elite—whether Muslim or Coptic—would have been for education to effectively transform “impoverished coreligionists into industrious and disciplined laborers” (Sedra, 2011, p. 166). In his seminal work Colonising Egypt, Timothy Mitchell (1991) notes the strong influences of the Lancaster monitorial model in England in the 1800s on the Egyptian educational system. An instrumental player in adopting and applying the system to Egypt starting the mid-1800s were Egyptian administrators who had made several visits to these schools in England. Adopting such approaches was clearly an attempt to fulfill their vision of the educational process as “a process of discipline, inspection and continuous obedience” (Mitchell, 1991, p. 73). Toward ensuring control over modern Egyptian subjects and to actualize the regime and economic elite’s modernization project, an integral and necessary step was a schooling system that could effectively transform people’s “tastes and habits” rendering them modern subjects who are “frugal, innocent and, above all, busy” (Mitchell, 1991, p. 75). Earlier scholarly observations offer helpful insights into the generally docile, conservative, and dependent subject that the system sought to construct and normalize: The Egyptian had learnt to depend upon the firm hand of Muhammad [Mehmed] Ali to send him to school, to feed him, to clothe him and to find work for him in his professional capacity. (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 229)

While perhaps successful in instilling some of these traits among many Egyptian students, this same school system did—albeit arguably unintentionally and unknowingly—produce citizens who found ways to resist that dominant narrative and revolt against colonial and hegemonic powers. To illustrate, despite the British occupation’s intentions that informed how they would have designed schools and curricula, as in many other global contexts, schools still produced Egyptian teachers and students who resisted and fought against the British colonial rule. This included several of those successfully establishing oppositional movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood movement, the key founders of which comprised several schoolteachers (Mitchell, 1991, p.  171; Starrett, 1998, p. 58).

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Key Continuities and Changes Shaping Modern Education in Egypt The dynamics, tensions, and shifts that informed the modern Egyptian education and its curricula can be loosely organized into six periods, based on the key rulers of the country. Despite several powerful continuities, each period had some key and unique characteristics as summarized in the chart below (Table 2.1): Mehmed Ali and His Dynasty: Seeds of a Modern Education The French campaign on Egypt (1789–1801) and Mehmed Ali’s rule (1805–1849) both triggered and sustained key fundamental changes in Egypt, central to which was unsettling the traditionally central role of the Islamic religious establishment and its scholars (Ali, 1989). Thus, established in 1816, Mehmed Ali’s military schools represented one of the most important attempts to introduce a modern national education in Egypt (Mitchell, 1991, p. 68). Given that Mehmet Ali saw modern education as a machine that would help produce the needed human resources to support his military and affiliated institutions, he would have largely perceived a traditional, religious-­based education as a competitor and an obstacle in the way of his modernizing and expansionist project (Fahmy, 1997; Sedra, 2011). Realizing and problematizing that clear connection between Ali’s modern education and mandatory military conscription, which many Egyptians arguably “dreaded,” they largely resisted the modern schooling system (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p.  153). Such tensions continued under Mehmed Ali’s heirs. To illustrate, during Said’s reign, to escape modern education and avoid the resultant military conscription, many Egyptian villagers registered to study at Al-Azhar with the “pretext of pursuing religious studies” (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 397). Prior to the introduction of this modern vision of education, the Mosque and its affiliated kuttabs were the central players with a nearly full monopoly over educating young Egyptians. Kuttabs nearly solely depended on rote memorization of the Quran, while at times offering very rudimentary knowledge of non-religious subjects such as arithmetic, measures, and currency (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938). Copts as well as the relatively smaller

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Table 2.1  Key Features Shaping Egyptian Education (1805-Present) Key Features vis-à-vis Education and Curriculum Mehmed Ali and his heirs (until early Khedive Tawfik rule) (1805–1881)

• Beginnings of a modern educational system, geared largely toward serving the military establishment and civil service • Khedive Ismail’s rule introduces efforts to render more accessible for poor families (e.g., the Law of 19th of Rajab, 1867) British occupation and • British focus on education as tool to produce qualified Constitutional Monarchy civil servants (1882–1952) • Despite interests of British rule, curricula demonstrate tendencies of an inclusive Egyptianist ideology, further encouraged by nationalist secular Wafd movement • Emergence of curricular tensions with organized Islamist movements • Late 1940s mark a growing public awareness and efforts toward free public education Gamal Abdel Nasser • Revision of curricula to essentialize an Arab cultural (1954–1970) identity and a socialist outlook • Centralization of managing a consolidated national education and a unified curriculum • Continued efforts toward an egalitarian public educational system; institutionalization of free public education for all Muhammad Anwar Sadat • Organized Islamist movements empowered to combat (1970–1981) Nasserist socialist legacy within educational institutions • A shift toward a free-market/capitalist economic policy, manifesting in a rise in fee-based private schools • Growing gaps between economic classes and their access to quality education • Expansion of Al-Azhar religious education system Muhammad Hosni Mubarak • Neoliberal policies inform educational and curricular (1981–2011) reform efforts, supported by international donors • Some efforts to render curricular content less Islamized • Continued tensions between competing visions for education End of Mubarak until • General continuation of Mubarak era’s reform efforts Present (2011 onward) • Recent discussions and initial steps toward bolder reforms and drastic revisioning of curriculum and standardized assessments (but relatively early to be able to fully and justly assess)

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Jewish and Armenian communities also established their own separate, non-Muslim kuttabs (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938; Sedra, 2011). The Muslim kuttabs mainly produced students who would continue on to study in Al-Azhar mosque-university Islamic system or to study a trade. In all cases, students of the Islamic religious establishment were to become good citizens in line with Muslim ethics, as “part of the religious system,” which Heyworth-Dunne (1938) reminds us, would have “controlled almost every act of life” (p. 6). By the 1830s, with the expansion of Mehmed Ali’s educational system and schools, kuttabs started to experience a remarkable decline (Starrett, 1998, pp.  27–28). Thus, notwithstanding ongoing tensions at the time, Mehmed Ali’s heavy investments into a “highly centralized and hierarchical state-run education system” gradually succeeded in sidelining the religious educational system (Farag, 2012, p. 80). It is worth noting that, as will be demonstrated later, this highly centralized modern educational system and some of its features persist until today (Farag, 2012). This Western influence on shaping the vision for and formulation of modern Egyptian education was further strengthened and amplified through the various waves of Egyptian students educated in Europe starting 1826 onward. Their education was fully state-funded in what could be described as an ongoing flow over the subsequent decades (Abdul-Karim, 1945; Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, pp.  157–170; Sayed, 2006). As noted, these efforts were largely geared toward supporting Mehmed Ali’s military establishment, and his modernizing and expansionist vision (Cochran, 1986; Fahmy, 1997; Heyworth-Dunne, 1938; Sayed, 2006). The centrality of this motive meant that his interest and investment in expanding or sustaining his schooling was closely tied with the need to support his military establishment. Thus, once this need ceased, consequently, his schools were downsized and received less attention and resources. Mehmed Ali’s defeat by European powers required him to reduce his military to only 18,000 soldiers, after having reached 250,000 at one point (Heyworth-­Dunne, 1938, p. 223). This military downsizing meant that many of his schools lost their relevance and subsequently, had to be closed down. Even the surviving ones handed down to Abbas—Mehmed Ali’s successor—were of significantly lower quality (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938; Starrett, 1998). Under Mehmed Ali’s heirs, the development of the educational sector can be said to have been highly variable and inconsistent. Under Abbas then Said, many schools remained closed, except for foreign schools serving foreigners and a few Egyptian students (Cochran, 1986, p.  5). Although the reign of Abbas introduced no significant turning points of

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either progress or decline, his rule did offer some stability which was much needed, especially after the arguably exhausting years of his predecessors (Heyworth-­Dunne, 1938; Sedra, 2011). Succeeding Abbas was Muhammad Said (1854–1863) who is described by some historians as “careless, impetuous, extravagant and unstable” (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 313). However, his rule did witness a significant expansion of the number of modern schools. By 1863, Egypt had approximately 59 modern schools throughout the country (pp. 339–340). However, given that he is said to have been a “Francophile” much attention was given specifically to ‘European’ schooling systems, which catered mainly to foreign communities residing in Egypt. This came at the expense of the national educational system, reflecting on the poor status of Egyptian public schools (p. 340). To illustrate such neglect, Said’s spending on Italian schools in Alexandria and the French Frères schools in Cairo is said to have exceeded the total budget allocated to all public schools during his reign (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 340). I smail Pasha: An Accelerated Modernization Said’s successor, Ismail Pasha (1863–1879) had a strong desire to modernize Egypt through strengthening ties with Europe. Thus, his reign is criticized for a growing “foreign intervention and opportunism,” and a “lack of rule of law” (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 344). As part of his project to further “westernize Egypt” Ismail sought to upgrade and expand the educational system (Cochran, 1986, p.  5). Thus, he re-­ established the types of schools first envisioned and operated under Mehmed Ali (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 346). Introducing no drastic changes, education continued to be aimed at producing subjects who would serve the government and its military establishment; those employed at least 63% of the graduates (p. 381). Hence, Ismail’s efforts did represent a continuation of Mehmed Ali’s modernization project, although characterized by less zeal for military expansionism than that of the latter. An important development—and perhaps a significant change—marking Ismail’s reign was a growing realization of the need to render schooling more affordable for poor families. Institutionalizing such growing awareness came with passing the Law of 19 Rajab 1284 (1867), which sought “total reorganization of education” and “recognized the necessity of spreading education among the people” (Cochran, 1986, p.  5). The law also stipulated that the government is expected to cover expenses of

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clothing for students from poorer socio-economic backgrounds (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 363). Perhaps as part of the strong orientation toward Europe and inspired by some of its modern nation-building projects, some leading intellectual figures at the time called for a stronger and more unified “modern nationalism,” finding schools the most adequate sites to instill such nationalistic identification (Mitchell, 1991, p.  132). The seeds of a more profound sense of national identity among Egyptians were sowed and further nourished by the efforts of reformist Afghan-born Muslim scholar Jamaluddin al-Afghani, as well as Salim an-Naqqash—a Syrian immigrant who arguably coined the phrase “Egypt for the Egyptians”—and further by Yaqub Sanua, an Egyptian Jew and publisher of the satirical journal Abu-Nazarah (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938; Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986). Such efforts contributed to a more critically aware and engaged generation of scholars and intellectuals. Those included Muhammad Abduh—one of al-Afghani’s most prominent students—and his strong critiques of rote memorization, especially prevalent in traditional religious education and kuttabs (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 402). After Ismail was forcibly ousted, his son Tawfik ruled Egypt briefly (1879–1883), including the first year of the British occupation (1882–1883). His rule did not introduce any drastic changes. However, it is worth noting that in 1883, severe corporal punishment was abandoned in schools. That included banning the use of the “korbaj/courbash” (the whip), commonly used in schools before then (Starrett, 1998, p. 41).  etween Modern and Traditional Education: The Curriculum Under B Mehmed Ali’s Dynasty To fulfill Mehmed Ali’s key purposes of education, the curriculum aimed to prepare graduates to assume military or other government positions (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 371). Alongside these efforts, an emphasis started to emerge regarding the need to educate Egyptian citizens about their place in history as well as their roles and collective identity. As Egyptian educational visionary and prominent public official during Said and Ismail’s reigns, Rifa’a Al-Tahtawy (1801–1873) put it: “formation of individuals was to be the means to the formation of a ‘collective form’” (cited in Mitchell, 1991, pp. 119–120). As his writings showed, he also firmly believed that “political education was necessary for understanding one’s role in the nation,” suggesting the necessity of teaching students about national Egyptian history and “the duties of citizenship” (Russell,

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2001, p. 53).1 Thus, during Ismail’s reign there was a growing movement that saw in education a suitable vehicle to shape a common cultural identity among Egyptians, including a collective understanding of their roles within a modern nation-state. Key subject matters taught within those modern schools included the Quran, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian languages, and arithmetic, algebra, geography, general notions of history, calligraphy, and drawing (Heyworth-­ Dunne, 1938, p. 196; Starrett, 1998, p. 28). In Mehmed Ali’s schools, Quran and Islamic history lessons were mandatory and were taught by a Muslim shaykh. And a European teacher would teach other subjects, including “reading, writing, arithmetic, drawing, and gymnastics” (Sedra, 2011, p. 81). The curriculum during Ismail’s rule included reading and writing as well as the Quran, Arabic, French, English, German, and Turkish languages, in addition to geometry and arithmetic, geography, and calligraphy (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 354). Despite the introduction of some additional subject matters, curricula remained highly centered on Muslim religious texts. Those included the first printed textbook introduced in 1834 which was the “Alfiyya of Ibn Malik”—an eighth century Muslim legal text (Starrett, 1998, p.  27). Additionally, the Quran continued to play a central role in curricula of schools funded by Mehmed Ali (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 215). Such an overpowering religious tone and character, generally stressing uncritical and rote memorization, earned these schools and their curricula what Starrett (1998) describes as al-Azhar “in miniature” (p. 27). Well into Ismail’s reign, the centrality and strong weight placed on religious texts within curricula persisted, despite the existence of more modern subject matters. This is evident in the Law of 19th of Rajab 1284 (1867)—mentioned above—with its mandate that subjects such as geography, history, arithmetic, and agriculture be taught in schools. Those were to be taught along with the subject matters of “Arabic, grammar, reading, tauhid, elementary fiqh, and politeness” (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, pp.  368–369). The clear Islamic religious influence on the range of subjects offered was further reinforced by “the 1  It is worth noting that Heyworth-Dunne (1938) makes no mention of a history curriculum being offered in Ismail’s schools. However, it is possible that the author simply neglected to include a mention of that curriculum since no other accounts point to a deliberate omission of any particular subject matters during this period.

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large number of shaikhs on the committee that drew up the regulations” (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 374). Such dominance was still encouraged by some contemporary intellectuals and progressive visionaries, including Rifa’a Al-Tahtawy who—simultaneous to emphasizing the importance of producing well-­educated and well-informed citizens—advocated that, “a religious education was the foundation of an individual’s studies” (Russell, 2001, p. 53). During Tawfik’s reign, social studies curricula arguably gained more attention as manifested in the increasing level of specialization in some of their content, as well as the growing calls for more conducive pedagogical approaches to teach these curricula. During that period, curricula included the ‘history of Egypt’ and ‘natural history’ (Heyworth-Dunne, 1938, p. 430), with contemporary administrative reports calling for an improvement of “the standard of history and geography instruction” (p.  432). Thus, as modern schooling expanded and while standardized curricular regulations were introduced, curricular content was still heavily shaped by kuttab material well into the 1890s (Starrett, 1998, p. 46).  iverging Visions and Tensions Between Religious D and Modern Curriculum The advent of modern education to Egypt introduced tensions between two visions of competing education: on one hand, there was a largely ‘medieval’ vision propagated by the religious establishment and its scholars. In sharp contrast was a more progressive vision seeking the separation of the religious establishment from the state’s educational system. These tensions most clearly manifested in debates around curricular content and pedagogical approaches. However, the tensions were also demonstrable in the religious establishment’s resistance toward proposals to create a unified and standardized teacher preparation system that would have applied to Al-Azhar as well as other educational institutions (Nessim, 1984, p. 230). The sustained power and permeation of that religious-based discourse in the public sphere shaped those ongoing tensions and negotiations within the curricular modernization process. As a result, despite attempts to secularize it, the official curricular content was still largely founded on religious-based worldviews and epistemologies, as the following sections demonstrate.

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The British Occupation and Constitutional Monarchy (1882–1952): Conflicting Visions of Inclusive Access to Education By the time Egypt came under the British colonial power in 1882, there was an appreciation among many Egyptians of the importance of good and quality education (Mitchell, 1991). To illustrate, one of the popular demands made by the military officers’ movement led by Ahmed ‘Urabi to Tawfik in 1881 was a fulfillment of the promise of a “good education” (Mitchell, 1991, p. 132). Such demands reflected a public sentiment that since Mehmed Ali’s era, resources have been dedicated either to military education or to the expansion of modern education catered mainly to serve foreign communities. Such narrow focus was seen to have come at the expense of a high quality, modern public education that would be accessible for ordinary Egyptians. Such demands and sentiments point to how this period was defined by ongoing tensions and competing visions around access to education. The British arguably held a view that narrowly defined and confined access to education to local elites. In contrast, the country’s Constitutional Monarchy was seemingly more committed to expanding that access to more Egyptians. This meant that despite growing public awareness and demand for quality modern education, in reality the British occupation stifled this momentum, including through abolishing free public education (Farag, 2012, p.  80; Sayed, 2006, pp.  25–26). Similar to the preceding ruling regimes, the British invested in education with the sole purpose of producing the skilled Egyptian civil servants, peasants, and artisans that it would need to effectively administer the country and gain control over its resources (Russell, 2001). By raising fees in public schools, they became de facto restricted to the economic elite and were mainly geared toward developing the civil servants desired by the British occupation (Russell, 2001, p. 51). Thus, public education became highly inaccessible and prohibitively expensive to those of lower socio-economic status (Cochran, 1986, p. 19). As a result, the advent of the British occupation could be said to have started the institutionalization of an inequitable educational system, prohibiting any significant social mobility. Creating this highly segregated “two-tiered educational system” coincided with the Egyptian economic elite’s interests, as it would have arguably helped them maintain privileges and avoid possibly undesired “mixing of social classes” (Russell, 2001, p. 51).

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Such moves triggered a growing public awareness and debates problematizing this increasingly inequitable system.2 Thus, in response, the Constitutional Monarchy period (1922–1952)—ending with King Farouk’s forced ouster from power—introduced significant measures that ensured a significant expansion of students’ enrollment in schools, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. To illustrate this significant increase in enrollment across all levels of education: in 1926 primary education had only 210,123 students enrolled, which in 1946 increased to 1,039,177 (Gershoni & Jankowski, 2002, p. 13), while between the years 1940 and 1952, enrollment primary education almost doubled (Cochran, 1986, p. 33). Further, the right to free public education was officially included in the Egyptian constitution. Subsequently, compulsory primary education was introduced in the 1930s. But limited resources continued to stifle and slow down the full development of Egyptian public education (Farag, 2012, p. 80). To build on those earlier efforts, King Farouk’s reign—specifically in 1949, only a few years before the 1952 popular-backed coup d’état—witnessed an “abolition of primary-school fees, including payment for school books, materials and school meals” (Hyde, 1978, pp. 3–4). Importantly, in 1951, a new law stipulated that basic education was “compulsory and free” (p. 4). Capturing this general spirit and public sentiment is prominent Egyptian intellectual Taha Husayn’s—minister of education at the time—proclamation that education is like “water and air, the right of every citizen” (Sayed, 2006, p. 27). Thus, the seeds of a more egalitarian and inclusive educational system were clearly sown prior to the 1952 popular-­ backed coup d’état. However, it was Nasser—informed by his Pan-Arab socialist vision—who helped more actively and aggressively ensure that free education was made more accessible for the masses of Egyptians. 2  The perception of the opportunities that a modern education opened up is clearly what fueled such a growing sense of awareness of and unease with that inequitable and inaccessible system among larger numbers of Egyptians. These sentiments would have been further fed by tensions with the British occupation. Organized resistance movements creating awareness and mobilizing Egyptians included secular movements, such as the nationalist Wafd Party, and more religious-based movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite competing visions regarding the country’s cultural identity and post-colonial future, these movements shared the common goal of a national independence from the British.

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Curriculum Under the British Occupation and Constitutional Monarchy As noted earlier, the British occupation saw education mainly as a site that would produce the needed “indigenous leaders who would consent foreign influence” (Starrett, 1998, p. 46). Largely continuing Mehmed Ali and his heirs’ legacy, the British occupation’s vision was to produce “passive people who took orders well.” Perhaps the key and minor difference was the British occupation’s focus on teaching the English language while preparing students for civil service positions, not military ones (Cochran, 1986, p.  13). Understandably, subject matters that could instill critical thinking skills—such as “ethics; economics; philosophy, ancient or modern; and Arabic and European literature”—would have represented a threat and an obstacle to this vision. Thus, they were all abolished from the curriculum (Cochran, 1986, p. 13). During that time, the vast majority of teachers hired were British teachers, translating into key subject matters—including history, geography, and mathematics—having to be taught in English (Russell, 2001, p. 54). The neglect of Arabic as a language of instruction, and subject matters such as religious studies, resulted in a general public discontent vis-à-vis how curriculum was envisioned and enacted. In response, the ruling Egyptian elite demanded that more curricular content be taught in Arabic with a “greater emphasis on Egyptian history.” Subsequently, reaching a compromise in 1907, there was an agreement that more Arabic was to be used in teaching the curricular content, and that more space and time were to be dedicated to “religious and moral instruction,” and the “Arabic language and Islamic history” subject matters (Russell, 2001, p.  53). Interestingly, the British welcomed such emphasis on teaching religious studies, including how this was expected to lead to a “practical instruction in the principles and religious history of Islam” (Starrett, 1998, p. 47). Russell (2001) offers a plausible explanation for that potentially ironic, positive reception by the British. While such emphases would have calmed and appeased Egyptians by allowing them to “study their non-ancient history in a more intensive course of religion,” it would have arguably been seen by the British as non-threatening as it would have allowed them to continue “to teach history and geography classes,” while maintaining “their empire as the central narrative” (Russell, 2001, p. 53). Thus, the British arguably sought to reinforce “submission” through implicitly and explicitly embedding it as a key value into the religious studies curriculum, helping them essentialize “Briti sh hegemony,” including through social studies curricula (Russell, 2001, p.  54). It was arguably

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through permeating various institutions and social sites, including “textbooks, school teachers, universities, newspapers” that the British occupation succeeded to “penetrate and colonize local discourse” (Mitchell, 1991, p. 171). However, Starrett (1998) disagrees with both Russell’s and Mitchell’s arguments, asserting that the British interfered very little to change curricular content (p. 47). It is clear that the specific question of the British occupation’s actual efforts and influence on revising curricular content and enactment is a generally understudied question that merits further study.3 In the 1920s and 1930—largely in response to the British occupation—an Egyptianist orientation was able to have an influence on textbooks and curricular content. To illustrate, with the strong emphasis on the commonality of a national identity and culture among all Egyptians that characterizes an Egyptianist orientation, a 1937 civics textbook explained that “the Arabs (like the Turks) arrived in Egypt as conquerors … they blended into the original local population, the Copts, and out of this mixture was formed a single nation, the Egyptian nation” (Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986, p.  155). This nationalistic territorial vision would have entailed a revisionist approach to “Egyptian historiography,” re-­ narrating it through nationalist and territorial perspectives (Gershoni & Jankowski, 1986, p. 150). Such an Egyptianist orientation would have been further strengthened and gained more momentum through the state’s earlier support of the study of Egyptology and foreign-sponsored archaeological expeditions. Such efforts had their clear spill over into pedagogy. For example, Ahmed Kamal (1849–1923)—referred to as the “father of Egyptian Egyptology”— had established a new department within the Egyptian teachers’ college at the time specializing in preparing teachers to teach about the ancient 3  I would tend to agree with Starrett’s (1998) argument that British colonial administrators seem to have done little to drastically revise or change curricular content in Egypt. This could also be concluded from other scholars’ analyses (e.g., Di Capua, 2009). Further, such an agreement is informed by my own archival analysis of Egyptian history textbooks since the late 1800s until the 2000s (e.g., Abdou, 2018; Makar & Abdou, 2021). To elaborate, in referring to the historical narrative of Ahmed ‘Urabi, Di Capua (2009) explains that the textbooks of that period presented ‘Urabi in a positive light, while at times criticizing some key figures of the Mehmed Ali dynasty, including Ismail and Tawfik (p. 175). Thus, if there were strong British influences on revising curricular content, we would have arguably expected to see more attention given to revising this historical narrative, possibly translating into a total removal of any positive references to ‘Urabi. After all, any such positive depictions would actually negate one of the key raisons d’être of the British occupation, which was often justified as an attempt to protect foreign communities living in Egypt from the chaos caused by the ‘Urabi-led protests against Tawfik (e.g., Makar & Abdou, 2021).

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Egyptian civilization (Haikal, 2003, p.  125). As a result, it could be inferred that teachers would have been generally better prepared to more profoundly teach about ancient Egyptian history. Such knowledge and ability to teach about the nation’s ancient history among teachers would have been key to advancing an Egyptianist ideological orientation, to which the country’s ancient civilization is an indispensable element that helps define the nation and its unique cultural identity.4 Influences of this Egyptianist orientation on curricula were soon challenged, especially by a religious-based discourse emerging in the 1930s. The years 1932 and 1935 witnessed two memorandums by the Islamic Guidance Society being addressed to the MOE criticizing Egyptian history education and proposing a “curricular reorientation” and revision that would entail positioning Arab and Islamic history as the “most important component” that should inform the students’ “national consciousness” (Gershoni & Jankowski, 2002, p. 88). This growing religious-based ideology could start to explain why several calls for the “secularization” of curricula in the 1930s were generally unsuccessful and had only a limited impact (Starrett, 1998, p. 71). Additionally, key Egyptianist intellectuals seem to have pragmatically opted for avoiding this highly divisive territory. Thus, they could be seen to have largely avoided making public proposals to abolish religious education or to secularize curricular content (Starrett, 1998). Up until the advent of Nasser to power in the 1950s, there was not one unified national curriculum. However, there were a few efforts toward that unification, which points to the increasing awareness regarding the need for that. For instance, in 1949, there were a few efforts, albeit unsuccessful, to introduce a unified national curriculum (Starrett, 1998). Even before that, as early as 1934, the government introduced a requirement that foreign schools teach the Arabic language to all students, as well teach 4  This Egyptianist orientation had an arguably strong influence on shaping students’ cultural identities at the time. For instance, Colla (2007) points to key and prominent ancient Egyptian themes shaping several of Naguib Mahfouz’s and Sayyid Qutb’s early writings. This arguably points to how the educational system, that they were both products of, was “steeped in the lessons of Pharaonist pedagogy,” which could further be situated within a larger literary culture shaped by Egyptianism (pp.  238–239). It is worth noting that, on one hand, Mahfouz —eventually becoming one of Egypt’s most prominent novelists and a Nobel Prize Laureate in literature—continued to be inspired by and draw on Egyptianist themes throughout his long and illustrious literary career. On the other hand, Qutb—later a key founding figure of the Muslim Brotherhood movement—informed by his newfound and religious-­ based ideology, decisively denounced the ancient Egypt civilization as an age of ignorance (Jahiliyya), “an accusation he hurled against Egyptian and European modernity alike” (Colla, 2007, p. 238).

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the MOE’s “civics, history, geography, and Arabic” curricula (Cochran, 1986, p. 29). The Nasser Era: Expansion of Free Education for the Masses and Strong Ideological Overtones Nasser’s and the Egyptian military’s advent to power in 1952 was shaped by several global trends and events. The emergence of the Soviet Union and the United States and their competition as two rival powers allowed Nasser to successfully negotiate and to eventually side with the Soviet Union and its ideological orientations. This period was also marked by growing anticolonial sentiments and liberation movements across much of the global South seeking independence from European colonial powers. Internally, there was a sustained and growing awareness among many Egyptians of the importance of modern education, and, as illustrated above, ongoing public debates regarding rendering education more accessible to all. The Nasser era strong leftist-leaning and socialist agenda translated into an unprecedented expansion of the public education system, rendering it more widely accessible to masses of Egyptians. This also entailed more consolidation of power and control over the educational sector through unifying curricula and centralizing educational administration (Cochran, 1986, pp.  41–42; Farag, 2012, pp.  80–81). A clear purpose of making education more accessible to the masses was “to promote the development of Egyptian patriotism” (Cochran, 1986, pp. 41–42). Guided by the ideologies of Pan-Arabism and socialism, the Nasser era education targeted cultivating a “pride in the greater Arab nation” and preparing students who would become productive members of “a cooperative, democratic and socialist society” (Starrett, 1998, p. 78). A key continuity emerging from this analysis is education being approached and employed as a space that serves the ruling regime’s vision. As outlined above, Nasser’s era was guided by a “socialist ideology.” Further, it was also largely informed by the key aim of preparing citizens who would “participate in the national cause of territorial sovereignty and the fight against foreign colonial threats” (Sayed, 2006, p. 30). Nasser’s regime not only offered free education for all. It also guaranteed jobs for all graduates of public higher education institutions. This policy helped the regime “gain middle-class support” as well as that of the country’s “petite-bourgeoisie” and ensure their loyalty. It also firmly positioned education as a key and central vehicle for more equity and “social

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mobility” (Abd-Rabou, 2016, p. 55). However, it is worth noting that, despite these ambitious visions, the system was deprived of the needed resources. Much of these resources were depleted in various armed conflicts that Egypt entered under Nasser, including participating in the civil war in Yemen, as well as the 1967 war against Israel (Cochran, 1986, p. 46). Two key turning points marked Nasser’s era vis-à-vis education. First, as outlined above, was the unification and expansion of a national public education system. This also sought to centralize and consolidate the state’s control over education. Further, Nasser’s era marked reigning in religious institutions—including the Al-Azhar university with its Islamic primary and secondary system—under the MOE’s control. The head of Al-Azhar was to be appointed directly by the Egyptian president from that point onward (Hyde, 1978, p. 154).5 The Nasser era curriculum continued to reflect tensions and schisms between the various competing visions, especially the religious and secular. Despite its propagation of an Arab socialist project—supposedly largely secular and inclusive of non-Muslim minorities—the Nasser regime was arguably unable to address the religious-based discourse and its influences on the public sphere in a fundamental manner. To elaborate, to challenge the argument that curricular content became more secularized and inclusive under Nasser, prominent historians including Abdel-Malek (1968) attempted to refute that. He goes as far as blaming that era perhaps for jeopardizing this supposedly more secular or inclusive vision. As he notes—perhaps because of the larger space allocated to histories of other Arab nations—Nasser era textbooks were in fact “completely ignoring six centuries of Coptic history” (Abdel-Malek, 1968, p. 261). Other scholars

5  It is worth noting that such drastic changes vis-à-vis the place of religion and attempting to ensure the state’s control over its institutions and discourse extended to the Coptic community. Starting with the Nasser era, the election of a new pope would need to be approved directly by the president (Ibrahim, 2015). The state’s control spread to other strategic dimensions of political, economic, and social life. Those moves included banning political parties as well as violently suppressing any opposition through intimidation and imprisonment of dissidents. Notably, this included the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, the climax of which was executing its leader Sayed Qutb in 1966 (Gohar, 2008, p. 179).

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have made similar claims (e.g., Hasan, 2003; Van Doorn-Harder, 2005), which will be further discussed in the next section.6  urriculum Under Nasser: A Unified National Curriculum C Nasser’s vision of education necessitated revising curricular content, and standardized assessments, as will be discussed further below. As outlined briefly earlier, prior to Nasser’s time, it was not uncommon that Egyptians from higher socio-economic classes—mostly graduating from foreign schools—were well-educated about “the history, customs and the language of another country” (Cochran, 1986, p. 43). This often came at the expense of “attaining proficiency in Arabic” (p. 43). Thus, after the 1956 tripartite aggression against Egypt, the state “Egyptianized” foreign schools. It enshrined that through Law No. 160 (1958), decreeing that all Egyptian students be tested by “a new local examination” (which later came to be referred to as the Egyptian General Secondary Certificate or Thanaweyya ‘Amma) (Cochran, 1986, p.  152).7 Significantly, that law mandated that schools and teachers adhere closely to national curricular content and guidelines, which was further secured by introducing this incentive of teachers and students being expected to perform well on this decisive standardized national examination (Cochran, 1986, p. 170). This domination of national standardized assessments—emphasizing the centrality of rote memorization of curricular content—was a key feature of this era and shaped Egyptian education from that moment onward. Such an emphasis on instruction and preparation for national examinations clearly came at the expense of “learning how to apply knowledge” (Cochran, 1986, p. 63).

6  Arguably, the entanglement of a culturally and linguistically based ‘Pan-Arab identity’ with the supra-nationalist religious-based ‘Islamic identity,’ could often render the former less effective in including non-Muslim but Arabized or Arabic-speaking minorities. As noted before, this exclusion is considered to be ironic since such minorities would be assumed to be an integral part of that Pan-Arab vision, given especially that many of them have been instrumental in initially establishing and propagating that ideology. This entanglement of these two supra-nationalist ideologies—Pan-Arabism and Islamism—is not unique to the Nasserist regime. It emerges in the analyses of secular Pan-Arab projects in other regional contexts. In Iraq, for instance, despite the Baa’thists’ strong ideological commitment to Arab secularism, they are said to still have ruled, “with a worldview that was rooted in Islamic values” as curricular analyses demonstrate (Rohde, 2013, p. 715). 7  The tripartite aggression by Israel, France, and Britain against Egypt in 1956 was justified as a response to Nasser’s unilateral nationalization of the Suez Canal.

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 urricular Revisionism, Essentializing a Pan-Arab C and Socialist Identity Although marked by a few continuities and a more gradual process of curricular change than is often assumed by some scholars, the advent of Nasser and the Free Officers to power in July 1952 did mark a shift in the curricular content and tone (Makar & Abdou, 2021). Curricula were generally revised to embody and propagate a narrative that promoted and essentialized an Arab cultural identity and a socialist ideology (Makar & Abdou, 2021). The historical narrative was mainly revised so that all past revolts and events would be re-narrated and approached in a “teleological fashion that inevitably led to only one possible concluding event (the July Revolution)” (Di Capua, 2001, p. 93). Longitudinal analyses of Egyptian history textbooks of the 1950s reveal a militaristic perspective that infiltrated many of the Nasser era textbooks. Various historical narratives, including ancient Egyptian history, were arguably re-visioned and re-narrated in ways that would offer more legitimacy to and normalize a central role for the military institution in society (Botros, 2012). To illustrate, Nasser era textbooks’ narration of the ancient act of unifying southern and northern Egypt emphasize strong similarities and parallels to the Egypto-Syrian unity under the United Arab Republic of the 1950s. To further legitimize the military’s primordial and essential role as the defender of oppressed peoples and their will, this era’s curricula “underscored the fact that the Arab countries were all sufferers from occupation by Britain, France or Italy” (Cochran, 1986, p. 50). To further consolidate a militaristic narrative and worldview, military courses were introduced by the Nasser regime to be taught along with the regular curriculum (Cochran, 1986). The Nasser regime offered opportunities to engage students with militaristic duties, including recruiting students to serve as “patrol officers” (Sayed, 2006, p. 30). Similarly, Nasser era curricula emphasized an Arab—and arguably by extension, Muslim— cultural identity placing it above others (Brand, 2014; Meital, 2006). In this national imagining, the ancient Egyptian history and the “advent of Islam and Arab culture” were both positioned as the most significant and formative in the nation’s history (Meital, 2006, p.  255). To illustrate, the essentialization of an Arab cultural identity emerges in the textbooks’ narrative of the Arab Muslim conquest of Egypt. Some Nasser era textbooks went as far as narrating this conquest as an event that represented a “long-awaited reunification between Copts and their Arab Muslim brethren” (Abdou, 2018, p. 11).

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The socialist ideology also infused and shaped Nasser era curricula. Such valorization and essentialization of the socialist ideology and worldview included direct revisionist approaches and strategies, such as history textbooks describing the early Muslim society established by Prophet Muhammed in Medina, as well as some of the early Arab Muslim dynasties, as founded on the principles of socialism (Makar & Abdou, 2021, p. 21). Further, to legitimize socialist ideologies and discourses by representing them as endorsed and advocated by religion, some religious studies textbooks explicitly stated among their key objectives to prepare “a virtuous youth, who … works for the benefit of his society on the bases of socialism, democracy and cooperation, all things called for and affirmed by religion” (Starrett, 1998, pp. 84–85).  eginnings of a Bolder Islamist Infiltration of Curricula? B In addition to the clear revisionist Arab-centered narrative, some scholars have argued that under Nasser’s regime more Islamic content—including statements that tied the Arab and Muslim identities closely together—was added to curricula. As part of the “centrality of Egypt’s Arabo-Islamic identity to the narrative,” a 1954 textbook makes authoritative statements about Egypt being “transformed into an Arab Islamic homeland (watan),” and the Egyptian people becoming “part of a large family, the Islamic Arab people (umma)” (Brand, 2014, p. 38). Also, some analyses point to how during Nasser’s era “extracts of the Koran and poems in praise of the Prophet Muhammad as well as sections on Islamic history” were introduced into various subject matters (Hasan, 2003, p. 171). Along the same lines, it has also been argued that the mid-1950s marked the introduction of Quranic verses that all students—regardless of their religious affiliations—were expected to memorize (Van Doorn-Harder, 2005, p.  26). Further textual analyses have revealed traces of that Islamic tone in Nasser era history textbooks, imposing a transcendental Muslim tone on ancient Egyptian military achievements. For instance, some Nasser era textbooks claimed that ancient Egyptian military victories were “granted by Allah,” thus lending those events an Islamic “religious legitimacy as jihad” (Botros, 2012, p. 118). I agree with most of the above analyses regarding the infiltration of a more Islamic content and tone. However, it is important to note that my own archival textual analyses challenge some of these claims. The longitudinal nature of this archival analyses allowed me to demonstrate that while the Islamic content might have found more prominence under Nasser era

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curricula, such dominance of a Muslim tone and perspective has existed long before. That transcendental tone and extensive use of Quranic verses and Islamic referents started to be included and effectively shaped Egyptian curricular content as early as the 1890s (e.g., Abdou, 2018). What remains uncontestable about Nasser era curricula is that they were marked by a strong propaganda-like tone. Further, they were infused by a generally exclusionary narrative. This at times represented a stronger xenophobic tone, including negatively depicting foreigners; this becomes even clearer when comparing those representations to curricula of earlier periods (Makar & Abdou, 2021, p. 26). Such a binary narrative or template positing ‘us’ versus ‘them’ could readily be deployed by students beyond the Arab-centered narrative to an Islamic-centered narrative, or any other exclusionary ideologies for that matter. Although it by no means fully replaced it, the promotion of an Arab-Islamic identity sidelined and weakened the strong Egyptianist orientation that was more pronounced in earlier textbooks. For instance, textual analyses reveal that Nasser era curricula did remove some of the earlier emphases on commonalities among modern day Egyptians and cultural continuity with ancient Egypt, which the 1930s and 1940s curricula did underline (Abdou, 2017a). In summary, while sharing some continuities, the Nasser era did mark clear changes and shifts. Most remarkable among those changes perhaps is the expansion of access to free public education to Egyptian masses and consolidating the centralization of the curriculum development and management process, as well as also in making a clear shift in the curricular content described above. While the Islamization arguably took root during Nasser’s time, Political Islam (or Islamism) was more clearly emboldened and encouraged under Sadat’s rule (Hasan, 2003).8 Such a religious turn manifested in the increased religiosity of society, as represented in 8  It is worth noting that I use ‘Islamization’ here mainly to refer to the deliberate—and sometimes unconscious—insertion of particular Islamic content and linguistic references, as well as adopting particular lenses and perspectives in presenting curricular content that would lead to the omission, negation, or misrepresentation of other worldviews, narratives, and perspectives. Those omitted or misrepresented narratives and perspectives would include, but would not be limited to, those of other religions, religious minorities, as well as other minority Muslim denominations. In this regard, perhaps it would be helpful to distinguish between the deliberate political nature of this project with its hegemonic aspirations on one hand, and some efforts that might view that ‘Islamization’ or ‘Islamicization’ of curriculum as part of a process of decolonizing or indigenizing curriculum, on the other hand (e.g., Adebayo, 2015).

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some practices and symbols—including the steady increase in the number of women and girls who adopted the traditional Muslim hijab (head cover) or niqab (face cover). Such discourses and practices were further emboldened by Sadat era discourses and discursive practices, as discussed below. The Sadat Era: Resurgence of Religious-Based Education and Economically Segregated Schooling Siding with the US, S adat (1970–1981) adopted a capitalist, free market model with the key aim to ensure economic growth—termed the “open door policy” (infitah) to indicate the country welcoming of foreign investments and for trade (Cochran, 1986, p. 54). This was a sharp shift and clear departure from his predecessor Nasser’s socialist Soviet allies. Expectedly, this policy resulted in growing gaps and varied educational experiences between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’ Thus, many could not afford to be educated in high quality foreign or private schools, which were fee-based. The alternative was to attend poor quality and “overcrowded government schools” leading to low skilled government-­ guaranteed jobs (Cochran, 1986, pp. 54–55). As a result, far from being an equalizing force—as has been the case, albeit briefly, under the Nasser regime—Sadat’s educational system reproduced socio-economic inequalities (Ali, 1984, pp. 186–188). Historical analysis of the expansion of private language schools under Sadat helps demonstrate how education mainly served privileged families to maintain their privileges (Ali, 1984, p.  188). Hence, education witnessed what was arguably a return to a pre-1952 dichotomous educational system, marked by large variations and inequalities. In this system, where they were overworked and underpaid, teachers were unmotivated and underperformed. Many of them sought other opportunities to supplement their mediocre salaries, including through private tutoring. This led students who were unable to afford private tutoring to drop out. This situation was further exacerbated by large and overcrowded classrooms. Thus, the educational system experienced an unprecedented number of school dropouts (Cochran, 1986, p. 59). Importantly, the Sadat era represented a turning point toward a more public religious tone that also emphasized and essentialized the country’s Islamic identity. As an example, Sadat often announced himself as mainly accountable to God, compared to Nasser’s declarations that the Egyptian people (al-sha’b) are his key constituents (Brand, 2014; Hyde, 1978;

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Sobhy, 2015). Sadat’s public discourse and policy clearly point to his undeniable embrace of “a renewed commitment to Islamic symbols” (Starrett, 1998, p.  80). Further, toward institutionalizing this religious orientation and vision, he ensured the revision of the Egyptian constitution to state that Sharia (Islamic law) was “the” main source of legislation, not simply “a” source of legislation, as previous versions would have stated (e.g., Ibrahim, 2015, p.  2587).9 Additionally, in further emboldening a religious-based Islamist discourse and its public expressions, Sadat released controversial Islamist figures who had been imprisoned under Nasser (Gohar, 2008, p. 179). Sadat also supported Al-Azhar’s religious-based education system, expanding it both in Egypt and beyond (Hyde, 1978, p. 156). Such support resulted in a 70% increase in enrollment among Al-Azhar’s primary education institutions alone (Starrett, 1998, p. 80). Further, and perhaps even more strategically, Islamists were allowed greater access to “education committees in parliament” as well as “teacher institutes” (Sobhy, 2015, p. 811). Sadat’s generous support for Islamist groups and such infiltration helped fuel “a resurgence of patriotic religious fundamentalism” that clearly reflected on the education sector. Perhaps helping such fundamentalism gain more traction and recruit more adherents was the growing dissatisfaction among many Egyptians regarding opportunity gaps and mediocre public services (Cochran, 1986, p. 74). Sadat’s rule also witnessed the emergence of private, religious-based Islamic schools. These schools had to follow the national curriculum, while aiming to instill “a more Islamic — as opposed to Egyptian or secular — identity” (Herrera, 2006, p. 35). Simultaneously, to combat Nasser’s socialist legacy in universities, student organizations with Islamist orientations were supported and empowered (Starrett, 1998; Tadros, 2014). These clear shifts toward supporting and strengthening a religious-based discourse had some influences on the curriculum.

9  The celebrated Egyptian Constitution of 1923 did not mention Sharia as a source of the legal system. However, that Egyptian Liberal era did not necessarily translate into a full institutionalization of an equal or inclusive citizenship. For instance, it is worth noting that in the 1920s and the 1930s, Copts did call for a quota system. This was a result of their dissatisfaction by their limited access to public positions at the time (Botiveau, 1998, p. 114).

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 urriculum Under Sadat C To begin, it is worth observing and noting that—especially in comparison to the number of studies focusing on Nasser era curricula—Sadat era curricula have received relatively less scholarly attention. These analyses reveal that curricular content was not revised in any significant manner. This is ironic as many would have expected a stronger revisionist approach that essentialized the country’s Islamic identity and valorized it over others. Such little revisionism could indicate that earlier textbooks carried an already implicit Islamic orientation that necessitates no substantial revisions or changes. To illustrate this continuity, my archival research of the place of Copts within Egyptian social studies textbooks did not reveal any turning points or key shifts in the content or tone, which might have been expected to result from the advent of the Sadat regime (Abdou, 2018). The analyses reveal that the 1970s and later textbooks generally represented Islam as superior to other religions, including painting the Christian era and its contributions as obsolete and bygone. Additionally, beginning in the 1970s, textbooks more obviously sidelined any mentions of sectarian or religious tensions, while reinforcing narratives of national unity and peaceful co-­ existence amongst Egyptians (Abdou, 2018, pp. 488–489). However, it is important to clarify here that emphasizing the country’s Muslim identity had already started in Nasser era textbooks as of the early 1960s. For instance, Nasser era textbooks explained that “the arrival of Islam meant that Egyptians turned a new page [emphasis added] by carrying the flag of Islam and playing a crucial role in promoting its values, just as they had done before with their sacrifices for Christianity” (Abdou, 2018, p. 492). While the curriculum did not necessarily witness much change, the Sadat regime did articulate a vision for education, including within the religious education subject matter, in developing obedient Egyptian citizens. In reaction to the 1977 anti-government popular uprisings—referred to as the ‘bread riots’—that protested against the Sadat regime, Sadat decreed curricular revisions that would ensure a “new style” of teaching religion that seeks to address issues of hatred and violence (Starrett, 1998, pp. 80–81). One explanation regarding why that increasingly Islamized public discourse did not materialize more clearly in revising curricular content is that the energy and the resources were more focused on shaping how that content was enacted and delivered in the classroom. As noted before, curricula had already offered content that was arguably heavily

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Islamic-centered long before the Sadat era (e.g., Abdou, 2018; Hasan, 2003). Thus, perhaps the efforts and energy of advocates of more Islamist orientations of the curricula strategically shifted to became more focused on seeking to shape how teachers teach and enact the curriculum in classrooms. Sadat era teachers—or curricular gatekeepers—were immersed in a societally dominant religious-­based discourse. Further, many would have graduated from Egyptian teacher colleges, which were becoming increasingly controlled by Islamist ideology (Herrera, 2006). Despite such continuity in curricular content, textual analysis does point to some key changes introduced by the Sadat era. The changes and shifts are clearest in how a free-market capitalist ideology has reflected on curricular content. This entailed a decline in references to “the declared principles of the July Revolution of social justice, anti-imperialism and Arab nationalism” (Sobhy, 2015, p. 810). In other words, Sadat era textbooks provided a clearly revised narrative which focused on “prosperity as a marker of economic success” as opposed to the Nasser era textbooks’ focus on ideals of socialism and “social justice” (Makar & Abdou, 2021, p. 28). Marking a more drastic departure from the Nasser era, some of the Sadat era textbooks went as far as implicating socialism and its “socialist centers of power” as among the causes for Egypt’s defeat in the 1967 war (Makar & Abdou, 2021, p. 28). Thus, comparing the Nasser and Sadat eras reveals some key continuities, and some key changes. Triggered by Sadat’s free market policies, access to quality education began to vary widely by socio-economic class. Regarding curricular content, other than the clear shift from propagating socialism to advancing a free-market capitalist ideology, no clear drastic changes could be detected. As for the continuities, the state-managed and controlled curriculum development process arguably remained highly centralized. Further, the curricular content continued to construct citizens as docile, despite the Nasser era offering more space for narrating people’s agency and historical struggles, focusing mainly on liberation struggles against foreign and imperial powers. However, these efforts to normalize and construct a passive Egyptian citizen continued to be contested and challenged in some spaces. For instance, they were contested within Islamist-controlled spaces, which were among the few spaces allowed to exist and thrive under Sadat. These extremist Islamist movements employed the space they had negotiated with the state to construct spaces of protest, constructing an Egyptian Muslim subjectivity that would eventually come to strongly challenge and

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undermine the intended hegemony of Sadat’s regime. Perhaps the clearest example was their eventual assassination of President Sadat. Disillusioned by Sadat’s policies—including his bold and proactive visit to Jerusalem and call for peace and signing of the first Arab peace treaty with Israel in 1979—it was these movements that conspired, planned, and eventually assassinated Sadat in 1981. The Mubarak Era: Sporadic Reform Efforts Shortly after Sadat was assassinated at the hands of extremist Islamists in 1981, the then Vice President Hosni Mubarak became president. Responding to the rise of Political Islam (or Islamism) as well as the Arab Israeli conflict, in an attempt to maintain the sovereignty of the Egyptian state, starting in the 1990s Mubarak emphasized basic education as a matter of “national security” (Sayed, 2006, p. 27). Under that national security pretext, and facilitated by extensions of the Emergency Law No. 162/1958, the government attempted to crack down on the strong and growing Islamist influence in schools and universities, including through consolidating the role of the state’s security apparatus within these institutions. In addition to imposing stronger controls on private education and civil society associations (including Islamist ones), the MOE also worked toward removing in-service teachers who were found to be “advocating religious fundamentalism,” transferring them to more “administrative jobs” (Sayed, 2006, p. 34). Further, this approach—with ‘national security’ as its guiding aim—included “intensifying the screening and surveillance” of student-teachers in teacher colleges, hoping to identify and weed out “Islamist teachers, administrators, and materials from schools” (Herrera, 2006, pp. 29–30). Mubarak’s strategies vis-à-vis Islamism varied between direct suppression, appeasement, and rapprochement. However, arguably the approach was generally informed by intimidation, tension, and violence. Such responses were clearly in response to the regime’s waning legitimacy and the growing influence of Islamist movements. This influence manifested in many ways across society and the public sphere, including more concretely in control over elected leadership positions within the professional syndicates of engineers and physicians, as well as several seats in the relatively credible 2005 parliamentary elections (Gohar, 2008). Despite these concerns, during Mubarak’s era religious-based education continued to expand. This expansion could be observed in both the

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traditional Al-Azhar institution as well as some newer and more modern forms. In fact, during this period, Al-Azhar’s system expanded at a faster pace than primary education (Starrett, 1998, p.  105). Further, Islamist influence continued to expand through the growth in numbers especially of Egyptian Muslim students attending “Islamist private schools” as well as benefiting from “tutoring centers established in urban slums and rural areas” (Sayed, 2006, p. 33). Significantly, the early 2000s also witnessed the emerging and growing phenomenon of elitist private schools that embrace Islamic values. Those arguably emerged in response to a growing demand among affluent Egyptian Muslim families seeking to offer their children a modern education that prepares them to compete in the global marketplace, but which is also based on Muslim values. These schools have been critiqued for not only reinforcing a “rigid Islamic environment,” but also “reinforcing notions of class privilege” (Herrera, 2006, p. 48). International donors, including the U.S.  Agency for International Development (USAID), played an extremely important role in expanding and reforming the public Egyptian educational system in the 1990s. Such a key role translated into a strong neoliberal ideological influence that guided and shaped many of these reforms. To illustrate, the Egyptian public system abandoned its socialist legacy, while clearly embracing a discourse that envisions education mainly as a vehicle to attain economic growth, heightened productivity, and potential socio-economic mobility (Farag, 2012; Sayed, 2006). However, despite the relatively strong presence and influences of international donors, including in funding the establishment of some new institutions to support reform efforts, it has been argued that the MOE has continued to maintain a strong centralized control over managing the educational system, including curriculum development and production processes (Farag, 2012). While this departure was arguably ushered in by the Sadat era, the support of international donors and their reform efforts with the MOE in the 1990s solidified and institutionalized it further. One of the key results was a return to the pre-1952 variance in the quality of educational paths available, clearly delineated and segregated “along regional and class lines” (Farag, 2012, pp. 91–92). Thus, like pre-1950s experiences and in a continuation of the Sadat era legacy, the quality of education that Egyptian students received would vary widely based on their financial abilities and economic status (Farag, 2012).

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2011 Until the Present: Bold Visions for Educational Reforms There have been some ambitious plans and attempts that the MOE has been developing and piloting with a vision to revamp the whole Egyptian educational system. These were championed by Tarek Shawky—Minister of Education between 2017 and 2022—and his team. These visions, including abolishing some high-stake national standardized assessments, are part of the national 2030 vision project, and part of key reforms funded by the World Bank and other international donors (Egypt State Information, 2018). However, it is also important to note that another key obstacle facing the successful application of some of these reforms has been the resistance by and tensions with several key stakeholders vis-à-vis some of these reforms, including, but not limited to, parents (e.g., Ahmed, 2018; Sobhy, 2016). Further, it is worth noting that these visions have faced several obstacles and realities, some of which are informed by legacies inherited from past decades. Those would include the reality of overcrowded classrooms that discourage teacher-student interaction and debate, especially in public schools which constitute the vast majority of Egyptian schools. In addition to curricula that have been traditionally criticized for being obsolete or heavily reliant on rote memorization, teachers are seen to have remained ill prepared to teach that content, in addition to being overworked and undercompensated. Over the past decades, teacher training and preparation have been critiqued as inadequate, thus defying curricular reforms that seek to promote scientific thinking or introduce improved classroom technologies (Abdelrahman & Irby, 2016; Sayed, 2006). Given that many schools do not require that a teacher be a graduate of a teachers’ college, many in-service teachers have traditionally depended solely on their “on-­ the-­job experience and on their observation of their peers” (Abdelrahman & Irby, 2016, p. 26). The issue of the lack of standardized teacher certification and pedagogical preparation had been noted as an ongoing concern in Egypt since the early 1900s (Nessim, 1984). However, in response, especially in the early 2000s, reform of faculties of education within Egyptian universities has gained much attention and attracted large amounts of funding from various international donors, including the World Bank and USAID (Ginsburg & Megahed, 2011). For example, among the key efforts was the establishment of the donor-funded Professional Academy for Teachers (PAT) in 2008, which has been

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offering training and professional development, among other services, to Egyptian teachers (AbdelKader, 2019; USAID Egypt, 2012). Additionally, given the regime’s calculations and interests as well as its response to regional dynamics and general instability, it is to be expected that national security agencies will continue to play a key role. In reaction to the 2011 events and their aftermaths, including the ouster of late President Mubarak, those agencies have arguably continued to play a significant role in ruling and managing the country’s affairs and its security (Khorshid, 2014, p. 227). Those measures would be expected to include ensuring that teachers continue to adhere to officially approved and mandated historical narratives and curricular materials. Given regional dynamics and instability, and further empowered by a popular backing, the current regime would arguably continue to seek to impose restrictions, including on youth and student-led mobilizations (Abd-Rabou, 2016). It could also be expected that international donors will continue to play an important role, but still have a relatively limited influence on ultimate curricular content or pedagogical approaches, as they did during the Mubarak era (e.g., Farag, 2012). Further, within curricular content, perhaps such donor-funded efforts would avoid potentially controversial or sensitive questions related to curricular revisions.  urriculum During the Mubarak Era Until the Present C Since Nasser’s time, all the regimes—including the current regime—have maintained a centralized control and management of the curriculum development process, characterized by the general exclusion and a “lack of participation” of key stakeholders, including teachers (Abdelrahman, 2016, p. 1). Regarding the cultural identity they promote, since the beginning of Mubarak’s rule and arguably until the present, curricula have continued to both explicitly and implicitly normalize an Arab and Muslim identity, eclipsing other significant cultural, ethnic, and religious identities and influences (e.g., Abdou, 2016, 2018; Atallah & Makar, 2014; Sobhy, 2015). Comparing religious studies textbooks from the mid-1970s to those of the 1980s and 1990s, demonstrates that “though slightly different in format” they are “nearly identical in style” and content (Starrett, 1998, p. 81). The continuities into the Mubarak era also included these textbooks’ emphasis on rote memorization and focus on offering an “easyto-memorize list of rules that can be repeated verbatim on an examination” (Starrett, 1998, p. 132).

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More specifically, the textbooks seem to continue to be characterized either by a general omission or a disproportionately smaller space dedicated to various ethnic and religious minority narratives, such as the Nubians (e.g., Mansour, 2019), and the Copts (e.g., Abdou, 2018; Faour, 2012; Toronto & Eissa, 2007). Based on the analyses of history, Arabic, and religious studies textbooks between 1999 and 2001, Sayed (2006) concluded that—as a result of these omissions or lacking narratives—the curriculum “is unlikely to produce students with a satisfactory knowledge of their history and national heritage” (p. 113). A focus on rote memorization as a pedagogical approach seems to prevail. Further, earlier analyses of religious studies textbooks of the 2000s reveal that a heavy weight is placed on students’ ability to recall information and details to be able to perform well on exams, as opposed to encouraging critical engagement with and analyses of the content (Faour, 2012, p. 5).  fforts to Confront Islamist Influences on Curricula E As a response to the growing Islamist influence including on shaping curricular content, in 1988 some Coptic religious figures complained to the minister of education “that the Arabic language books contained many Quranic verses,” asking that those be “limited to religious education textbooks” (Brand, 2014, p.  101). Similarly, in September 2013, current Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros demanded that Coptic history be better included in history textbooks (Shaaban, 2013). There might have been some positive revisions introduced over the past decades (Abdou, 2018). However, textbooks, including social studies curricula, are still shaped by a strong emphasis on Islamic referents as well as long passages of Quranic religious texts. This is not only the case when narrating early Islamic history throughout the curricula of various grade levels, but when attempting to advance and substantiate arguments related to the importance of good citizenship and active civic engagement (Abdou, 2016, 2018; Sobhy, 2015). Such manifestations and curricular representations seem to have embodied a direction that sought to direct Islamist sentiments for societal reform toward good citizenship—or what could be arguably seen as a depoliticized version of Islamism. In a quest to appease Islamist forces as well as other Western allies, such direction would have arguably started with the Sadat regime (e.g., Starrett, 1998), with similar strategies adopted by the subsequent Mubarak regime (Sobhy, 2012). Such exclusionary representations continue to prompt Egyptian intellectuals—such as prominent journalist, TV presenter, and novelist Ibrahim

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Eissa—to call for more content in Egyptian curricula highlighting the Coptic era and its many historical contributions more prominently (e.g., Abdel-Rahman, 2021). To help render curricula less Islamized and thus more balanced and inclusive, the MOE attempted to convey a moderate, tolerant, and flexible interpretation of Islam … that advocates values of cultural diversity, tolerance, social peace, individual initiative, and hard work… and to add more knowledge about the Coptic/ Christian role in Egyptian history. (Sayed, 2006, p. 35)

However, under Mubarak there was a continued need for the MOE to play a difficult balancing act and to appease influential Islamist forces. Such attempts to compromise between these discourses, ideological forces, and their competing visions and interests resulted in “inconsistent and contradictory messages in the educational process” which allowed only minimal, if any, concrete curricular changes to take effect (Sayed, 2006, p. 35). Such dynamics translated into many of the educational policies and curricula, reflecting clear tensions between the Islamist orientation and a more “pro-Western liberal direction” (p. 62). Such tension manifested in how key messages presented by curricula of some subject matters arguably competed and conflicted with others. For instance, some analyses of religious studies textbooks of the 2000s have been found to diminish and challenge values promoted by other subject matters. While social studies textbooks highlighted the values of “freedom, social justice, and equality of citizens,” Islamic religious studies curricula were found to include references that could challenge or weaken this vision of an inclusive citizenship. Some of those religious studies textbooks stated that, according to Islamic Sharia, non-Muslims should not hold “senior administrative positions in the state, such as head of state or chief of the army” in a predominantly Muslim society (Faour, 2012, p. 7). In that regard, and perhaps because of the existence of some of these exclusionary narratives within curricula, the brief rule of the Muslim Brotherhood’s late President Mohamed Morsi (June 2012–July 2013) did not result in—and arguably did not see the need to introduce or advocate for—any significant curricular changes (Atallah & Makar, 2014; Sasnal, 2014). Despite the public panic and media uproar claiming that the curricula were being Islamized under the MB’s leadership, textual analyses revealed that, in fact, there were very few or no actual changes introduced

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(e.g., Atallah & Makar, 2014). Perhaps it was their very brief rule that impeded the MB from introducing the curricular changes they would have aspired for. However, the minor changes introduced could point us to the direction that curricular changes could have taken had the MB been in power for longer. A comparison of the 2012/2013 civics textbook with earlier versions shows that earlier references to national unity, substantiated by illustrative images of “the Coptic cross and Quran,” were removed; further, a section on “political consciousness in Islam” was more prominently positioned than in earlier versions (Sasnal, 2014, p. 18). An alternative explanation for why the Muslim Brotherhood did not seek to introduce drastic curricular changes is that, in fact, the existing curricula did not necessarily challenge their vision or ideology in any major way. To elaborate, the gradual and more explicit Islamization of the curricular content since the end of Nasser’s era meant that existing curricula did not “pose any real threat” to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist “ideology or political strategy” (Faour, 2012, p. 14). These could be highly speculative and hypothetical arguments. However, it is important to reiterate that, as illustrated above, curricula have long been informed by Islamic content and perspectives. As discussed earlier, regardless of curricular content, the infiltration of these exclusionary Islamist discourses and ideologies would have been further secured through teachers’ colleges which continued to be infiltrated by strong Islamist influences (Herrera, 2006).10  ensions Around Attempts to Render Curricula More Inclusive T and Pluralist Starting during Mubarak’s era and continuing up until the present, there have been ongoing public debates and efforts to rid curricula of extremist and exclusionary content. Further, there is a growing awareness for the need to introduce content and even new subject matters that emphasize and promote the values of peaceful co-existence, and respect for pluralism 10  The infiltration of this exclusionary discourse and ideology into the educational system has clearly influenced and shaped teachers’ and students’ outlooks and attitudes alike. To illustrate, in 2015, some Muslim female public school students in the province of Sohag (Southern Egypt) filed an official complaint against their history teacher (who happened to be Coptic). They accused him of attempting to promote an alternative historical narrative that could have cast doubt on Prophet Muhammad’s early history or shed a negative light on it. In response, and clearly with the aim to avoid potential public anger, the MOE immediately demoted the teacher, moving him to an administrative job (Abdel-Kader, 2015).

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and diversity. For instance, during the Mubarak era, in response to growing Islamist extremism and infiltration of Islamist ideology—enacted into growing microaggressions and violent, terrorist incidents especially against political figures, Copts, women, and tourists alike—in the early 1990s, religious education curricula were slightly revised in an attempt to “promote civic values such as tolerance of the other, human rights and co-­ citizenship” (Leirvik, 2004, p. 232). Further, some 2014/2015 textbooks were revised to remove some arguably violent historical narratives, including those of some early Muslim military leaders (El-Sawy, 2015). Although ultimately not fully adopted, the efforts and debates around the values and morals (al-Qiyam wa-l-Akhlaq) curriculum is a good case in point. In 2002/2003—under the Mubarak regime—the MOE launched the mandatory values and morals education (al-Qiyam wa-l-Akhlaq) curriculum, to be taught to the first three grades of primary school (Pink, 2003; Herrera, 2008). The vision for this curriculum was that it would be “compiled by Muslim and Christian theologians attached to Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church, together with other academics” (Sayed, 2006, p. 35). Analysis of this curriculum revealed that it would promote the important values and ideals of inclusive citizenship as well as peaceful co-existence and tolerance. The curriculum has been found to promote the ideals of “freedom, happiness, peace, solidarity, love, economic awareness, humility and tolerance,” dedicating a full lesson to Muslim-Christian relations with illustrative images that demonstrate the historic national unity between Muslims and Copts (Leirvik, 2004, pp.  232–233). Understandably, the introduction of this subject matter would be seen as an important step in the path toward promoting desirable values, including “democracy and pluralism” (Faour, 2012, p. 17). However, the curricular content of this subject matter was also critiqued for its strong emphasis on “duty over rights” which would arguably prioritize the “interests of an authoritarian national state” (Pink, 2003, para. 20). Further, the curriculum has been found to adopt a celebratory tone of national unity that does not fully acknowledge or offer space for critical reflection on sectarian tensions (Pink, 2003). The denial and omission of sectarian tensions and conflict—which could offer students helpful spaces for critical reflection on lessons learned as historical wrongs to be avoided in the future—has been found to be characteristic across other curricula (e.g., Abdou, 2018; Sobhy, 2015). In response to the values and morals curriculum, several voiced their fears and suspicions of the real intentions behind that new curriculum

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(e.g., Herrera, 2008). Some argued that the MOE’s actual plan was for this subject matter to gradually replace or at least reduce the amount of time and attention dedicated to the teaching of religious education in Egyptian schools (Pink, 2003). With the beginning of the 2015/2016 academic year, the values and morals textbooks were not made available in schools. The justification offered was that these textbooks did not adhere to the guidelines set by the concerned parties: the MOE, Al-Azhar, and the Coptic Church (Al-Naba’ Al-Watani, 2015). Further, the MOE had to publicly deny allegations that this subject matter was meant to replace religious education curricula (Aly, 2017).11 These debates and tensions around that subject matter can start to shed some light and reveal tensions and fissures, especially between a more nationalistic (and relatively more secular) orientation and vision versus another that is more religious-­ based—largely Islamist—in nature, and more importantly the discourses these visions are embedded within.  he Historic 2011 and 2013 Revolutions in Curricula T Given their vast polarizing effects, there has been much controversy about how the 2011 and 2013 revolutions—the massive protests that ousted Mubarak in 2011 and Morsi in 2013—should be portrayed in Egyptian curricula. Analyses reveal that social studies textbooks were revised to position the military more centrally at the heart of the 2011 uprisings, as the historical and primordial guardian of the Egyptian people’s will and aspirations (Abdou, 2017b; Sasnal, 2014). Further, analyses of history textbooks since 2011 show that a “nationalistic and militaristic” perspective continues to shape the narrative (Sasnal, 2014, p.19). As expected, key changes at the time had included removing references to late President Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne Mubarak (Sasnal, 2014, pp. 9–10). As emerges from the participants’ responses that will be elaborated in Chaps. 3 and 4, those curricular revisions have been formative for shaping many young Egyptians’ relationships with and approaches to history.

11  The MOE had announced that three revised textbooks that aim to promote values such as peace, love, tolerance, and collaboration are to be launched effective the academic year 2018/2019 (Middle East News Agency, 2017).

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 ngoing Tensions and Curricular Compromises Between the Religious O and Secular The way that successive regimes have dealt with religious and secular tensions has varied, but, generally speaking, regime-led efforts have consistently aimed to strike the right balance taking into consideration the need to also appease the religious establishment and conservative segments of society, and secure their loyalty. Further, they had to arguably appease the generally socially conservative and religious Egyptian public. Notably, avoiding these more difficult debates and issues, the Nasser and Sadat eras’ efforts focused on less controversial questions, such as “the age of admission to secondary school and procedures for standardizing other post primary studies” (Cochran, 1986, p.  27). Such a focus seems to have continued during Mubarak’s era. Thus, a “long-­standing dilemma” and tension continues between aiming to educate students “in the proper Islamic way” while simultaneously “educating them in principles of secular nationalism and preparing them for employment in global markets” (Herrera & Torres, 2006, p. 13). As a result, this nominally secular education has in fact “encouraged rather than discouraged attachment to Islamic culture, contrary to the expectations of educational theorists who encouraged schooling as a remedy to “traditional” mentalities” (Starrett, 1998, p. 91). Based on her three decades of ethnographic research on the Egyptian educational system, Herrera’s (2022) more recent findings seem to resonate strongly with and confirm what Cochran (1986) had concluded in the 1980s: The conflict in the current educational system can be traced to the religious and secular power struggle within Egyptian society. On one hand are the religious leaders with a history of representing absolute knowledge to the populace and the government. On the other hand are the secular leaders and their specialized technical knowledge. (pp. 145–146)

 urricular Influences on Egyptian Students’ Understandings of History C Some might be tempted to draw a conclusion that Egyptian students have internalized the passivity and docility that history curricula have been constructing and propagating. However, it would be difficult to ascertain such arguments, since arguably no previous studies have specifically sought to probe and directly examine connections between the historical narratives constructed in curricula and how they might shape and inform civic

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attitudes and actions. Among the few exceptions is Sasnal’s (2014) study, which offers insights based on a few interviews the author was able to conduct with young Egyptians. Based on those interviews, the author concludes that these young Egyptians have passively internalized the dominant historical narrative offered in textbooks. Further, she argues that the overly nationalistic tone of the curricula has created “a certain inferiority complex, diminished critical thinking, and distorted Egyptian history” (p. 19). However, in contrast to these findings, other studies have demonstrated how students in Egyptian public schools, even in the years prior to the 2011 events, had started exhibiting sentiments of discontent vis-à-vis the ruling regime (e.g., Sobhy, 2012, 2015). Arguably, the 2011 events and their aftermaths—in which young Egyptians played a major role—emboldened many young Egyptians to critically engage with and potentially deconstruct that dominant historical narrative, as well as critique and question its veracity, sanctity, and authority over their lives and the nation (e.g., Moheyeldine, 2019). Similar to their counterparts in many parts of the world, young Egyptians’ access to social media and modern technology have clearly been key in shaping some of those dynamics (e.g., Herrera, 2012). For instance, that was clear in how young Egyptians in general had openly challenged key dominant institutions, including the Egyptian National Police in January 2011. Further, there was defiance among many against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) during its intermittent rule, although the longstanding faith in and commitment to the Egyptian military establishment have arguably been largely restored. Later we saw them also defy the short-lived theocratic and exclusionary Muslim Brotherhood rule. We also saw how these events have emboldened more Coptic youth to defy the Coptic Orthodox Church’s authority when they sensed that its stance contradicted their moral compass and sense of justice (e.g., Tadros, 2013).12

Ambitious Visions? Led by the MOE over the past few years, there have arguably been some potentially transformative efforts underway, including through the introduction of ongoing and gradual curricular changes—the first phase of which has started and has been implemented up until Grade 4 (Personal 12  The SCAF ruled the country intermittently after the outset of Mubarak until the election of President Morsi (2011–2012).

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Communication, 2020; Zervas & Abdou, 2022). Over the past few years, the MOE’s Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development Center has developed and launched the “General Framework for the General and Technical Education Curricula 2018–2030” (Moustafa et al., 2022). While implemented only within Kindergarten II until Grade 3 classes, the plan is to progressively roll out and implement similar curricular and teaching changes for later grades and levels (personal communication, 2020).13 If fully implemented, such reformed curricular and pedagogical frameworks are envisioned to promote more critical approaches and advance independent thinking and research (see also Zervas & Abdou, 2022).

The Egyptian Schematic Narrative Template Before turning to the next two chapters in which I present the analyses of how young Egyptians interact with the Egyptian dominant narrative, it is worth briefly outlining here the Egyptian ‘schematic narrative template,’ which I base on my textual analysis of recent history textbooks. As noted earlier, whereas a master narrative refers to a nation’s widely circulated and accepted dominant ‘history’ or ‘story,’ a nation’s schematic narrative template would refer to the common elements that inform the various events shaping this dominant narrative. In other words, it is the recurring narrative structure that runs common and defines what lies at the foundation or the base of a nation’s diverse historical narrations of different events, even though each would have its seemingly distinct and different events and characters (Wertsch, 1998, 2004). Analyzing the various ancient and modern historical narratives across the most recent textbooks since 2013 suggests that the Egyptian schematic narrative template is informed by some key resilient elements. If unpacked and distilled, it could look something like the following: Egyptians seek liberation from a foreign colonizer (or a leader who is allied with foreign colonizers); Egyptians eventually triumph, but foreign powers are constantly conspiring to control the country’s destiny and its resources. While Egyptian people could revolt, for them to succeed, they need a leader. That leader, or savior, is often—if not always—a strong military leader. (Abdou, 2017b, p. 85) 13  This is based on a personal interview conducted with one of the key advisors to the former Egyptian Minister of Education (Dr. Tarek Shawki), who shared these insights.

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Informing this template are the key common elements structuring the various narrations of different events, which generally essentialize the Egyptian people as largely docile, pacifist, and reactive people (e.g., Abdou, 2017b; Zervas & Abdou, 2022). Thus, the template seems to generally underplay the significance of people’s agency and their active roles in shaping history. Another key element of the template is normalizing Egyptians as religious by nature, while emphasizing the primordial and central role that religion has historically played in the lives of the Egyptian people (Abdou, 2017b; Makar & Abdou, 2021; Zervas & Abdou, 2022). In terms of social structure, this resilient schematic narrative template essentializes the settled agrarian nature of the Egyptian people. Such essentialization could at least subtly—and sometimes more explicitly—negate other lifestyles, including indigenous ways of knowing and being, such as those of nomadic Bedouin tribes (Makar & Abdou, 2021). In terms of political systems, there are further nuances within this template that should be highlighted. For instance, analyses reveal the common theme of negating and vilifying the religious establishment, especially portraying its engagement in politics as always dangerous and wrong. This becomes clearest in narrations of ancient Egyptian history which consistently vilify the ancient Egyptian religious establishment, sometimes on the grounds that they steered the Egyptian people away from the truth of the oneness of God (monotheism), and sometimes because of their alleged opportunism and ambitions to overtake the regime (e.g., Zervas & Abdou, 2022). Further, in narrating most events, this template necessitates that most narratives be told from the perspective of a sense of conspiracy, mainly blaming failures on foreign powers and their illegitimate interventions. The general spirit and approach of the template arguably reflect and reinforce the dominant nationalist approach to the country’s historiography. For example, the dominant narrative, produced by nationalist historians, would mainly seek to blame foreign powers and their conspiracies for most of the nation’s failures. To illustrate how this approach informs nationalist historical narrations, the dominant narration of Mehmed Ali’s defeat at the hands of European powers has been found to emphasize “‘external’ malice and conspiracy … aimed at frustrating the Egyptian nation’s attempts at development, independence and dignity,” simultaneously failing to mention possible “shortcomings on the part of Egyptians” (Fahmy, 1997, p. 17). As Williams (2014) reflected on textbook analyses

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conducted on various other geographic contexts, including Singapore and Russia, governments keen on mobilizing “popular support,” often find themselves needing to “emphasize external threat or perhaps the importance of strong national leadership to drum up loyalty and enthusiasm” (p. 2). So, how do young Egyptians interact with the dominant historical narrative, embedded in the Egyptian narrative template outlined above? Further, how do these interactions shape young Egyptians’ civic engagement and actions. This is what I will attempt to explore over the coming two chapters respectively.

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(Eds.), (re)constructing memory: Education, identity and conflict (pp. 75–98). Sense Publishers. Abdou, E. D. (2018). Copts in Egyptian history textbooks: Towards an integrated framework for analyzing minority representations. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50(4), 476–507. Abd-Rabou, A. (2016). Democracy as student mobilization. In E.  Mohamed, H.  R. Gerber, & S.  Aboulkacem (Eds.), Education and the Arab spring (pp. 51–67). Sense Publishers. Abdul-Karim, A. I. (1945). Tārīkh al-taʻlīm fī Miṣr min nihāyat ḥukm Muḥammad ʻAlī ilá awāʼil ḥukm Tawfīq, 1848–1882 [The history of education in Egypt from the end of Mehmed Ali’s rule until beginning of the rule of Tawfik: Volume 1, Abbas and Saiid- 1848–1863]. al-Qāhirah: Maṭbaʻat al-Naṣr. Al-Nasr Publishing House. Adebayo, R. I. (2015). From Islamicizing the sciences to strategizing for Muslims’ scientific breakthrough. International Journal of Islamic Thought, 7, 25. Ahmed, S. (2018, December 14). Parents Are Key to Success of New Education System in Egypt. Egyptian Streets. https://egyptianstreets.com/2018/12/14/ parents-­are-­key-­to-­success-­of-­new-­education-­system-­in-­egypt/ Ali, S.  I. (1984). Miḥnat al-taʻlīm fī Miṣr [The Crisis of Education in Egypt]. al-Qāhirah: Jarīdat al-Ahālī. Al-Ahaly. Ali, S. I. (1989). Tārīkh al-fikr al-tarbawī fī Miṣr al-ḥadīthah [The history of pedagogical thinking in modern Egypt]. al-Hayʼah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʻĀmmah lil-Kitāb (General Egyptian Authority for Books). Al-Naba’ Al-Watani. (2015, September 20). Kitaab al-qiyam wal-akhlaq wal-­ mowatanah yosh’il al-khilaf bayn al-ta’lim wa-l-wizarah wal-kahnissah [The morals and citizenship textbook ignites conflict between the ministry of education and the Church]. Alnaba’ Alwatani. http://eg.alnabaa.net/story/487104 Aly, I. (2017, May 31). Al-barlaman yatamassak bi-l-qiyam wa-l-akhlaaq fi-l-­ madariss [Parliament holds on to ethics and moral values (subject matter) in schools]. Barlamani. http://parlmany.youm7.com/News/7/180370/ ‫­المدارس‬-‫­فى‬-‫­واألخالق‬-‫­القيم‬-‫­بـ‬-‫­يتمسك‬-‫البرلمان‬ Atallah, M., & Makar, F. (2014, August). Nationalism and homogeneity in contemporary curricula. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. Botiveau, B. (1998). The law of the nation-state and the status of non-Muslims in Egypt and Syria. In A. Pacini (Ed.), Christian communities in the Arab Middle East: The challenge of the future (pp. 111–126). Oxford University Press. Botros, A. (2012). Reconfiguring the past: History, memory and ideology in Egyptian history textbooks between 1932 and 2009. In S.  Alayan-Beck, A. Rohde, & S. Dhouib (Eds.), The politics of education reform in the Middle East: Self and other in textbooks and curricula (pp. 112–130). Berghahn Books. Brand, L. (2014). Official stories: Politics and national narratives in Egypt and Algeria. Stanford University Press.

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Cochran, J. (1986). Education in Egypt. Croom Helm. Colla, E. (2007). Conflicted antiquities: Egyptology, Egyptomania, Egyptian modernity. Duke University Press. Di Capua, Y. (2001). Embodiment of the revolutionary spirit: The Mustafa Kamil mausoleum in Cairo. History & Memory, 13(1), 85–113. Di Capua, Y. (2009). Gatekeepers of the Arab past. University of California Press. Egypt State Information. (2018, April 17). Egypt: Tarek Shawki - Sisi Approved Strategy to Develop Education. All Africa. https://allafrica.com/stories/201804170667.html El-Sawy, F. (2015, April 6). Limadha ḥadhf ʿUqba wa Salaḥuddin min al-manāhij [Why the removal of Uqba and Saladin from curricula]. Al-Wafd Online. https://alwafd.news/‫­المناهج‬-‫­من‬-‫­الدين‬-‫­صالح‬-‫­و‬-‫­عقبة‬-‫­حذف‬-‫­لماذا‬840214-/‫ميـديا‬ Fahmy, K. (1997). All the Pasha’s men. The American University. in Cairo. Faour, M. (2012, August). Religious education and pluralism in Egypt and Tunisia. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/08/13/religious-­education-­and-­pluralism-­in-­egypt-­and-­ tunisia/dd4t Farag, I. (2012). Major trends of educational reform in Egypt. In S. Alayan-Beck, A. Rohde, & S. Dhouib (Eds.), The politics of education reform in the Middle East: Self and other in textbooks and curricula (pp. 80–96). Berghahn Books. Gershoni, I., & Jankowski, J. (1986). Egypt, Islam and the Arabs: The search for Egyptian nationhood, 1900–1930. Cambridge University Press. Gershoni, I., & Jankowski, J. P. (2002). Redefining the Egyptian nation, 1930–1945. Cambridge University Press. Ginsburg, M., & Megahed, N. (2011). Globalization and the reform of faculties of education in Egypt: The roles of individual and organizational, national and international actors. Education Policy Analysis Archives/Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas, 19, 1–29. Gohar, N. (2008). Mapping participation in Egypt. In E. Lust-Okar & S. Zerhouni (Eds.), Political participation in the Middle East (pp. 171–191). Lynne Rienner Publishers. Haikal, F. (2003). Egypt’s past regenerated by its own people. In S. MacDonald & M. Rice (Eds.), Consuming ancient Egypt (pp. 123–138). Left Coast Press. Hasan, S. (2003). Christians versus Muslims in modern Egypt: The century-long struggle for Coptic equality. Oxford University Press. Herrera, L. (2006). Islamization and education: Between politics, profit, and pluralism. In L. Herrera & C. Torres (Eds.), Cultures of Arab schooling: Critical ethnographies from Egypt (pp. 25–52). State University of New York Press. Herrera, L. (2008). Education and empire: Democratic reform in the Arab world? International Journal of Educational Reform, 17(4). Herrera, L. (2012). Youth and citizenship in the digital age: A view from Egypt. Harvard Educational Review, 82(3), 333–352.

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Herrera, L. (2022). Educating Egypt: Civic values and ideological struggles. American University in Cairo Press. Herrera, L., & Torres, C. (2006). Cultures of Arab schooling: Critical ethnographies from Egypt. State University of New York Press. Heyworth-Dunne, J. (1938). An introduction to the history of education in modern Egypt. Luzac and Co. Hyde, G. D. (1978). Education in modern Egypt: Ideals and realities. Routledge & Kegan Paul. Ibrahim, V. (2015). Beyond the cross and the crescent: Plural identities and the Copts in contemporary Egypt. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(14), 2584–2597. Khorshid, S. (2014). Egypt: How the revolution has impacted the debate over minority rights and multiculturalism. In M. Ennaji (Ed.), Multiculturalism and democracy in North Africa: Aftermath of the Arab spring (pp.  223–245). Routledge. Leirvik, O. (2004). Religious education, communal identity and national politics in the Muslim world. British Journal of Religious Education, 26(3), 223–236. Makar, F., & Abdou, E.  D. (2021). Egyptian textbooks in times of change 1952–1980. Arab Studies Journal, 29(1), 8–37. Mansour, N. (2019). Discourses around Nubians: A critical discourse analysis of Egyptian social studies and history textbooks. In J. N. Dorio, E. D. Abdou, & N.  Moheyeldine (Eds.), The struggle for citizenship education in Egypt (pp. 109–123). Routledge. Meital, Y. (2006). School textbooks and assembling the puzzle of the past in revolutionary Egypt. Middle Eastern Studies, 42(2), 255–270. Middle East News Agency. (2017, August 2). Al-intiha’ qariban min I’dad mawad al qiyam wa-l-akhlaaq wa-l-mowatanah [MOE will soon finalize preparing the values, ethics and citizenship curricula]. Al-Hurra. https://www.alhurra. com/a/egypt-­education/381324.html Mirshak, N. (2020). Authoritarianism, education and the limits of political socialisation in Egypt. Power and Education, 12(1), 39–54. Mitchell, T. (1991). Colonizing Egypt. Cambridge University Press. Moheyeldine, N. (2019). One subject, various understandings: Secondary school student perceptions of citizenship in post-revolutionary Egypt. In J. N. Dorio, E. D. Abdou, & N. Moheyeldine (Eds.), The struggle for citizenship education in Egypt (pp. 124–139). Routledge. Moustafa, N., Elghamrawy, E., King, K., & Hao, Y. (2022). Education 2.0: A vision for educational transformation in Egypt. In Education to build back better: What can we learn from education reform for a post-pandemic world (pp. 51–74). Cham: Springer International Publishing. Nessim, S. (1984). Ṣiyāghat al-taʻlīm al-Miṣrī al-ḥadīth: Dawr al-quwá al-siyāsīyah wa-al-ijtimāʻīyah wa-al-fikrīyah, 1923–1952. al-Hayʼah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʻĀmmah lil-Kitāb (General Egyptian Authority for Books).

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Pink, J. (2003). Nationalism, religion and the Muslim-Christian relationship: Teaching ethics and values in Egyptian schools. Center for Studies on New Religions. http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vil2003_pink.htm Rohde, A. (2013). Change and continuity in Arab Iraqi education: Sunni and Shi’i discourses in Iraqi textbooks before and after 2003. Comparative Education Review, 57(4), 711–734. Russell, M.  L. (2001). Competing, overlapping, and contradictory agendas: Egyptian education under British occupation, 1882–1922. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 21, 50–60. Sasnal, A. (2014, May). Myths and legends: Modern history and nationalistic propaganda in Egyptian textbooks. Polish Institute of International Affairs. http:// www.pism.pl/files/?id_plik=17465www.pism.pl Sayed, F.  H. (2006). Transforming education in Egypt: Western influence and domestic policy reform. The American University in Cairo Press. Sedra, P. (2011). From mission to modernity: Evangelicals, reformers and education in nineteenth century Egypt. IB Tauris. Shaaban, M. (2013, September 25). Tawadros Yutalib bi Tadris Al Tarikh Al Qibty. [Pope Tawadros calls for teaching Coptic history]. AlMesryoon On-line. https://www.masress.com/almesryoon/364529 Sobhy, H. (2012). Education and the production of citizenship in the late Mubarak Era: Privatization, discipline and the construction of the nation in Egyptian secondary schools. Doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Sobhy, H. (2015). Secular façade, neoliberal Islamisation: Textbook nationalism from Mubarak to Sisi. Nations and Nationalism, 21(4), 805–824. Sobhy, H. (2016, April 20). Thawrat Al Umahat Li Tatweer Manahij Al Ta’lim [Mothers’ Revolution to Improve Educational Curricula]. Al Shorouk Newspaper. http://www.shorouknews.com/columns/view.aspx?cdat e=20042016&id=f23631b7-­2258-­469e-­ac8c-­da8618ae4230 Starrett, G. (1998). Putting Islam to work: Education, politics, and religious transformation in Egypt. University of California Press. Tadros, M. (2013). Copts at the crossroads: The challenges of building inclusive democracy in Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press. Tadros, M. (2014). The not-so-silent minority: The case of Egypt’s Coptic minority in post-Arab uprising Egypt. In M.  Ennaji (Ed.), Multiculturalism and democracy in North Africa: Aftermath of the Arab spring (pp.  203–222). Routledge. Toronto, J.  A., & Eissa, M.  S. (2007). Egypt: Promoting tolerance, defending Islamism. In E.  A. Doumato & G.  Starrett (Eds.), Teaching Islam: Textbooks and religion in the Middle East (pp. 27–51). Lynne Reinner Publishers.

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USAID Egypt. (2012). Egypt education legacy: 33 years of a partnership in education. United States Agency for International Development. https://pdf.usaid. gov/pdf_docs/PDACY118.pdf Van Doorn-Harder, P. (2005). Copts: Fully Egyptian, but for tattoo? In M.  Shatzmiller (Ed.), Nationalism and minority identities in Islamic societies (pp. 22–57). McGill-Queen’s University Press. Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. Oxford University Press. Wertsch, J.  V. (2004). Specific narratives and schematic narrative templates. In P.  Seixas (Ed.), Theorizing historical consciousness (pp.  49–62). University of Toronto Press. Williams, J. H. (Ed.). (2014). (re) constructing memory: School textbooks and the imagination of the nation. Sense Publishers. Zervas, T. G., & Abdou, E. D. (2022). Modern education and National Identity in Greece and Egypt: (re)producing the ancient in the school textbook. In D.  Tröhler, N.  Piattoeva, & W.  F. Pinar (Eds.), World yearbook of education 2022: Education, schooling and the global universalization of nationalism. Routledge.

CHAPTER 3

Young Egyptians’ Interactions With the Official Curriculum and Its Classroom Enactment

As noted in the previous chapter, past studies did explore how Egyptian students interact with curriculum in general. However, there is much that remains unexplored especially regarding young Egyptians’ students’ interactions with, understandings of, and approaches to the nation’s history, including as presented in the official curriculum. Thus, in this chapter I present the themes emerging from my study. Also, wherever relevant to the discussion, I note whether there were clear variations in these themes, based on any demographic variables such as a participant’s gender, their governorate of origin, and religious background. Inspired by Grounded Theory approaches in presenting findings, the accompanying excerpts

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. D. Abdou, Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt, Curriculum Studies Worldwide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0_3

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have been carefully selected to offer insights into commonalities as well as nuances and variations.1 As noted in Chap. 1, the 39 participants’ ages ranged between 18 and 29 years, representing 12 Egyptian governorates. They were mostly relatively recent graduates from the Egyptian educational system. As will be clear, many of them were previously involved or continue to be involved in extracurricular activities, including during their school or university education. Some of them were directly involved in the 2011 revolution and its aftermaths through participating in some of the protests and other activities. Some others who were not directly involved did express positive sentiments and views toward the 2011 revolution and its ideals and vision.

Interactions with the Dominant Historical Narrative The analyses of the participants’ written responses and drawings showed that almost all followed the same narrative structure or ‘schematic narrative template,’ especially in terms of the historically significant turning points or milestones they chose to include or highlight. Those could roughly be reduced to the following skeleton structure: Unification of Egypt by King Menes > Greco-Roman Period > Arab Muslim Conquest > Ottoman Rule > Memluks > Mehmed Ali > Royal Family Rule

1  Note on Methodology: As outlined in Chap. 1, I adopted an inductive Grounded Theory approach (Charmaz, 2006; Bryant & Charmaz, 2007; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The analyses presented throughout draw on the various data collected, including observations captured in my field notes. I started by analyzing each participant’s data separately. I then conducted a cross-case analysis to distill commonly emerging patterns across the various participants’ data. Based on those, a series of codes emerged, some of which—based on the frequency of their occurrence—were then elevated to ‘focused’ or ‘substantive’ codes. Each of those ‘focused’ or ‘substantive’ codes would include a few codes under them, as will be illustrated wherever applicable and relevant throughout this chapter and the next chapter. After all the coding was completed, I then went back to each participant’s data and studied those vertically across the codes to distill some of the emerging patterns or ‘theoretical codes’ to capture connections and relationships between some of these codes. Such vertical analyses especially helped inform the development of the various ‘types’ or ‘tendencies’ that characterize the participants’ interactions with the dominant historical narrative. Those are presented in this chapter and further elaborated on and connected with tendencies of civic engagement and actions in Chap. 5.

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> 1952 Coup d’état > Nasser > Sadat > Mubarak > 25 January 2011 Revolution > 30 June 2013 Events > President El-Sisi.

However, interestingly, a few started with the modern era, including Mehmed Ali’s rule, explaining that they simply did not remember much about earlier periods. Among those is Ghada, a female participant from Cairo, who explained, “Although I have a pretty good memory and I did very well in school, I barely remember ancient Egyptian history before Mehmed Ali and that is why I started with him.” Significantly, several of the participants totally omitted any reference to the Greco-Roman period (approximately 30 BCE until 641 CE) or any alternative terms used to refer to that era. Those would have included perhaps the ‘advent of Christianity’ or the ‘Coptic era,’ as this era is referred to by some scholars, historians, and the official history curriculum itself in some instances. A Narrative Arc of General Decline? When asked during the interviews to draw or verbally describe the ‘narrative arc’ of Egypt’s historical narrative—that is, whether the nation’s history is mainly characterized by a general trend or direction of progress, stability (or stagnation), or decline—most chose to depict a trajectory of a general decline. Many presented the decline as encompassing various aspects of Egyptian society, while some pointed toward particular aspects of decline in that history. While the perspective on specific turning points and when that decline started varied by participant, some general patterns emerged. For instance, the 1952 revolution (advent of the Free Officers and late President Nasser to power) was the single most cited turning point of decline. Some others saw the decline starting with Mehmed Ali’s rule, while some chose Mubarak’s rule. Two participants (one Muslim and one Coptic, both from Cairo) cited the advent of Islam as the turning point toward a decline. While the remainder offered only generic responses, including an inability to specify when the decline started exactly, in contrast some were as specific as identifying that the decline started during the last 15 years of Mubarak’s rule. This general depiction of a ‘decline narrative’—clearly a challenge to the dominant narrative and its constructed trajectory of progress—starts to point to the prevalence of a reflective approach to history. This reflective approach is informed by an ability to critique the dominant narrative and perhaps present alternative storylines or trajectories. However, as will

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be unpacked further below, this observation could offer a misleading conclusion that these participants all exhibited critical tendencies vis-à-vis the dominant narrative that is able to critically engage with historical narrative constructions and interests they might serve. For instance, when probed further, some of those who drew a narrative arc of decline blamed such a decline on the Egyptian people, absolving the regime or other dominant elites of any role or responsibility. In her drawing, Alia, a female participant from Sharqiyya, offered the following (Fig. 3.1). She further explained: I feel our history has generally been one of decline. I cannot clearly point out when this started but it clearly has been progressing negatively. But for

Fig. 3.1  Pre-interview drawing by Alia, a participant from Sharqiyya

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sure Mehmed Ali’s rule was a cruel one with his expansionism to different parts of Hijaz and the Levant and how his army was largely based on forced conscription (sokhra ‘askareyya). Then the Sykes Picot agreement… then starting 1948 and from this defeat [in war against Israel] starting Egypt’s decline until today… Then next to January 25, 2011, I drew various colors to try to say that this was the first time Egyptians really saw each other and got exposed to problems such as sectarian tension, the demands of the Nubians, Bedouins, and so on. This was the first time they got to learn about the different components of society. It shattered the idea that we’re all homogenous. They realized that we need to recognize and embrace diversity and plurality instead of trying to erase them.

Maria, a female participant from Fayoum, represented another ‘decline narrative’ arc or trajectory; this time involving several ups and downs (Fig. 3.2). She elaborated:

Fig. 3.2  Pre-interview drawing by Maria, a participant from Fayoum

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I would say our history is one of ups and downs. If I were to draw a line to show the general direction, I would say we had started the general decline during Mubarak’s era, especially the last 15 years of his rule.

In contrast to the clear prevalence of the ‘decline narrative’ arc, only one participant, Mahmoud, a male participant from Cairo, marked the nation’s narrative arc as one of linear progress (Fig. 3.3). In explaining his drawing, Mahmoud remarked: Normally there were some ups and downs for sure but in general I believe the country has been moving in the right direction. So if I drew a line to show the general trend it would certainly be an upward looking line.

Fig. 3.3  Pre-interview drawing by Mahmoud, a participant from Cairo

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History as Cyclical in Nature and Governed by Repetitive Patterns Another theme emerging from the study points to how participants have appropriated the dominant narrative’s depiction of the nature of history as one that is cyclical and repetitive, thus legitimizing the role and the primordial need for particular groups and institutions. As discussed earlier, this depiction is clearly one of the key elements reinforced by the Egyptian schematic narrative template. However, within that, as highlighted below, it becomes clear that participants are also critically questioning some aspects of such representations, power dynamics, and interests. There was a generally strong emphasis on the cyclical and repetitive nature of history. For instance, in her pre-interview drawing, Maha, a female participant from Cairo (Fig. 3.4). In the subsequent interview, she elaborated: I drew three symbols: a fist to represent resistance, handcuffs to represent oppression, and a chair to represent power or authority. This is the cycle we have been living in as Egyptians throughout history. It has been a continuous struggle repeating itself all the time. I basically wanted to say that Egyptians have always wanted change but are either taken advantage of or fooled by rulers. Nowadays, even if we’re not a royal system, it is the same. It’s the same theme for tens or even hundreds of years.

Similarly, Nadine, a female participant from Cairo, represents an understanding of the nature of history as repetitive and cyclical. However, she does attempt to explain some power dynamics shaping that trajectory and sees such a pattern as an opportunity to learn from the past to avoid repeating some mistakes in the future: [Learning history] is extremely important because we are not unique. History goes in cycles and if we reflect on some of what happened in the past we can learn from previous mistakes. For me, Egyptian history is a series of trying to “breathe” and then they pull us back down. The Egyptian people keep trying but may be the issues we have to deal with are much bigger than us. Even during times and revolts of Mehmed Ali, he was part of a larger context. So even in 2011 when we were able to get rid of Mubarak, Egypt was not alone. It is part of a world with interests that shape the political status. We are fighting a global system, which leads me to think … oh maybe we could change the world. But you reach a conclusion … may be those before us would have been able to change it, if it was at all possible. May be it needs to be the revolts of several peoples united together against these

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Fig. 3.4  Pre-interview drawing by Maha, a participant from Cairo global interests. So may be after all, Egyptians did what they could but there are things against them that are outside of their control.

Hussein, a male participant from Damietta, placed a stronger emphasis on the role of power dynamics and interests in shaping the cyclical and repetitive nature of history (Fig. 3.5): I wanted to show how history is simply made up of a pattern. Although it might differ from time to time in terms of the type of ruling class, [the pattern] keeps repeating itself. I cannot necessarily decide what direction [this spiral] might be going in. But, I see that the current events follow patterns very similar to those of the historical events. So, I believe that we can learn much from history.

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Fig. 3.5  Pre-interview drawing by Hussein, a participant from Damietta

Sandy, a female participant from Minya, drew the following (Fig. 3.6). This was how she referred to the drawing during her interview, highlighting the need to learn better from the repetitive nature of history: The way I learnt history is that especially in ancient Egypt there were always periods of prosperity followed by periods of decline (‘usur el idmihlal). But I do not find this logical. Did they [ancient Egyptians] not learn from their mistakes? As for the current period I cannot really decide. I feel we are in a state of chaos that is quite unclear… But I wonder for instance when I watch news about the New Suez Canal project, how we are not learning from our past mistakes and all the high debts that Egypt incurred because of the [original] Suez Canal project?

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Fig. 3.6  Pre-interview drawing by Sandy, a participant from Minya

Key Elements and Representations of the Dominant Narrative Challenged Through this study, it became clear that participants were able to problematize and challenge some specific symbols and representations associated with the dominant national narrative. The Omission of People’s Histories and Struggles Problematized The infallibility of the Egyptian military—which is a key element of the nation’s dominant narrative and template—was questioned and challenged by several of the participants. In addition, several problematized the lack of space and details offered within the official curriculum, especially regarding histories of the struggles, resistance, and activism of

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ordinary Egyptians. This emerged most clearly in the participatory visual methods workshop. When probed to represent an event or a group that is generally misrepresented or omitted in curricula, at least one third of all drawings produced by participants represented the struggle of ‘ordinary Egyptians.’ Those included students, women, and economically marginalized segments of society as well as often socially marginalized and stigmatized groups, such as belly dancers. Most frequently problematized were misrepresentations or omission of youth and student struggles against injustice, whether by foreign occupiers or national leaders. In the participatory visual methods workshop, Fatima, a female participant from Giza who completed all her schooling through the Al-Azhar Islamic schooling system, presented this drawing (Fig. 3.7). She explained that it represented several omitted narratives: I wanted to present the omitted narrative of student revolts throughout Egyptian history. So, I drew some people demonstrating in 2011 with the slogans of Bread (‘Eish) and Freedom (Horeyya). In the background I drew what the Sadat regime called ‘the 1977 uprising of the thieves’ (intifadet el harameyya) and also the student movement of the 1970s. In front I drew a

Fig. 3.7  Drawing by Fatima, a participant from Giza (produced during participatory visual methods workshop)

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couple of individuals chanting different slogans. One of them is saying that “this is the time to be rich” and another is saying, “we will create associations to organize our efforts.” We do not learn much about any of those movements or their details. I believe that learning about them and how the state dealt with them, and often oppressed them, can give us some very helpful lessons for the present and future.

Along the same lines, at the workshop, a group of participants argued for the need to represent a continuity of the role of youth and students throughout Egyptian history more prominently in the social studies curriculum (Fig.  3.8). The participant representing the group further elaborated: We wanted to show the continuity of the struggles of Egyptian students. We start by the 1919 revolution then the period between the 1967 and 1973 wars. We then show the demonstrations that came out in support of the Palestinian uprisings (intifada) in the early 2000s. Then we show the 25th

Fig. 3.8  Drawing produced by a group of participants during participatory visual methods workshop

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of January [2011] revolution and how it instilled a spirit of ownership and social responsibility among young people toward society. We saw that newfound sense in voluntary street sweeping and cleaning initiatives, for example. Then we show statistics that highlight the large percentage that youth represent of the Egyptian population and show more statistics about the large number of voluntary initiatives they had established. We then fast forward to the future [2030] to show that if we include those omitted narratives then students will be more aware of their role and responsibility toward society. We are aware that there might be resistance from the government to include those events … So, we will argue that those events are important to include to mainly encourage students to set up initiatives to serve the community.

Resonating with the call to better represent the role and struggles of ordinary Egyptians against injustice, a few participants focused on ancient acts of resistance. For instance, Safa, a female from Cairo, highlighted the need to represent Egyptian peasants’ uprisings of the Delta region against the colonizing Roman Empire (Fig. 3.9): I chose to draw this story of the Roman era (el ‘asr el romani) and the persecution of Egyptians under the Romans. It starts with describing how the

Fig. 3.9  Drawing by Safa, a participant from Cairo (produced during participatory visual methods workshop)

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Romans enjoyed the country’s many resources through collecting taxes. Then I show how they manipulated Egyptians and dealt with them simply as a tool for work. Then I show how the Roman Emperor used to consider Egypt part of his possessions. Then I show how Egyptians fled to the various monasteries across Egypt. Then persecution of Christians. This is followed by the Delta revolution against Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180), known as the Bucolic War (al-harb al bukuliyya).

People’s Agency Misrepresented Some participants took the critical analyses further by highlighting potential interests that such omissions and misrepresentations could serve. For instance, Randa, a female participant  from Bani Suef, highlighted the connection of how such a narrative is effective in influencing people’s understanding of the role of people and their agency. She further problematized how such omissions of the historical roles of particular traditionally marginalized  groups have translated into Egyptians of perhaps more privileged backgrounds undervaluing and even mocking and disrespecting them: I feel that there is a particular class [of Egyptians] that is always stuck in its place. Those are workers and peasants (fellahin). We make fun of them, but they are the real thing and the core of what Egypt is and have remained oppressed. Those people are the continuous straight line which I drew. [In the curriculum] we see them briefly in the story of Port Said in 1956 [tripartite British-French-Israeli aggression against Egypt] and a little during the 1919 revolution. But, in general, we only hear and see very little of them.

Nadine, a female participant from Cairo, offered an interesting analysis as she reflected in her interview on how Egyptian people are constructed in curricula: Egyptians as a generally passive people (sha’b khane’) is the image that was given to us through curricula and even in other sources, such as [Egyptian novelist] Alaa Aswany’s book ‘Why Don’t Egyptians Revolt?’ (Lematha La Yathur Al-Misreyun). But still people keep trying.

Questioning the Prominence of Leaders or ‘Saviors’ vis-à-vis ‘The People’ Closely related is how some participants questioned how Egyptians seem to have been trained to await a leader or a savior. Some articulated how omitting these narratives negatively influences the sense of agency among

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people. In his interview, Shenouda, a participant from Cairo, problematized the influence of the dominant historical narrative on the sense of agency among Egyptians: The influence of history is very psychological. Let me explain. We [Egyptians] are paralyzed between negative and positive aspects of our history. We are taught that we are a civilization of 7,000 years and that Egypt will never fail as a state. We are the best and did everything we could. There is always a ‘savior’ (mokhaless) who will come and save it at the end of the day even when things go badly. People love symbolic figures (el rumuz). This means that we become negative and apathetic or lazy. Nothing will happen to Egypt. It is ‘the mother of the world’ [a common saying among Egyptians]. So, people don’t try to do much. So, it’s a psychological emotional circle. A lot of people are aware [of societal issues] but there are only very very very few (safwet el safwa beta’et el safwa) who want to really try to affect a positive change.

Here, Shenouda seems to be specifically targeting one of the key elements of the dominant narrative template, namely ‘the savior’ element. Interestingly, and while many implicitly questioned and critiqued this key element by calling for the inclusion of peoples’ histories and revolts, very few other participants explicitly problematized this aspect or used this particular term that Shenouda chose to use here. Similar to Shenouda’s argument, Shams, a female participant from Cairo, problematizes the centrality of rulers: What we get in school is a history of rulers but since we don’t know much about how Egyptians were living I feel like leaders become so familiar as if they are members of our own family or a friend even. So, we do not know the context and how Egyptians were living. Without that context, students see the ruler as a deity (ilah) who can do nothing wrong.

Older Generations’ Authority Challenged Several participants seem to have been openly questioning the authority of older generations, including their parents. Teresa, a female participant from Cairo, explained that she wants history education to encourage students to question and think independently and critically. She also wants the curriculum to encourage questioning historical figures that the curriculum usually presents in incomplete or biased ways:

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My parents say that Sadat was not good for Christians in Egypt. But I personally like Sadat because he was a realistic and pragmatic man. He was also extremely intelligent. Generally, we need to be able to have our own opinion and be critical and we need to voice them. For example, even our master (sayedna) Pope Shenouda [the late Coptic pope] I would say had positives and negatives in his personality, although my parents would of course find this something totally unacceptable and very offensive to say.

Other participants exhibited reflective tendencies, including vis-à-vis why their approaches to history might be different from those of the older generations. A few commented on what they believed is an actually different consciousness that their generation might be experiencing, developing, and representing. They explained that this would be clearly different from that of their parents’ generation and that it is mainly shaped by the January 2011 events and their aftermaths. Somaya, a female participant who did all her schooling in Ismailia and had recently graduated from the Suez Canal University there, explained: I feel my parents have a lot of givens that they take for granted. They grew up at a time with no critical awareness, during Nasser’s and later Sadat’s time. They simply waited for the governmental letter to assign them a job. We have a different experience. We lived a different experience during January 2011 with a different awareness that this instilled within us.

Similarly, Shenouda, a male participant who recently graduated from a private university in Cairo, compares his newfound appreciation of diversity to that of his parents’ generation: My mother and older generations are quite fixed in their beliefs. They choose one path to focus on (tahdeed el massaar), which I believe is much easier to do. For instance, [they would argue] the Muslim Brotherhood are bad. They would not be interested to listen to any other opinions or views.

He also explained how as he grew older most of his local church’s Sunday School classes became less interesting, especially those that were delivered by older teachers who were out of touch with the younger generations’ realities: My mother used to take me to attend the Sunday School classes when I was younger. But in later grades, they started assigning older teachers, so there

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was a big generational gap. As a result, I often skipped those classes or simply went there to tease the teachers (el khoddam).

In the same line of moving beyond parents to critiquing other older authority figures such as Shenouda’s Sunday School teachers, Khadiga, a female participant who studied law at Cairo University, critiqued her university professor. She explained that her university professor—also a former head of the Egyptian parliament—could not “think outside of the official narrative.” Further, she found it ironic that such a well-educated professor would be unable to critically engage with history and dominant historical narratives. In trying to make sense of these seemingly irreconcilable facts, she attributed it mainly to the socialist system adopted by Nasser and his sense of loyalty and allegiance to it: He is a product of the Nasserist socialist system. He was raised to believe that the Nasserite regime gave him everything. And since the successive regimes were continuations of the Nasser military regime, my professor seems to have developed a blind allegiance and loyalty to the state and its official narrative.

In addition to experiencing the January 2011 events and their aftermaths, participants also pointed to their university exposure and how it was helping them appreciate pluralism and the various perspectives which might be different from those of their parents’ generation. For instance, Shenouda—discussed above briefly—also spoke about how his university coursework helped him appreciate various perspectives, which is accordingly influencing the ways he is viewing other groups in society: Through my interviews with [Muslim] Sufis [for a university paper on music and spirituality] I started learning more about them and asking questions about religion, and so on. I started learning new opinions and perspectives. This exploded and opened up my horizons.

The Prevalence of a Cairo-Centric Narrative Problematized Another key feature of the dominant historical narrative problematized by several participants was the Cairo-centric nature of the narrative. Especially the several participants coming from outside of Cairo expressed a strong sense of exclusion and marginalization vis-à-vis that narrative. Somaya, who comes from Ismailia, complained that:

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We usually assess people by how they’re treated and valued in Cairo or how they are viewed through Cairo’s lenses. For instance, we measure the Upper Egyptian (se’eedi) through looking at how he or she does and achieves in Cairo, or the Nubian by how he or she does in Cairo.

Some emphasized the exclusionary nature of the Cairo-centric narrative and worldview and its shortcomings. Hussein from Damietta explained that: In Cairo, people are very individualistic and know very little about any other parts outside of Cairo. Part of the problem is that we learn very little about the contributions of other parts of the country.

Similarly, in explaining his drawing (Fig.  3.10), Karim from Ismailia remarked: Fig. 3.10  Pre-­ interview drawing by Karim, a participant from Ismailia

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I have attempted to draw a map of Egypt with a mirror image that shows the significance of the South (el se’eed) which we never hear about in our history education. For instance, we need to learn about the history of the [semi-­ independent] republic of al-Hawarah (gumhuriyyet el-Hawarah) in South Egypt.

Skepticism Toward the Self-aggrandizing Tone of the Dominant Narrative As some of the excerpts presented above already demonstrate, several participants problematized what is arguably a ‘self-aggrandizing’ tone that shapes the dominant narrative and the history curriculum. This narration emphasizes and often exaggerates the Egyptian nation’s historical achievements and contributions to humanity. One of the sharpest critiques of the history curriculum’s narrative was presented by Laila, a participant from Cairo. She critiqued how the narrative consistently placed Egypt at the center of events, providing no sufficient context of other global events and developments and their potential influences on Egypt’s history. She drew the following (Fig. 3.11) which represents two globes (the one above is her attempt to represent the official and history curriculum narrative where Egypt is the center of all events): In our school curricula Egypt has always been at the center surrounded either by enemies or allies. It is only when I got into university that I started viewing Egypt in the global context. It is part of this interconnected history of humanity. Egypt is only one part of this history unlike how school curricula have presented Egypt as center of the world.

Ibrahim, a Muslim participant from Cairo, took the reaction to the dominant, self-aggrandizing, Egypt-centric narrative to another extreme.  He explained that he did a lot of extracurricular reading and research, and reached a conclusion that: Beyond the Greco-Roman period [which some scholars would argue is the end of ancient Egyptian history], Egypt made no significant contributions to the world. Basically, I discovered that Egypt had a non-existent role in human history (iktashaft ’adameyyet wuguud musr min el asaass).

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Fig. 3.11  Pre-­ interview drawing by Laila, a participant from Cairo

Problematizing the Omission of Sectarian Tensions Interestingly, only very few participants problematized this omission. However, I believe it is important to include as it points to important dimensions of participants’ historical consciousness and civic tendencies, as will be discussed in Chap. 5. Randa, a Muslim participant from Bani Suef, drew the following (Fig.  3.12) and offered the subsequent explanation: I drew the symbol of national unity between Muslims and Christians. I chose it as it has been strategically used to conceal sectarian tensions (el fitna el ta’ifiyya). I believe that similar symbols and strategies have been used and applied to writing Egyptian history in general to create a fake national history.

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Fig. 3.12  Pre-­ interview drawing by Randa, a participant from Bani Suef

Some participants might have implicitly problematized this dominant ‘national unity’ rhetoric that underplays or totally omits sectarian tensions and violence, noting the need to acknowledge it to be able to learn from it. However, Randa was one of the very few participants who openly critiqued the fact that overemphasizing national unity conceals some existing religious-based tensions and injustices that Egyptians need to acknowledge and deal with more openly. With this understanding of participants’ general interaction with and their attitudes vis-à-vis the dominant narrative, including their internalization of some aspects of it and critiques and problematization of other dimensions and elements, I now turn to the participants’ relationship with history education as embodied in their experiences of the history curriculum.

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Interactions With the Formal History Education Curriculum Several strong critiques and negative sentiments toward the school history curriculum and its pedagogies emerged in participants’ responses. Participants criticized how history was taught, especially its emphasis on learning dates and details. This led some to actually “hate” studying particular eras. Many especially referred to disliking ancient Egyptian history, because of how the curriculum expected them to ‘memorize’ the numerous rulers’ names and achievements, as well as several specific dates and details. Such emphases also weakened their sense of connection or affinity with that history. Another source of that cynicism vis-à-vis history curricula was their newfound critical perspective which allowed them—mainly in retrospect—to reflect on how these curricula might have been designed to serve particular interests and normalize particular realities. In many cases, such realization and interest to further pursue these questions were triggered by comparing personal experiences and understandings of the January 2011 revolution with its misrepresentation in the media and their history textbooks. Unbalanced Textbook Representations of January 2011 Revolution: A Key Turning Point For many of the participants, especially those who had graduated from school post 2011, a key turning point in their relationship with the history curriculum was what several perceived as the curriculum developers’ attempt to manipulate and misrepresent those events. The participants were comparing these curricular representations with what some of them had themselves experienced or followed closely on TV and through various social media platforms. Some other participants who had graduated from school prior to 2011 had also been exposed to these curricular representations through reading the post-2011 curriculum when helping younger siblings and relatives study the history curriculum. For instance, Sandy, who completed her schooling in Minya in 2016, problematized the representations of 2011 as well the subsequent events of 2013. This prompted her and some of her classmates to actually question the curriculum’s representations of the country’s history:

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I remember our third preparatory class [grade 9] and the first civics education (tarbeyya wataneyya) textbook we got right after the 2011 events. The textbooks referred to the violence of thugs (baltageyya) in Maspero [violence especially targeted against Copts, during the brief transitional rule of the SCAF] and in Abbaseyya [the attack on the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo]. It was all about how the military successfully protected the people and how it was all good. However, coming from Mallawi [in the Minya governorate] where three churches were burnt down, I noticed that there was no mention of churches that were burnt down. It was actually total chaos in Minya. Also, 30/6 [the massive demonstrations that led to the overthrow of Morsi in June 30, 2013] the way it was written now there’s nothing about any violence and people getting killed or the numbers of those killed are really diminished. This made me think of other history they taught us and how it might’ve been manipulated. I do not have answers but I started questioning.

Maria, who completed her schooling in Fayoum in 2016, also critiqued how the January 2011 events were presented in her textbooks: The sequence of events was not presented accurately, and they also took out the mention of Mubarak which made me feel ‘you’re playing with my mind’ (enta kont betedhak ‘alayya). If this is what you’re doing with history that I personally witnessed, then how about what you might have done with history that I know nothing about? I remember there were no mentions of the police killing people and no mention of the camel battle in Tahrir. You need to tell me history as it happened and let me decide on my own.

Similarly, Randa, who completed her schooling in Bani Suef in 2015, explained: I have always been a bit skeptical about how history was taught to us but a clear turning point that really made me question it was how I personally saw textbooks after the 2011 events trying to change and manipulate the facts in different ways.

Heidi, who graduated in 2015  in Gharbeyya, shared similar critical reflections: I was shocked with how before 2011 the textbooks were so positive about Mubarak and then how all of this changed after 2011 textbooks. Before I graduated in 2015 he was totally removed from the textbooks.

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Alternative Sources of Historical Knowledge First, it would be important to note that school curricula did have an influence on students. Even for those who were vocally critical and for those who were arguably able to distance themselves from the curricula they studied in school. This was clearest in how some of the participants explained how the textbook narrative conjured images when they faced some realities or monumental events. For instance, a couple of the participants referred to how the textbook narrative emerged for them as they were partaking in the January 2011 protests. One participant explained how, when reflecting on these events, she and her colleague referred to the same textbook narratives and images related to the Egyptian people’s resistance to British occupation, and resemblances those narratives had with their own experiences during these events. Many of the participants clearly critiqued, questioned, and perhaps even rejected key elements of the dominant narrative. This begs the question: how are they constructing their alternative versions of history? Participants cited several sources of alternative historical knowledge that helped them realize and pinpoint some of their school history curriculum’s omissions or misrepresentations. Several participants referred to their university-level courses—whether in their university studies in Egypt or through studying abroad in other countries—as turning points. For instance, for some who had the chance to study abroad (perhaps for a semester or academic year), a couple pointed out how they were shocked with how some of the materials they studied argued or suggested that Egypt did not win the 1973 war against Israel or the Free Officers movement in July 1952 was not a popular revolution, but actually a coup d’état. These narratives were all in clear contrast to what they had studied in their school textbooks. Throughout the book I refer to participants’ interactions with various alternative sources of historical knowledge, including social media and others. Here, I focus on two key sources that emerged not only as significant, but also as especially contentious. I focus on family and the Coptic Orthodox Church’s Sunday School curriculum since they provide important insights into participants’ interactions with historical narratives. They also shed light on their sense of social identity.

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Family As an Alternative Source of Historical Knowledge Family narratives emerged as a powerful and generally unquestioned source of historical knowledge for several of the participants. At times those narratives confirmed the dominant narrative, while sometimes challenging it. For instance, four of the participants referred especially to their grandparents’ narratives. In questioning the dominant narrative regarding the British occupation of Egypt, two participants problematized how the textbooks consistently painted it negatively. Both had been exposed to their grandparents’ generally more positive narrative of the British occupation. In contrast, Fatima, a female participant who comes from a small rural village in Giza, felt that the textbooks downplayed many abuses committed by the British occupation. In critiquing the textbook narrative, she cited her grandmother’s stories that highlight how British soldiers had brutally attacked the village and raped its women at the time. Relationship with family—including grandparents—was seen as too precious and important to be allowed to be ruined or weakened by polarizing political views. Several participants argued that the relationship with older family members, regarding their views of earlier as well as more recent historical events, needs to be managed delicately in order to maintain the peace and good relations. Several pointed to such differences with older family members being accentuated and deepening because of the widely divergent interpretations of the 2011 events and their aftermaths. As Maha, a female participant from Cairo, explained: When I visit my grandmother, who loves to watch Ahmed Moussa [a pro-­ regime TV commentator], I usually come up with any excuse to ask her to turn the TV off or may be turn the channel to watch a nice and light [Egyptian] black and white movie that we can both enjoy together. A film of that sort is not controversial. That way we avoid talking politics or ending up arguing, because I still love her and I don’t want for politics to stand in the way of our relationship or ruin it as it clearly did with many of my friends.

Grandparents’ versions of historical narratives have also clearly shaped participants understandings and imagination of Muslim-Christian relations. For Maria, her vision to try to increase tolerance and deepen cooperation between Muslims and Copts—and her ongoing civic and voluntary

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engagement in that space—emerged from and were informed by two key familial influences. Namely, it was shaped by her mother’s Christian beliefs and practices, as well as her grandparents’ narratives about a more tolerant and inclusive past and how it is needed as well as possible to bring it back: I want to bring back the two of us [Muslims and Copts] together as one. It comes from my mother. As a Christian, Christ taught us to love our enemies. And Muslims are not even my enemies. They are the first we need to love. Zeinab, my Muslim roommate, and I pray together, and we really love each other. I don’t want us to be like this. I hope that when my children reach my age that Egypt would be a different place. Also, I want to bring back that love that existed and that I heard in my grandfather and grandmother’s stories (qissass teita wi geddo). [During their time] People never asked what religion you were or discriminate based on that at all. Actually, I have no idea why we required to indicate our religious affiliation in our [national] ID cards. They should take this part out.

Similarly, Safa, a female participant in her first year of university, laments what she perceives as a less than ideal current status. In referring to her families’ narratives, she confidently states: No one in the past used to ask whether you’re a Muslim or Christian. It’s only now that we have these [sectarian] issues. I feel it is the media that incites sectarian violence and misunderstanding. Why do we even need slogans such as ‘long live the cross and the crescent’ (‘ash-al-hilal ma’-al-saleeb)?

Similar to Maria’s case, whose mother’s faith had a big influence, parents played a key role for several other participants. Two of the participants referred to the influence their fathers’ historical knowledge had on their understanding of, passion for, and interest in history. Shenouda, a male participant from Cairo, pointed out his mother’s key role. She had studied history at an Egyptian university, and encouraged him that in studying history, he needs to explore various sources of history. According to her, such research and analyses would help him ultimately reach a narrative that makes sense to him personally. Similarly, Maha referred to her mother as the key source of her critical approach to history and society at large. However, this critical approach came more indirectly than in the case of Shenouda. Maha’s mother would consistently share vivid stories and detailed narratives from her volunteering and community service

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experiences with less privileged Egyptians. Learning about these contrasting realities helped Maha become critical of the national media’s coverage of national achievements, feeling that this was ‘not the complete picture’: Although I mainly developed this critical attitude through university courses I took, there are several reasons that led me to be that critical even before then. Partly encouraged by my mother I also started volunteering and through seeing the poverty and hunger I was starting to question what I was hearing on TV and newspapers about those great national achievements (ingaazaat qawmiyya), while I could still personally see there are people who are poor, deprived and maybe even dying. I also had some critical history teachers in school. Although they were not explicit about their critiques, we could sense that they were critical of the curriculum. This sowed a seed in me that helped me continue to be critical later on.

Thus, whether those were confirming or negating key elements of the dominant narrative, families’ narratives were clearly trusted sources of historical knowledge among several of the participants. Elements of Coptic Church’s Sunday School As Sources of Historical Knowledge (for Some Coptic Participants) Except for one female participant who was less active in church-related activities, all seven Coptic participants who partook in the study were either only inactive recently or are still actively involved in Coptic Orthodox church-related activities, including Sunday School. All six Coptic participants who were actively engaged with their churches stated that the Sunday School curricula they had studied did not explicitly teach history per se. Perhaps this explains why only one participant cited these curricula as an alternative source of historical knowledge. However, some explained that these curricula had helped them learn some of the Church’s and the Coptic community’s history, especially through studying the historical narratives of key historical Coptic figures including the Church’s saints, martyrs, and patriarchs or popes. According to the majority of Coptic participants, these curricula and discussions did not entail any mentions of historical abuses by Muslim rulers against Copts or the Church. Especially in their discussions of any discrimination or persecution that the Coptic community might have experienced, the Sunday School curricula nearly entirely only focused on historical  persecutions that might have taken place prior to the Arab Muslim conquest.

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Participants’ Approaches to History The above discussion focused on participants’ interactions, namely with the dominant historical narrative as well as alternative narratives and sources of historical knowledge. To add more nuances and deeper insights into how participants interact with the dominant narrative, it would be helpful to analyze what shapes participants’ understandings of and approaches to ‘history’ more generally. In the following, I attempt to organize and classify some of the tendencies that emerged from the data. I begin with Rüsen’s typology, but I do propose some additional types and subtypes to enable us to capture the nuances emerging from this study and this specific context. Under each of those, I present a few illustrative examples of how different participants might have represented and embodied those tendencies. Traditional/Exemplary Tendencies Individuals exhibiting traditional or exemplary tendencies, as noted earlier, are generally classified as all being unable to exhibit self-reflective abilities. However, this study shows that we might need to consider introducing more nuances. The reason being is that while some participants expectedly showed traditional or exemplary tendencies and were unreflective, some participants in fact demonstrated traditional or exemplary tendencies, with self-reflective abilities. I illustrate those by sharing a few select examples: Traditional/Exemplary (Unreflective) Wafaa, a female participant from Cairo, sees that the key role of history education is to offer students with positive examples to inspire Egyptians. In elaborating on her pre-interview drawing, she had explained that to reverse the downward trend she felt that the country was experiencing, the Egyptian people needed to work harder. If they do, they would help bring back the country’s glorious past and get it the advancement and progress it deserves. Wafaa defined the key function of history education as one of invoking patterns from the past to help inspire modern-day Egyptians. Simultaneously, she shows little to no sign of critical awareness or self-reflection on the potential limitations of her positionality. Further, she falls short of problematizing any structural injustices or the inequitable access to resources. Thus, she seems to clearly embody what theorists

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would label as traditional along with possibly exemplary historical consciousness tendencies: Egypt especially during the royal time [rule of King Farouk] was still inhabited by Egyptians not another people. They were the ones who were enjoying and leading a renaissance and were being respected and recognized in all sectors. Then why don’t we try to bring back this life another time? I don’t mean the royal rule of the King but under any rule or circumstance. all of Egypt’s problems could be remedied through an educational renaissance and … possibly we can reach that by looking at the history of our people especially when we were in a better place than now… Spreading awareness among Egyptian students that Egyptians had a very high status … compared to now and that we were actually more advanced than many other countries. … Maybe this will help students learn that the problem is not really in the country but in the people themselves… Egypt has been the same during ancient Egyptian times and during the royal time but what changed is that people back then wanted to advance and worked on that.

Absent from Wafaa’s response is any indication of a critical approach to the other competing narratives that she might be drawing on in constructing the alleged earlier glory and superiority that she references. Her emphasis on the glory of ancient Egyptian history might have been informed by the history curriculum which offers a large space to presenting that history (e.g., Abdou, 2016). However, in painting the pre-Nasser royal rule of Egypt as entirely positive, she would be generally countering the dominant narrative which generally paints that pre-Nasser era negatively. But it is worth noting that the negative portrayal of that era has slightly improved with more balanced—and even overly romanticized and nostalgic—narratives slowly emerging over the past few years. This improvement can be detected in curricular content depictions as well as in some popular Egyptian TV series productions, such as the 2010 production that aimed to present an alternative and more positive and balanced narrative regarding King Farouk who was peacefully ousted by the 1952 coup d’état (Abdel-Mageed, 2010) as well as popular social media posts, for instance. Such slightly improved, or more balanced, depictions could be responsible for Wafaa’s choice to solely focus on the pre-Nasser royal era as an era that she would argue was a good time for all Egyptians. Thus, as embodied in her visions for the function of history and the history curriculum, her generally traditional/exemplary (unreflective) tendencies seem to shape her interaction with the dominant narrative.

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Further, as noted above, Wafaa clearly exhibits little inclination toward critical awareness or self-reflection. This emerges especially in how she seems to have uncritically internalized some dominant societal discourses around some issues, such as the empowerment of women as well as the need and duty to improve and defend the images of Egypt and Islam. This could start to partly explain why Wafaa committed herself to set a good example to defend the image of Egypt and Islam when she traveled to study in an East Asian country for a few months was: They have a lot of stereotypes about Egypt. I was asked whether we still live in pyramids and whether we still ride camels and donkeys to school and work. They were also surprised to see a [Muslim] veiled woman travelling on her own and pursuing her graduate studies abroad. I was happy to contribute to giving the right image about Egypt and to show them how smart and empowered our women are as well.

Similar to Wafaa’s tendencies, Mahmoud, a male participant from Cairo, argues that history education’s role is to reinforce to help foster a unified national identity: History education helps in creating a national consciousness that is secular and not contaminated by any other influences or identifications, whether religious or otherwise. Its role is to help raise a sense of pride and belonging to the country.

Mahmoud further elaborated that he sees history education as ideally serving to lead Egyptians to appreciate the progress that the country is making under the current regime. This should help students and Egyptian citizens more generally realize that they need to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains: History needs to instill a positive outlook and to establish a unifying Egyptian character that overcomes identities that call for differences. This would help people accept change and development even if there are pains and necessary sacrifices. [History] should serve in establishing a basic citizenship so that we avoid exclusivist ideologies such as that of Islamists who don’t like Christians or who would want to discriminate against them, for instance. We need to produce citizens who understand ideas and concepts and how they evolved not only focus on historical figures.

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Mahmoud seems to exhibit what historical consciousness theorists would refer to as a traditional approach to the past, with many givens being left unquestioned and dominant narratives being internalized and approached uncritically. Further, these tendencies are demonstrable in both Wafaa’s and Mahmoud’s unreflective references to issues of national identity, as well as their patriotism, and uncritical pride in the nation’s history. Traditional/Exemplary (Reflective) Similar to Mahmoud and Wafaa, Dina—a participant from Cairo— explained the important role that history should play in inspiring and developing a sense of pride and dignity among Egyptians. In justifying the importance of history education, she elaborated: If there is no history, there is no country. Also, it is important to instill a sense of pride and dignity among Egyptian citizens. Historical figures and their achievements are currently role models to look up to. It is essential for all citizens to be fully aware and conscious of their country’s history not only for studying but also for general knowledge. I believe that history education did not take its place and the needed status among us, but we need to give it the needed status since people with no history, have no present and no future. I hope that the student and citizen generally approach history not only as a subject matter but as essential knowledge that they should try to reach and gain at any expense. History education should also focus on positive things and achievements. I somehow feel that most of our history education focused on colonization, [the nation’s] debts, protests, or massacres. Positive periods were not clearly articulated or didn’t take much space. We should have those to give students an incentive to do as good as those people. For instance, some leaders did good things and introduced good things and technology, which made Egypt advance in agriculture and industry.

In addition to exhibiting traditional tendencies, Dina’s emphasis on “historical figures and their achievements” as “role models,” further points to her embodiment of some exemplary tendencies. However, Dina’s case would represent a conundrum for the typical classifications widely agreed on by scholars. To elaborate, in addition to traditional/exemplary tendencies—agreed on as unreflective—in fact, she exhibits some self-reflective tendencies. This is clearest when reflecting on herself as perhaps a typical

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product of Egyptian society, including how she only started questioning some customs and traditions when she got exposed to foreigners through engagement in online chat forums (mainly aiming to help participants improve their English language skills): All I knew when talking to foreign students [online] was that we [Egyptians] were great and we had Pharaohs and pyramids, but beyond that I knew nothing. I am proud but unable to explain why or share information. It is like you wake up in the morning feeling that we are proud and that we as Egyptians were great. Because we have pyramids or sphinx. We were great but then we dropped (konna ‘uzam w ba’eina wa’een). I guess I am a product of this system… listen to me now… I embody this sense of confusion… I am a typical Egyptian student and my confusion is now coming out [in what I am saying]… I have a sense that we were great and you wake up every morning thinking and believing that… but why? Is it because we have the pyramids and the sphinx? But what have we added now and what happened since then? I also seem to have internalized how we were taught about female leaders and their failures such as Shagaret El Durr [a Memluk era female leader]. I left school not remembering anything [of what I studied], but inside of me are thoughts such as ‘this is not acceptable, you are a girl after all’ (‘eib, maysuhish enti bent). Our understanding of the limited role we have as girls or women, I feel lots of it comes from school, even if indirectly.

Dina clearly exhibits some ability to engage in a critical self-reflection. However, her self-reflection stops at critiquing societal norms and traditions. When it comes to historical narratives, she is unable to question how historical narratives are constructed, or beyond that, what potential purposes or interests they might serve. Subsequently, while she might be demonstrating some interest and ability to question some of society’s dominant discourses—as exemplified in patriarchal traditions and discursive practices—dominant historical narratives, their production, and manipulation remain beyond her awareness and critical engagement. Thus, she would arguably fit into this new sub-category that I propose needs to be added to include Dina as well as others who might similarly demonstrate traditional/exemplary tendencies, yet also being somehow— even if partly—reflective. This would include individuals who in their approaches to history clearly fit within the traditional/exemplary category. However, they are also individuals, who, like Dina, might be starting to

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critically reflect on and question their social position and how it is shaped and limited by some societal norms and traditions. Critical Tendencies This category includes the participants who were generally critical of the dominant narrative or specific elements or misrepresentations within it. Again, here, based on the findings emerging from this study and building on Rüsen’s and other theorists’ articulation of a generally monolithic critical category, I propose that this needs to be unpacked into at least three sub-categories: Critical (Unreflective) Teresa, a Coptic participant from Cairo, problematized the lack of representation of Coptic history and contributions in curricula, including in history textbooks. She narrated a situation when her classmates in school asked her several innocent yet very basic questions about Egyptian Christians, pointing to how little they knew about their history and contributions to Egypt and humanity. In reflecting on that frustrating situation, Teresa got quite animated and explained how her classmates’ questions made her feel: To that extent you do not know ANYTHING [she raised her voice to emphasize this word] about me? To that extent I am that unknown to you except for my name and my final grades at the end of the year? I am actually much more than that.

Apart from being specifically critical of the Coptic history omission or misrepresentation in her school curricula, Teresa seems to have generally and uncritically accepted the dominant national historical narrative. This manifests in her strong acceptance of the dominant narrative’s positive portrayal of late President Sadat, rejecting other alternative narratives or perspectives. Further, as noted earlier, she has rejected her parents’ argument that ‘Copts are supposed to dislike Sadat’ because of his general exclusionary policies and actions. Teresa also refers to the importance of ‘loyalty’ to the Church as well as to the Egyptian state as pivotal institutions. To illustrate, she actually sees it as her duty to prove that public education is of high quality. Given that she was fully educated through the public education system and that she is now on a full scholarship at a

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private university, she aims to prove to her colleagues that the Egyptian public education is a good one that produces smart individuals. As she explained: I sometimes even correct [my colleagues’] English and they are like: didn’t you go to a public school? I want to improve the image of public education among my colleagues.

She also hopes for Egyptians to be more connected and loyal to their “mother country,” adding that history has proven that Egypt needs to be “owned by someone” (mamluka li hadd). She further elaborated that what works best for Egypt is a strong centralized rule, not a democratically governed system. Thus, Teresa has clearly accepted and internalized key elements of the dominant narrative. Simultaneously, however, in seeking alternative narratives for the only historical narrative she has problematized as misrepresented in school curricula—that is, the Coptic history— she uncritically reverts to the Church’s narrative. Such an uncritical approach included reverting back to some of the widely circulating miracle or transcendent narratives. Those would include approaching the myth of the miraculous movement of the Muqattam hill in Cairo by a Coptic holy man—as historical facts.2 Teresa represented this arguably mythical incident as a historical event that should be included and taught in history textbooks. In fact, she chose it as the key missing narrative that needs to be included in history textbooks, as represented in her hand-drawing (Fig. 3.13). Thus, while critical of some aspects of the dominant narrative, Teresa also exhibits uncritical tendencies toward other historical narratives, including those circulating within her faith community. Similarly, Hassan, a Muslim male participant from Minya, is generally critical of the dominant national narrative. However, in seeking alternative historical narratives and perspectives, he has unquestioningly reverted to religious-based Muslim historical narratives. Given his religious tendencies and personal convictions, he decided to join an informal group that attempts to teach history from an Islamic perspective. The group mainly 2  This is a widely circulated legend, especially among Copts. It is said that during the Fatimid ruler Al-Mo’ez’s rule, he challenged a Coptic holy man to prove the strength of his faith. The Coptic holy man is said to have successfully proven that by moving the hill from its place. As Van Doorn-Harder (2005) explains, “According to the tradition, the Muqattam hill moved four kilometers after several days of fervent prayer by the holy patriarch and a tanner called Samaan” (p. 46).

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Fig. 3.13  Drawing by Teresa, a participant from Cairo (produced during participatory visual methods workshop)

focuses on teaching Islamic history since Islam’s early days. Hassan argues that this is an important and formative history that needs to be better taught and learned in Egyptian schools. He sees it as a clearly missing perspective. In contrast, he believes ancient Egyptian history is allocated an unjustifiable and disproportionately large space in curricula and classroom discussions. He paints a generally negative picture of that ancient civilization, which seems to be much in line with some hardline Islamic interpretations and perspectives: I feel like we are promoting a civilization that has no connection with the present. At least I personally feel no connection with [the ancient Egyptian

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civilization] whatsoever. Also, I have personal concerns about its ethical and moral values which I believe were characterized by significant imbalances (ikhtilaal qiyami wa akhlaaqi).

Hassan arguably exhibits generally critical tendencies toward particular types of historical narratives—namely the national dominant narrative. However, he does not seem to be able to apply that same critical approach when engaging with alternative sources and narratives, including religious-­ based ones. Further, he is unable to critically reflect on how his personal religious beliefs might shape and limit his worldview and approaches to various historical narratives. Those participants exhibited critical tendencies problematizing specific narrative omissions and misrepresentations. Teresa’s critiques focused on the omission or misrepresentation of Coptic history; for Hassan, it is his problematization mainly of the dominant secular narrative, including its overemphasis on ancient Egypt. However, as discussed above, both seem to demonstrate very little self-reflection on their positionalities and relatedly, any critical approaches vis-à-vis the alternative historical narratives they have embraced. To add more nuances to this proposed sub-category which emerges quite vividly and clearly in the cases of Hassan and Teresa, perhaps it would be helpful to show how these tendencies might emerge in more subtle and elusive ways in other cases. This becomes clear in the case of Laila. A female participant who is from Cairo and studied political science at university, she also exhibits clear critical,  yet  unreflective tendencies. When reflecting on omitted or misrepresented narratives, she identified a specific subaltern narrative—that is, the narratives and stories of the people, especially those that are traditionally and historically marginalized. She emphasizes the need to use a critical approach to deconstruct a ‘nationalistic’ dominant narrative that aims to control the people. An excerpt from her written narrative exercise is demonstrative of her clearly critical approach: For me, this is history [emphasis in original]. The history is the story of the people and their struggles. It is not the nationalistic story of the state and its victories. You need to be critical and to understand the other perspectives. We took [school] history to memorize it not to learn from it or to reflect upon it or give our opinions … [Curriculum developers and educators] do not care about our opinions or about us. We were simply recipients, but we

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were not a part of the story. These eras and events [that I am proposing to include] are the real history not the fabricated history that presents idealized personalities that led stupid people who did not have any opinion or reaction … It’s absolutely absurd learning the history of Egypt from the state point of view that highlights the nationalistic characters and the heroic victories without talking neither about the role of the people nor the external events happening in the world. There is no history of thoughts [in the curriculum]. You [as a student] are absorbing the facts of the history. You are neither reflective nor critical of the events.

Laila adopts a critical approach vis-à-vis the dominant narrative; to replace that, she seems to propose one specific alternative narrative, which she believes is the viable one to teach in school (i.e., the subaltern, social history narrative). However, throughout the subsequent discussions encouraging her to elaborate on what she is proposing, she was unable to identify any potential limitations of the proposed ‘alternative’ narrative. She also did not exhibit any ability to critically reflect on her own positionality. Thus, although representing another manifestation—with a slightly different variation from the earlier two cases presented above—Laila would fall within this same critical (unreflective) category. This proposed sub-category and its nuances should become clearer when put in contrast with the proposed critical (reflective) category, discussed further below. Critical (Reflective) As will be demonstrated below, Heidi, a Coptic student at a private university who completed her public schooling in the governorate of Gharbeyya, exhibits strong critical tendencies in approaching history. Importantly, her critical approach is accompanied with a sense of self-reflection. She is critical of the current dominant narrative, proposing that history education needs to promote the values of pluralism and respect for diversity among students. Additionally, she demonstrates aspects of a critical self-reflection approach in explaining how her general sense of exclusion from the master narrative is what propels her to call for better inclusion of Coptic history in history curricula. She takes this a step further by reflecting on how her stances might be interpreted by others. Thus, she argues that others could understandably interpret the fact that she chose to highlight that specific historical period as a form of bias on her part. She also argues how better and fuller inclusion of Coptic history in curricula would help students of

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different religious affiliations be more understanding of and respectful toward each other. She clearly sees history education playing an important role in informing better intergroup dynamics. All this clearly emerges in her reflections on why she chose to focus on Coptic history as a key missing historical narrative in need of better inclusion and representation in history curricula: I think that [as a student] I need to learn history—all the history—not some of it or the positive part of it or the fabricated part of it [emphasis in original] … and based on that all events need to be included not some of them … this will help raise a generation that is not discriminatory and not intolerant and accepting others and respecting their rights … for instance, [British] colonization did ruin some things or many things in Egypt … but it also contributed and reformed and was fair … so why don’t we mention both points of view? … and Copts have also contributed to Egyptian history… first, if these events are present you would not find that most of my responses are biased towards my religion.. because I am Christian and I feel that I was not justly treated in [not] learning about the Coptic history [in the official history curriculum] and that on the contrary, I learned everything about everything about Islamic history … so may be [including Coptic history] would have a positive influence by removing the biased tone or the sense of exclusion and discrimination that you can depict in what I am actually writing here [as a reaction to that sense of exclusion]… second, and in the larger context, it will influence Christian students to accept learning Islamic history with an open heart and would positively influence their dealing with non-Christians … third, in general, I am supposed to learn all of history and not only good and positive parts or those set in a positive light… history needs to be realistic and truthful and not used to improve the image of the present.

As emerges in her long and impassioned narrative response above, Heidi exhibits strong critical tendencies toward the dominant historical narrative. Additionally, she is clearly able to contextualize and problematize the limitations imposed by her own social position and positionality. She further articulates how these would shape and bias her vision of the historical content that she would propose to be included and taught. To elaborate further on this proposed sub-category and some of its nuances, it would include individuals who are able to problematize their own inability—as products of the Egyptian educational system—to clearly articulate or represent narratives they believed were misrepresented or

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omitted. This emerged most clearly in three participants’ attempts to represent the Nubian minority and one participant’s attempt to represent Egyptian Jews. Farida, a female participant from Cairo, reflected on how difficult it was for her to represent Nubians or Berbers. These were two key Egyptian minority groups she wanted to represent in her hand-­ drawing; however, she found herself unequipped to and incapable of doing so. To illustrate, reflecting on her participatory visual methods workshop drawing (Fig. 3.14), Farida offered some remarks:

Fig. 3.14  Drawing by Farida, a participant from Cairo (produced during participatory visual methods workshop)

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I attempted to draw Nubians and Nubian houses along the Nile. However, I feel that I cannot appropriately represent Nubians. I only learned about Nubians and their culture when I did my university studies in [another Arabic-speaking West Asian country] because one of my closest friends who studied with me there was a Nubian from Egypt. Before that, all I knew was very little about Nubians including some stereotypes such as that they are simple and funny people. My Nubian friend has a lot of anger because of feeling invisible and that society imposes many stereotypes on him. Nubian identity and contribution is always reduced (tukhtazal). I couldn’t even draw the Nubian village because it is totally absent from my imagination. We didn’t study the fact that the Nubian language was key in the October 1973 war. Similarly, I couldn’t draw anything related to the Berbers of Egypt who live in the Siwa oasis. I have no visual imagery of them in my mind. I would say Berbers are generally seen as savages and Nubians are simply seen as different.

 ritical (Reflective, and Conscious of Power Dynamics) C Some participants did not stop at exhibiting critical stances vis-à-vis the dominant narrative, and strong self-reflexivity. They demonstrated an awareness of, and a critical engagement with, some of the power and structural injustices, particularly those that would manipulate historical narratives to maintain existing asymmetries and inequality. Thus, it would be important to place individuals who exhibited such abilities in a separate sub-category. As illustrated above, Heidi starts to show awareness of some powerful groups or institutions that might be ‘fabricating’ historical narratives. However, she stops at that and does not further reflect on those powers, their interests, purposes, and perhaps tactics. In contrast, Maha’s, a Muslim participant from Cairo, critical engagement with omissions and misrepresentations enables her to connect to purposes they might be serving and a status quo of existing interests they might want to maintain and secure. For instance, she argues that the general lack of representation of Coptic history from history curricula is intentional to maintain a particular social structure and hierarchy: I remember clearly, [the Coptic era] was in the last chapter [of the history textbook] and the teacher covered it very briefly and no significance was given to it really. [The textbook content] mostly focused on suffering. Mainly in one and a half pages (safha w noss) only. This led me to ask: do we really respect ‘others’ in Egypt? But the answer was obvious. They are a page and a half in a textbook. Until now, I have no understanding of that history,

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to say the least. … What were their [Coptic] contributions? What was their [Coptic] art? I know this is intentional that there is no focus on their role in history.

In addition to such an awareness of power dynamics, Maha also exhibited an ability to explain the limitations of her own social position and positionality. In reflecting on why she found it challenging to answer a question about her role as an ‘Egyptian’ citizen (part of the written exercise), in the interview she explained: From the realistic side, it is difficult to say ‘Egyptian’ to refer to a whole people. There are so many variations in income and education. Which Egyptian citizen are we talking about? It is far from coherent. Your perspective is limited by your income and socio-economic background. Maybe the only person living with a very average lifestyle can tell us what an Egyptian is. My definition or whatever I say would be biased by my privilege. Powers of privilege play a very large effect on this. Even being asked this question and sitting here [for an interview] is a privilege.

In addition to Maha’s example, Shenouda’s responses also provide some additional nuances into individuals who would fit under this proposed sub-category. As illustrated earlier, Shenouda is not only critical of the dominant narrative, but is also critical of parts of his own community’s narratives—as embodied in his critiques of the Church’s narrative. He refers to how the dominant narrative is constructed in ways that seek to reinforce a general sense of apathy and passivity among Egyptians. In doing so, he moves beyond those general common critiques to question power dynamics and their possible purposes in maintaining passive subjectivities. Further, he is reflective as was apparent in his seeking to study and engage with various historical sources to compare them with the Sunday School curricula narratives he studied at church, for instance. Critical and Multi-Perspectival Tendencies Finally, as emerges from this study, there are individuals who exhibit the ability to be critical but, importantly, they also demonstrate abilities to engage with a multiplicity of perspectives. Yara, a female participant, completed her schooling at a public school in Aswan. She was then offered a full scholarship to study at a private university in Cairo. At university she

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took several history courses and simultaneously worked on several oral history research projects. She continues to be a researcher on a few history-­ related projects at her university. In reflecting on the role of history education, she wrote: [In history education] is important to introduce the meaning of history concepts like historiography, primary sources, secondary sources, different histories the social/the economic/the history of Thought, different narratives, the power relations behind these narratives (power and knowledge in general) just to train the student to think of history, to prepare them even on a very minor level. To make history not to be the recipient of a certain narrative. This, for me, is more important than any event or character in particular, it’s the very rationale of teaching history to produce the modern subjects that go into the machine, do their parts, & never question or understand it.

In presenting her pre-interview drawing, Yara explained the difficulty she faced in capturing the multiplicity of perspectives that she attempted to represent: For each of the different eras, I wanted to show whether it was a line going up [progress] or down [decline]. But what does that line represent exactly? Culture? The economy? For instance, may be for the Ottomans it could be down, as they didn’t emphasize technological advancement and scientific research and support it. For the British occupation period, which class exactly would the line represent? And who benefited from [the occupation]? For some groups the line would be going up and for some others it would be doing down.

As is clear from these narrative excerpts Yara’s approach to history did not stop at problematizing how history could be manipulated by the modern state to serve its purposes. She demonstrated an ability to deconstruct the dominant narrative as some of the participants demonstrating the critical (reflective) tendencies might have done. However, she goes further and transcends that critical (reflective) approach by advocating that students be offered opportunities to develop tools of independent engagement with multiple historical narratives and perspectives to potentially construct their own narratives. She is also able to identify and unpack some limitations that would be inherently associated with any one perspective, including her own, in attempting to prescribe a ‘decline’ or a ‘progress’ label. In doing that, she’s clearly acknowledging the multiplicity

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of potential viewpoints and approaches to the same historical event or figure. Similar tendencies emerge in the case of Hussein’s approach to history and various historical narratives. A male participant who completed his public education in Damietta, he is a student of comparative English literature at a private university in Cairo. He critiqued the dominant narrative; however, like Yara, he questioned whether there is one true or correct narrative. This propelled him to refrain from advocating any one alternative narrative. He was also able to articulate the role of power dynamics in constructing historical narratives. In fact, he went as far as directly pointing out the shortcoming of advocating any one particular narrative. In his view, any one narrative would by design, be flawed and would leave out other narratives or perspectives: [History education should help students realize] that history is not simply one story but that there are several narratives and that there is an authority that controls which narrative is being promoted and which needs to be protected as a dominant official narrative which draws the ideal vision of the Egyptian personality… if you excuse the expression … these personalities and events fill important gaps in our imagination and understanding of how we reached what we have reached now … for instance, understanding the shift in the public administration system and how it reached what it did now helps us realize the negative consequences of the appointment system (nizaam-il-ta’yeen) [government-guaranteed placement jobs system] that started with Nasser’s regime … and the infiltration of unqualified military officers to lead key executive institutions and local administrative authorities…

The above excerpt highlights his critical tendencies. Further, the excerpt below from Hussein’s response points to a tendency to also emphasize the importance of embracing and acknowledging multiple perspectives: But there remains a question … who owns the real version of the truth? … who can provide or create an ‘effective history narrative’ [he makes the inverted comma signs in the air] which tells the truth of historical events and their consequences … revisiting and rebuilding the framework of this narrative to allow it to be more neutral, objective … but what would guarantee that in our efforts to achieve such an end, that we would not be ourselves oppressing or marginalizing another segment [of society] that does not fit

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into the narrative? … and what if [having multiple perspectives] is just an idealistic vision that contradicts what is actually needed in real life?

As can be detected from Yara’s and Hussein’s cases, participants exhibiting these tendencies had a difficult time feeling comfortable articulating alternative historical narratives. This is precisely because of their strong critical awareness of their positionality which is closely connected with the tendencies emerging in this proposed category. They argued that these narratives would vary by the group that is narrating it. This is also clear in how Fatima explained why in her pre-interview drawing (Fig. 3.15), she felt obliged to draw two parallel lines with several symbols being represented between those lines:

Fig. 3.15  Pre-­ interview drawing by Fatima, a participant from Giza

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I drew two lines here to show that there is always more than one version of the story. And in between the two lines I included some symbols to show the diversity of the country. History follows two lines always: one of goodness and one of evil. For instance, during the January 2011 revolution events even though people were dying, there was a sense of utopia. Muslims supported Christians as they were praying, and so on. And within those two lines, where grey signifies corruption and the blue color signifies optimism, between them we see several symbols. In every moment there is everything, lots of good or bad things.

Fatima also exhibits a critical ability to engage with her positionality and how it shapes her approaches to history. Looking back at her personal history, she explained that she has personally evolved over time from being a “strictly religious and conservative” person shaped by her family and early upbringing. These earlier socially and religiously conservative attitudes and tendencies were shaped by growing up in a small rural community in Giza where she still lives. In sharp contrast, she now identifies as a strong advocate for personal and religious freedoms, and respect for diversity, including starting to research and write about some traditionally taboo and controversial topics, such as homosexuality and dominant Islamic interpretations of it. Similar to Fatima’s need to draw more than one line representing the multiplicity of perspectives, in her pre-interview drawing, Nesrine, who has been active in founding a voluntary initiative that adopts critical approaches in teaching the humanities and social sciences, also wanted to draw several lines. She further elaborated: Drawing one line is too simplistic. If I could I wanted to draw a line that shows these different perspectives since one line can’t work or capture the richness and complexity of history.

Those participants were critical of how the dominant historical narrative is constructed. Beyond that, they exhibited strong abilities of critical self-reflection upon their own positionalities and their limitations. Importantly, they have also acknowledged and emphasized the complexity of any ‘history,’ highlighting the multiplicity of narratives and perspectives. To illustrate, they saw that history education needs to serve the purpose of helping students understand the nature of history and that it also needs to equip them with the tools necessary for conducting their own

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historical research. Their vision is that this eventually would help students develop their own historical narratives and approaches to history. This last category is very closely connected to—if not identical to—Rüsen’s genetic type.

Final Thoughts As I attempted to illustrate and engage with in this chapter, this study points to some additional nuances that I believe are crucial to take into account when theorizing historical consciousness. These nuances mainly pertain to the need to move beyond the depiction of individuals exhibiting traditional and exemplary tendencies as all being labeled unreflective. As illustrated, in a few cases, individuals simultaneously exhibited traditional or exemplary tendencies while also starting to show tendencies toward being self-reflective. As illustrated above, it is crucial to differentiate at least three critical tendencies’ sub-categories. First, the critical (unreflective) sub-category, which describes individuals able to start to be critical of the dominant narrative, but show little self-awareness or critical reflection vis-à-vis their own positionality and thus the alternative historical narratives they might choose to embrace. Second, the critical (reflective) sub-­ category is where individuals are able to engage in similar critical approaches to the dominant narrative and others, while exhibiting an ability to self-reflect on their positionalities and limitations they impose on their understanding of various historical narratives. Third, the proposed critical (reflective, and conscious of power dynamics) sub-category aims to capture the historical consciousness of those individuals exhibiting not only an ability to critically engage with some historical narratives and a self-awareness of the limitations their analyses inherently entail, but also an acknowledgment of power dynamics shaping constructions of various historical narratives. It is worth noting that these proposed nuances—especially within critical tendencies—are clearly informed by and draw inspiration from critical discourse analyses and Critical Pedagogy theorizations. Those theories, with their strong emphasis on the need to analyze power dynamics and historical injustices, would help shed light and encourage us to introduce more nuanced understandings under the critical tendencies umbrella, which is often dealt with as one monolithic bloc. In addition, as discussed in Chap. 1, such nuances are also inspired by earlier contributions made by historical consciousness theorists, such as Pandel and Lücke (Kölbl & Konrad, 2015, p. 22).

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Such nuances might be unique to the Egyptian context. However, they arguably have some resonances that could help elucidate and provide additional insights when studying individuals’ historical consciousness in other contexts. This should hopefully be especially helpful in non-Western contexts in which historical consciousness arguably remains generally understudied and undertheorized. What has been emerging from the above analyses and discussions will be further elaborated and connected to individuals’ civic engagement and actions in Chap. 5.

References Abdel-Mageed, D. (2010, August 8). Are Egyptians writing their history? Daily News Egypt. http://www.masress.com/en/dailynews/121916 Abdou, E. D. (2016). ‘Confused by multiple deities, ancient Egyptians embraced monotheism’: Analysing historical thinking and inclusion in Egyptian history textbooks. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(2), 226–251. Bryant, A., & Charmaz, K. (2007). Introduction: Grounded theory research: Methods and practices. In A. Bryant & K. Charmaz (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of grounded theory (pp. 1–28). Sage Publications. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage Publications. Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). Grounded theory: The discovery of grounded theory. Sociology: The Journal of the British Sociological Association, 12, 27–49. Kölbl, C., & Konrad, L. (2015). Historical consciousness in Germany. In K.  Ercikan & P.  Seixas (Eds.), New directions in assessing historical thinking (pp. 17–28). Routledge. Van Doorn-Harder, P. (2005). Copts: Fully Egyptian, but for tattoo? In M.  Shatzmiller (Ed.), Nationalism and minority identities in Islamic societies (pp. 22–57). McGill-Queen’s University Press.

CHAPTER 4

Young Egyptians’ Civic Attitudes and Engagement

The previous chapter explored how young Egyptians might approach history. So, does that understanding and approach to history contribute to shaping their civic attitudes? If so, how does that manifest in the choices they make and actions they take? In this chapter, I present the results and findings related to how participants’ interactions with the dominant historical narrative—including its misrepresentations and omissions—influence their subjectivities and civic attitudes. I start by presenting the themes that emerged regarding the participants’ interactions with some of the key historical omissions and misrepresentations they problematized. I then present how these omissions or misrepresentations influence participants’ approaches to history education more generally. Based on the findings emerging from the Egyptian context, I propose some additional nuances to the historical consciousness typology proposed by Rüsen and other scholars. Finally, I engage with how these interactions with the dominant narrative and its representations shape participants’ civic attitudes. Within this theme, I present the various manifestations of these civic attitudes, which relate to the participants’ understandings of the Egyptian identity; civic engagement and their role in society; and their intergroup dynamics.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. D. Abdou, Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt, Curriculum Studies Worldwide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0_4

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Influences of Interactions with Dominant Narrative and Omissions on Shaping Civic Attitudes In the next section, I present the key themes that emerged from the participants’ responses, especially related to their understandings of the Egyptian identity, and their current and future roles in society and civic engagement: Understandings of Egyptian Identity Shaped by Interactions with Dominant Narrative and Recent Political Events Several participants spoke especially of the 2011 events being formative to their understandings of their belonging to Egypt. Some stated that those events helped them discover a new sense of belonging to the country. However, for several, these positive sentiments were later replaced by a sense of alienation, as translated in shifts in their civic engagement. Similarly, a clearer class-consciousness emerged, where several of the participants used their middle-class status to assert how they possessed a stronger sense of responsibility and ‘Egyptianness,’ especially as compared to those belonging to upper and more privileged classes. I illustrate and elaborate on some of those findings below:  he 2011 Revolution: Inspiring a Sense of an Inclusive T Egyptian Identity Several participants spoke clearly about how the 2011 uprisings and their aftermaths were among the highlights in their lives when they felt a strong sense of belonging to Egypt. Abdel Rahman, who grew up in Daqahleyya and who recently co-established an initiative that aims to expose secondary level students to critical perspectives about humanities and social sciences, explained how January 2011 had marked a clear shift: The January 25th revolution is the real event which, at the time, made me feel I was Egyptian and that I belong to this country and that I want to offer something to it. It is the only event and since its beginning I started feeling that I care about public affairs (al shaan al ‘aam) in Egypt. Before it, I did not participate in any voluntary or public action and I did not care much about public affairs and I was not aware of what was happening in the country.

Rana, who was also active during the 18 days in Tahrir Square and subsequently active with an opposition political party and campaigning for a

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presidential candidate in the 2013 elections, explained what January 2011 represented for her and why she chose to highlight it as one of the key events that made her strongly identify with being an Egyptian citizen: I felt that this was our opportunity [for us] as a generation to create a different reality and to express ourselves. It offered a space for protesting and building and reimagining our reality. With the revolution, my life has become before and after the revolution. The revolution was a turning point. I felt at the time that I was part of [shaping] my country’s history and that anything was possible. The revolution raised the ceiling of the possible, even during the most difficult of moments.

Similarly, Ghada explained: Back then I felt like being part of this event that would be the most important thing in my life. Being there [in Tahrir Square] from the first day made me feel empowered.

 iddle-Class People Care More and Are ‘More Egyptian’ M Several of the participants pointed to how, as middle-class people, they felt they embodied the Egyptian identity more deeply and that they cared more about the country’s future. For instance, Shenouda, who strongly identifies with his family’s middle-class background, elaborated how his mostly privileged university colleagues are not as attached to the country as he is: I was shocked by how my privileged colleagues [at university] are not patriotic at all (mesh wataneyeen khaless). In my case, for instance, I realized how I am still very attached to this country. I received a good offer to study in a university in Australia and I was about to immigrate. But after listening to a song entitled Ahaager Wa-Asseebek Li-Meen (how can I leave and abandon you?) I convinced myself that maybe I can just go study abroad then come back.

Through reflecting on her own civic engagement experiences, Shams also problematized how detached she found upper-class Egyptians to be from reality and the needs of other Egyptians. Based on volunteering with one of the largest youth-led NGOs in Egypt, she observes: 80% of the upper class of Egyptians feel this [volunteering and community service] is not their role and they have options to leave the country. They are

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also not very generous in donating or supporting, but middle-class people like us try to play a positive role by improving themselves and others around them. I saw this through my own volunteering in [a youth-led NGO]. The volunteers mostly came from the middle class (taba’ah motawasitah)… Look at how Mostafa Kamel [nationalist anti-colonial leader of the early twentieth century] and others organized night schools for workers. One can continue to have a positive role no matter what the circumstances are.

Maha also critiqued the upper classes: The higher classes have many options to leave, and the poor classes are too overwhelmed by making ends meet. So, it is our role and has always been the role of the middle class to work and help improve society, even if it is through improving themselves.

Similarly, Maria criticizes colleagues in her elite private university, exclaiming: They are very Westernized and they even look very artificial! This is not how to be modern. There is apathy also. My colleagues were laughing about Egypt’s low ranking in education [in comparative global rankings] and the high prevalence of diseases. Many of those youth are not connected or feel this is part of their responsibility. Some of them fake an [American or British] accent and are proud not to be able to speak fluent [Egyptian] Arabic. I [as a Christian] even know more Quranic verses than those [privileged Muslim] colleagues. Many of them are rich and are able to acquire other citizenships or continue their education elsewhere [outside of Egypt]. They even make fun of me when I play Um Kulthum’s [famous Egyptian diva] songs or when I suggest to go for a walk in El Moez Street [a quarter with some of old Cairo’s key historical mosques].

Sense of Exclusion Prompting Community Outreach and Civic Engagement Heidi has explained that being a girl and a Copt growing up in the governorate of Gharbeyya, she might have experienced a stronger sense of exclusion than some of her colleagues did. This has clearly shaped her civic attitudes. She explained that her current and future work with marginalized street children is guided by her own sense of marginalization, hoping to continue to support efforts that aim to instill more respect for diversity, peace, and tolerance in society:

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I want to help contribute to solving this problem of marginalization. I had heard about an initiative from some Christian friends who go through church to visit a public hospital and bring presents without knowing what the patients’ religious affiliations are. Those bring excellent results as they told me.

This also emerged among several other participants whose sense of exclusion—whether because of their religious affiliations, gender, or socio-­ economic backgrounds—prompted them to engage in community work that would help promote better understanding, tolerance, and peaceful co-existence across divides, including in the inter-religious dialogue space. Lived Political Events Contributing to Shifts in Approaches to Civic Engagement Many of the participants have been engaged in various types of community activities and organizations ranging from charity and short-relief efforts, to more economic empowerment and awareness raising efforts. Further, some participants have chosen to be inactive in their communities for various reasons, mainly due to personal reasons, such as lack of time or taking time to assess what best to do in the coming period. However, among the several who continue to be actively engaged, there are clear shifts in what they have started to be engaged with in the community as well as their future outlooks. Among those who are active or plan to be active, several spoke about hoping to be able to do their community work with as little interaction with and intervention from the state’s authorities as possible, to avoid unnecessary hurdles or bureaucratic routine. A few noted that they also did not want different entities to take credit for their efforts. Relatedly, it is important to note two shifts that could be detected in the participants’ attitudes vis-à-vis their civic engagement decisions: S hifts from Short-Term Charity Activities to Economic Empowerment and Awareness Building Based on a newfound awareness gained from their experiences in 2011, several participants explained that they decided or at least intended to shift to economic development, educational, and awareness-building activities. Among those were several who have taken time off from their community work to re-evaluate how to best get involved. They also expressed an intention of possibly getting involved with awareness raising and

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educational activities. Several participants cited the reason as that they saw several political parties and ideological movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, abuse peoples’ poverty by donating money or food or offering favors in return for securing their votes or political allegiance. Randa, who is currently not actively engaged in any community efforts, explained that she would choose educational and awareness-building activities. Her vision would be to try to overcome some of the ideological polarization she has been observing in society: Distributing blankets and food is not fulfilling for me anymore. I would like to go to talk to people about their ideas. I would like to talk to girls in areas like poor neighborhoods. We miss awareness and it has nothing to do with illiteracy. There needs to be a dialogue. We need to create a common ground. We need to reach out to people regarding women rights, for instance. [Community development people] need to go to those marginalized people. There needs to be a different approach, not a top-bottom approach. The rhetoric on women’s rights especially is very naïve. It is simply not convincing and is very cliché. Just like all the talk about national unity [between Muslims and Christians] (el-wehda el-wataneyya), sometimes in superficial and ways.

Similarly, Ghada explained: It was Jan 2011 that got me to major in political science. Now [after graduating with a university degree in political science] I plan to shift to economic development. Part of that shift was motivated by taking an economic development class and [our professor] helping me reflect upon the fact that we cannot talk to [marginalized and poor] people about politics before we fulfill their basic needs. So we will fulfill their basic needs of food, shelter, blankets… and then I can start working on other things such as political awareness and that these are your rights and not us [privileged Egyptians] being generous and kind toward you.

Nadine was mostly involved with charity and short-term relief activities during her school years. She has now shifted her focus to awareness-­ building activities, hoping to affect more systemic change: I volunteer or even select my type of work as a researcher specifically in development projects, because this is the only space that we are allowed to

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have an impact in our society. Even if we are unable to achieve that impact but at least we are trying to make society better in one way or another… I volunteered in an initiative that aims to spread the values of pacifism, nonviolence, and peace education… and the thing I am still volunteering with until today although I am giving much less time than before is [an initiative that aims to promote sustainable development] where we are helping inform and expose participants to various developmental approaches to raise their awareness about the country’s realities to encourage them to seek to create projects to change it [to the better].

S hifts Away from Purely Patriotic or Narrowly Defined Nationalistic Motives Some participants explained that although some of their previous engagements in the community were motived by narrower, nationalistic or patriotic tendencies, based on recent political events and developments they have developed broader and more inclusive motives. This shift was largely in rejection to how they perceive that the nationalistic discourse has been co-opted by some to serve their own agendas and interests. As Maha explained, for instance: I also don’t want to condemn others. I actually respect those who are doing things out of a nationalistic sentiment (sho’our watani) because they’ve seen the real face of Egypt and many of them are not serving the state or the regime, but the Egyptian people. I’m serving people who are more [geographically] proximate to me, and those happen to be Egyptians. It’s where I’ve lived most of my life. Thus, people who use patriotism or nationalism (wataneyya) in this context, I still respect them. But I have issues with the use of that word because, unfortunately, it has been abused.

Similarly, in imagining her future societal role, Nadine wrote the following: Between 2011–2012, I was very keen on being part or at least following the Egyptian political scene. However, with the disappointing management of the successive governments, I started to lose my sense of belonging. Especially when Egyptians began to be divided. I kept on doing charity and research and probably will keep on doing both for a long time. Not because I feel nationalistic, but mainly because I have seen people who need help and without the educational and medical services we provide, they won’t have any change for a decent human life. So I now mainly am interested in staying in Egypt out of humane reasons not necessarily nationalistic ones.

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In her written response, Rasha also noted her frustration. She explained that it led to a clear shift in her motives and thus, her envisioned role: I cannot really tell how I feel about my role as an Egyptian at the moment… I know it could be a temporary feeling bec. [because] of my frustration with the political and economic system, but I try to go back in time and trace my feelings… I think in 2012 I was still enthusiastic. I had hope that I can contribute to the system if I study more, be more qualified & get more people involved … I wanted to create a better Egypt that can improve its education & social system along with the new political system that we are aspiring for. The political landscape was more open back then & my achievement in this activity [organizing a national conference on education while an undergraduate university student] made me think I can add value … I was still undergrad., passionate & enthusiastic and didn’t think much about my future career or other responsibilities I have on the personal level. All what I thought of was to follow my passion and do what I could do to improve the system. I think my aspirations are different now as I became more and more frustrated in the system.

Approaches Toward History Narrative

and the Dominant

The national education’s ‘intended’ curriculum seems to have generally failed to achieve its stated goal of instilling among students an interest in the study of the country’s history, let alone the discipline of history. In contrast to these intentions, the way it was taught led many participants to have a sense of aversion to the history curriculum. This sentiment clearly emerged toward some specific eras, such as ancient Egypt. Several participants commented on how uninteresting the teaching of this ancient history was, especially because the curriculum forced them into a rote memorization of an overwhelming number of names of ancient Egyptian kings and queens. However, despite this general rejection or skepticism vis-à-vis the curriculum, the analysis shows that the curriculum did succeed in reinforcing other aspects indirectly. Those include the primordial nature of the Egyptian nation-state and the conception of history as cyclical, which will be further elaborated in the second section of this chapter. As some participants pointed out, in enacting the curriculum, some of their teachers played a key role as guides and “gatekeepers” who helped them interpret the curriculum, navigate, and negotiate it (Thornton, 2008, p. 16). Some teachers were said to have given their students some

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tactics and strategies to deal with their national standardized exams, reminding them that when you are asked to express your opinion in the exam, the examiner actually is referring to ‘the textbook authors’ opinion.’ In other cases, teachers were said to have given subtle hints into how the curricular content could be biased or inaccurate. When I shared the draft manuscript of the data analyses with the participants who had shown interest to review it, Maha noted that she heard this specific reminder repeatedly during her schooling. However, she provided an additional insight that is pertinent to stop at. She clarified that some of her teachers specifically referred to the ‘textbook’ itself as a standalone entity, not to the textbook authors, which she noted bestowed an aura of sanctity, infallibility, and unquestionable authority on the textbooks themselves. As noted by several male and female participants, teachers also played a significant role in shedding a generally negative light when narrating the role of female rulers throughout Egyptian history, including in ancient times. Expressed Skepticism Toward the Master Narrative and Formal Curriculum The fact that many historical events, including some that many participants had experienced firsthand, were altered by ruling regimes, led several to question the authenticity and the legitimacy of the ancient and modern histories they had learned in school. Clearly, as illustrated, the textbooks’ alterations in narrating the January 2011 events and their aftermaths were key triggers for that skepticism. As noted, manipulations of some of the narrations of the 2011 events triggered some participants to more critically question the dominant historical narrative. However, as illustrated, some participants had already started to develop that skepticism toward their school curriculum before the 2011 events. Other factors fed and perhaps strengthened the readiness of a sense of cynicism vis-à-vis history education. For instance, some participants whose families—whether their parents or grandparents—were somehow politically engaged cited how their families’ oral narratives helped them contest some elements of the dominant narrative. Further, some referred to how some of their teachers would allude to the fact that the curriculum was not necessarily accurate about how some events were narrated or historical figures portrayed. Some cited how it was other curricula and textbooks that were obsolete or included scientific mistakes,

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such as Chemistry, which triggered their and their colleagues’ skepticism vis-à-vis curricula’s accuracy and constructed infallibility. For most of the Coptic participants, however, it seems that the case was slightly different. The unbalanced representations of the 2011 events encouraged them as well to continue to question the credibility of their textbooks’ content. However, for several Coptic participants, their critical engagement with the textbooks had been triggered much earlier because of how they disproportionately covered the Coptic era and its contributions, especially in comparison to the detailed representation of other historical eras. Despite that skepticism and general disagreement at least with some of its elements, all participants clearly made sure to learn this narrative and reproduced it quite well. In that sense they, like students in other contexts including Estonian students, utilized a “tactic of resistance” that allowed them to use this dominant narrative or cultural tool to achieve their goals of passing their exams and graduating from school (Wertsch, 1998, p. 152). Importantly, as will be discussed further below, those with critical tendencies generally rejected and deconstructed the dominant narrative. However, perhaps expectedly, they were unable to construct a full alternative narrative. Similarly, in the case of Quebec, students—even those with clear critical tendencies—were unable to construct “a coherently alternative … narrative that replaces their main understanding of the nation with one they fully identify with” (Zanazanian, 2015a, p. 130). However, in this case, they were at least clearly able to critique fragments of that narrative, based in most cases on their lived experiences in narrating alternative narratives to the 2011 events. Further, some referred to the role of particular community institutions’ narratives that have helped them learn about omitted or misrepresented events and figures. For instance, in the case of most of the Coptic participants, they had learned about some Coptic history and contributions from their Coptic Orthodox Church’s Sunday Schools or their family discussions.

Proposing a Typology of Approaches to History and the Dominant Narrative In Chap. 3, I briefly presented some of the historical consciousness sub-­ categories and nuances that emerged from the Egyptian context and that I propose are important to take into consideration. As noted, they might be unique to the Egyptian context. However, they might also help

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elucidate dimensions and nuances that could be relevant and often underexplored within individuals’ historical consciousness, whether in contexts similar to the Egyptian one or others. In this section, I present those proposed nuances and sub-categories and engage with them further. As noted earlier, there have been some important efforts whether through operationalizing Rüsen’s typology of historical consciousness—by developing repertories that introduce nuances to Rüsen’s typology (e.g., Zanazanian, 2008, 2012, 2015a, 2015b)—or through offering alternative typologies and categories (e.g., Duquette, 2015). Inspired by those efforts and based on the patterns emerging among the participants, I expand here on the typology outlined briefly in Chap. 3, aiming to capture and theorize their key tendencies and defining features. Emerging Nuances Within the Framework of Historical Consciousness Most of the participants’ approaches to history could be clearly situated within some of the categories defined by historical consciousness scholars (e.g., Rüsen, 1989/2004; Zanazanian, 2012, 2015a). As is clearly illustrated earlier, several exhibited critical stances vis-à-vis the dominant narrative. They explicitly and implicitly engaged in a critical questioning of the dominant narrative as well as of some key defining pillars of the country’s schematic narrative template. Below, I highlight the variations that necessitated the introduction of some additional sub-categories in the framework, especially among individuals with critical tendencies. I contend that those are important if we are to capture nuances and tendencies that would otherwise remain unnoticed. Critical (Unreflective) In the case of participants exhibiting critical tendencies toward the dominant historical narrative, some simultaneously demonstrated unreflective approaches toward the alternative historical narrative they had reverted to. This was most clearly the case when those alternative historical sources were embedded in a religious-based discourse, whether Muslim or Christian. This was clearest in the cases of Hassan and Teresa. Arguably, it is not all that surprising that individuals exhibit different approaches and tendencies vis-à-vis different historical narratives. This might be the case especially for individuals who would advocate for a stronger and more visible role for religion in governance and in public life (such as in the case of Political Islam), prompting them to revert to and draw on religious-based interpretations and perspectives to historical narratives. The literature

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seems to be generally silent about how individuals negotiate various historical narratives, especially when they are embedded in often-competing discourses or meta-discourses, including religious-based versus nationalistic-­based discourses. Such tendencies are not only important, but also perhaps predictable. After all, a critical approach to history is often guided by a person’s positionality which is  informed by ideological stances and convictions that dictate clear-cut moral judgments, defining what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ So, it would be predictable and expected that participants with strong critical tendencies toward history would exhibit critical tendencies toward the dominant narrative, and perhaps the dominant ruling elite supporting and reproducing it. However, it seems that when such a critical approach emanates specifically from a religious-based discourse, it is unable to understand or critically question religion and religious institutions as social and historical constructs. Further, those individuals often seem unable to fully critique those religious institutions’ historical or current roles in sanctioning particular power asymmetries and inequalities (e.g., Starrett, 1998). Thus, based on what has emerged from the earlier analyses and discussions, it is important to note that exhibiting critical tendencies— which manifest in an ability to deconstruct a dominant narrative or parts of it—should not be expected to automatically lead to an individual’s ability to critically engage with other competing discourses, including religious-­based ones. Developing this sub-category and unpacking it further is important, especially because of the implications that the ‘unreflective’ element has on intergroup dynamics including how those shape how individuals relate to and interact with the religious ‘others.’ Clearly, in the cases of Teresa and Hassan, where this unreflective tendency was clearly the case, as Wertsch (1998) would suggest, they were both unable to exhibit a “conscious resistance or other forms of reflective intent” toward that alternative religious-based discourse. Despite their critical tendencies vis-à-vis the dominant discourse, they were clearly subordinated to “a cultural tool,” used “in accordance with socioculturally prescribed norms” shaping their inability to critically engage with the religious-based discourse (p. 146). This tendency has clear ramifications on civic attitudes: for instance, similar to the majority of other Coptic participants, Teresa was active in her local church’s Sunday School activities. However, in sharp contrast to the other Coptic participants, she showed little to no interest in community engagement efforts that would promote inter-religious understanding. Similarly, none of Hassan’s responses in his written exercise, subsequent

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interview, or participatory visual methods workshop showed any concern for generally missing or misrepresented religious minority narratives, including that of Coptic history, which was pointed out and problematized by several Muslim and Coptic participants. This distinction presented above partly resonates with Zanazanian’s (2015a) proposed introduction of a sub-tendency to be able to account for critical individuals who attempt to “overcome important narrative gaps” (p. 131). It further builds on it and offers an additional nuance that emerged from the Egyptian context, pointing to how some critical individuals might attempt to overcome those ‘narrative gaps,’ yet in an unreflective manner. As illustrated, this was clearly the case with some participants’ unreflective approaches toward transcendental or religious-­ based discourses and their historical narratives.  ritical (Reflective, and Conscious of Power Dynamics) C While a critical (reflective) tendency has already been theorized in various contexts, I would like to further engage here with a newly proposed sub-­ category that seeks to specifically capture nuances related to individuals who not only embody critical (reflective) historical consciousness tendencies, but who are also aware of and potentially able to critically engage with power dynamics and interests that shape the production and consumption of historical narratives. To capture some of these nuances, it would be helpful to engage with and build on how a  critical (reflective) tendency is currently defined. Critical tendencies are defined by their rejection of the validity of historical patterns, while arguably simultaneously proposing a “counter-narrative” (Rüsen, 1989/2004, p.  32). In terms of intergroup dynamics, as noted earlier, critical tendencies help individuals challenge dominant constructions related to “We-They dichotomies” and “pre-defined Self and Other” (Zanazanian, 2015a, p. 118). From a Critical Pedagogy perspective, such awareness and critical engagement with these power dynamics and their manifestations in historical narratives is key. Such engagement is expected to prompt individuals to problematize historical and existing societal asymmetries, including their own social positions, thus finding ways and developing tools that can help them resist “languages, ideologies, social processes and myths that position them within existing relations of power and dependency” (Giroux, 2005, pp.  135–136). As discussed earlier, some scholarly contributions have pointed to how theoretical and analytical approaches to humans’

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interactions with historical narratives generally lack enough attention to the place of power and structural injustices in individuals’ understandings of history (e.g., Kölbl & Konrad, 2015). Inspired by those important calls, I propose introducing this sub-category, which would help highlight and account for individuals who exhibit more evolved approaches to understanding and critically engaging with power dynamics.  ritical and Multi-Perspectival Tendencies C As noted, this category is introduced to capture the specific case of participants who exhibit strong critical tendencies, and who are also able to acknowledge and engage with multiple perspectives. Those individuals are not necessarily wedded to one specific counternarrative as other individuals with critical tendencies would be. It is worth noting that none of the participants seemed to fit squarely into what we might call a pure genetic tendency. Such a tendency would be characterized by being open to a multiplicity of perspectives, while not necessarily adhering to one particular ideological inclination. Participants who embodied elements of genetic tendencies, in terms of an ability to embrace multiple perspectives—that is, similar to what Rüsen (2004) introduced and what other scholars have further developed (e.g., Duquette, 2015; Seixas, 2004; Zanazanian, 2012, 2015a)—did that from a clearly critical standpoint. Those participants were fundamentally critical of the dominant narrative. However, they also exhibited an ability to appreciate and weigh multiple perspectives that offer alternatives to that dominant narrative. As illustrated in their responses, they proposed that history education needs to avoid ideological indoctrination. In their views, it should ideally seek to impart the necessary critical outlook and historical research skills, preparing students to engage with different perspectives and narratives. To capture that nuance, there was the need to introduce this critical and multi-perspectival sub-category. According to Rüsen (2004), individuals exhibiting critical as well as genetical historical consciousness tendencies are generally fewer in number as those tendencies and abilities are the most challenging for both students and teachers to deal with and develop, and hence are largely avoided in history classrooms (p. 80). Thus, the results of this study—with the relatively larger proportion of the participants falling under the critical and genetical categories—could be misleading. The fact that such a large number of participants exhibited such historical consciousness tendencies

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could be partly explained of a self-selection bias, where those interested in history and history education were more curious about, and thus more willing to volunteer to participate in, the study. The Fluidity of the Proposed Typology The vast majority of the participants might arguably fit comfortably within one of the categories presented above. Thus, it would be safe to propose it as grounds for additional study and theorization. However, it would also be prudent to note that there were at least one or two participants who did not easily fit into only one of the tendencies outlined above. This is mainly related to how, at least one or two participants who showed strong critical (reflective) tendencies toward the dominant historical narrative, simultaneously proposed traditional ways of envisioning and approaching history education and its role. To illustrate, Khadiga, a female participant from Cairo, embodied strong critical (reflective) tendencies. For instance, she was the only participant to ask critical and reflective questions related to the possibility of her Muslim family potentially having Coptic Christian roots. Further, she reflected on how such a thought changed her perception of her identity, as well as her intergroup relationships and attitudes. Additionally, she criticized her former university professor for being indoctrinated into the Nasser era socialist ideology and questioned the place of female role models in the curricula she studied at school. However, simultaneously, she was still a strong advocate for the state’s dominant narrative as it is currently presented in formal history curricula. To illustrate, when she presented her envisioned curricular reforms, she emphasized that the historical narratives and figures being presented need to be narrated in ways that instill good values and morals. As noted, such an approach is arguably a result of Khadiga’s—and other participants’—pragmatism, leading them to perhaps practice some self-censorship and only propose curricular reforms that might be seen as acceptable and possible within current realities. In her interview, she further elaborated on what we might refer to as a pragmatic approach given the realities of the Egyptian context: I would encourage narrating events. Within the context of a state narrative I would insert values and morals of movements, such as feminism. Some people might think this is also manipulating history. But if it’s educational then it needs to focus on those values, such as citizenship … origin of

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Egyptians, different religions… also history of Egyptian literature … if we choose to be biased we need to be biased towards an educational objective that aims to instill certain values and we need to do that … we’re doing it with good intentions.

These nuances confirm the need to approach historical consciousness types offered by scholars such as Rüsen more as ‘tendencies’ that are often fluid with possible overlaps (Zanazanian, 2012). Employing that more flexible approach allows researchers to be more open to nuances that might emerge from different contexts. As briefly discussed in Chap. 1, this is similar to the case of Quebec where data emerging from studies there necessitated the introduction of new sub-categories, especially in the genetical level (i.e., Quasi-Genetic and Genetic-Resistant). Those were necessary to capture nuances in how participants made sense of “the Other” (Zanazanian, 2012, p. 225). As discussed above, in the Egyptian context, what seem to emerge are less variations among those exhibiting genetic tendencies, and more among those exhibiting traditional tendencies and critical tendencies. As a result, there was the need to propose the new sub-categories, especially to capture the variations in the level of self-­ reflexivity of the individuals within each of those categories and sub-categories. Factors Influencing Shifts in Approaches to History and Dominant Narrative As discussed in Chap. 2, largely inspired by efforts of missionary schools, the late nineteenth century witnessed both the Coptic Church and the Egyptian state embarking on using written and printed texts to gain more direct control over and connection with their subjects. Such means especially helped those institutions maintain control over the messages being propagated to the masses, including religious interpretations (Sedra, 2011). Unifying the national curriculum and securing a more centralized administration of education during Nasser’s time especially also helped strengthen the project to construct the modern cultural and civic identity of Egyptian citizens. This centralized state control has continued until the modern day. As this study reveals, such attempts might be successful in propagating dominant discourses and key resilient elements of the schematic narrative template. However, as illustrated, their success to indoctrinate young Egyptians is generally being undermined. This could be

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expected to mark a shift, especially compared to earlier eras when alternative sources of information and historical knowledge might have been less readily available and less accessible, as well as more easily controlled by the state. As could be sensed from the analyses offered especially in this chapter, several factors have contributed to shaping participants’ approaches to the dominant narrative and history more generally. However, two key factors seem to be worth focusing on, given how they emerged prominently from the data analysis: the 2011 events and their aftermaths, and being involved in historical research-related training.  omentous Political Events as Key Turning Points in Challenging M Dominant Narrative The January 2011 events and their aftermaths, including the diverse opinions and camps with and against them, have all somehow become guideposts for those young people in better navigating and orienting themselves in society, and shaping their civic attitudes. In addition to a newfound sense of empowerment, the events and their subsequent representations have prompted many to acknowledge and attempt to break with the state’s—and potentially other patriarchal institutions’—dominant narratives and hegemonic projects and visions. This becomes most apparent in how several participants explained that the events helped them especially become more critical of, and thus more distant from, older generations and family members. It has allowed them to resist more vocally their attempt to have control over them and over their political opinions and civic engagement. In some contexts, such as in Quebec, scholars had argued that for students to be able to critically engage with the dominant narrative and template, teachers need to directly confront it and challenge it in the classroom (e.g., Létourneau, 2007; Létourneau & Moisan, 2004). Similar to the case of Egypt, in Quebec, momentous socio-cultural and political movements shaped individuals’ relations with the dominant narrative as well as their relationship vis-à-vis families’ oral histories and narratives. Studies have shown that among the Francophone population of Quebec, compared to other groups across Canada, family narratives play a relatively less significant role. This has been attributed, at least in part, to the Quiet Revolution (la Révolution tranquille) and modernization, which entailed challenging and rejecting the authority and control not only of the Roman Catholic church over various facets of public and private life, but also that

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of the family as an institution. Those studies have shown how in the view of younger generations, both institutions—family and Church—were closely associated with rigidity and backwardness (Conrad et al., 2009). Similarly, it was arguably the Egyptian participants’ lived experiences of the January 2011 revolution and its aftermath that have played a transformational role in preparing them to question key elements of the dominant narrative—and possibly, by extension, some of the elements of the more resilient schematic narrative template. This study shows that the exposure to—and active participation in—momentous, oppositional political events and movements helps reinforce and possibly accelerate a break away from the master narrative, which is often propagated by curriculum, teachers, and the media. As discussed, such departure and break away from the master narrative and traditional or submissive approaches to it, often informs more critical approaches toward other social sites that might be reinforcing that master narrative, such as family and religious institutions. This clearly confirms Rüsen’s (2002) argument that such individual or societal momentous events or “extraordinarily disturbing experiences of change,” play a key role in triggering shifts in individuals’ approaches to the past, and their historical consciousness tendencies (p. 1). However, it is worth noting that while the 2011 events and their aftermaths might have triggered and accelerated a process, contributing to a heightened sense of critical awareness vis-à-vis the dominant and master historical narrative, such shifts have been gradually building up over at least several years. A Gradual Erosion of the Dominant Narrative’s Legitimacy While the omission or misrepresentation of the 2011 events in history textbooks might have represented a trigger, it is telling how those omissions or misrepresentations prompted participants to be generally skeptical of history education as a whole. This is in sharp contrast to them perhaps taking those curricular misrepresentations as one among a few possible or unintended errors, for instance. Arguably, such general skepticism is indicative of a fragility of the bond of trust between the state and those young citizens. While such tensions might have been deepened by particular recent events or omissions, they seem to have started much earlier. Shifting understandings of the master narrative and more widespread critical approaches to previously taken-for-granted notions such as the nation-state, national belonging, and citizenship have clearly been further encouraged by the 2011 events and their aftermaths (e.g., Dorio, 2016; Dorio et al., 2019; Khorshid, 2014; Megahed, 2017; Moheyeldine, 2019;

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Zuhur, 2014). However, these shifting understandings did have their roots—albeit within smaller and perhaps more confined and isolated circles—starting at least in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when oppositional political movements, such as the Kefaya (Enough) movement and subsequently the youth-led 6th of April movement, started to challenge the status quo imposed by the Mubarak regime (e.g., El-Mahdi & Marfleet, 2009; Megahed, 2017; Shehata, 2008). Despite the limited space available for political participation then, these movements had the advantage of being largely “nonideological and inclusive of diverse outlooks,” making effective uses of information technology, helping them secure “broadened communication and … efficient organization” (Youniss et  al., 2013, p. 8). Additionally, with their access to social media and other alternative sources, the unique exposure of the younger generation to multiple sources of historical knowledge plays an important role in helping them deconstruct and critically engage with the dominant narrative. Compared to earlier generations, they have relatively easy access to multiple sources of information, including social media. This is in sharp contrast to how historically nation-states managed to propagate their dominant narratives while silencing competing narratives, through use of state-controlled media channels and other social sites. One of the key and most effective tools traditionally in the hands of modern nation-states to exercise their control has been mass media, through which “popular ideologies could be … standardized, homogenized and transformed, as well as, obviously exploited for the purposes of deliberate propaganda by private interests and states” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 141). However, with the ubiquity of alternatives, in most parts of the world, the modern state has lost much of the grip that it traditionally had on the central production and propagation of such messages. Thus, in addition to that widespread access to the internet and social media, increasingly critical and vocal popular TV talk shows together contributed to building a critical awareness among various segments of society about many of the Mubarak regime’s shortcomings and abuses, gradually building toward, and culminating in, the massive January 2011 uprisings (Herrera, 2012). This growing discontent among Egyptian students especially was also detected and well documented by earlier studies. For instance, in her pre-2011 study of public secondary school students, Sobhy (2012) had pointed to the erosion of the sense of national belonging and loyalty to the Egyptian state among young Egyptians. This weakening and erosion

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came in reaction to the Mubarak regime’s neoliberal policies and the breach of the social contract. These policies neither offered a quality free public education for all nor guaranteed jobs upon graduation, as these young people’s grandparents or parents would have been entitled to, especially during Nasser’s era. Thus, even in the few years preceding the 2011 uprisings, students clearly stopped passively appropriating “neoliberal (or nationalist) textbook narratives”; instead, they were starting to more openly critique the Egyptian state for not providing “real services (even when one is forced to pay for them), physical security, legal protection, job opportunities or dignified treatment” (Sobhy, 2015, p.  819). Similarly, some students in Egyptian private schools have also been found to express their critiques of the official narrative in textbooks and mass media (Moheyeldine, 2019). These ruptures and distancing from identification with a nationalistic territorial discourse could also be seen as part of a larger and more global phenomenon that historians have predicted a few decades ago. This weakening relationship with notions of the ‘nation-state,’ and arguably even toward “ethnic/linguistic groups,” is part of a trend where these concepts have arguably been gradually retreating in the face of the “new supranational restructuring of the globe” where “[n]ations and nationalism will be present in this history, but in subordinate, and often rather minor roles” (Hobsbawm, 1990, p. 182). These sentiments and identifications would stand in contrast with the stronger, and arguably more deeply entrenched, national identifications and loyalties internalized by many among the older generations. However, on the other hand, we are also witnessing a resurgence of populist, nationalistic movements—including some that are exclusionary and radical—emerging in response to some of these global trends, as can be noticed in various parts of the world (e.g., Seixas, 2018). Challenging Key Elements of the ‘Schematic Narrative Template’ Through Civic Engagement and Actions The 2011 events offered an opportunity for young Egyptians to further question, but to also find the space—albeit briefly—to present a counternarrative or an alternative, utopian vision of society. During 2011 and subsequent events, many participants were actively involved in challenging and potentially redefining some of the ‘cultural models’ they were expected to embody and enact, perhaps as more passive and docile subjects. Thus, they were able to break down long-held stereotypes and perceptions that

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arguably painted Egyptian youths as perhaps politically unaware, disinterested, and disengaged (e.g., Dorio, 2016, 2017; Moheyeldine, 2019). They were engaged in unsettling and re-imagining these cultural models, which, as Howarth (2006) reminds us, are not “static templates” pulled out of “our cognitive schemas;” instead, they should be seen as dynamic templates that allow for “re-acting, rejecting or re-forming a presentation of the world that conflicts with one’s stake, position, and self-identity” (p. 68). Many of the participants were somehow directly and practically engaged in challenging that dominant schematic narrative template and key elements of it. By taking to the streets, they challenged a ‘schematic narrative template’ that generally constructs the ‘Egyptian people’ as absent, marginal, or at best obedient subjects. Some of the key elements that were being challenged included the marginal role of the Egyptian people; the need for a leader or savior; and the central nationalistic role of the Egyptian military. These public events that participants have personally experienced seem to have empowered and helped many of them to see themselves as ‘part of making Egypt’s history,’ as articulated by some participants. However, it seems that for many, the revolution and its aftermath ultimately yielded negative results and failed to achieve its key basic goals. Drawing on the schematic narrative template, arguably several participants would explain such a perceived failure or defeat of their vision as the ‘logical’ or ‘common sense’ scripted ending. In other words, by the nation identifying a ‘savior’ and returning to ‘stability’—no matter what form of government or regime is in place as long as it maintains that desired security, order, and stability—the dominant narrative and the schematic template have arguably somehow once again been restored and kept intact.  xposure to Historical Research Methods Helps Move Beyond Critical E Deconstruction of Dominant Narrative It was also clear that several participants depended heavily on hearsay in critiquing the dominant narrative, literally using phrases such as ‘as we heard’ (zayy ma seme’na) or ‘as we were told’ (zayy ma alollna), when referring to or attempting to construct counternarratives. However, not all participants were able to move beyond that stage by conducting further historical research or critically investigating those alternative perspectives or counternarratives. In many cases, this was due to their lack of knowledge of what such research or investigation would entail. Thus, several seem to have ‘settled’ for that ‘critical-unreflective’ or ‘critical and

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self-reflective’ categories, clearly critiquing and possibly deconstructing the dominant narrative, including its various manifestations. However, only those who got exposed to and were afforded the opportunity to develop historical research skills and tools—mainly through taking university-­ level or joining non-religious-based extracurricular history courses—seem to have been able to move beyond those critical or deconstructive tendencies. Those were able to appreciate various perspectives and narratives as well as assess their plausibility, as clearly emerged in some of their responses and reflections. As noted earlier, similar to results from studies in other contexts, such as Quebec (e.g., Zanazanian, 2015a), British Columbia (e.g., Seixas & Clark, 2004), and Finland (e.g., Löfström, 2013), most of the participants exhibited reflective tendencies. While several demonstrated critical tendencies, some of the participants in this study uniquely exhibited more evolved critical and multi-perspectival tendencies. Those individuals were able to acknowledge the multiplicity of perspectives, while historicizing and contextualizing historical events and actors. As discussed in Chap. 3, these features would be characteristic of the genetic type (Rüsen, 1989/2004), and which I labeled critical and multi-perspectival to emphasize the importance of both the multi-perspectival and the critical elements common among those participants’ tendencies. Given that the past studies cited all focused on school students while this study’s participants were all either enrolled in or already graduated from higher education institutions, arguably university-level courses play a significant role in helping shape more evolved approaches to history. Those would involve an ability to conduct historical research and to acknowledge and weigh multiple perspectives, for instance. This was further confirmed through the responses of some participants in which they explained that taking university-level courses whether in history, economics, or political science helped them get exposed to the workings of history and constructions of historical narratives. This explanation would follow the logic of what Carretero and Van Alphen (2014) found in their study, where older Argentinian Grade 11 students exhibited relatively more sophisticated approaches to the master narrative when compared to Grade 8 students. However, that would clearly not only be the result of any exposure per se, but would be a function of the quality and depth of the historical research tools and skills they are being exposed to. Further analysis of the participants’ responses showed that those who listed university-level courses or non-formal

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history-related extracurricular courses and activities among their alternative sources of historical knowledge, exhibited more evolved and nuanced understandings of historical narratives and their constructions. There were some specific extracurricular activities cited by several participants as having changed their understandings of history and provided them with the tools necessary to deconstruct the dominant narrative while also conducting their own historical research, including through independent, youth-led institutes. Perhaps the only exception was Hassan—discussed in more detail earlier—whose history-related extracurricular source of knowledge was religiously based. Thus, this seemingly influenced his outlook, giving prominence to a religious-based historical narrative, precluding other narratives and perspectives. But, generally speaking, it is clear that participants who have had a chance to enroll in history-related higher education courses or extracurricular activities, exposing them to the workings of history and historical research skills and tools, were able to transcend that deconstruction characteristic of a critical historical consciousness. They were able to move toward a more genetical historical consciousness where a multiplicity of perspectives and voices are acknowledged and assessed.

Resilience of the Schematic Narrative Template and Dominant Narrative It is clear that most participants exhibited reflective tendencies, albeit with some variations and nuances. As might be expected, those exhibiting traditional/exemplary unreflective traditional/exemplary (unreflective)  tendencies mainly revealed the resilience and uncritical internalization of the dominant narrative. However, unexpectedly perhaps, the resilience of the dominant narrative and elements of the schematic narrative template was detectable among some participants  exhibiting critical  tendencies. To illustrate, some of those elements include the general perception of the Egyptian state as primordial. It also includes the lack of any alternative chronology or periodization being proposed. Further, as discussed below, it manifests in how the dominant narrative might have been internalized in conceiving of the nature of history as cyclical. I then discuss the internalization of the ancient and resilient nature of the Egyptian state.

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The Primordial Egyptian State

In their narratives as well as in their critiques, participants exhibiting critical and multi-perspectival approaches engaged with some of the key elements of the schematic narrative template. However, it is similarly indicative and insightful to discuss the key elements they did not problematize or critically engage with. This finding could be put in sharper focus if we look through the lenses of the three elements proposed by Carretero and Van Alphen (2014): “the historical subject (homogeneous or heterogeneous); historical events (simple or complex); and understanding of nation building being essentialist or constructivist” (p.  298). In most cases, participants emphasized the need to differentiate between historical subjects by period, including the different realities and experiences dictated by their socio-economic and cultural positions. Further, they refrained from referring to Egyptians as a ‘homogenous’ group. Thus, most of the critical and multi-perspectival participants exemplified a critical ability to separate “the present storyteller and the past historical subject” (Carretero, 2017, p. 518). Additionally, several were clearly able to critically engage with the multi-faceted and compounded nature of historical events. The point of departure with Carretero’s theorization is that, while the participants seem to have exhibited critical approaches to questions of ‘historical subject’ and ‘historical events,’ very few questioned “nation building” or adopted a “constructivist” approach to analyzing the nation (Carretero & Van Alphen, 2014, p. 298). In that understanding, individuals would be able to approach “(national) origins” as “constructed through precisely a historical process” (Carretero, 2017, p.  518). For instance, none of the participants critically questioned ideas of how the nation’s borders or understandings of an Egyptian ‘nation’ might have perhaps shifted or changed or been viewed differently over time. To illustrate, Karim exhibited critical and multi-perspectival tendencies, challenging the dominant narrative, while offering a radically different narrative. This was clear in how he was one of the only participants to mention the generally omitted history of the semi-autonomous republic of al-Hawarah (gumhuriyyet el-Hawarah) in Southern Egypt. However, when he sought to represent that understanding in both his hand-drawing and verbal explanation of it, he still represented that ‘within’ modern national borders, which he described as the primordial borders of Egypt. This lack of explicit questioning seems to reflect many of the participants’

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appropriation and internalization of specific elements of the dominant narrative, especially as relates to the narrations of the country’s ancient history. Further, it arguably points to the normalization and essentialization of the resilience of the Egyptian state and its highly centralized mode of governing. The fact that Egypt is the one of the oldest, if not the oldest, documented centralized nation-state, as many historians and scholars have agreed, seems to make it more challenging to critique representations of the ancient nature or resilience of the Egyptian nation-state. Such representations have been widely accepted and propagated by prominent Egyptian and non-Egyptian scholars alike, accompanied by the narrative of the founding story of King Menes’ unification of the Northern and Southern regions of the nation. This seems to make it even harder for young people to start to question this key pillar within the dominant historical narrative and Egypt’s schematic narrative template. As Hobsbawm (1997) reminds us, nations are historically novel entities pretending to have existed for a very long time. Inevitably the nationalist version of their history consists of anachronism, omission, decontextualization and, in extreme cases, lies. (p. 270)

In the case of Egypt, such representations and constructions of the Egyptian nation-state as primordial and resilient for millennia offers it an essentialized and powerful aura of legitimacy and sacredness. Further, as scholars have noted, such emphasis on this longstanding and resilient nature would affect modern-day Egyptians, as it could contribute to normalizing and legitimizing non-democratic, authoritarian rule and institutions in the country (Langer, 2017, p. 186). Lack of Coherent Alternative Narratives, Chronologies, or Periodization Participants’ critical perspectives clearly emerged in how they represented the trajectory of some of the events and eras. Further, it emerged in their representations of the overall storyline of the nation’s history whether as one of decline, stability, or progress. However, such representations were still made within the confines of the dominant narrative and its chronology of events. For instance, while some might have mentioned some

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omitted or misrepresented facts or perspectives, none of the participants attempted to provide alternative chronologies. They were arguably critiquing the dominant narrative on its own terms. This seems similar to what Carretero (2017) discovered in his studies in the contexts such as Mexico, Argentina and Spain, where even those critical of the dominant narrative still critiqued it, “within the framework of the general structures provided by master narratives” (p. 520). Being confined by the master narrative and its parameters clearly limits possibilities of offering new understandings and visions beyond those offered by dominant powers and institutions (Ball, 1993; Wertsch, 1998). Critical historians have reminded us that introducing an alternative understanding of history necessitates a fundamentally different perspective and approach. This could entail offering the often marginalized ‘subaltern’ perspective (e.g., Abul-Magd, 2013; Apple & Buras, 2006). Similarly, it might necessitate presenting an alternative chronology. An example would be some world historians’ and other scholars’ proposals to offer a less Eurocentric understanding of ancient world civilizations in some Western curricula, such as in US curricula (e.g., Marino, 2011; Marino & Bolgatz, 2010), and Canadian curricula (e.g., Abdou, 2017). 

Permeation of Dominant Linguistic References and Representations

Importantly—and of special interest, given that critical discourse analysis approaches guide and inspire this study in fundamental ways—only very few participants seemed to have been aware of the permeation of linguistic references that could subtly and implicitly reify and essentialize key elements of dominant ideologies and worldviews. To illustrate, only one participant attending the participatory visual methods workshop sought to challenge how other participants’ use of the Arabic word ‘isti’maar’ when referring to the British ‘occupation’ of Egypt. He reminded the group how the word unconsciously carries within it a subtle positive meaning and connotation. Isti’maar, he elaborated, comes from the Arabic root word ‘amar, which would imply ‘civilizing’ or ‘developing’ a place or a group of people. He was the only participant to raise and point to such a linguistic issue and how inadvertently some might use language and references that unintentionally endorse and propagate perspectives they might actually be fully opposed to.

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At the same workshop, Somaya was the only participant to be able to point to and problematize the militaristic tone and language dominating the other participants’ interventions and narrations of historical events. She saw this as a reflection of the deep penetration, amongst Egyptians and amongst people of many other nations, of a highly militarized master narrative. This lack of critique by other participants could also be understood in terms of how individuals become confined by the provisions, lenses, and tools offered by a schematic narrative template. As a result, even when critiquing it, as the participants of the workshop were clearly doing, they were limited by using its language and thus its ways of knowing, describing, and understanding the world. In that sense, these unofficial counternarratives were basically in a “hidden dialogicality” with the master narrative revealing the power of the “official account” and how it continues to “occupy a dominant position, even as it was being resisted and rejected” (Wertsch, 1998, p. 162).  The Burden of Ancient Glories and an Ancient, Resilient State Related to the conception of the primordial nature of the Egyptian nation-­ state, and the cyclical nature of history, among some participants there was arguably an uncritical acceptance and internalization of the sense of aggrandizement shaped by how Egypt’s ancient achievements and contributions are represented by the dominant narrative. This could perhaps start to explain dimensions and causes of the sense of defeatism and apathy that some exhibited. After all, an exaggeration of ancient achievements can potentially demotivate modern-day people—especially when they seek to compare those to a nation’s perceived and relatively  dismal modern achievements or contributions. This might be contributing to some feeling they would be unable to contribute to reaching similar glories. While it could be confidentially argued that the Egyptian regime does not intentionally use ancient Egyptian glories to infuse Egyptians with a sense of apathy, colonial powers did use that strategy in some contexts. As Anderson (1983/2006) reminded us, in an effort to demoralize colonized peoples of the East Indies, Dutch colonial powers sought to distance the locals from their ancient history by propagating that it had to be non-­ natives who were able to conceive of and construct those ancient impressive monuments (p. 155). In the case of Egypt, the reinforcement of the continuity and resilience of constructions of Egypt as the most ancient nation-state and centralized government, could have—at least indirectly— influenced participants’ sense of inability to perhaps affect any radical

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change on that level. As illustrated, some of the participants clearly and more directly also painted an image of an ancient and deep state that would at least be resistant to embracing new ways and approaches.

Interactions with Historical Misrepresentations and Influences on Civic Attitudes How understandings of historical narratives shape civic attitudes and outlooks has clearly emerged from some of the above analysis, including the possibility of the internalization of the cyclical nature of history, and the resilient and ancient nature of the Egyptian state. Both of those dimensions could potentially reinforce a sense of defeatism and apathy vis-à-vis any radical change or transformation. I dedicate this next section to recapping  and briefly  pointing to  the potential relationship between participants’ approaches to history, historical misrepresentations, and civic attitudes. General Sense of Exclusion Defining Civic Attitudes Most participants seem to be in the process of redefining their civic engagement based on a critical approach to a nationalistic or patriotic discourse that some seem to feel was hijacked by dominant elites to serve their own purposes. Thus, a sense of exclusion seems to be helping define and shape many of the participants’ attitudes toward their understandings of their role in society and their civic engagement. This is clearest in many of the participants’ reactions to how the 2011 events and their aftermaths, including their media and curricular representations, were manipulated to secure the status quo and interests of the ruling and dominant elites. Additionally, for many Coptic participants, a sense of misrepresentation or omission of their historical suffering and contributions also helped fuel civic attitudes and choices of civic engagement that seek to build bridges and promote inter-religious understanding and dialogue. Howarth (2004) contends that resistance shapes identity in many ways. In this case, such resistance to these omissions or misrepresentations clearly helped shape participants’ sense of identity and their civic attitudes. For some participants, the 2011 revolution, and its failure to achieve the change it aspired to, represented a major turning point for the

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rejection of the dominant narrative and anything that has an overly ‘nationalistic’ tone. Thus, informed by this rejection of the dominant nationalistic narrative, many have moved away from labeling or defining their actions as patriotic or nationalistic. Furthermore, several of them have intentionally shifted toward activities that would lead to empowering marginalized segments of society. They have chosen to focus on such efforts hoping to help these segments become more economically independent, and thus critically aware of various ideological movements and their possible manipulations to serve their own narrow interests and selfserving visions. Many of the participants’ general disappointment with the outcomes of their engagement in the 2011 revolution and its aftermath has led them to revert to civil society work. This shift is also informed by a new and more critical awareness of their roles and the need to adopt a more gradual process toward their desired long-term changes. Several noted that the less educated masses were either easily manipulated by the Muslim Brotherhood or other political opponents. Such manipulation was done either in the name of religion or through manipulating their poverty, by offering them food or other short-term relief items in return for their votes and support. They also witnessed that successful manipulation in how the masses and the older generations especially were easily turned against the youth and their positive role in the 2011 uprisings. Mass media played a powerful role in shaping that public opinion and attitude. Such findings confirm results emerging from an earlier study which interviewed young Egyptian activists. It demonstrated how—after brief political engagements and activism during the 2011 events—many young people have pragmatically reverted to less confrontational and less risky activities, until perhaps an opportunity for meaningful political participation arises in the future (Abdou & Skalli, 2017). Another determinant of civic attitudes and motives was a strong awareness of socio-economic class. The emergence of a socio-economic class-­ consciousness as a crosscutting theme among participants points to an important identity marker that might be overlooked. As illustrated, several participants referred to their motive for civic engagement as emanating from what they see as their role as individuals belonging to the Egyptian middle class. Seeing themselves as continuing an important traditional historical role and responsibility of that class, several participants were sure to also point out that during the 2011 events it was mainly individuals belonging to the Egyptian middle class who took to the streets to call for

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change. Thus, class seems to be approached not only as an identity marker that reinforces and affirms the sense of ‘Egyptianness,’ but also the responsibility this puts on those who belong to it to continue to play an active and positive role in their communities, and in society at large.

References Abdou, E. D. (2017). Toward embracing multiple perspectives in world history curricula: Interrogating representations of intercultural exchanges between ancient civilizations in Quebec textbooks. Theory & Research in Social Education., 45(3), 378–412. Abdou, E. D., & Skalli, L. (2017). Egyptian youth-led civil society organizations: Alternative spaces for resistance and civic engagement? In E. Oinas, H. Onodera, & L. Suurpää (Eds.), What politics? Youth and political engagement in Africa (pp. 75–94). Brill. Abul-Magd, Z. (2013). Imagined empires: A history of revolt in Egypt. University of California Press. Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Verso. Apple, M. W., & Buras, K. L. (2006). The subaltern speak: Curriculum, power, and educational struggles. Routledge. Ball, S. J. (1993). What is policy? Texts, trajectories and toolboxes. The Australian Journal of Education Studies, 13(2), 10–17. Carretero, M. (2017). Teaching history master narratives: Fostering imagi-nations. In M.  Carretero, S.  Berger, & M.  Grever (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of research in historical culture and education (pp. 511–528). Palgrave Macmillan. Carretero, M., & Van Alphen, F. (2014). Do master narratives change among high school students? A characterization of how national history is represented. Cognition and Instruction, 32(3). Conrad, M., Létourneau, J., & Northrup, D. (2009). Canadians and their pasts: An exploration in historical consciousness. The Public Historian, 31(1), 15–34. Dorio, J. N. (2016). The struggle for “bread, freedom, and social justice”:(Re) imagining citizenship (s) and University Citizenship Education in Egypt. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California. Dorio, J. N. (2017). The revolution as a critical pedagogical workshop: Perceptions of university students reimagining participatory citizenship(s). In N. Megahed (Ed.), Education during the time of the revolution in Egypt: Dialectics of education in conflict (pp. 9–36). Sense Publishers.

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Dorio, J. N., Abdou, E. D., & Moheyeldine, N. (Eds.). (2019). (Re)imagining subjects and citizens: The struggle for citizenship education in formal, non-­formal, and informal spaces in Egypt. Routledge. Duquette, C. (2015). Relating historical consciousness to historical thinking through assessment. In K. Ercikan & P. Seixas (Eds.), New directions in assessing historical thinking (pp. 50–63). Routledge. El-Mahdi, R., & Marfleet, P. (2009). Egypt: The moment of change. Zed Books. Giroux, H. (2005). Schooling and the struggle for public life: Democracy’s promise and education’s challenge. Paradigm Publishers. Herrera, L. (2012). Youth and citizenship in the digital age: A view from Egypt. Harvard Educational Review, 82(3), 333–352. Hobsbawm, E. J. (1990). Nations and nationalism since 1780: Programme, myth, reality. Cambridge University Press. Hobsbawm, E. J. (1997). On history. The New Press. Howarth, C. (2004). Re-presentation and resistance in the context of school exclusion: Reasons to be critical. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 14, 356–377. Howarth, C. (2006). A social representation is not a quiet thing: Exploring the critical potential of social representations theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 45(1), 65–86. Khorshid, S. (2014). Egypt: How the revolution has impacted the debate over minority rights and multiculturalism. In M. Ennaji (Ed.), Multiculturalism and democracy in North Africa: Aftermath of the Arab spring (pp.  223–245). Routledge. Kölbl, C., & Konrad, L. (2015). Historical consciousness in Germany. In K.  Ercikan & P.  Seixas (Eds.), New directions in assessing historical thinking (pp. 17–28). Routledge. Langer, C. (2017). The informal colonialism of Egyptology. From the French expedition to the security state. In M. Woons & S. Weier (Eds.), Critical epistemologies of global politics (pp. 182–226). E-International Relations Publishing. Létourneau, J. (2007). Remembering our past: An examination of the historical memory of young Québécois. In R. Sandwell (Ed.), To the past: History education, public memory & citizenship in Canada (pp.  71–87). University of Toronto Press. Létourneau, J., & Moisan, S. (2004). Young people’s assimilation of a collective historical memory: A case study of Quebeckers of French-Canadian heritage. In P. Seixas (Ed.), Theorizing historical consciousness (pp. 109–128). University of Toronto Press. Löfström, J. (2013). How Finnish upper secondary students conceive transgenerational responsibility and historical reparations: Implications for the history curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46(4), 515–539.

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Marino, M. (2011). World history and teacher education: Challenges and possibilities. The Social Studies, 102, 3–8. Marino, M., & Bolgatz, J. (2010). Weaving a fabric of world history? An analysis of US state high school world history standards. Theory & Research in Social Education, 38, 366–394. Megahed, N. (Ed.). (2017). Education during the time of the revolution in Egypt: Dialectics of education in conflict. Sense Publishers. Moheyeldine, N. (2019). One subject, various understandings: Secondary school student perceptions of citizenship in post-revolutionary Egypt. In J. N. Dorio, E. D. Abdou, & N. Moheyeldine (Eds.), The struggle for citizenship education in Egypt (pp. 124–139). Routledge. Rüsen, J. (2002). Introduction: Historical thinking as intercultural discourse. In J. Rüsen & Universität Bielefeld (Eds.), Western historical thinking: An intercultural debate (pp. 1–11). Berghahn Books. Rüsen, J. (1989/2004). Historical consciousness: Narrative structure, moral function, and ontogenetic development. In P.  Seixas (Ed.), Theorizing historical consciousness (pp. 63–85). University of Toronto Press. Sedra, P. (2011). From mission to modernity: Evangelicals, reformers and education in nineteenth century Egypt. IB Tauris. Seixas, P. (2004). Theorizing historical consciousness. University of Toronto Press. Seixas, P. (2018). Foreword. In S. A. Metzger & L. M. Harris (Eds.), The Wiley international handbook of history teaching and learning (pp. xiii–xviii). John Wiley and Sons. Seixas, P., & Clark, P. (2004). Murals as monuments: Students’ ideas about depictions of civilization in British Columbia. American Journal of Education, 110(2), 146. Shehata, D. (2008). Youth activism in Egypt. Arab reform brief. Arab Reform Forum. Sobhy, H. (2012). Education and the production of citizenship in the late Mubarak Era: Privatization, discipline and the construction of the nation in Egyptian secondary schools. Doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Sobhy, H. (2015). Secular façade, neoliberal Islamisation: Textbook nationalism from Mubarak to Sisi. Nations and Nationalism, 21(4), 805–824. Starrett, G. (1998). Putting Islam to work: Education, politics, and religious transformation in Egypt. University of California Press. Thornton, S. (2008). Continuity and change in social studies curriculum. In L. S. Levstik & C. A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 15–32). Routledge. Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. Oxford University Press. Youniss, J., Barber, B.  K., & Billen, R.  M. (2013). Children in the garden of democracy: The meaning of civic engagement in today’s Egypt. JSSE-Journal of Social Science Education, 12(1).

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Zanazanian, P. (2008). Historical consciousness and the ‘French-English’ divide among Quebec history teachers. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 40(3), 109–130. Zanazanian, P. (2012). Historical consciousness and the structuring of group boundaries: A look at two francophone school history teachers regarding Quebec’s anglophone minority. Curriculum Inquiry, 42(2), 215–239. Zanazanian, P. (2015a). Historical consciousness and being Québécois: Exploring young English-speaking students’ interactions with Quebec’s master historical narrative. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 47(2), 113–135. Zanazanian, P. (2015b). Historical consciousness and metaphor: Charting new directions for grasping human historical sense-making patterns for knowing and acting in time. Historical Encounters, 2(1), 16–33. Zuhur, S. (2014). Claiming space for minorities in Egypt after the Arab spring. In M. Ennaji (Ed.), Multiculturalism and democracy in North Africa: Aftermath of the Arab spring (pp. 246–274). Routledge.

CHAPTER 5

Toward More Holistic Analytical Frameworks and Pedagogical Tools: How Do Interactions With History Shape Civic Engagement and Actions?

With the ultimate goal of allowing curricula and classroom to offer spaces and opportunities for critical engagement toward developing more critical and transformative types of citizenship among young people, a key contribution this book seeks to make is to further elucidate the relationship between individuals’ interactions with historical narratives, and their civic engagement and actions. As discussed before, on one hand, earlier studies have offered some helpful insights into types of historical consciousness, including seeking to critically engage with, build on, and further refine Rüsen’s model (e.g., Duquette, 2015; Zanazanian, 2010, 2012, 2015). On the other hand, scholars have theorized and offered helpful insights into citizenship and civic action types (e.g., Banks, 2008; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004). Engaging with them, some scholars have built on these leading scholars’ typologies. For example, some have productively built on the Westheimer and Kahne typology in their analyses of social studies teachers’ approaches to, and embodiment of, notions of citizenship (Peck & Herriot, 2015), including in studying U.S. high school teachers (e.g., Patterson et  al., 2012), and in analyzing the approaches and beliefs of American and Canadian school teachers (e.g., Faden, 2012). Further, based on her study of Egyptian school students, Moheyeldine (2019)

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builds on these two citizenship typology models (i.e., Banks, 2008; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004), and offers some additional nuances, which I draw on in my analysis below. In all these studies, scholars have offered helpful insights into both areas, but their focus remained on only one space and its typologies and tendencies. Thus, inspired by these efforts, I believe it would be helpful to seek to bring the two frameworks together in ways that could help us name and continue to explore and examine possible connections between individuals’ approaches to historical narratives and their civic engagement and actions. My hope is that these insights could be of help for us to better understand the dynamics of critical and transformative citizenship, and thus, to guide curricular reform visions and efforts in Egypt. Further, it is my hope that it could offer some insights as a pedagogical tool for teachers seeking to help nourish more critical, self-reflective, and transformative tendencies among their students. Current scholarly discussions and theorizations around historical consciousness and those around individuals’ civic engagement and actions, especially in the global South, seem to be largely done in separate academic circles. Given the lack of current theoretical frameworks and models that deliberately seek to bring the two together to shed light on how individuals’ approaches to history and historical narratives might shape the understanding of their civic roles and thus their civic engagement and actions, in this chapter, I present some insights that would hopefully be helpful to consider toward developing more holistic pedagogical tools and guiding frameworks. In doing so, I briefly engage with literature related to efforts to provide a theoretical understanding of how individuals’ understandings of the past shape their civic attitudes. Then based on the Egyptian context and the findings of the aforementioned study, which have been discussed throughout the past four chapters, I offer some insights toward such possible connections. These theoretical insights emerging from the Egyptian context could have resonances with other contexts, especially non-Western ones. Being cognizant of those non-Western contextual specificities is important as it helps establish a more realistic understanding. This, in turn, should allow for better visioning and for developing more practicable trajectories to chart these societies’ paths toward becoming more democratic, inclusive, and equitable. Thus, the intention here is partly to attempt to build on and further advance the literature and theorizations around these

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questions, which are still dominated by findings emerging from Western contexts and analyzed from largely Eurocentric perspectives. Elaborating further on the different types of citizenships as per participants’ emergent historical consciousness tendencies, I propose some potential connections that could help us better discern how understandings of history and interactions with the master narrative influence civic attitudes and actions. Based on such analyses, I then propose a typology based on the Egyptian context. In this proposed typology, I bring together Rüsen’s (1989/2004) typology, Zanazanian’s (2015) ‘repertory of ideal-­ type tendencies of historical consciousness’ on the one hand, and citizenship and civic action typologies developed by Banks (2008), and Westheimer and Kahne (2004), on the other hand. While there are other citizenship typologies proposed, Banks’ as well as Westheimer and Kahne’s typologies remain among the most widely cited and discussed among academic circles. They are also generally quite reflective of the efforts in this space. Given that these are Western models emerging from Western and democratic contexts that are largely different from that of Egypt, as Moheyeldine (2019) notes, we need to be cautious as well as cognizant of some nuances that applying those typologies in a decontextualized manner might fail to capture, such as “a citizen who is inactive due to perceived political risks and personal security considerations,” and who might—if the analyses is not contextualized—end up being “labeled as a minimal citizen” (p. 127). Thus, I attempted to remain fully cognizant of some of those constraints and sought for my grounded theory approach to allow me to let the data shape typologies and nuances that might be emerging from my participants’ responses. Further, to help mitigate some of these potential shortcomings of the typologies being drawn on and to seek to capture the nuances and specificities that emerge from the Egyptian and regional context (Bayat, 2013), I also draw on and engage with the typology that Moheyeldine (2019) proposes based on her study with students of four Egyptian schools. As noted above, in her study, she critically engages with the two typologies (Banks, as well as Westheimer and Kahne’s) and proposes helpful nuances and additional insights into each of the types. Thus, in proposing the insights I offer, I take those insights into full consideration and seek to build on them. It would be important to clarify that this is not claiming to be a full-­ fledged model or framework. However, this chapter seeks to offer some insights into a much-needed better refinement and articulation of our

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understandings of civic engagement and action as well as citizenship-types, especially as they relate to developing countries through adopting historical consciousness as a lens to deepen that understanding. Drawing inspiration from past and current efforts to build pedagogical tools, my hope is that this analysis would make a modest contribution and offer some helpful insights, especially for curriculum developers, teacher educators, and teachers in their quest to better understand and respond especially to how social studies curricula and their enactment might be contributing to shaping students’ civic engagement and actions. Additionally, I am aiming to challenge some dominant frameworks that seem to be largely Western and Eurocentric, thus missing important nuances shaped by other contexts’ realities, including in developing and non-Western nations, such as Egypt.

Exploring Connections Between Historical Consciousness, and Citizenship and Civic Engagement Tendencies As discussed above, in his theorization of historical consciousness, Rüsen does present some elements that could help guide us and elucidate how different types of historical consciousness would manifest in and shape individual actions and how they engage with and respond to their external environment, other individuals and groups, and society at large. For instance, as discussed earlier, he reminded us that the external orientation of an individual with a traditional historical consciousness would be defined by affirming “pregiven orders by consent about a valid common life” (p.  72). In contrast, a critical historical consciousness type would take a critical stance vis-à-vis expectations or “pregiven obligations,” seeking to definitively break “the moral power of values by denying their validity” (p. 72). Finally, a genetic historical consciousness type would accept “different standpoints within a comprising perspective of common development,” while exhibiting an ability to historicize and contextualize their approach to moral values (p. 72). Although Rüsen’s model does provide some general insights into varying external orientations and moral reasoning dictated by the various types of historical consciousness, he does not necessarily elaborate much on how those might correspond with particular civic attitudes, let alone how they might translate into civic engagement and actions. Thus, it was instructive to seek to engage with and draw on other theoretical frameworks that

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focus on different types and that offer insights into how such types of civic attitudes would manifest themselves in types of civic actions that individuals choose to engage in (e.g., Banks, 2008; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004). Although there are other typologies, Banks’ (2008) as well as Westheimer and Kahne’s (2004) seem to be among the most widely accepted, and cited, and engaged with among scholarly contributions within educational studies and curriculum studies. In making this contribution, I am also building on and drawing inspiration from the earlier efforts of scholars who have made important contributions to citizenship education, including through drawing on Banks as well as Westheimer and Kahne’s frameworks (e.g. Moheyeldine, 2019). Thus, these proposed elements of a pedagogical tool aim to build on some of these earlier contributions and further advance the conversation, especially through illuminating and highlighting some potential relationships and connections between individuals’ historical consciousness tendencies and their civic engagement and actions. American education scholar James Banks (2008) proposes a linear progression of types of citizenship from legal/minimal to active ultimately reaching the stage of transformative citizenship. Whereas legal/minimal is characterized by an adherence to fulfilling the minimum obligations of a citizen such as voting, and an active citizenship might entail being more engaged, but within the system and its institutions, a transformative citizenship oftentimes would mean challenging the system and its institutions’ very premise and dominant ideologies. Banks’s (2008) typology is embedded in a continuum where he sees most schools transmitting a traditional citizenship education, while we should actually be aspiring for schools to develop a transformative citizenship education. The third level that Banks (2008) proposes is the active citizen, which he describes as a citizen who votes and who also takes active steps and is committed to “to actualize existing laws and conventions” (p. 137). The next level he proposes is the transformative citizen, which he defines as an individual “who takes actions to actualize values and moral principles beyond those of conventional authority” (p.  137). The key distinction between those two levels is that while an active citizen would confine their actions “within existing laws, customs, and conventions,” a transformative citizen would attempt to “promote values and moral principles⎯ such as social justice and equality” even if they might be in violation of “existing conventions and laws” (p.  137). Importantly, transformative citizens “develop reflective cultural, national, regional, and global identifications”

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and gain “the knowledge and skills needed to promote social justice in communities, nations, and the world” (p. 137). Arguably, those classifications resonate with Duquette’s (2015) proposal to distinguish between non-reflective and reflective types of historical consciousness. As discussed, in this distinction, traditional and exemplary historical consciousness types—which Duquette classifies as non-reflective—would overlap with a traditional vision of citizenship education (including minimal, legal, and active in Banks’s typology). In this same understanding, critical and genetic historical consciousness—classified by Duquette as reflective— would arguably coincide with Banks’s proposed transformative citizenship type. But Banks’s (2008) model applies well to well-functioning democratic contexts where minimum rights of political participation are safeguarded and guaranteed. As for less democratic and more authoritarian and oppressive regimes, this model would be lacking, to say the least. For instance, the way that his legal/minimal citizenship types are defined clearly places the blame on the citizen for not participating, while stopping short of problematizing structural issues and systemic barriers that might impede political or civic participation. Such an approach also ignores additional challenges that particular groups might uniquely and disproportionately be facing, such as political oppression. Further, it fails to acknowledge societal impediments—including perhaps historical and systemic marginalization that lead to mistrust in the system—that would discourage and deter particular groups from active participation in the public sphere and political system. Understanding these citizenship types and civic actions, while extremely helpful, needs also to be contextualized and challenged if we are to use them productively to capture various nuances emerging from different contexts. Scholars such as Pashby (2011) have problematized some of these assumptions that seem to permeate and inform much of the literature related especially to global citizenship education. The literature implicitly, and perhaps sometimes explicitly, assumes that citizens are living as full citizens in liberal and well-functioning nation-states, while enjoying their full rights including freedom of expression and association, with an expectation that they have a role and an obligation to spread such ideals to other contexts. Thus, as Pashby (2011) and other critical scholars have argued, it would be helpful for scholarship examining citizenship education to attempt to adopt more nuanced approaches to the “complex notion of the citizen-subject;” such critical approaches would potentially

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help “accommodate more diversity” as well as “begin to recognise unequal power relations” (p. 430). These critiques are similar to, and resonate with, some of the thinking about civic engagement in schools and universities and the manner in which it has evolved over the past decades to include aiming to analyze and problematize structural factors. As Abd-Rabou (2016) notes, while the traditional view of civic engagement and student activism focused on creating opportunities for volunteering in communities around the educational institution, it has evolved to focus on questioning “the whole educational system,” and asking questions related to how such efforts might include, “the provision of socially responsive knowledge” (Abd-Rabou, 2016, pp. 52–53). In many ways, the earlier thinking—which arguably still dominates— embodies a traditional vision of the ‘legal/minimal citizen’; the latter and more critical thinking that seeks to deconstruct could be seen as resonating more with ‘transformative’ forms of citizenship. Tendencies of Civic Engagement and Actions As noted above, similar to Banks (2008), Westheimer and Kahne (2004) offer helpful insights into types of civic actions that would correspond with various types of citizens. They propose three citizenship categories: personally responsible, participatory, and justice oriented. According to their typology, a personally responsible citizen would abide by the laws, act responsibly toward their community and engage in actions such as “picking up litter, giving blood, recycling … contributes to food or clothing drives when asked and volunteers to help those less fortunate, whether in a soup kitchen or a senior center” (p. 241). Participatory citizens would “actively participate in the civic affairs and the social life of the community at the local, state, or national level” learning about “how government and community-based organizations work” and be involved in “organized efforts to care for people in need or … to guide school policies” (p. 241). The key distinction between those first two types is that while a personally responsible citizen would engage in specific actions, such as making donations of food for the homeless, the participatory citizen would potentially be more actively involved in organizing some of those activities and in developing “relationships, common understandings, trust, and collective commitments” (pp. 241–242).

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The third type of citizen—which Westheimer and Kahne (2004) argue is the least common based on their studies in North America—is the justice oriented citizen. According to the two scholars, this type shares with the participatory citizen “an emphasis on collective work related to the life and issues of the community” (p. 242). However, the two types diverge especially in their approach to social problems, where a justice oriented citizen would uniquely seek to “improve society by critically analyzing and addressing social issues and injustices” through engaging in “social movements … to effect systemic change” and would typically be much less involved in “charity and volunteerism” (p. 242). It is worth noting that both typologies focus on citizens working largely ‘within’ the system, perhaps excluding those who might seek to challenge the whole system and its premises, such as anarchist movements or other radical social movements, for instance. This is clear in Banks and Nguyen’s (2008) vision for the ideal role of citizenship education and its key functions, Citizenship education should help students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function in their nation-states [emphasis added] as well as in a diverse global society that is experiencing rapid globalization and quests by racial, ethnic, cultural, language, and religious groups for recognition and inclusion. Citizenship should also help students to develop a commitment to act to change the world to make it more just. (p. 146)

However, they do also highlight the legitimate dilemma to respect, acknowledge, and allow differences, while simultaneously aiming to, “construct a democratic public community with an overarching set of values to which all students will have a commitment and with which all will identify” (p. 148). This coincides with how some scholars from the North Africa and West Asia region have described the values, approaches, and outlooks that citizenship education should ideally aim to impart among and instill within students. For instance, Faour (2012) argues, In democratic, pluralistic societies, education for citizenship encompasses three main concepts: knowledge of civic concepts, systems, and processes of civic life; skills of civic participation, problem solving, and negotiation; and a citizens’ general disposition, including a sense of belonging to the state and shared values and ethics. The purpose of education for citizenship is to

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develop well-rounded, responsible citizens who know their legal rights and duties, and apply this knowledge to evaluate or justify government policies and practices. (p. 15)

Bickmore (2008) offers an arguably differing definition that is fundamentally more inclusive of more critical approaches. She defines citizenship education as a space that would ideally help students deconstruct and critically engage with dominant discourses and interests. Thus, the key premise and objective should be “not simply to build procedural and substantive knowledge, but to facilitate constructive questioning (deconstruction) of the sources, shape, and drivers of that knowledge” (p. 157). Based on the above discussion, I propose some insights that attempt to connect the two theoretical frameworks of historical consciousness and citizenship or citizenship education, which are often dealt with separately. These insights could potentially be built on toward developing a more holistic pedagogical tool and framework. Based on some of the leading work that scholars have already proposed in developing typologies for historical consciousness (Rüsen, 1989/2004), and citizenship-types and civic engagement (Banks, 2008; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004), in Table 5.1 I propose some initial insights into potential correspondences and relationships between an individual’s dominant historical consciousness tendencies and their type of citizenship, and types of civic engagement and action. Moheyeldine (2019) offers some important insights in her attempt to bring together the Banks, and Westheimer and Kahne frameworks, building on those based on citizenship types and civic actions emerging from her study with Egyptian school students. Building on those efforts, I seek to also explore how young people’s understanding of and interactions with history (their historical consciousness) contribute to their civic engagement and actions. To my knowledge, this is arguably among the first attempts to bring these two frameworks (i.e., historical consciousness types with citizenship and civic action typologies) together. Thus, I see this as a mere, yet much-needed beginning that aims to entice and encourage other scholars to continue to examine potential connections and synergies between these frameworks. This model was constructed based on carefully and closely engaging with those scholars’ own definitions of each of the categories they introduced. To illustrate, I provide the descriptions of each type or category in the words of the scholars who proposed them, so as to demonstrate the potential connections. For instance, according to

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Table 5.1  A proposed integrated model of Rüsen’s historical consciousness and citizenship typologies Historical consciousness type (Rüsen, 1989/2004)

Citizenship type (Banks, 2008)

Non-reflective forms of historical consciousness Traditional/ Exemplary: Legal citizenship: the most basic Traditional: Affirmation of level of citizenship in the pregiven orders by consent typology, applies to citizens who about a valid common life. are legal members of the The reason of values is their nation-state and have certain effective pregivenness, rights and obligations to the enabling consent in moral state but do not participate in questions. the political system in any Exemplary: Morality is the meaningful ways. generality of obligation in Minimal citizenship: applies to values and value systems. those who are legal citizens and Arguing by generalization vote in local and national refers to regularities and elections for conventional and principles. mainstream candidates and issues. Active citizenship: involves action beyond voting to actualize existing laws and conventions. Active citizens may participate in protest demonstrations or make public speeches regarding conventional issues and reforms. The actions of active citizens are designed to support and maintain—but not to challenge—existing social and political structures. Reflective forms of historical consciousness

Civic action type (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004) Personally responsible citizen: Acts responsibly in community; Works and pays taxes; Obeys laws; Recycles, gives blood; Volunteers to lend a hand in times of crisis. Participatory citizen: Active member of community organizations and/or improvement efforts. Organizes community efforts to care for those in need, promote economic development, or clean up environment. Knows how government agencies work. Knows strategies for accomplishing collective tasks.

(continued)

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Table 5.1 (continued) Historical consciousness type (Rüsen, 1989/2004)

Citizenship type (Banks, 2008)

Civic action type (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004)

Critical: Delimitation of one’s own standpoint against pregiven obligations. Breaking the moral power of values by denying their validity. Establishing value criticism and ideology critique as important strategies of moral discourses. Genetic: Acceptance of different standpoints within a comprising perspective of common development. Temporalization of morality; chances of further development to become a condition of morality. Temporal change becomes a decisive argument for the validity of moral values

Transformative citizenship: Involves civic actions designed to actualize values and moral principles and ideals beyond those of existing laws and conventions. Transformative citizens take action to promote social justice even when their actions violate, challenge, or dismantle existing laws, conventions, or structures.

Justice-oriented citizen: Critically assesses social, political, and economic structures to see beyond surface causes. Seeks out and addresses areas of injustice. Knows about democratic social movements and how to effect systemic change.

this model, a traditional or exemplary historical consciousness would motivate an understanding of citizenship and civic actions that are characterized by working within and in support of the system, and within its “existing social and political structures.” However, it also makes some assumptions which I attempt to lay out as clearly and as transparently as possible for the reader to consider and critically engage with them. For instance, in this constructed and proposed model, based on the scholars’ definitions of their proposed types, a transformative citizenship is assumed to correspond with a critical historical consciousness. To elaborate, in this proposed framework, I assume that an individual who exhibits critical historical consciousness tendencies—that is, one who possesses the ability to critically engage with and deconstruct dominant narratives—would be inclined toward or at least motivated to take actions that seek to challenge the status quo and systemic injustices, which in turn are characteristic of a transformative citizen.

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Similarly, in this proposed framework, it is assumed that an individual falling within the transformative citizen category would also correspond with a genetical historical consciousness type or tendency, since both have at their foundation an emphasis on acknowledging and learning to critically engage with multiple narratives and perspectives. To illustrate, Banks (2008) explains that a key defining feature of transformative citizenship is an ability to “view events from diverse perspectives and to deliberate in equal-status situations” (p. 135). Table 5.1 aims to provide a snapshot and brief summary of the key types of historical consciousness (Rüsen), the citizenship (Banks), and civic engagement and action types (Westheimer & Kahne). It also juxtaposes Duquette’s proposed distinction between the non-reflective and reflective historical consciousness types. Capturing Further Nuances Based on the Egyptian Context As noted, the purpose of constructing this framework (presented in Table 5.1) is to offer it as a start, based on which we can build more robust frameworks that could be applied to various contexts. However, it was important to critically engage with this framework to ensure it more accurately captures, and is reflective of, important nuances that are left out, partly because the three frameworks included here emerge from Western contexts. Thus, to examine it, revise it, and add further nuance that might be needed, I revisited the data collected and analyses presented in earlier chapters (especially Chaps. 3 and 4). Such engagement with the data helped point out some readily observable gaps in the model above. For instance, in terms of civic action types, a clear gap exists. While there are clear potential correspondences between traditional, exemplary, and critical historical consciousness tendencies with particular civic action types, there is no clear civic action type that corresponds with a genetic historical consciousness. Thus, based on the data collected and analyzed in the case of Egypt, I propose ways that could potentially render the model more holistic and inclusive of various nuances and variations that emerged from the data, and that simply attempting to put the two frameworks together theoretically would clearly miss. Those ways are captured and presented in Table 5.2. Based on the findings emerging from the Egyptian context, there are some further nuances that would need to be added to the model to render it more reflective of the Egyptian context. Adding those nuances could

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also potentially render the framework more comprehensive and holistic as well and thus, hopefully better reflect other similar contexts. As noted, within historical consciousness, there are some proposed nuances (i.e., critical (reflective)  and  critical (unreflective), and those clearly point to the need for perhaps a more nuanced typology of citizenship and civic engagement to capture such nuances. Thus, based on studying the above citizenship models, in the following section I elaborate on what connections and relationships might be emerging between the participants’ historical consciousness tendencies, and their citizen types and civic engagement and actions.

Connections Emerging Between Historical Consciousness Tendencies, and Civic Engagement and Actions In this section, I further elaborate on the connections proposed and outlined in Table 5.2. However, before unpacking and describing the various historical consciousness tendencies proposed and how they translate into civic engagement or civic action tendencies in this proposed framework, it would be important to offer some clarifications. First, it is important to note that in any or in all of the historical consciousness categories outlined below, it should be expected that there would be individuals who might exhibit any given historical consciousness tendency being described, but at the same time be inactive and unengaged in any form in the public sphere when it comes to their type of civic engagement and action. Relatedly, it is also important to acknowledge that the category of ‘inactive’ could very well be unrelated to personal preferences or intentions, but that are shaped by personality traits or perhaps more pragmatic approaches responding to political contexts and circumstance. Such inactivity could also be shaped by structural considerations as well as potential barriers that impede or deter from active and meaningful civic engagement and actions. Thus, the explanations below mainly focus on individuals who choose to—or who have the ability to—be civically engaged. However, although obvious, it is important to not assume that all those within a given historical consciousness tendency will exhibit similar tendencies in terms of their civic action. Second, it is also important to state what might be obvious already to most readers. But, to avoid any confusion, it is important to note that this model does not assume in any way that the civic action tendencies are mutually exclusive. But what is presented here would mainly exemplify what an individual generally exhibiting such a historical consciousness

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tendency would most probably prioritize if hypothetically asked to prioritize or choose one or two among different available forms of engagement (where all other factors would be held equal, including perceived opportunity costs, political risk, and personal safety, for instance). Thus, to illustrate, an individual with historical consciousness tendencies that would be best described as critical and multi-perspectival (genetical), could in reality be engaged in various types of civic action simultaneously including charity and short-term relief as well as social justice and advocacy. However, if asked which they believe is the most needed or where they might see their energy and focus most needed, this proposed framework assumed that the individual would be inclined toward prioritizing transformative and social justice efforts versus charity and short-term relief efforts. In the following section, I start by briefly defining and describing each of the categories, then offer some further details and explanations regarding why those connections and nuances are proposed. Further, I illustrate the connections and how this theorization is grounded in the findings emerging from the study conducted in the Egyptian context. First, Traditional/Exemplary (Unreflective) Historical Consciousness >> Legal/Minimal (Banks)/Personally Responsible (Westheimer & Kahne) Civic Engagement and Actions Description: An individual’s historical consciousness in this category clearly embodies Rüsen’s descriptions of traditional and perhaps exemplary types of historical consciousness. Simply put, individuals in this category would passively or unconsciously accept, possibly internalize, and seek to maintain and reproduce the dominant historical narrative or elements of it. In terms of civic engagement and actions tendency, these individuals seem to also exhibit tendencies that fit within the legal or minimal (Banks) and personally responsible (Westheimer & Kahne) types. This would resonate with what Moheyeldine (2019) refers to as “Passive Patriotic” civic types, who are defined by “unconditional pride and commitment to the nation state, reproducing dominant historical narratives, demonstrating no real understanding of social issues, and lacking any real citizenship engagement” (p. 130). Manifestations and Nuances: This historical consciousness tendency and its key elements emerge most clearly from cases such as those of Wafaa and Mahmoud (outlined in Chap. 3). In terms of civic engagement and actions, perhaps those proposed here manifest in how such an approach to history has shaped someone like Mahmoud’s choices. As presented earlier,

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Mahmoud chose to be active for a few years in a nationalistic political party that fully embraces and supports the dominant historical narrative, and that has no ability or interest to recognize, let alone problematize, any misrepresentations or omissions with this narrative. We also see this manifest in some of the other participants with traditional or exemplary historical consciousness tendencies and participants whose choices of voluntary work were confined to activities focused on charitable and short-term relief efforts or were clearly informed and shaped by nationalistic and patriotic tendencies. Second, Traditional/Exemplary (Reflective) Historical Consciousness >> (Limited) Active (Banks)/(Limited)Participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) Civic Engagement and Actions Description: In this category, I propose that we continue to build on Rüsen’s typology in terms of the traditional and exemplary. However, there clearly are also those individuals who differ from the first category since they might represent a traditional or exemplary historical consciousness while simultaneously exhibiting ‘reflective’ abilities. Those abilities would allow them to possibly at least start to question and critique their own positionalities and how those might be shaping their interactions with various historical narratives. Such nuances and distinctions in these individuals’ ability to self-reflect manifest in potentially different choices of civic engagement and actions. Manifestations and Nuances: As outlined in Chap. 3, this historical consciousness tendency and its key elements emerge most clearly in the case of Dina. In the specific case of Dina, she was generally inactive and had not engaged in any public or civic activity for a few years. Thus, in terms of her citizenship types and civic actions, arguably she was starting to demonstrate elements of active (Banks) or participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) tendencies. However, as can be seen above, it would be helpful to also label those civic engagement and actions here as limited to signal that those individuals would not necessarily be expected to be fully civically engaged in an informed manner. Such a limitation could be connected to, and seen as a result of, the lack of their self-critical approaches in their historical consciousness, and how that might shape and limit their understanding of their roles as citizens and thus, their civic engagement and actions.

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Third, Critical (Unreflective) Historical Consciousness >> (Limited) Active (Banks)/(Limited) Participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) Civic Engagement and Actions Description: Individuals in this category might be critical of some dominant narratives, while adhering to and uncritically adopting other equally hegemonic or exclusionary narratives. They would have the ability to problematize only specific misrepresentations or omissions while uncritically accepting and normalizing others. In a few cases discussed earlier, we see this historical consciousness tendency translating into (limited) active (Banks) and (limited) participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) tendencies of civic action and engagement. Perhaps important in this category would be also pointing to potential limitations or blind spots it might introduce to a person’s appreciation to or interest to be engaged in various civic actions. This would arguably reflect with what emerged for Moheyeldine (2019) in what she captures and proposes with her “Active Patriotic (Naïve Reflection and Active/Participatory)” type, in which individuals would exhibit “a high sense of commitment toward their country,” while perhaps being involved in short-term relief or “charity activities” (p. 131). Similar to the category above, such a narrow perspective on history might translate into volunteering or civic action that might still be explicitly or implicitly exclusionary vis-à-vis particular groups or minorities (for instance, on a religious basis). This is a key distinction as was clearly exhibited in some tendencies of participants who might have been able to problematize and approach historical narratives critically. However, given their lack of ability to self-reflect on, and critically engage with their own positionalities and how they might be affecting their understanding and critique of history, it needs to be labeled as a critical yet limited or unreflective approach to history and the past. So, in some ways this historical consciousness type could also be described as ‘selectively critical.’ Manifestations and Nuances: This historical consciousness tendency and its key elements emerge clearly from cases such as those of Teresa and Hassan (outlined in Chap. 3). In terms of how that historical consciousness manifests in these individuals’ civic engagement and actions, we find that Teresa’s main focus remained on her local church’s Sunday School and other activities. Further, as noted in Chap. 4, Teresa was one of the few Coptic participants who showed no interest in activities that would promote inter-religious dialogue and understanding. This, as explained under the second category above, would fit within the definition of

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(limited) active (Banks)/(limited) participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) types of civic engagement and actions. Fourth, Critical (Reflective) Historical Consciousness >> Active (Banks)/ Participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) Civic Engagement and Actions Description: In this category, we would include individuals who exhibit critical as well as self-reflective tendencies in their interactions with history and historical narratives. Those individuals exhibit tendencies and abilities to be critical vis-à-vis dominant narratives. Further, their ability to be self-­ reflective vis-à-vis their own positionalities allows them to also be aware of their own potential biases and potential shortcomings of the alternative historical narrative(s) that they might choose to adhere to. In various cases in this study, we witness how such an approach and self-reflection allow individuals to embody what Banks would refer to as active and what Westheimer and Kahne would refer to as participatory types of civic action and engagement. These tendencies of civic actions would arguably coincide with what emerged in earlier studies at least in these individuals’ critical and reflective approaches, including what emerged in Moheyeldine’s (2019) study and her proposed type of “‘Frustrated,’ Critically Reflective, and Inactive.” This proposed type sought to capture individuals who are not interested “to bring about change,” and who are inactive in any school or community activities (p. 132). Manifestations and Nuances: As outlined in Chap. 3, this historical consciousness tendency and its key elements emerge most clearly from cases such as those of Heidi and Farida. In terms of civic engagement and action tendencies shaped by this historical consciousness tendency, as outlined in Chap. 4, Heidi became actively engaged in outreach work with children living on the streets. Her clearly articulated intention and motivation was informed by the hope to offer those children better futures as well as promote better respect and peaceful co-existence among people of different religious backgrounds and affiliations. Fifth, Critical (Reflective, and Conscious of Power Dynamics) Historical Consciousness >> Transformative (Banks)/Justice-oriented (Westheimer & Kahne) Civic Action and Engagement Description: As illustrated earlier, an important distinction within the critical category is that it would include individuals who are able to critically

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self-reflect on their own positionality and how it might shape or limit their interaction with various historical narratives. Further, another key distinction or differentiation that needs to be introduced within this historical consciousness tendency is whether an individual has the ability to go beyond critiquing a historical narrative. Going beyond those critiques would manifest in an ability to actually acknowledge and perhaps identify, critically analyze, and examine power dynamics and interests that inform and shape these various competing historical narratives. That is why this category could alternatively be labeled as radically critical, since individuals in this category exhibit a historical consciousness tendency that is more deeply critical of all dominant narratives and their hegemony in all their manifestations, including their potential misrepresentations and omissions. As illustrated above, wherever such engagement is possible, these individuals’ choices for civic engagement and action would be informed and inspired by tendencies for transformative and justice-oriented work, as embodied in the transformative (Banks) and justice-oriented (Westheimer & Kahne) types of civic action and engagement outlined. In terms of civic actions, this citizenship and civic action type would arguably resonate with Moheyeldine’s (2019) type of “Participatory (Critically Reflective but Engaged Within Existing Structures,” which would include individuals who are critical as well as actively engaged in various extracurricular activities (p. 134). Manifestations and Nuances: As outlined in Chap. 3, this historical consciousness tendency and its key defining elements most clearly emerge in the cases of Maha and Shenouda. For instance, as outlined in Chap. 4, we see this demonstrated in Maha’s civic engagement which, despite structural restrictions and limitations against doing so, has clear intentions and is motivated by achieving social justice and equity. Further, her civic engagement deliberately aimed to serve marginalized and underprivileged communities directly. As much as possible, she actively sought to carry out that work away from the spotlight to avoid how sometimes civil society efforts could be used to reinforce the legitimacy of particular dominant discourses, entities, and institutions. Sixth, Critical and Multi-Perspectival (Genetical) Historical Consciousness >> Radically Transformative/Intellectual Civic Engagement and Actions Description: This is the category where an individual’s historical consciousness would be closest to what Rüsen describes as genetical. Individuals within this category mainly exhibit such tendencies, especially as relates to

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their ability to acknowledge and build on multiple narratives and perspectives. However, beyond that, I choose the terms critical and multi-­ perspectival to point to these two defining elements that are essential prerequisites for an individual to be included in this category. This category or tendency would include individuals whose approaches to historical narratives are informed by a critical approach that allows them to critically engage with power dynamics shaping various historical narratives. As noted above, the lack of emphasis on and lack of critical engagement with power dynamics and historical marginalization of particular epistemologies, narratives, or perspectives in narrating history are among the key areas that Rüsen’s model has been critiqued for. In an effort to help address this general gap in theoretical approaches to historical consciousness, I argue that this distinctive category needs to be introduced and that it needs to explicitly capture and include individuals who exhibit such critical abilities. Thus, individuals in this category are clearly critical, but also exhibit an ability to be self-reflective, historicize events, and engage with—and perhaps actively seek out—various historical narratives and perspectives. Further, to capture their civic actions and engagement tendencies, I would argue that a new term would need to be included here that is not included in either Banks’ or Westheimer and Kahne’s proposed typologies. Individuals in this category—especially in contexts that might not allow such actions—would be expected to exhibit civic actions and engagement that could be typically categorized or described as active or transformative (Banks) or participatory or justice-oriented (Westheimer & Kahne). However, I would argue here that many of these individuals would—if offered the space and opportunity—ideally look beyond the existing systems and perhaps think in more radical ways. Thus, this proposed type radically transformative/intellectual departs from Banks, and Westheimer and Kahne’s typologies, since those individuals might actually be seeking to radically change a system and perhaps even questioning the very basic structures and institutions of society. Thus, introducing the radically transformative/intellectual category seeks to capture and add this important nuance, and thus build on Banks as well as Westheimer and Kahne’s typologies. In terms of citizenship and civic action types, this category most closely resonates with what emerged for Moheyeldine (2019) in her study with Egyptian students. In her sixth type labeled “Justice-Oriented Students (Critically Reflective and Transformative Actions),” she includes individuals who “showed a deep understanding of the root causes of problems in the community,” and who were “involved in school extracurricular

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activities,” while simultaneously, critically questioning the effectiveness of some of those activities and whether they are transformative enough or even “related to citizenship” (pp. 134–135). Manifestations and Nuances: As outlined in Chap. 3, this historical consciousness tendency seems to emerge most clearly in the cases of Yara, Hussein, and Nesrine. In terms of manifestations of such historical consciousness tendencies in civic engagement and actions, individuals within this category would be expected to ask critical and fundamental questions and perhaps actively engage in creating radical, transformative, and revolutionary alternatives. We witness this happening in the brief and short-­ lived beginnings of the January 2011 where young people in Tahrir Square were physically demonstrating and showcasing what a more just, equitable, inclusive, and alternative world based on respectful dialogue, resource-­ sharing, and collaboration might look like. It is also worth noting that, perhaps due to their overly critical approach and self-reflexivity—that would propel them to worry that they might be reproducing a new form of exclusion—some of them would be engaged more in research or other intellectual endeavors. For instance, as was outlined in Chap. 4, Yara clearly chose to continue to study further so she can continue as a researcher and perhaps at a later stage become a professor of history. She saw her role as helping young people approach history more critically. Similarly, as outlined in Chap. 4, Nesrine has been active in founding a voluntary initiative that adopts critical approaches in teaching the humanities and social sciences, including history. That is why it is important to acknowledge and include civic engagement and actions that perhaps take the form of intellectual work, whether this entails researching and producing alternative historical narratives. It could also entail perhaps being actively engaged in educational projects that help students approach historical narratives more critically, while developing the tools necessary to engage with multiple narratives and perspectives.

Toward a More Holistic Framework: Offering Initial Insights and Building Blocks Based on the above analyses and discussion, in Table 5.2 below I summarize some of the key emerging categories and nuances. In the first column of Table 5.2, entitled “tendencies and approaches to master narrative,” I include the nuanced and proposed typology of historical consciousness types. In doing so, I start with Rüsen’s typology and its four key types.

Understanding of dominant narrative and role of the history curriculum

Common Features: • Emphasis on the aim for the dominant narrative and history education to be inclusive of various narratives and perspectives so as to strengthen a ‘unified national identity’ and promote pride in it. • Emphasis on the need to include particular historical events and role models from the past with the intention to inspire and guide students. • Possible emphasis on the need to focus on a smaller number of key historical events and figures, while offering more context and presenting lessons learned. Approaches Toward Misrepresented or Omitted Narratives and Perspectives: • Omissions or misrepresentations not recognized, acknowledged, or problematized. Unable to articulate or problematize omission or possible misrepresentation of other minority groups or perspectives. • Misrepresentations or omissions possibly seen by individual as pragmatically needed and justified not to disrupt or weaken a collective national identity or social fabric. • Some minoritized individuals within this tendency might be unaware of their own group’s narrative’s omission. However, some might emphasize need to include historical figures and role models representing their minoritized group.

Tendencies and approaches to master narrative

(1) Traditional/ Exemplary (Unreflective)

(continued)

• Legal; Minimal (Banks) • Personally Responsible (Westheimer & Kahne)

Tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action

Table 5.2  Exploring connections between historical consciousness and civic engagement and actions: toward developing a guiding framework

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Understanding of dominant narrative and role of the history curriculum

Common Features: Similar to Traditional/Exemplary (Unreflective): • Emphasis on the aim for the dominant narrative and history education to be inclusive so as to strengthen a unified national identity and pride. • Emphasis on the need to include events and role models from the past with the intention to inspire and guide students. • Possible emphasis on the need for focus on a smaller number of events, but offer more context and present lessons learned, etc. Approaches Toward Misrepresented or Omitted Narratives and Perspectives: This type would exhibit inclinations similar to Traditional/Exemplary (Unreflective), but with some key differences, including: • While their understanding is predominantly embedded in the dominant historical narrative, individuals can start to exhibit signs of reflecting on and potentially questioning some dominant societal discourses or norms, such as patriarchal traditions in society. • Omissions or misrepresentations might be problematized and seen as important to rectify for different students to feel represented and included in the curriculum.

Tendencies and approaches to master narrative

(2) Traditional/ Exemplary (Reflective)

Table 5.2  (continued)

• Limited Active (Banks) •L  imited Participatory (Westheimer & Kahne)

Tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action

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(continued)

Common Features: • Limited Active (Banks) • Generally critical of the dominant historical narrative, but possibly only •L  imited Participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) critical of particular elements or aspects of it. • While critical, given limited self-reflection, might want for history teaching • N  ote: While potentially embodying ‘active’ and ‘participatory’ orientations toward to valorize and promote specific types of narratives and perspectives over civic engagement and actions, it is others. important to note that individuals in this • Susceptible to uncritically reverting to alternative historical narrative(s) category are still limited by a lack of (e.g., transcendental/spiritual, and religious-based narratives). reflexivity. This is why it would be Approaches Toward Misrepresented or Omitted Narratives and Perspectives: important to describe their potential • Inability to reflect on or problematize how one’s own positionality and engagement as ‘limited,’ as a reminder of background (e.g., religious or cultural community) dictates understanding this key distinction. of history and sense of exclusion. • For minoritized individuals, while acknowledging and exhibiting awareness of one’s own cultural or religious group’s narrative omission, possibly no ability to acknowledge exclusion or misrepresentation of other minorities or perspectives. • Generally unable to articulate and problematize power dynamics that shape various constructions of historical narratives.

(3) Critical (Unreflective)

Tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action

Understanding of dominant narrative and role of the history curriculum

Tendencies and approaches to master narrative

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Common Features: • Active (Banks) • Participatory (Westheimer & Kahne) • Emphasis on purpose of history curriculum and teaching being to promote critical thinking, a sense of agency, and an ability to resist and affect positive change. • Critiques how dominant historical narrative is constructed to serve the interests of ruling elites and dominant groups. • Might stop at critiquing and deconstructing the dominant narrative only (and not other competing narratives). • If able to articulate an alternative narrative, would be inclined to articulate a specific counter-narrative (as opposed to multiple possible alternative narratives) to replace current dominant narrative. Approaches Toward Misrepresented or Omitted Narratives and Perspectives: •A  bility to self-reflect on or problematize how positionality and self-identity (e.g., religious or class) shapes understanding of history and sense of exclusion. This clearly applies to individuals from minoritized communities as well. This would be a key distinguishing factor from the tendency outline above (i.e., (Limited/Unreflective) ‘Critical). • Ability to critique elements and issues related to a dominant narrative and its deliberate, intentional attempt to exclude particular narratives or perspectives to consolidate control and serve its interests. • Given this ability to be critically self-reflective, individuals from minoritized backgrounds are able to not only acknowledge their own group’s but also other excluded or misrepresented narratives. This would be a key distinguishing factor from the tendency outline above (i.e., (Limited/ Unreflective) ‘Critical). • Generally unable to specifically articulate or problematize power dynamics behind construction of dominant narrative.

(4) Critical (Reflective)

Tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action

Understanding of dominant narrative and role of the history curriculum

Tendencies and approaches to master narrative

Table 5.2  (continued)

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(continued)

Common Features: • Transformative (Banks) • Justice-oriented (Westheimer & Kahne) • Sees dominant historical narratives as constructed to serve and maintain dominant groups’ interests. This is a key distinguishing factor from the ‘Critical-Reflective’ tendency above. •M  ight stop at critiquing and deconstructing the dominant narrative only. • If able to articulate an alternative, would be inclined to articulate a specific counter-narrative to replace current dominant narrative. • Purpose of history is seen as mainly to promote critical thinking, a sense of agency, and an ability to resist, and affect positive change. Approaches Toward Misrepresented or Omitted Narratives and Perspectives: • Able to acknowledge, critique, and question ruling regime or elite interests, power dynamics, power asymmetries, and attempts to secure and consolidate hegemony. • Clearly engages with the dominant narrative and its deliberate, intentional attempt to consolidate power to control resources, for instance. • Able to reflect on or problematize how positionality and self-identity (e.g., religious or class) limit and shape understanding of history and sense of exclusion. • Given this ability to be critically self-reflective, individuals from minoritized backgrounds are able to not only acknowledge their own group’s but also other excluded or misrepresented narratives.

(5) Critical (Reflective, and Conscious of Power Dynamics)

Tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action

Understanding of dominant narrative and role of the history curriculum

Tendencies and approaches to master narrative

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Common Features: •R  adically Transformative/Intellectual: This newly introduced category would • Elements of the Critical (Reflective) type, including being critical of current include elements from the Transformative status quo of history education curricula, but with an emphasis that there is not (Banks) and Justice-oriented (Westheimer one particular viable alternative narrative to replace current dominant narrative. & Kahne) categories outlined earlier. • Believes that any historical narrative is prone to be inherently incomplete and is However, as explained above, it would shaped by its blind spots and biases, as well as flaws and shortcomings. also emphasize that those individuals •Believes in importance of imparting historical research skills and tools would have tendencies and abilities to among students to encourage students’ critical ability to engage with engage with—and perhaps support— multiple historical narratives. perspectives that challenge systemic • Possible mention of the ideal purpose of history education being to promote shortcoming and injustices and thus critical skills which would ultimately help students develop tolerance and respect potentially the whole structure and for diversity, including toward various groups and their different perspectives. dominant epistemologies governing and Approaches Toward Misrepresented or Omitted Narratives and Perspectives: supporting that (e.g., anarchist • Problematizes particular omissions and misrepresentations, but acknowledges perspectives and ideologies). that any narrative will inherently have omissions and misrepresentations. • Acknowledges power dynamics shaping construction and normalization of dominant historical narrative. • Exhibits an ability to question purposes of constructions and manipulation of all historical narratives. • Beyond one’s own minority group marginalization based on any self-identifications, an individual exhibiting those tendencies would often be able to acknowledge and problematize omissions and misrepresentations of various groups’ narratives and perspectives. • A clear ability to appreciate and weigh merits and shortcomings of various perspectives and narratives, thus perhaps finding it more challenging to articulate or adopt one particular coherent narrative as an alternative to the dominant narrative.

(6) Critical and Multi-Perspectival (Genetical)

Tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action

Understanding of dominant narrative and role of the history curriculum

Tendencies and approaches to master narrative

Table 5.2  (continued)

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However, as outlined above, based on the Egyptian context and what emerged from the study, I found it important to reorganize and further develop them to present six types to allow us to provide for and capture additional nuances and distinctions. The second column—entitled “understanding of dominant narrative and role of history education”—presents how this historical consciousness type would inform, and thus manifest in, an individual’s interaction with the dominant historical narrative, including how it would shape their understanding of the role of history curriculum and history education more generally. Finally, the third column (entitled “tendencies toward civic engagement and civic action”) then aims to present how each of the historical consciousness types presented would manifest in how an individual understands and enacts their roles as citizens, including their civic action and engagement. In column 3 the proposed model builds on Banks’ as well as Westheimer and Kahne’s proposed typologies of civic actions, but introduces some additional distinctions and nuances based on what has emerged from the study. This is similar to what the model does in column 1, by adding nuances to the historical consciousness typology. Following Zanazanian’s lead, I have deliberately referred to those proposed types and categories as ‘tendencies’ to help acknowledge and remind us of their fluidity. Such appellation also seeks to serve as a reminder that they should not necessarily be approached as rigid, or even mutually exclusive, ‘categories’ or ‘types.’ To reiterate, the key purpose of presenting these tendencies is to help contribute to previous and current scholarly efforts as well as make a humble contribution to advance the conversation, especially on potential connections between individuals’ approaches to history and historical narratives (historical consciousness tendencies), and how these tendencies might shape and inform their civic engagement and actions. Further, it aims to contribute to the generally understudied connection whether in the context of Egypt or other similar and comparable contexts. Before moving to the next section in which I engage with some of the neglected factors and dimensions that need to be acknowledged and highlighted, especially when studying civic engagements and actions, it would be important to offer some insights into how I believe this proposed framework presented above needs to be built on. In addition to examining and critiquing some of its key premises and tendencies presented, I believe it would be of particular significance for future efforts and iterations to seek to better articulate how some of the nuances and difference articulated above distinguishing the various ‘tendencies,’ and how those might

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vary between individuals from majority and minority groups. This has already emerged in some of the examples, including how an individual’s positionality and their experiences shaped by their minority status (e.g., gender, rural-urban, religious affiliation, ideological and political perspectives, among others), and how that help augment and strengthens or perhaps limits their historical consciousness as well as their choices of civic engagement and action. So, moving forward, I would propose that this framework continue to be examined and built on.

Importance of Examining Often Neglected Factors and Dimensions Shaping Civic Engagement and Actions As is clear from earlier discussions, there are some key factors that require our attention if we are to reach a more nuanced and contextual understanding of how civic action is perceived and enacted in various contexts. There clearly are still several dimensions that need to be examined further regarding what shapes varying types of student engagement with the curriculum and with history as well with the dominant discourse. This includes the need to further explore questions such as, “How do different students in the same classes and schools perceive their civic instruction and experiences similarly and differently?” and the question regarding whether “skepticism, curiosity, or other dispositions prompt some students to resist particular civic-political messages” (Hahn & Alviar-Martin, 2008, p. 99). In terms of factors that need to be taken into consideration when seeking to better understand individuals’ civic engagement, action, or non-action more comprehensively, those include some of the following. Examining Structural Barriers and Impediments Banks (2017) offers a typology of how nations shape various types of citizenship, which I believe is a helpful approach as it clearly recognizes the role of the nation-state in promoting or deterring full participation and manifestation of citizenship. In that typology, he presents four key types moving from ‘failed citizenship’ to ‘transformative citizenship.’ Failed citizenship is when a nation-state fails to impart its “values and ethos,” thus rendering citizens “structurally excluded within it,” with a strong sense of alienation and ambivalence. The next level, which he refers to as “recognized citizenship,” entails a recognition of the individual or group whereby

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they are offered “full rights and opportunities to participate.” As he rightly articulates it, while those rights to participate are acknowledged and recognized, the nation-state “does not require their participation.” Thus, within this status, there are many who would, understandably, be expected to opt for nonparticipation. The next two levels are “participatory citizenship” and “transformative citizenship” which build on Banks’ (2008) earlier articulation of those types and the examples of civic actions they would inform and translate into (p. 367). As Moheyeldine (2019) argues, such discussions and typologies need to take into consideration several factors, including socio-economic realities. This would include “citizens of a low socio-economic level” for whom any type of civic engagement would be considered “a luxury.” Further, given lack of exposure and critical engagement, individuals belonging to higher socio-economic levels might not be able to appreciate “oppressive realities others are facing.” Finally, it is important to acknowledge the fear or frustration that might deter individuals from “being involved in the public sphere, and refraining from action due to consequences related to unstable socio-political contexts” (Moheyeldine, 2019, p. 137) It is important to acknowledge that participation and civic engagement remain a luxury for many as well. As noted, there are important issues and considerations related to political and civic freedoms that might impede the desired full participation and manifestation of one’s beliefs and aspirations for civic engagement. Those barriers and impediments cannot be neglected. In addition, there are also other impediments that make such participation or even the thought of it a mere luxury, including socio-­ economic hardships and lack of resources—whether time or financial resources—that might deter individuals from participating in any shape or form. Another factor relates to lack of knowledge and awareness of means and opportunities for participation. Relatedly, in our analyses of individuals’ civic engagement and action choices, we also need to ask whether these individuals have made an informed decision by deliberately choosing this type of work and civic engagement or if this choice was simply a result of a lack of knowledge of other priorities or opportunities. So, structural barriers and impediments need to be taken into fuller account, even if they manifest differently or to varying degrees, based on the context under study. Those barriers could include a legal and regulatory environment that is not conducive enough to organizing, or volunteering, and civically engaging in the public space. They could also include discrimination against particular groups, whether based on gender,

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socio-­economic, religious, ethnic, or racial backgrounds, physical ability, sexual orientation, citizenship status, among others. These could be direct or indirect. For instance, many individuals who are from less privileged  socio-­economic backgrounds generally cannot afford the time to participate and to be civically engaged as they may be working more than one job or they are unable to cover costs associated with such civic engagement,  such as transportation and other costs. Other structural barriers could relate to the lack of information and details about volunteering. As this study revealed, many of the participants did not even know what volunteering meant until they joined university. Finally, those would include risks—whether perceived or real—and high opportunity costs associated with participating, especially in activities that might be frowned upon by authorities such as advocacy or human rights awareness efforts. Examining Levels of Awareness and Knowledge of Needs and Opportunities Further, what the key needs of this society or community are and what stage of development it might be at need to be taken into consideration when assessing and analyzing individuals’ civic engagement and actions (i.e., does the community perhaps need to prioritize short-term relief and charity work, before it could then receive more socio-economic development support). So, even in contexts where individuals might be able to participate to relatively larger extents, we need to also take into consideration factors including lack of knowledge or awareness about how to participate civically. While we might blame individuals for their apathy, for instance, it would be important to take such factors into consideration, as they also signal various entities that aim to encourage and promote such engagement the need to find more creative ways to reach these individuals with a potential to engage, but who might lack the knowledge of existing opportunities or the way to go about engaging with them.  ole of Dominant and Competing Discourses R Closely connected to the earlier discussion regarding the significant role dominant discourses play in shaping individuals’ historical consciousness, analyzing the influences of dominant competing discourses on civic engagement is equally important. For instance, as could be seen in various contexts, including in Egypt, the religious-based discourse has traditionally overemphasized service, short-term relief, and charity-related activities (e.g., Atia, 2013). In this study, we saw some individuals make civic

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engagement choices based on consciously or unconsciously embracing a particular discourse (such as those choosing to volunteer within their religious-­ based institutions or organizations). Similarly, dominant discourses also define civic engagement of those who might reject them. For instance, we have seen some participants choose specific types of civic engagement with a strong awareness of wanting not to reinforce or endorse a particular dominant discourse that they oppose. Thus, examining dominant discourses in which these individuals are immersed would also be helpful in unpacking and better understanding how their decisions for civic engagement and action are shaped. Understanding Motives and Intentions Especially in less democratic contexts, it is also of crucial importance to acknowledge and seek to examine individuals’ intentions and motives. Given the restrictive environments that most individuals and activists across the globe operate within, examining these often-hidden aspects sheds important light unto structural impediments that might at face value be neglected or overlooked. For instance, before labeling individuals as legal or minimal (Banks), or personally responsible (Westheimer & Kahne) because they are engaged in charitable or short-term relief work, it would be important to examine and contextualize this based on acknowledging some of the often hidden and less discussed factors that might be shaping these deliberate choices. Further, we need to ask whether an engagement is based on an informed decision and perhaps the prudent approach given how other work including advocacy and policymaking might be fraught with risks and challenges. Additionally, we need to ask what the motives are since those give us important clues that might remain hidden within apparent and more tangible actions and decisions. For instance, as we saw from the analyses presented earlier, many young people in Egypt seem to be engaged in charity and short-term relief work but with a new understanding of its importance and perhaps using it as a safe space to indirectly raise awareness and educate people. Relatedly, it would be helpful to study possible cultural influences on encouraging or deterring civic engagement and action. Those could include direct or indirect deterrents related to family or peer pressure against getting involved in the public sphere or perhaps choosing a specific type of engagement over another for those same reasons seeking to gain family and peer approval and popularity. This could be a result of historical legacy, or current—perceived or real—fears

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and risks related to participation. Finally, such analyses could potentially benefit from better understanding and engaging with personal traits and personality type, and how they could shape some of the choices and decisions related to civic engagement and actions. Another area that would be important to acknowledge and seek to better unpack relates to differences in individuals’ preferences and personality traits. For instance, an awareness of or possessing the needed skills to work on one level of civic engagement does not mean that an individual would automatically work on this. Factors such as personality traits need to be taken into consideration when studying some of the factors based on which an individual decides on the type of civic engagement they choose to commit to. Awareness and interest might not be the only factors deciding on what an individual chooses to focus on. Other considerations could perhaps include personal preferences, as well as factors related to cultural considerations discussed above including family or peer pressure (to join more popular types of actions, for instance) to gain more social acceptance or for other considerations, such as building or strengthening one’s network of acquaintances.

Concluding Remarks Before concluding this chapter, it is important to note that—as some Western scholars themselves have noted—there are some significant shortcomings and gaps in our understandings of citizenship practices in non-­ Western contexts, especially in non-democratic ones. For instance, in response to much of the theorization attempting to clearly delineate political engagement—such as voting—from voluntary community service, Youniss et al. (2002) shed light on how, especially for non-Western contexts, it would make sense to blur these lines, arguing that “the study of youth’s civic competence needs to be expanded beyond the confines of formal knowledge of government and normative acts such as voting” (p. 125). In the context of Egypt, as Youniss et al. (2013) explain, measuring youth’s engagement through voting does not offer any accurate insight into youth’s civic engagement. Similar to the case in other contexts, perception about the lack of credibility and effectiveness of the political process, including voting, becomes one of the deterrents against youths’ active participation in those (Youniss et al., 2013, p. 7). Theorists from the North Africa and West Asia region have also offered some helpful insights into more accurately capturing not only these nuances, but also alternative means of organizing that might not necessarily fit Western definitions or

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frameworks of active civic engagement (e.g., Bayat, 2013). As noted earlier, such shortcomings in capturing and theorizing some of these nuances are also informed by the fact that theorization and conceptualization related to citizenship education, including the growing field of pedagogy and study of global citizenship education, is heavily influenced by a global Northern or Eurocentric understanding of that notion (e.g., Pashby, 2011). As is clear from the literature review presented earlier, very few studies have looked at patterns of historical consciousness and attempted to connect those to citizenship, especially in non-Western contexts. Additionally, as demonstrated, emerging largely from experiences and realities of Western democratic, much of that literature and typologies ignore important questions and variables that need to be taken into consideration in authoritarian contexts and that would have important roles in deciding forms of citizenship action and civic engagement that individuals might want to be involved in. For instance, in Egypt, while many individuals might exhibit strong senses of critical historical consciousness, considerations of fear for personal security or stigmatization by society might lead them to refrain from translating that into transformative or justice-oriented forms of citizenship action. Thus, in this study, to be able to capture my participants’ understandings of and enactment of their sense of citizenship, I was keen on probing on all civic actions, including charity and voluntary actions, that they engaged in even if they might not be explicitly political. Exploring those different kinds of civic engagements and activities that they choose to engage in, and their motives and intentions, are important indicators of their understandings of their current and future roles in society. Further, analyzing that along with analyzing their understandings of the past and their engagement with history offers additional insights into possible connections that might exist between how such understandings might influence an individual’s outlook and attitudes, and how those translate into the types of civic engagement and actions they might be involved in.

References Abd-Rabou, A. (2016). Democracy as student mobilization. In E.  Mohamed, H.  R. Gerber, & S.  Aboulkacem (Eds.), Education and the Arab spring (pp. 51–67). Sense Publishers. Atia, M. (2013). Building a house in heaven: Pious neoliberalism and Islamic charity in Egypt. University of Minnesota Press.

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Banks, J., & Nguyen, D. (2008). Diversity and citizenship education: Historical, theoretical, and philosophical issues. In L.  S. Levstik & C.  A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 137–154). Routledge. Banks, J. A. (2008). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Educational Researcher, 37(3), 129–139. Banks, J.  A. (2017). Failed citizenship and transformative civic education. Educational Researcher, 46(7), 366–377. Bayat, A. (2013). Life as politics: How ordinary people change the Middle East. Stanford University Press. Bickmore, K. (2008). Social justice and the social studies. In L.  S. Levstik & C.  A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 155–171). Routledge. Duquette, C. (2015). Relating historical consciousness to historical thinking through assessment. In K. Ercikan & P. Seixas (Eds.), New directions in assessing historical thinking (pp. 50–63). Routledge. Faden, L. Y. (2012). Teachers constituting the politicized subject: Canadian and US teachers’ perspectives on the good citizen. Citizenship Teaching and Learning, 7(2), 173–189. https://doi.org/10.1386/ctl.7.2.173_1 Faour, M. (2012, August). Religious education and pluralism in Egypt and Tunisia. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/08/13/religious-­education-­and-­pluralism-­in-­egypt-­and-­ tunisia/dd4t Hahn, C., & Alviar-Martin, T. (2008). International political socialization research. In L. S. Levstik & C. A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 81–108). Routledge. Moheyeldine, N. (2019). One subject, various understandings: Secondary school student perceptions of citizenship in post-revolutionary Egypt. In J. N. Dorio, E. D. Abdou, & N. Moheyeldine (Eds.), The struggle for citizenship education in Egypt (pp. 124–139). Routledge. Pashby, K. (2011). Cultivating global citizens: Planting new seeds or pruning the perennials? Looking for the citizen-subject in global citizenship education theory. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9(3–4), 427–442. Patterson, N., Doppen, F., & Misco, T. (2012). Beyond personally responsible: A study of teacher conceptualizations of citizenship education. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 7(2), 191–206. https://doi. org/10.1177/1746197912440856 Peck, C.  L., & Herriot, L.  A. (2015). Teachers’ beliefs about social studies. In H. Fives & M. G. Gill (Eds.), International handbook of research on teachers’ beliefs (pp. 382–402). Routledge. Rüsen, J. (1989/2004). Historical consciousness: Narrative structure, moral function, and ontogenetic development. In P.  Seixas (Ed.), Theorizing historical consciousness (pp. 63–85). University of Toronto Press.

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Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237–269. Youniss, J., Bales, S., Christmas‐Best, V., Diversi, M., Mclaughlin, M., & Silbereisen, R. (2002). Youth civic engagement in the twenty‐first century. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12(1), 121–148. Youniss, J., Barber, B.  K., & Billen, R.  M. (2013). Children in the garden of democracy: The meaning of civic engagement in today’s Egypt. JSSE-Journal of Social Science Education, 12(1). Zanazanian, P. (2010). Historical consciousness and ethnicity: How signifying the past influences the fluctuations in ethnic boundary maintenance. Ethnic Studies Review, 33(2), 123. Zanazanian, P. (2012). Historical consciousness and the structuring of group boundaries: A look at two francophone school history teachers regarding Quebec’s anglophone minority. Curriculum Inquiry, 42(2), 215–239. Zanazanian, P. (2015). Historical consciousness and being Québécois: Exploring young English-speaking students’ interactions with Quebec’s master historical narrative. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 47(2), 113–135.

CHAPTER 6

Toward More Inclusive Curricular Representations and Classroom Practices

It is important for all researchers to try to answer the “So what?” question regarding the contribution of their research (Charmaz, 2006, p.  156). Thus, in this chapter, I present a brief summary of the key findings outlined in this book. I then seek to unpack the key dominant discourses that shape participants’ understandings and approaches to history and historical narratives. Further, I highlight the relevance, significance, and implications of this study. Finally, based on some of the limitations and findings of this study, I outline some reflections on and suggestions for future research. I also aim to summarize the two key contributions that this book aims to offer: first, the book has aimed to offer insights that could potentially contribute toward developing more holistic guiding frameworks and pedagogical tools that connect the often-disparate discussions around how students’ historical consciousness might contribute to shaping their civic engagement and actions. Building on existing theoretical frameworks and efforts, while seeking to add further nuances based on the Egyptian context, the aim from offering these insights is for them to be critically engaged with and then ideally built on based on other similar studies within the Egyptian context and in other similar contexts in other parts of the world. Second, the book has sought to highlight the importance of critically engaging with dominant discourses. For instance, even when individuals might exhibit critical tendencies, some might still © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. D. Abdou, Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt, Curriculum Studies Worldwide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0_6

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unreflectively revert to historical narratives sanctified and normalized by arguably exclusionary, competing dominant discourses or meta-discourses. This does not allow individuals to draw from traditionally marginalized ways of knowing and being, including indigenous ways of knowing and being. These two key findings have clear and direct implications for curriculum developers, teacher educators, and teachers in their quest to create more inclusive curricular representations, critical pedagogical approaches, and classroom practices that would also help equip students with the needed worldviews, tools, and civic attitudes to engage with the multiplicity of historical narratives they are likely to encounter in society.

Summary of Key Findings Interactions with the Dominant Narrative As demonstrated above, it is clear that the majority of the study participants were critical of the dominant narrative. Within these critical approaches, however, there are some important variations and nuances. Those nuances would be important to acknowledge and capture within frameworks of historical consciousness and relevant pedagogical tools. As outlined above, the sub-categories I outlined in Chap. 5 aim to highlight the need to distinguish between those individuals who might be critical but are simultaneously unreflective, especially vis-à-vis their approaches to the past and to their social positions. Thus, an important distinction to start with is the sub-category that aims to capture individuals who are critical (unreflective). As demonstrated, this would include individuals who exhibit what could be initially interpreted as critical approaches vis-à-vis particular dominant historical narratives, while simultaneously reverting to alternative sources of knowledge that could be as exclusionary as some dominant historical narratives. This clearly emerged especially with some individuals who uncritically reverted to religious-based discourses and sources. Second, there is the proposed critical (reflective) sub-category, which includes individuals who exhibit clearly reflective tendencies, while simultaneously possessing an ability to deconstruct and critique the dominant narrative. Third, the critical (reflective, and conscious of power dynamics) sub-category is proposed to capture and represent individuals who move beyond deconstructing and critiquing. Individuals in this sub-category exhibit an understanding of potential power dynamics and interests that

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shape historical constructions and manipulations of the dominant narrative. As demonstrated throughout the book, the 2011 events and their aftermaths had a strong influence in shaping such critical approaches. Thus, participants seem to be experiencing a heightened awareness and a critical (reflective)  approach to dominant historical narratives. This might not have been the case for earlier generations. This becomes clear in the perceived growing gap that many participants pointed to with their parents and older generations, especially around questions related to the nation and understandings of their roles in society. This is further evidenced by the large number of participants exhibiting reflective approaches. This might be unexpected given that participants are mainly products of a public education system that seeks to reproduce a dominant historical narrative and its key elements. However, it is important to note that, despite most of the participants being products of the Egyptian public school system, they mostly also had the privilege of studying in higher education institutions or of being exposed to extracurricular initiatives that often adopt and encourage critical approaches to history. In many cases, university coursework offered tools necessary to further develop critical approaches and skills necessary to appreciate the multiplicity of perspectives. Those helped prepare them to develop more critical (reflective) approaches to understanding and engaging with the past (including those more specifically exhibiting critical (reflective, and conscious of power dynamics) and those with critical and multi-perspectival or genetic tendencies). Thus, these findings need to be approached with this understanding in mind. Further, some of the participants have come to higher education already prepared with strong critical tendencies. As demonstrated, in several of the cases, those critical approaches were nurtured based on the tensions they personally experienced between their lived experiences and their school history curriculum’s attempts to force fit the narrations of those events within the dominant schematic narrative template. For some, this was clearest in the case with the state’s revisionist narration of the events that took place between 2011 and 2013 as it appeared in the history textbooks they had to study in school. Influences of Interactions with Dominant Historical Narrative on Subjectivities and Civic Attitudes As demonstrated in this book, there seems to be an awareness of various types of omissions and misrepresentations. Such awareness is shaped by

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access to alternative sources of historical knowledge. The most influential of these include nonfiction historical books and articles, documentaries, university-level courses, as well as the internet and social media. However, awareness of omissions or misrepresentations seems to vary and to be clearly shaped by individuals’ positionalities and lived experiences. To illustrate, the awareness of omission or misrepresentation of the Coptic era varied widely. All Coptic participants—except for one—problematized the misrepresentation and small space and attention this era was allocated in their curricula and textbooks. This emerged either in written exercises or during one-on-one interviews. Among many of the Muslim participants, a growing sense of compassion and empathy toward Copts and what they admitted to be a general societal marginalization—including the curricular omission as a manifestation of that—could be detected. However, despite that growing awareness and empathy, only 10 Muslim participants (out of the 32 Muslim participants) had initially listed the omission of Coptic history as a misrepresented history in their written exercise or subsequent interviews. This indicated that, understandably based on their positionalities and lived experiences, the Coptic era misrepresentation in curricula was not perceived as an immediate or urgent concern among most Muslim participants. Relatedly, a large number of participants—especially those exhibiting any of the critical (reflective)  approaches—proposed curricular changes that would aim at promoting more respect for diversity and pluralism among students. To illustrate, some participants called for school students to be offered the tools and skills that enable them to engage with various historical narratives to help them appreciate the diversity and multiplicity of perspectives. These proposals arguably point toward a growing awareness of different curricular omissions and misrepresentations. Thus, even if most participants did not specifically mention Coptic history among the omitted or misrepresented narratives, calls for promoting these methods and approaches could indicate a general belief of the need to eventually allow students to engage with various perspectives and currently misrepresented histories, which would include the Coptic history. To offer a more comprehensive analysis and shed more light, especially on the proposed nuances and additions to the historical consciousness and civic engagement and action frameworks, it is important to turn to the key dominant discourses that seem to shape and limit these participants’ approaches to history, and their understanding of their roles in society. As part of this analysis, I seek to unpack and present some of the key elements

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and features shaping those two dominant discourses or meta-discourses that emerge—a nationalistic territorial discourse, and a religious-based discourse. How Competing, Dominant Societal Discourses Shape Students’ Engagement with Historical Narratives As manifested in various social sites, including curricular content and classroom practices, discourses and discursive regimes work to shape individuals’ and communities’ historical consciousness. A central ingredient for the success of dominant discourses is through limiting the range of prisms, lenses, and worldviews citizens are made to believe they have in understanding and engaging with their historical and contemporary roles and place in society and within its matrixes of power. As outlined in Chap. 1, drawing on and informed by the works of schematic narrative analyses (e.g., Wertsch, 1998, 2004) and critical discourse analyses (e.g., Fairclough, 2003; Gee, 2011; Wodak et al., 2009), arguably for our analyses to be as comprehensive as possible, they need to seek to critically analyze and engage not only with historical representations of events and figures, but also the schematic narrative templates within which those historical narratives and representations are embedded. Further, such analyses would benefit from an analysis of the dominant discourses these constructions, and resilient and recurring schematic narrative elements, are embedded within. This more comprehensive approach would arguably result in a curricular analysis, and thus pedagogical approaches, that would have a better chance of helping students develop more critical, self-reflective, and multi-­ perspectival approaches to historical narratives as well as civic engagement and actions. Few scholarly studies have focused on seeking to name and critically engage with how historical narratives are embedded within—and thus support and are supported by—particular discourses and ways of viewing the world. Thus, this discussion hopes to build on those in elucidating the need of having future research dedicated to studying this important question. The analyses show us that most participants seem to be aware of key elements of the Egyptian schematic narrative template and dominant narratives. However, it is also important to note that there are clearly more resilient elements and concepts that seem to continue to be taken for granted as ‘common sense,’ and thus remain largely unchallenged. Dominant worldviews succeed through maintaining “relations of power”

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by making sure they are “widely taken as given”; such dominant ideologies’ ability to maintain their hegemony necessitates an ability to normalize and “universalize particular meanings” (Fairclough, 2003, p. 58). As noted above, in the Egyptian case, arguably at least two key competing discourses or meta-discourses have had important influences on shaping dominant narrations of the country’s history and understanding its cultural identity (e.g., Di Capua, 2001), with clear spillovers and influences on the dynamics and tensions shaping modern Egyptian education and curricula (e.g., Cochran, 1986; Herrera & Torres, 2006). Dominant ideologies are often not directly reinforced in curricular content. As demonstrated earlier, they are more subtly promoted as ‘common sense.’ Given that this study was strongly inspired by and committed to adopting critical approaches, it would be pertinent to point to elements of dominant discourses that emerged, especially from participants’ responses. Critical Pedagogy scholars encourage us to critically engage with and problematize how dominant discourses permeate curriculum, especially in such subtle ways. Such critical engagement is a key starting point in the project to disrupt ways that “hegemonic cultural and educational practices … reproduce the logics of neoliberal conservatism” and other hegemonic ideologies (Denzin, 2007, p.  462), that seek to normalize “the construction of neoliberal conceptions of identity, citizenship, and agency” (p. 463). One key factor that consolidates the success and dominance of a worldview or ideology is how it defines the parameters of the discussion, thereby negating other potentials and visions. Thus, the call of Critical Pedagogy scholars seeks to “combat against a social epistemology that discursively limits the chances of conceiving this world outside of a neoliberal and neoconservative context” (Lopes & Macedo, 2014, p. 92). As demonstrated in Chaps. 3 and 4 especially, dominant discourses seem to confine and define even what linguistic referents are available and deployed to describe historical events and everyday realities. For example, some of the participants were able to note a dominant global and national militaristic discourse, but it was only few who were able to go further to the level of language and discursive practices and how those discourses are embodied and normalized, including in everyday language use. As noted, only very few were able to start critically challenging and questioning the use of words such as ‘isti’maar’ (colonization) and what ideological meanings and realities the use of this word normalize. Such critical engagement should allow teachers and students to identify shortcomings of dominant frameworks. Based on that awareness, they

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would be able to work toward defining more inclusive and emancipatory ways of knowing and being in the world. This quest needs to continue to critically engage with how various texts—including curricular content and its textual representations—“privilege or disprivilege … different ways of knowing and believing or claims to knowledge and belief” (Gee, 2011, p. 20).  onfined Within Competing Dominant Discourses and Epistemologies? C A few of the participants exhibited an ability to critique and liberate themselves from a purely nationalistic territorial discourse, exemplified in their choices and references to their civic engagement. For instance, as illustrated, some have explained that their main driver is to serve humanity’s basic needs, regardless of nationality and geographic location. Those individuals are seemingly engaging with some basic and essential questions, including the raison d’être, relevance, and legitimacy of constructions such as the ‘nation-state.’ However, those remained the exception. Most participants remained generally confined within the framework of dominant discourses which have clearly succeeded in limiting worldviews and imagination, while discursively limiting “chances of conceiving this world” any differently, to borrow the words of Lopes and Macedo (2014, p. 92). This is further illustrated in how many of the participants exhibiting critical tendencies have stopped at deconstructing a dominant historical narrative or dominant societal discourse. However, very few—if any—were able to present any viable alternative visions. Another clear manifestation is how those young people’s worldviews seem to be shaped by a limited number of competing dominant discourses and ideologies. Perhaps this was clearest in how, when seeking an alternative approach to a dominant nationalistic historical narrative, some simply and unreflectively reverted to the other readily available religious-based narrative which are embedded in a religious discourse and epistemology. As outlined in Chap. 2, the ongoing tensions and negotiations between these competing discourses are reflective of the conundrum characteristic of modern Egyptian society—and by extension, the Egyptian educational system and its curricula (Cochran, 1986; Herrera, 2022). As noted, Cochran’s statement from 1980s seems to still hold true and resonate today about the Egyptian educational system, which “with its history of elite and populace divergence has created a country whose people are in conflict with themselves” (Cochran, 1986, pp. 156–157). To put it simply, this manifests in tensions between those seeking to emphasize

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“obedience and conformity to the religious and cultural heritage of the past,” and those “trained toward an expression of change and … technology” (pp. 156–157). These competing discourses and camps that emerge in the Egyptian context also resemble similar tensions in other parts of the world. These tensions could be witnessed in the traditional competition for allegiance between national and religious affiliation. This could be seen as a competition between the affiliation to “religious community” which was the “taken-for-granted” frame of reference prior to the emergence of the modern nation-state, which posed a threat with its articulation of an alternative notion of “nationality” and national belonging (Anderson, 1983/2006, p. 12). As reflected in their responses and as demonstrated throughout the book, most participants seem to be operating within the confines of either of two meta-discourses. The power of these meta-discourses is further manifested in many of the participants’ inability to envision alternatives. Although they are characterized by overlaps and points of convergence, for the sake of argument, we might define them as two distinct, competing meta-discourses: a ‘nationalistic territorial’ and a ‘religious-based’ meta-­ discourse. As discussed above, these two competing ideologies—the nationalist territorial and the supra-nationalist Islamist orientations—mirror the dominant meta-discourses and ideologies that have been competing for control over Egypt’s governance system, cultural identity, and resources arguably since the late 1800s. The nationalistic territorial meta-discourse most prominently emerged in how some participants seem to have internalized and thus uncritically reproduced key elements of the dominant narrative and Egyptian schematic narrative template (such as the primordial nature of the Egyptian nation-state, and a cyclical nature of history—as outlined in more detail in Chap. 2). Similarly, as noted, the exclusionary religious-based discourse was also adopted and internalized by some, albeit only a few of the participants. Further, this discourse has also shaped some participants’ lived experiences. As discussed, some teachers—many of whom have been shaped by this exclusionary religious-based discourse—played an important role in propagating it through their discursive classroom practices and enactment of the curricular content. This was especially clear in how those teachers drew on that discourse to define rigid religious delineations across various groups. Mobilization of such exclusionary discourse emerged in the lived experiences narrated by Maria from Fayoum, whose teacher argued that Christian students like her are less likely to achieve excellence

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in the Arabic language, simply because it is the “language of Islam.” Similarly, as narrated by Randa from Bani Suef, when a young Coptic student joined his Muslim classmates in mocking an early Islamic saying, their Muslim teacher reprimanded him, reminding that he was not allowed to make fun of “our religion.” This exclusionary religious-based discourse would in some of its more extreme forms see those belonging to other religions—including their compatriot religious minorities—and their histories as less significant. Further, it would see historical contributions of those groups as bygone and legitimately replaced by the advent of Islam, and thus would not necessarily merit being studied closely. Using as a pretext the standardized assessments that have traditionally allocated less value and weight to particular topics, including the Coptic historical era and its contributions, this discourse would further justify and perhaps give teachers the freedom to gloss over or sometimes altogether ignore covering the few pages dedicated to the Coptic history if they choose to, as some participants had pointed out. How the Competing Dominant Discourses Converge with and Diverge from Each Other Understandably, these two dominant and competing discourse camps and their variations share some commonalities. These commonalities on the economic and social levels include a general embrace of neoliberal economic ideologies, including the central role of the market, and a commitment to socially conservative agendas. The two discourses also share commonalities in their approaches to history, as further outlined in Chap. 1. For instance, they both confound historical evidence with transcendental or spiritual narratives, including when dealing with ancient Egyptian history. While this is a key, non-negotiable, and defining element of the religious-based meta-discourse—and not necessarily a key defining element of the nationalistic territorial meta-discourse—the latter seems to generally refrain from challenging and problematizing such confusion and mixing of the two types of historical narratives. The nationalistic discourse’s lack of critical engagement with religious-based discourse’s reproduction and predominant dependence on religious-based interpretations of historical narratives has been critiqued by a few Egyptian historians (e.g., Fahmy, 2015). Based on a statement produced by a committee comprised of some Egyptian historians, Egyptian authorities banned the 2014 American-produced film “Exodus: Gods and Kings” from being screened

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in Egyptian cinemas. Fahmy (2015) critiqued the banning decision on the basis that it focused solely on how the film included depictions of some historically inaccurate details about ancient Egyptian practices. However, as Fahmy (2015) notes, the critique of the panel of historians refrained from any attempt to name the Biblical Exodus narrative as a spiritual or transcendental narrative as opposed to a historically proven one. As outlined earlier in the brief discussion of the Egyptian schematic narrative template, one of the key common features emerges in how the two meta-discourses deal with ancient and indigenous Egyptian knowledge and belief systems. In both cases, ‘ancient Egypt’ is purposefully and carefully constructed and represented to serve particular ends. On one hand, the nationalistic territorial meta-discourse uses that history to offer itself legitimacy for its narrative of a primordial distinct nature of the Egyptian nation within its modern-day borders (e.g., Botros, 2012; Zervas & Abdou, 2022). On the other hand, the religious-based Islamist meta-­ discourse seems to follow either of two strategies vis-à-vis engaging with and representing the ancient Egyptian past: it follows the dominant interpretations of the Judeo-Christian tradition—most clearly articulated in the Book of Exodus and the narrative of the cruel enslavement of the Israelites and their escape from Egypt—in negating ancient Egyptian knowledge systems and their significant contributions in an effort to build their unique identity, legitimacy, and supremacy (e.g., Assmann, 1998). The other alternative strategy—which more clearly manifests in curriculum—is one that seeks to co-opt ancient Egyptian history to offer legitimacy to Abrahamic monotheism and Islam more specifically. It constructs that by focusing on the celebrated and highly valued, natural inclination of ancient Egyptians toward monotheism, especially as embodied in King Akhenaten’s efforts to impose a strict version of monotheism in ancient Egypt (Abdou, 2016, p. 13). Further, both meta-discourses also, although for very different purposes, agree on their vilification of ancient Egyptian clergy. As discussed in Chap. 2, the nationalistic territorial discourse—including the Egyptianist secular discourse—would vilify that establishment as a way to negate and undermine the legitimacy of religious-based rule or any theocracy. Inherent within this is a subtle, yet powerful message for citizens to be vigilant vis-­ à-­vis how religious-based ideological movements are constantly vying for power and ready to grab any vacuum or given opportunity. Similarly, mainly to establish their supremacy and the supremacy of their specific belief system, religious-based discourses would vilify ancient Egyptian

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religious leadership and clergy. In doing so, they would also perhaps mobilize this depiction to seek to more generally construct ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices as corrupted or misguided. Given that their ideology and vision for an ideal society is one where religion plays a key role in governing key aspects of the public sphere, adherents of a religious-based discourse would arguably not be able to separate the role of religious institutions from other aspects and dimensions of society. Thus, their vilification of ancient Egyptian religion and religious establishment would easily lead them to justify the negation and dismissal of that ancient civilization altogether. Where these two discourses most clearly depart and diverge is arguably in their definition of Egypt’s cultural identity, which would include the place and rights afforded to religious and other minorities as well as women in society. To help us understand how that difference would be discerned through critical discourse analysis tools, Fairclough’s (2003) articulation of how discourses might vary in their representations of social actors offers helpful insights. In the case of the nationalistic Egyptianist discourse, religious minorities would be expected to be included as social actors, albeit to varying degrees. However, within this discourse, through “backgrounding,” they could arguably be positioned in the background of historical narratives or largely ‘passivated.’ In more religious-based discourses, through a strategy of “suppression” of those representations, religious minorities’ roles and contributions as social actors and agents would more explicitly and directly be challenged and perhaps omitted from historical narratives (Fairclough, 2003, pp. 145–146). Given the resilience and deeply entrenched nature of some of their key elements and various manifestations, as noted earlier in this book, these dominant societal discourses could be considered more as meta-discourses or “discourses of truth” (Foster & Crawford, 2006, p. 3). In drawing on Foucault’s work, Foster and Crawford (2006) point to how a “regime of truth” becomes a vast vessel or overarching umbrella within which several mutually reinforcing discourses could potentially co-exist (p.  3). Thus, within these dominant meta-discourses there are expectedly several variations. The key takeaway, however, remains that through their dominance, these meta-discourses succeed through negating and undervaluing alternative visions, worldviews, ideologies, and epistemologies. As noted above, this is most clearly embodied in how even the most critical (reflective) participants had difficulty in identifying and articulating “effective counterhegemonic discourses to resist and transform” these dominant

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societal discourses and the meta-discourses they are embedded within (Bartolomé, 2007, p. 280). Through the brief discussion above, I sought to underscore the need to help both teachers and students develop the much-needed approaches, awareness, and tools to critically engage with and self-reflect on dominant discourses that they are products of and that help shape and limit their views and understandings of history as well as their roles as citizens. To this end, scholars have contributed to theorizing and better understanding how teachers need to be better prepared to deal with historical thinking, and to deal with myth in their classroom (e.g., Clark & Sears, 2017). These scholarly contributions could offer some helpful tools for teachers to deal with powerful transcendental and religious-based narratives, as well discourses in which those narratives and myths are embedded. Such nuanced approach that goes beyond some constructed or imagined binaries between competing discourses or meta-discourses in different contexts is important. Constructing these false binaries or presenting these competing discourses or hegemonies as mutually exclusive risks disguising some of the common, and sometimes more resilient, elements that require our special attention. For example, in the context of India, much of the literature and debates might cast India’s BIP (with its exclusionary, Hindu nationalist vision of the nation) and the Congress (with its more secular, pluralist vision) as standing at two opposite ends of the spectrum. However, a more nuanced analysis starts to point to how “Congress claims to be a secular party with soft corner for Muslims,” while it has in some instances expressed “Islamophobic as well as anti-minority” sentiments, as well as “sought to downplay its secular roots and embrace pro-Hindu sentiments” (Anand & Lall, 2022, p. 78). It is my hope that the above discussion did unsettle what might be seen as two easily and neatly  defined and delineated discourses or meta-­ discourses. While each might have its unique defining features and elements, it would be important for us not to take them as strict and rigid mutually exclusive categories or monolithic blocs. As demonstrated above, they do converge on some issues and dimensions. Additionally, we need to remind ourselves of the nuances that exist within these discourses and avoid overgeneralizations or essentializations of these categories or see them and their proponents as strictly mutually exclusive categories. For example, a modernist understanding might be suspicious of or question religious-based interpretations and narratives, and perhaps label them as irrational analyses or superstitions; thus, we might be led to see modernist

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orientations and ideologies as mutually exclusive with religious-based discourses. However, some within these religious-based discourses could adopt critical historical research methods and thus, as a result, be dismissive  or suspicious of some religious-based historical narratives. Thus, it would be important to continue to approach these categories outlined here with caution and openness to nuances, overlaps and other sub-­ categories that might emerge from further analyses and in different contexts. Further, drawing on Critical Pedagogy, I would also note the importance of acknowledging the agency of individuals and groups that seek to challenge and subvert those discourses, despite their elusiveness and difficulty of doing that in many cases.

Implications and Scholarly Contributions As discussed throughout the book—especially in Chaps. 3, 4, and 5— there are a few key contributions that this book seeks to make and which I revisit and briefly highlight in this section. Theoretical Implications  cknowledging Nuances Within Individuals’ Approaches to History A and the Dominant Narrative The findings here confirm the significance that national schematic narrative templates (Wertsch, 1998) hold in defining and delimiting individuals’ understandings, especially as relates to key concepts and constructions, including the nation (Anderson, 1983/2006; Carretero, 2017; Hobsbawm, 1990, 1997). Such conceptions, in turn, shape individuals’ subjectivities and civic identities. Even if these dominant narratives and constructions are not fully internalized by individuals, the study demonstrated that they still contribute to shaping individuals’ understanding and attitudes vis-à-vis dominant historical narratives and constructions. Such influences shape their perceptions in often unconscious ways that preclude an individual’s ability to bring awareness and critical engagement with them. Importantly, the book has sought to capture and present some nuances and manifestations of individuals’ sense of agency and their ongoing negotiations with dominant historical narratives. In the hope of those insights being built on toward developing more holistic guiding frameworks and

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relevant pedagogical tools, those insights were presented and further unpacked in Chap. 5. These nuances, especially those emerging from within the critical historical consciousness category, shed light and offer new insights with implications for the history education classroom and critical curriculum development. As illustrated, acknowledging and naming these nuances could offer insights for dealing with various types of students, especially in the quest to help them develop more critical historical consciousness tendencies. For instance, the literature seems to suggest that individuals with traditional historical consciousness mostly embody uncritical tendencies. However, as demonstrated here, there are individuals who might be seen as traditional in their approaches to history; however, some are simultaneously starting to exhibit critical or reflective approaches toward issues such as dominant social norms or customs. Such students, arguably, have some elements to be built on through curricular and extracurricular opportunities that could aid them in developing these more critical and reflective tendencies and to bridge those toward critically engaging with historical narratives they encounter. Similarly, the book has introduced another key nuance, pointing to individuals who exhibit critical tendencies while simultaneously exhibiting unreflective tendencies (or selectively critical only vis-à-vis particular historical  narratives). Toward that same goal of helping them deepen and sharpen their critical thinking approaches and tools, those individuals could be supported in critically engaging with the various historical narratives they are exposed to in a systematic and methodical manner. Further, drawing on critical discourse analysis has helped expose elements of the dominant discourses that continue to confine participants’ understandings and approaches to constructions of historical narratives and concepts. This points to another theoretical implication regarding how productively critical discourse analysis approaches could be drawn on along with other theoretical approaches, including Critical Pedagogy and Historical Consciousness. The importance of including and acknowledging especially unreflective tendencies and their connections with civic actions and citizenship types, is that such tendencies could also translate into types of actions that might counter and jeopardize values for social justice, democracy, inclusion, and pluralism. We arguably see this emerging across many contexts around the world, with the rise of far-right exclusionary and populist movements and regimes (e.g., Seixas, 2018). Arguably, given the lack of ability to critically self-reflect and to engage with multiple perspectives, individuals could

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easily adopt an exclusionary understanding of history. As we see in several of these contexts, such an understanding of the past would inform visions for the future that are informed by a quest to either maintain or restore a sense of supremacy. In those visions, these are seen as legitimate and rightful actions that seek to maintain or restore these historical privileges or rights that they perceive as being in danger and under threat, including by the growing organized calls of traditionally and historically marginalized groups. Thus, such an understanding and interpretation of history is mobilized to offer these individuals and groups justification to carry out exclusionary actions and perhaps violence against other groups.  nderstanding How Historical Consciousness and Interactions U with Historical Narratives Contribute to Shaping Civic Attitudes and Actions As outlined and discussed in Chap. 5, there are different ways in which individuals’ historical consciousness tendencies  might inform their civic actions. As noted, there is a growing body of literature examining individuals’ historical consciousness types and tendencies. Further, there is a growing number of studies focusing on individuals’ civic engagement and action. Thus, this book seeks to build on current efforts as well as make a contribution, especially to the nexus of exploring how curriculum influences individuals’ historical consciousness as well as their civic actions. Further, the insights shared seek to offer starting points toward building more holistic frameworks and pedagogical tools. Those would hopefully be further developed and refined based on critical engagement as well as further examining them in other contexts. Toward More Holistic, Critical, and Multi-Perspectival Curricula Informed by Pinar’s theorization of currere—emphasizing the need for our approaches, visions, and analyses of curriculum to be expansive and inclusive—some areas for reflection emerge. There are various strategies and concrete steps that can render curricula more inclusive, while helping develop critical thinking and an ability to engage with multiple perspectives. For instance, Parker (2008) outlines three key aspects that can help social studies and citizenship education curricula cultivate and encourage more inclusive and democratic practices in the classroom and beyond. Those include the need for teachers to create opportunities for students to

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interact with those who are “culturally, linguistically, and racially different” from themselves; ensuring “competent dialogue is fostered.” Further, teachers should “expect, teach, and model competent, inclusive discussion” (pp. 70–72). Based on engaging with this literature as well as the findings emerging from this study, some curricular reforms could be offered for consideration, especially within social studies. Those could include seeking to instill missing narratives and perspectives; emphasizing human agency; and promoting the development of historical research methods. Importantly, it would be crucial for curricula and classroom discussions to seek to build a deeper awareness of the dominant discourses governing curricula and often reinforced by other extracurricular institutions. As demonstrated and discussed, some key elements of those discourses shape—and potentially limit—students’ outlooks and approaches to history and historical narratives, and thus arguably playing a role in shaping their subjectivities and civic actions. Critical Pedagogy scholars offer helpful insights and elements that could inform a vision of a more holistic and critically oriented social studies curriculum. Based on those, as well as some of the deep and practicable insights shared by participants, I present the key curricular revisions proposed. I start by presenting curricular reforms focused on curricular content, then present the reforms related to curricular approaches. However, before doing that I briefly present some of the positive aspects of the formal curriculum that were highlighted by some participants. S ome Key Positive Aspects of the Formal Egyptian Curriculum There were some key positive dimensions of the current curriculum highlighted by some participants. It would be insightful to briefly engage with those. For instance, Yara explained how helpful and educational it was for her and her colleagues to study the curriculum of Arabic literature (al-­ adab al-‘arabi), which was organized and studied in a logical and chronological manner from year to year during her secondary school curriculum. Such organization and in-depth engagement helped her appreciate the evolution of this literature from the pre-Islamic ‘Gahiliyya’ history until the evolution of modern Arabic literature. Also, Shams expressed a strong admiration for the Political Geography curriculum (al-gughrafiya al-­ siyasiyah). Further, she shared insights from an informal survey that she had initiated during her final year of school in 2015. Completed by approximately 1000 students, the results of this survey revealed that a vast

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majority found this particular subject matter to be useful in understanding, “the world, politics, international relations, technology, empires and their relations.” According to her and her colleagues’ responses, the curriculum uniquely helped them draw connections between geography and history, and sometimes politics, in ways they were not used to when studying most geography curricula. Curricular Content: Areas for Reflection and Consideration Expanding the Space Allotted to Religious and Ethnic Minority Narratives and Contributions There needs to be better and more balanced inclusion of ancient and modern contributions as well as struggles of various minority groups. However, these should not be confined to the sections focused on a particular group or an era only. Such an approach could inadvertently be counterproductive as it could feed into constructing those groups and their contributions as separate from or peripheral to the nation and its history. To elaborate, some participants recommended that mentions of Copts and their contributions should not be confined to the brief sections of the curriculum dedicated to the ‘Coptic era.’ Participants were specific about narratives and contributions they would want to see included in the curriculum. Those included the fact that the Egyptian engineer who created the innovative plan to overcome barriers constructed by the Israeli army over the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur (1973) war was actually an Egyptian Christian (a Copt). Another narrative that was proposed as important to at least include alongside other famed pioneers who advocated women rights, such as the Muslim intellectual and activist Qasim Amin, is the key role played by the Coptic Orthodox Pope Kyrollos to encourage Egyptian girls’ education across the country. Pope Kyrollos is said to have played a significant role in this movement. This strategy could potentially help more organically weave in various groups into the national historical narrative, including Coptic and other minority groups’ contributions. Including these contributions as well as struggles throughout the history curriculum would ensure they get better exposure and classroom discussion time. Relatedly, such inclusion will help address the risk that those discussions get sidelined or omitted. As pointed out by some participants, including in the narratives of Maha shared in earlier chapters, this risk is real given that the Coptic era has often chronologically been placed and taught at the end of the academic term or year. Given time constraints

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and pressures during this time of the academic term or year, this could easily make this era vulnerable to the possibility of either being glossed over or altogether ignored. It is equally important for the curriculum to seek to address the various other forms of exclusion. Based on participants’ observations and lived experiences, those could be other forms of exclusion perhaps based on gender, class, and geographic location. Thus, while an important case that needs to be addressed, the exclusion of particular historical narratives from curricula—such as Coptic contributions and struggles—should not overshadow other forms of exclusions and racisms that need to be confronted in Egyptian curricula, classroom practices, and society at large. For instance, as was apparent from participants’ critical observations of curricula as well as their own lived experiences, there is a sense of gender discrimination and a bias toward urban centers over rural areas and other peripheral geographical areas. Further, there is an experienced bias toward upper classes at the expense of the working and middle classes. Finally, some participants highlighted the general omission of the Nubian and Berber minority historical narratives and contributions particularly. Thus, the scope of curricular reforms regarding omitted narratives would benefit from adopting a wider and more far-reaching approach, looking at various forms of sometimes less discussed exclusions and racisms. Acknowledging the Multiplicity of Narratives and Perspectives It would be worthy for history curricula to also consider including different perspectives regarding key historical events and figures, such as the historic 2011 and 2013 events and their aftermaths. As illustrated in this study, students continue to have vivid collective memories of these events. They either have experienced those themselves or have been told about them by trusted family members and friends or other sources such as social media platforms. Thus, curricula need to represent these events and historical figures in more inclusive ways that acknowledge the multiplicity of perspectives surrounding them. Otherwise, a clear risk would be for students to continue to be alienated by and lose faith or trust in their history education and possibly other subject matters of the formal curriculum. Such revisions would be even more holistic and effective if they were embedded within and informed by a general commitment and direction toward the inclusion of people’s contributions and historical struggles. Such discussions would potentially help students establish a stronger sense of agency. Part of the sense of lack of connection that several participants

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experienced with the history curriculum they studied stemmed from the fact that the historical narratives were predominantly presented devoid of citizens’ and ordinary people’s historical roles and agency. If those narratives better emphasized people’s agency, contributions, as well as the struggles and historical injustices they had to endure—as some participants recommended and as Critical Pedagogy scholars would advocate— then students would potentially be able to establish a stronger sense of connection and affinity with history. Such an approach would potentially allow students the opportunity to critically reflect on their own place and role within those narratives and in more modern history. Such an inclusion of these narratives and ‘histories’ would ideally include encouraging students to narrate and critically engage with their own personal accounts as well as alternative sources, including narratives from family and community members. As noted by several scholars, drawing on individual and community oral histories into history education has a strong potential to contribute to the effort of democratizing the history subject matter and formal education more generally (e.g., Llewellyn & Ng-A-Fook, 2017; Ng-A-Fook, 2007). Introducing these “countermemories”—which often represent “repressed memories” (Strong-Wilson, 2008, p.  79)—into the classroom, could be a challenging exercise for teachers. However, it offers several advantages, including helping students feel heard as well as allow others to develop a deeper sense of understanding and empathy toward the sense of exclusion and historical injustices that might have been experienced and endured by some groups or communities. Such approaches would seek to infuse curricula with opportunities for students to develop a stronger understanding and appreciation of diversity, multiplicity of perspectives, and pluralism. If supported and offered in a well-structured manner, such efforts promise to safeguard and strengthen the social cohesion and fabric of society by allowing all students of various backgrounds to feel acknowledged and celebrated for their communities’ contributions as well as historical injustices they might have endured. Understandably, given that some of that history would be considered sensitive or controversial or difficult, many teachers might prefer to avoid teaching it, even if there were no other obstacles to teaching it. Here is where drawing on some of the emerging literature around teaching difficult histories could prove very beneficial (e.g., Miles, 2019; Salinas, 2022). Clearly, a political will and a solid teacher preparation are among the key

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prerequisites needed to allow and encourage such crucial engagement and conversations to take place. Including More Role Models and Historical Figures That Students Can Identify with Participants referred to how the most powerful and inspiring historical events or figures presented in their history curricula or extracurricular materials were the ones they could identify with. This was particularly the case for historical figures with similar demographics, traits, or attributes to theirs. To illustrate, some female participants indicated how they found inspiration especially in historical narratives of ancient Egyptian female rulers, including Hatshepsut. Similarly, participants from rural areas or smaller towns (outside large urban centers, such as Cairo and Alexandria) expressed identifying with and finding inspiration most deeply with historical figures originating from their own governorates or towns. To illustrate, Randa spoke of how some of the historical figures that have left their mark on her were those from her native Bani Suef. However, she only learned about some of those when her social studies teacher shared some extracurricular materials to supplement the curriculum. Those historical figures gave her inspiration that perhaps one day she could be like them. In problematizing the Cairo-centered historical narrative, during the visual methods workshop, Sherif from the Gharbeyya governorate was keen on sharing that El Nahhas Pasha came from his native town of Samannoud. El Nahhas was a prominent Egyptian prime minister who had strong stances against the British colonial rule of the country. He further argued that such details need to be included in the curriculum to help inspire more people from Samannoud and other smaller towns. However, he had only learned about such details through conducting his own extracurricular research after graduating secondary school. As illustrated here, including these diverse historical figures clearly allows students to build better connections and a deeper sense of affinity with the curricular content. This seems to be direly needed, given the strong sense of lack of connection or interest many have exhibited, especially toward the history curriculum. As various scholars have demonstrated, the inclusion of the materials and perspectives outlined above promises to address the feeling of alienation that some students might feel vis-à-vis their school history

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curriculum, including because of not feeling that their communities’ historical narratives, perspectives, and contributions are reflected therein (e.g., Banks, 2017; Harris & Reynolds, 2014; Wilkinson, 2014).  urricular Approaches and Classroom Practices: Areas for Reflection C and Consideration Clearly, for the curricular content reforms to be effective in instilling a new sense of active and responsible citizenship and belonging among students, they need to take into full consideration how curricula are approached and enacted in the classroom. In addition to the proposed content revisions, there are various curricular approaches that could be considered and adopted toward fulfilling that vision of a more inclusive curriculum that helps nurture critical thinking and offers students the skills and tools to deal with multiple narratives and perspectives. Such efforts might want to start with how teacher education programs prepare teachers, including how they encourage them to critically engage with their worldviews, dominant discourses that shaped those, as well as their positionalities and teaching philosophies. To use one illustrative example based on this study, those programs need to help teachers critically engage with how they view women, and their role in history and modern society. As illustrated earlier, for instance, in enacting the curriculum, several teachers were said to have mocked and ridiculed female rulers of Egypt, such as Cleopatra and Shagaret El-Durr. Further, such preparation would need to help teachers critically engage with their views of and attitudes toward various worldviews and wisdom traditions, including ancient Egyptian belief systems. As noted by some participants, some ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and practices were taken out of context and thus mocked and ridiculed by some teachers. Relatedly, along with these revised approaches, it would be pertinent to reconsider the relatively lighter weight and generally lower status afforded to history education. Several participants explained how, compared to other subject matters, history education was not allocated the needed attention or time in their schooling. This might need to be reconsidered by Egyptian curriculum developers and education policy makers. Ideally this conversation would take place within the context of a much-needed discussion regarding the increasing marginalization and perceived lower status of the Humanities in the Egyptian schooling system, higher education, and Egyptian society at large (e.g., Fahmy, 2017).

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Less Content and Less Emphasis on Rote Memorization: Representations of Ancient Egyptian History As a Case in Point Several participants expressed their strong dislike toward their school history curriculum, especially triggered by how it emphasized rote memorization at the expense of active engagement with the subject matter or critical analysis and thinking. Given the significance of that history, it was especially alarming that several participants noted how ancient Egyptian history was taught in ways that were ‘boring’ and ‘uninteresting.’ Participants mainly contested how learning that content solely depended on the memorization of events as well as names and achievements of kings and queens. Additionally, some participants critiqued how they felt there was little focus or effort, whether within the curricular content and classroom enactment of it, put into helping students appreciate some of the existing connections between that ancient Egyptian history and modern Egyptian society. As noted above, analyses of recent Egyptian history textbooks have revealed that cultural continuity and change are represented in ways that do not particularly inform or deepen that sense of connection and affinity between students and the country’s ancient history (Abdou, 2016). This general sense of alienation and distancing from the ancient Egyptian history might have been further deepened by some participants’ growing critical awareness toward the nationalistic territorial discourse. As noted above, that discourse often overemphasizes and employs the country’s ancient history, cultural continuity, and some of these connections to serve its own agenda and purposes. Regarding the overemphasis on rote memorization, past and current curricular reform efforts seem to have been fully cognizant of the urgent need of removing unnecessary content and seeking to reform curricular content accordingly. Based on several interviews with education and curriculum development experts involved in the curricular reform efforts of the 1990s and early 2000s, Sayed (2006) notes, “the experts aimed at shortening the overloaded and long school curriculum which encouraged rote learning without stimulating critical and scientific thinking” (p. 113). However, as is confirmed by this study and other studies, despite ongoing calls by large numbers of teachers, parents, and students to remove unnecessary and irrelevant curricular content, including from history curricula, most curricula can be said to continue to be heavy on content with a strong emphasis placed on passive rote memorization (e.g., Diaa, 2016; Sobhy, 2016). It is also worth reiterating that some efforts over the past few years offer hope that change could be underway. As noted earlier in

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Chap. 2, the Egyptian Ministry of Education’s Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development Center has already started rolling out some of the revised curricular guidelines to younger grade levels, with hopes to apply those to the older grade levels educational system over the coming years. However, the success of such ambitious vision and efforts would clearly require availing the necessary support and addressing networks of interests that might be benefiting from the continuation of the status quo. As noted earlier, some of these curricular reforms have faced some resistance by key stakeholders, including parents. Striking a Balance Between Desired Historical Skills and Content In enacting the social studies and citizenship education curriculum, there are ongoing debates and dilemmas on how to strike the difficult balance between skills and content. In other words, the question is, how much content should be taught versus how much emphasis should be put on helping students gain and develop the necessary historical research and historical thinking skills instead of having to learn a vast amount of content. It is understandable that some policy makers and curriculum developers would have key concerns about foregoing some of the content and focusing instead on instilling those skills. Some of the concerns could relate to how detrimental this might be for creating a cohesive and collective sense of national identity and belonging. Instilling those historical research skills could after all potentially instigate multiple, and perhaps competing, understandings of the nation’s history. Those could clearly undermine and weaken the credibility of the dominant narrative. However, based on the findings of this study, it could be argued that this weakening of a collective sense of national identity and belonging could already be underway, especially among young Egyptian. Thus, without the necessary preparation and historical research tools, young Egyptians are left prey to any other alternative sources that could be dangerously exclusionary and extremist in their understanding and interpretation of history. To name some alternative sources that clearly emerged from this study, there are three types of sources or issues. First, there are transcendental narratives that indirectly permeate and inform understandings and approaches to history. This was perhaps clearest in the case of participants reverting uncritically to some widely accepted narratives within the Coptic Church and community such as the belief in the miraculous Muqattam Hill movement at the hands of a Coptic holy man. Second, and closely related to the first, there is a more specific Islamist narration of history

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which some of the participants have uncritically reverted to by joining some organized extracurricular groups that are basing their interpretations of history on a religious-based perspective. Third, numerous participants have referred to their family stories as sources of inspiration and as sources of narratives that allowed them to understand history and, in some cases, even challenge and question the master historical narrative they were taught in school. Thus, curriculum developers of history education might want to pragmatically consider placing a stronger emphasis on instilling and developing historical thinking and research skills so that students would not continue to uncritically revert to clearly biased and exclusionary discourses. As illustrated, in reaction to the lack of representation of some of their and their communities’ narratives and perspectives, some young Egyptians are uncritically reverting to religious-based historical narratives as well as their own communities’ narratives. As outlined above, while there is an urgent need to include some of the key missing narratives and perspectives, it is as crucial to avoid overloading curricula with content. Further, as noted, it is of utmost importance for the curriculum to be revised and teachers to be prepared to enact it in ways that help students develop the necessary historical research skills. Such efforts would ideally help enable students to carry out their own independent historical research and to evaluate the various competing historical narratives they are likely to be exposed to and to encounter in society. Teacher Preparation to Critically Engage with Dominant Discourses As demonstrated in some of the earlier chapters, dominant discourses play an important role in shaping students’ understanding of and approaches to history as well as their current and desired civic engagement and actions. We witnessed how many participants were able to critically engage with some historical narratives. Further, I sought to demonstrate how some of them were able to question resilient elements of the nation’s schematic narrative template, such as challenging the emphasis on the need for a savior. However, some other elements of the nation’s schematic narrative template were appropriated and not critically engaged with. This perhaps helps highlight the importance of imparting tools of critical discourse analyses among teachers and students. With the lack of such self-reflective and critical analytical tools, as was shown above, even those individuals

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who were able to critically engage with those two layers (i.e., historical representations and elements of the schematic narrative template) still unreflectively and uncritically reverted to equally exclusionary historical or ahistorical and transcendental narratives. Given how powerful yet elusive dominant discourses are and how they succeed through permeating various facets of society while presenting themselves as the ‘common sense,’ it becomes even more pertinent and urgent to seek to help students name those discourses that might be shaping their interactions and in turn, arguably, informing their civic engagement and actions. Thus, teacher education programs would ideally prepare teachers to introduce elements of critical discourse analyses. This would offer them an opportunity to help students critically reflect on dominant or alternative discourses that might shape, and often limit, their ability to engage in balanced ways with different historical narratives and sources. So, for instance, helping students start to identify and unpack some elements of the religious-­based and nationalistic territorial discourses should prove productive in helping students more holistically analyze these narratives and the discourses that those narratives are embedded within and reinforced by. Relatedly, teachers should be prepared and equipped to be able to create opportunities for their students to critically self-reflect and engage with their own positionalities and their various dimensions. Such classroom opportunities and discussions would be instrumental in helping students see how their positionalities can potentially augment or limit their historical consciousness, as well as the choices they make vis-à-vis their civic engagement and actions. As an entry point toward such discourse analysis and helping develop those tools and approaches, within this analysis, it might also be helpful to seek to analyze the ‘schematic narrative templates’ within which various historical narratives—including alternative historical narratives that  students might be reverting to uncritically and unreflectively—are embedded. This could be a way for them to start to better name, analyze, and investigate key elements of the discourse, worldviews, and ideologies in which the historical narrative and the schematic narrative template emanate from, and are supported and reinforced by. Relatedly, it would be helpful for teacher education programs to seek to prepare teachers and deepen their understanding of connections and interactions between learning history and students’ community engagement, community-engaged learning, and civic actions and attitudes. Such connections are important to explore, especially for teachers envisioning their

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roles as promoting a Critical Pedagogy and that potentially encourages more active, critical, and transformative forms of social studies and citizenship education. Teacher Preparation to Critically Engage Students with Their Positionalities It would be crucial to help both teachers and students develop the needed tools to be able to critically engage with various historical narratives and representations. Further, there is a need to support teachers and students with the tools to critically engage with and self-reflect on their positionalities and on how their worldviews are shaped by dominant and competing societal discourses. As demonstrated, such engagement is key, especially for individuals whose religious affiliations might prompt them to accept their own community’s or religious group’s historical narratives and dominant interpretations uncritically and unreflectively. In offering opportunities that encourage students to critically engage with and reflect on their positionalities and how those might shape their interactions with and understandings of historical narratives, as well as their civic roles and actions, it might be helpful to draw on contemplative and holistic approaches to education. As demonstrated by Kumar (e.g., Kumar, 2013; Kumar & Downey, 2018; Kumar, 2022), Meditative Inquiry could offer helpful entry points to start to acquaint pre-service teachers with contemplative practices and thus support their students with developing and embodying critically reflective practices as well as engaging with social justice and structural issues. Relatedly, there could also be much inspiration drawn from efforts in the spaces of holistic approaches to curriculum, seeking to offer more holistic approaches toward curricula and classroom practices that similarly connect self-consciousness to social change and transformation (e.g., Miller, 2019, 2022). Further, drawing on Indigenous perspectives and approaches promises to offer more holistic approaches toward engaging teachers and students more holistically, taking into consideration spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental dimensions. (e.g., Tupper & Mitchell, 2022). Offering some of those tools and approaches would be helpful for both teachers and students to critically engage with some curricular and societal misrepresentations or omissions that might negatively affect their own sense of inclusion and belonging; their understanding of and civic attitudes toward other groups and their histories; as well as their civic engagement and actions.

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Closing Remarks As Banks (2008) reminds us, curriculum does have the potential to play a key role in informing and inspiring a ‘transformative citizenship education.’ Such a curriculum would essentially need to include “clarified and reflective cultural, national, regional, and global identifications,” allowing students to better appreciate how these are “interrelated and constructed” (p.  135). Ideally such education would also help students “acquire the information, skills, and values needed to challenge inequality within their communities, their nations, and the world,” as well as “develop the decisionmaking and social action skills that are needed to identify problems in society, acquire knowledge related to their homes and community cultures and languages, identify and clarify their values, and take thoughtful individual or collective civic action” (p. 135). In this book, I have attempted to show how interactions with and approaches to history and of various historical narratives not only shape and inform some of these key identifications among individuals and communities. Such approaches to history also shape external orientations as well as civic engagement and actions. This clearly points us to the need to continue to critically examine how students’ historical consciousness is being shaped by historical narratives as well as the skills and tools that the curriculum encourages them to gain and develop. While acknowledging the sense of alienation and defeatism among many young people, this book simultaneously points to the refreshing hopefulness and the renewed sense of possibility and empowerment among many young Egyptians. Young Egyptians are not alone in their passion and dreams of a better tomorrow; they seem to be part of a growing global awakening and consciousness. Similarly, we are witnessing an alarming rise to power of right-wing figures and right-wing exclusionary movements gaining momentum in various contexts in the global North and global South propagating exclusionary discourses. However, simultaneously, we are witnessing a global consciousness that manifests itself in various forms, including individual or collective actions. We have and continue to witness this, over the past few years, in the massive youth-­led peaceful uprisings that continue to take place in various parts of the world. We have also seen this spirit captured and embodied in youth-led movements calling for a more just, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world. In the Egyptian case, this growing critical awareness seems to be informed by a new sense of history and a critical approach toward the

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dominant historical narrative, including some of the key elements that shape the Egyptian schematic narrative template. Drawing on the Freirian conception of the potential role of history in offering inspiration and hope, Fischman and Gandin (2007) refer to this intentional outlook as a “critical discourse of hope” (p. 218). Studying and shedding light on that growing critical awareness offers much needed hope in a world otherwise plagued by a sense of hopelessness and apathy. However, for the frontiers of possibility to continue to be redefined, pushed forward, and expanded in constructive ways, we need to continue to strive to offer young people the space, preparation, and tools to both critically and productively engage with their nations’ various competing historical narratives, schematic narrative templates, and discourses. Further, we need to continue to help them critically engage with how all of those might be working together to construct, normalize, and often limit their understandings of their roles and potentials as citizens and human beings.

References Abdou, E. D. (2016). ‘Confused by multiple deities, ancient Egyptians embraced monotheism’: Analysing historical thinking and inclusion in Egyptian history textbooks. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(2), 226–251. Anand, K., & Lall, M. (2022). The debate between secularism and Hindu nationalism–how India’s textbooks have become the government’s medium for political communication. India Review, 21(1), 77–107. Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Verso. Assmann, J. (1998). Moses the Egyptian: The memory of Egypt in Western monotheism. Harvard University Press. Banks, J. A. (2008). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Educational Researcher, 37(3), 129–139. Banks, J.  A. (2017). Failed citizenship and transformative civic education. Educational Researcher, 46(7), 366–377. Bartolomé, L. (2007). Critical pedagogy and teacher education: Radicalizing prospective teachers. In P. McLaren & J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Critical pedagogy: Where are we now? (pp. 263–286). Peter Lang. Botros, A. (2012). Reconfiguring the past: History, memory and ideology in Egyptian history textbooks between 1932 and 2009. In S.  Alayan-Beck, A. Rohde, & S. Dhouib (Eds.), The politics of education reform in the Middle East: Self and other in textbooks and curricula (pp. 112–130). Berghahn Books.

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Carretero, M. (2017). Teaching history master narratives: Fostering imagi-nations. In M.  Carretero, S.  Berger, & M.  Grever (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of research in historical culture and education (pp. 511–528). Palgrave Macmillan. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage Publications. Clark, P., & Sears, A. (2017). Fiction, history and pedagogy: A double-edged sword. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 49(5), 620–639. Cochran, J. (1986). Education in Egypt. Croom Helm. Denzin, N. (2007). Grounded theory and the politics of interpretation. In A.  Bryant & K.  Charmaz (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of grounded theory (pp. 454–471). Sage Publications. Di Capua, Y. (2001). Embodiment of the revolutionary spirit: The Mustafa Kamil mausoleum in Cairo. History & Memory, 13(1), 85–113. Diaa, S. (2016, March 30). Egyptian mothers revolt against curricula. Egyptian Streets On-line. http://egyptianstreets.com/2016/03/30/egyptian-­mothers-­ revolt-­against-­curricula/ Fahmy, K. (2015, January 1). Khamsat Asbab Lil I’tirad ‘Ala Qarar Man’ ‘Ard Film El Khorouj [Five reasons to contest the censorship against the Exodus movie]. Mada Masr. http://www.madamasr.com/ar/opinion/culture/ ‫­الخروج‬-‫­فيلم‬-‫­منع‬-‫­قرار‬-‫­على‬-‫­لالعتراض‬-‫­أسباب‬-‫­خمسة‬-‫­بالعامية‬-‫خواطر‬ Fahmy, K. (2017). The crisis of the humanities in Egypt. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 37(1), 142–148. Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge. Fischman, G. E., & Gandin, L. (2007). Escola Cidada and critical discourses of educational hope. In P. McLaren & J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Critical pedagogy: Where are we now? (pp. 209–221). New York: Peter Lang. Foster, S.  J., & Crawford, K.  A. (Eds.). (2006). What shall we tell the children? International perspectives on school history textbooks. Information Age Publishing. Gee, J. P. (2011). How to do discourse analysis: A toolkit. Routledge. Harris, R., & Reynolds, R. (2014). The history curriculum and its personal connection to students from minority ethnic backgrounds. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 1–23. Herrera, L. (2022). Educating Egypt: Civic values and ideological struggles. American University in Cairo Press. Herrera, L., & Torres, C. (2006). Cultures of Arab schooling: Critical ethnographies from Egypt. State University of New York Press. Hobsbawm, E. J. (1990). Nations and nationalism since 1780: Programme, myth, reality. Cambridge University Press. Hobsbawm, E. J. (1997). On history. The New Press. Kumar, A. (2013). Curriculum as meditative inquiry. Springer.

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Kumar, A. (Ed.). (2022). Engaging with meditative inquiry in teaching, learning, and research. Routledge. Kumar, A., & Downey, A. (2018). Teaching as meditative inquiry: A dialogical exploration. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 16(2), 52–75. Llewellyn, K. R., & Ng-A-Fook, N. (Eds.). (2017). Oral history and education: Theories, dilemmas, and practices. Springer. Lopes, A.  C., & Macedo, E. (2014). The curriculum field in Brazil since the 1990s. In W.  Pinar (Ed.), International handbook of curriculum research (pp. 86–100). Routledge. Miles, J. (2019). Seeing and feeling difficult history: A case study of how Canadian students make sense of photographs of Indian residential schools. Theory & Research in Social Education, 47(4), 472–496. Miller, J. P. (2019). The holistic curriculum. University of Toronto press. Miller, J.  P. (2022). Taoism, teaching, and learning: A nature-based approach to education. University of Toronto Press. Ng-A-Fook, N. (2007). An indigenous curriculum of place: The united Houma Nation’s contentious relationship with Louisiana’s educational institutions. Peter Lang. Parker, W. (2008). Knowing and doing in democratic citizenship education. In L. S. Levstik & C. A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 65–80). Routledge. Salinas, C. (2022). Teaching difficult histories in difficult times: Stories of practice. Teachers College Press. Sayed, F.  H. (2006). Transforming education in Egypt: Western influence and domestic policy reform. The American University in Cairo Press. Seixas, P. (2018). Foreword. In S. A. Metzger & L. M. Harris (Eds.), The Wiley international handbook of history teaching and learning (pp. xiii–xviii). John Wiley and Sons. Sobhy, H. (2016, April 20). Thawrat Al Umahat Li Tatweer Manahij Al Ta’lim [Mothers’ Revolution to Improve Educational Curricula]. Al Shorouk Newspaper. http://www.shorouknews.com/columns/view.aspx?cdat e=20042016&id=f23631b7-­2258-­469e-­ac8c-­da8618ae4230 Strong-Wilson, T. (2008). Bringing memory forward: Storied remembrance in social justice education with teachers. Peter Lang. Tupper, J. A., & Mitchell, T. A. (2022). Teaching for truth: Engaging with difficult knowledge to advance reconciliation. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 30(3), 349–365. Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. Oxford University Press. Wertsch, J.  V. (2004). Specific narratives and schematic narrative templates. In P.  Seixas (Ed.), Theorizing historical consciousness (pp.  49–62). University of Toronto Press.

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Wilkinson, M. L. (2014). The concept of the absent curriculum: The case of the Muslim contribution and the English National Curriculum for history. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46, 419–440. Wodak, R., de Cillia, R., Reisigl, M., & Liebhart, K. (2009). The discursive construction of national identity. Edinburgh University Press. Zervas, T. G., & Abdou, E. D. (2022). Modern education and National Identity in Greece and Egypt: (re)producing the ancient in the school textbook. In D.  Tröhler, N.  Piattoeva, & W.  F. Pinar (Eds.), World yearbook of education 2022: Education, schooling and the global universalization of nationalism. Routledge.



Appendices

Appendix 1: Participant Demographics (n = 39)

1. Gender 2. Academic level 3. Religious affiliation:

Female Male Graduate Undergraduate Muslim Christian (Coptic Orthodox)

Number of participants

Percentage of overall number of participants

28 11 20 19 32

72% 28%

82%

7

18% (continued)

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. D. Abdou, Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt, Curriculum Studies Worldwide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0

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(continued) Number of participants 4. Governorate where participant underwent her/his schooling:

5. Type of School

6. Specialization in Thanaweyya ‘Amma 7. Year of Graduation from High School:

Aswan Bani Suef Cairo Damietta Daqahleyya Fayoum Gharbeyya Giza Ismailia Menoufia Minya Sharqiyya Home schooled for Egyptian curriculum in Saudi Arabia Private Public/Government-run Public/Azharite System Public/Experimental Graduated in Saudi Arabia Adabi (Literature) ‘Ilmi (Sciences/Maths) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

1 2 15 1 2 1 2 7 2 2 2 1 1

12 19 2 5 1 15 24 2 3 2 1 1 10 7 3 0 9 1

Percentage of overall number of participants

 APPENDICES 

265

Appendix 2: Written Narrative Exercise (English Translation). Guidelines: • Please complete all questions with as much accuracy and detail as possible. • Although the questions are in classic standard Arabic, please feel free to write your response in Egyptian Arabic or in English, if that would help you express yourself better. • Please do not hesitate to ask for any clarifications. • If you need more space for any of the questions, please do not hesitate to ask for more paper. • Please make sure you read the consent form closely and sign it. • If there are any questions you do not feel comfortable completing, please make sure to write the reason for that. • Please make sure to have read through all the questions before embarking on writing your responses. • You are given two full hours to complete this form. First, Personal Information:   1. Name:   2. Gender:   3. Nationality:   4. Religious Affiliation:   5. Area of Study (or Work):   6. Scholarships earned during university:   7. High school diploma earned: ___  Thanaweyya ‘Amma. Please specify track (literature, science, etc.): ___ Other. Please specify: __________   8. Type of School: Public ___ Private ___ Experimental ___  9. Governorate/City (where you received most of your school education): 10. Year of completion of high school diploma: 11. What was the last year of receiving history education in high school: _________

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APPENDICES

12. Did you have any voluntary activities during your school years? (whether within school or outside school): ___ Yes ___ No 13. Why? (Please specify the reason for whether you volunteered or did not): 14. If you answered Yes, please specify the type of activities you were engaged in: 15. Do you have any current voluntary activities in society (whether within university or outside)? ___ Yes ___ No 16. Why? (Please specify the reason for whether you do or do not): 17. If you answered Yes, please specify the type of activities you were engaged in: Second, Research Questions: Please complete the following questions as accurately and as fully as possible. Do not hesitate to ask for extra paper, if needed.   1. Please describe a situation where you felt you enacted your role and where you had a sense of being an Egyptian citizen?   2. Why did you choose this situation?  3. How do you see this  — or similar situations  — informing your future role in public activity (whether voluntary or more political)?  4. What do you remember of your history lessons at school? Specifically, what do you remember of the key milestones/turning points that might have defined Egyptian history? (They could include key eras, events, and actors). Please use the next two pages and a half or more, if needed.   5. What dominant viewpoints and perspectives do you feel were used to narrate that history? (an indication could be events that took a disproportionately large space at the expense of other events, for instance).   6. What key historical periods, events, or figures do you believe are missing from history education in Egyptian schools that you studied? Please include all eras, particular groups, events, and actors you feel were missing.   7. Please narrate and explain all that you know about those currently missing narratives.   8. What are the sources of your knowledge of these narratives that you found were missing from Egyptian history curricula?

 APPENDICES 

267

  9. Why do you think it might be important to include those missing narratives in Egyptian historiography at large? 10. Why do you think it might be important to include those missing narratives in Egyptian history curricula?

Appendix 3: Pre-Interview Drawing Exercise and Interview Prompts. (a) English translation of pre-interview drawing exercise prompt: In a simple diagram or illustration, please present the history of Egypt from your perspective. Feel free to present this as a diagram or a simple straight line or circular or spiral that might depict progress, stability/continuity, or decline. (b) Interview Prompts The guiding prompts for the semi-structured interview discussions included the following: Reflections on Pre-Interview Drawing 1. Reflecting on drawing: (a) Just to make sure, does this drawing express how you were taught it in school or how you personally view it? Are there any differences between these two? (b) Why did you choose this particular way to present your diagram (for instance a symbol vs. a timeline)? (c) Do the color choices have any particular significance for you? Clarifications from Written Narrative Exercise 2. Please elaborate on what you wrote in the written exercise or anything you feel you want to add or modify? [I also prompted specific questions that emerged from the written narrative exercise or points that were unclear to me or contradictory or confusing, for instance]

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APPENDICES

Sources of Historical Knowledge

3. What would you say is your main source of historical knowledge is? [I further probed by asking whether the sources include textbooks, religious or faith-based curricula, movies, novels, media, family, or others]. (a) Relatedly, what are the sources of the missing narrative you presented in your written exercise? How did you learn about it and where? Inclusion/Exclusion 4. In terms of what you felt is missing, do you think others (of other identities and realities) share that sentiment? 5. Who would and who would not?



Connecting History Education and Civic Engagement

6. How do you think your understanding and engagement with history informs your engagement with your community or Egyptian society at large, whether in volunteering or your political outlook, and so on? 7. More specifically, do you feel the inclusion/exclusion of your history (as a Citizen/Youth/Gender/Religion/Class/Governorate, etc.) might’ve affected your decision to be civically engaged? And how might it have affected it? 

Ideal Textbook/Curriculum

8. If you were a senior curriculum developer or an advisor to the minister of education, how would you design a history textbook or curriculum that might have a good influence on your ideal vision of a citizen? 9. What would it look like in terms of content and style?

 APPENDICES 

269

Appendix 4: Prompts for Participatory Visual Methods Workshop 1. Prompt for Individual Drawing Exercise: You are asked to choose one key era, event, or historical figure that you believe is omitted from history textbooks. Please draw how you would present that missing era, event or historical figure. Guidelines • Choose one key historical figure, event, or even a full era that you believe is unjustly omitted from Egyptian history curricula. • Draw a snapshot representation of that. • You will then present that to the group. Present your drawing to the rest of the participants focusing on: • Why you chose to draw this… • Why you think you chose to represent it that way

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Index1

A African Americans, 4, 54n14 Al-Azhar, 15, 17, 71, 77, 84, 90, 100, 101, 123 education system, 17 institution, 94 Islamic education system, 20 mosque-university Islamic system, 73 religious-based education system, 90 system schools, 20 system, 94 Ali, Mehmed, 7, 10, 11, 18, 69, 73, 81n3, 105, 114, 115, 117, 119 educational system and schools, 73 era, 78 heirs, 71, 73 and his dynasty, 71–77

military establishment, 73 military schools, 71 modernization project, 74 rule, 71, 115 schools, 76 Ancient Egypt, 15, 18, 88, 121, 148, 168, 240 civilization, 82n4 Ancient Egyptian, 10, 240 beliefs and practices, 241 belief systems, 251 civilization, 81–82 clergy, 240 female rulers, 250 glories, 187 history, 15, 18, 82, 86, 105, 115, 134, 141, 147, 239, 252–253 kings and queens, 168

 Note: Page numbers followed by ‘n’ refer to notes.

1

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. D. Abdou, Education, Civics, and Citizenship in Egypt, Curriculum Studies Worldwide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33346-0

291

292 

INDEX

Ancient Egyptian (cont.) language, 15 military, 87 religion, 241 religious establishment, 105 religious leadership and clergy, 240–241 royal mummies, 16 themes, 82n4 times, 141 Arab, 84, 86 cultural identity, 13, 86 Muslim conquest, 86, 139 and Muslim identities, 87, 96 nations, 84 B Bedouin, 105, 117 British occupation, 80–83 C Christian, 3, 91, 98, 100, 126, 128, 132, 138, 145, 150, 165, 171, 238 beliefs and practices, 138 Christianity, 18, 91, 115 Church, 139 Citizenship action and civic engagement, 227 Citizenship education, 2, 6, 22, 23, 29, 199, 200, 202, 203, 227, 245, 253, 256, 257 Citizenship types, 200, 203 Citizenship typologies, 197 Citizenship typology models, 196 Citizen types, 207 Civic engagement, 159, 161, 162, 164–165, 177, 188, 189, 201, 207, 222–226

and action, 180–181, 195, 196, 198, 199, 201–204, 207–209, 211, 212, 214, 221, 222, 224–226, 231, 234, 235, 245, 254–257 and action choices, 223 and actions tendency, 208 and action tendencies, 211 and action types, 206 choices, 224–225 civic action tendencies, 207 decisions, 165 experiences, 163 Civics, 83 Civics textbook, 81, 99 Competing dominant discourses, 5 Constitutional monarchy, 80–83 Copt, 13n6, 97, 100, 139, 145, 150, 164, 234, 247 Coptic, 70, 98, 139, 145, 146, 149, 175, 234, 239, 247, 253 Christian, 16 Church, 100, 101, 139, 176, 253 contributions, 248 era, 115, 170, 234, 247 historical era, 239 history, 145, 148–150, 152, 170, 173, 234, 239 participants, 170, 172, 173, 188, 210 Coptic Orthodox, 139 Church’s Sunday School curriculum, 136 Pope Kyrollos, 247 Critical discourse analyses, 23, 27, 31–34, 50, 158, 186, 235, 241, 244, 254, 255 Critical Pedagogy, 7, 23, 27–32, 28n12, 34, 39, 45, 158, 173, 236, 243, 244, 246, 249, 256 Cultural models, 35, 180, 181

 INDEX 

D Dominant discourses, 5, 9, 31–33, 49, 50, 144, 172, 176, 203, 212, 222, 224, 225, 231, 232, 234–244, 246, 251, 255 Dominant master historical narratives, 7 Dominant meta-discourses, 241 Dominant nationalistic historical narrative, 237 Dominant nationalistic narrative, 189 E Early Arab Muslim dynasties, 87 Early Muslim society, 87 Egyptian Christians (Copts), 15, 55, 247 Egyptian history textbooks, 252 Egyptianism, 15, 82n4 Egyptianist discourse, 241 Egyptianist intellectuals, 82 Egyptianist meta-discourses, 11 Egyptianist orientation, 82, 82n4, 88 Egyptianist secular discourse, 240 Egyptianist themes, 82n4 Egyptian Ministry of Education, 15, 17, 253 Egyptian Muslim, 12, 92 Egyptian Muslim students, 94 Egyptian public schools, 74, 103 Egyptian schematic narrative template, 104–106, 119, 235, 238, 240, 258 El-Sisi, Abdel Fattah (President), 15, 115 F Free market policies, 92

293

G Global citizenship education, 200 H Historical consciousness tendency, 36, 38, 44, 53, 141, 173, 174, 178, 199, 203, 205, 207–212, 214, 221 History textbooks, 3–5, 81n3, 86, 87, 97, 101, 104, 134, 145, 146, 178, 233 I Islam, 13, 91 Islamism, 8, 10–14, 85n6, 88, 93, 97 Islamist, 5, 12, 13, 16, 87–90, 92–94, 97–101, 142, 253 meta-discourse, 240 movements, 92 orientations, 12 Islamized, 91 J January 2011, 1n1, 125, 135, 214 revolution, 125, 134–135, 157, 178 January 25th revolution, 162 July 1952, 86 M Meta-discourses, 10, 10n3, 11, 14–16, 232, 235, 236, 238, 240–242 Ministry of Education (MOE), 17, 24, 82–84, 93–95, 98, 99n10, 100, 101, 101n11, 103 Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development Center, 104

294 

INDEX

Morsi, Mohamed President, 98, 101, 103n12, 135 Mubarak, Hosni, 93, 96, 101, 115, 180 era, 93–94, 96–97, 99, 100, 102 regime, 100 Muhammed (Prophet), 87 Muslim, 3, 13, 13n6, 14, 70, 87, 88n8, 89, 91, 99n10, 100, 132, 138, 171 kuttabs, 73 nation, 12 participants, 234 religious texts, 14, 76 students, 17 Muslim Brotherhood, 9, 12, 12n5, 15, 70, 79n2, 82n4, 84n5, 98, 99, 103, 128, 166, 189 Muslim-Christian relations, 100, 137 N Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 79, 82–86, 85n7, 115, 128, 129 regime, 13, 14, 83, 84, 86, 155 socialism, 13n6 time, 176 Nasser era, 83–89, 92, 99, 175, 180 curriculum, 84, 86–88, 91 history textbooks, 87 textbooks, 84, 86, 87, 91, 92 Nasserist, 85n6, 129 Nasserite, 129 Nationalist discourse, 8 Nationalist historians, 105 Nationalist historical narratives, 8 Nationalistic discourse, 167, 239 Nationalistic’ dominant narrative, 148 Nationalistic territorial, 11, 14–16, 238 discourse, 180, 237, 240, 252, 255 historical narrative, 11, 18

meta-discourse, 238, 240 orientation, 9 vision, 8, 10, 14, 81 A nationalistic territorial discourse, 235 Neoliberal, 180 ideological influence, 94 policies, 180 1919 revolution, 124, 126 1952 revolution, 115 Non-Muslim, 12, 13, 98 kuttabs, 73 minorities, 13, 84 Nubians, 97, 117, 130, 151, 152, 248 P Pan-Arab, 13, 13n6, 79, 85n6, 86–87 Pan-Arabism, 10–14, 13n6, 83, 85n6 Pan-Arabist, 13, 15 Pan-Islamism, 11 Political Islam, 8, 10, 12, 88 Private schools, 17, 89, 94, 180 Public school, 74, 78, 95, 153 Public schooling, 149 Public school system, 233 R Religious-based discourse, 77, 82, 84, 90, 92, 171–173, 224, 232, 235, 238–241, 243 Religious-based education, 71, 89–93 Religious-based historical narrative, 8, 183, 243, 254 Religious-based ideology, 82 Religious-based institutions, 225 Religious-based interpretations, 171 Religious-based Islamist, 101 Religious-based Islamist discourse, 8 Religious-based meta-discourse, 238, 239

 INDEX 

Religious-based narrative, 8, 237, 242 Religious-based worldviews and epistemologies, 77 Revolution, 92, 126, 136, 163, 177, 181 S Sadat, Muhammad Anwar, 93, 115, 145 educational system, 89 public discourse, 90 regime, 91, 93, 97 rule, 88, 90 Sadat era, 89–94 curricula, 91 textbooks, 92 Schematic narrative template, 25, 45–53, 104, 105, 114, 171, 176, 178, 180–181, 183–185, 187, 233, 235, 243, 254, 255 Socialism, 83, 87, 92 Socialist, 79, 83, 84, 86–87, 89, 90, 92, 94, 129, 175 Social studies, 2, 3, 6, 22, 29, 245, 246, 253, 256

295

curriculum, 29, 77, 80, 97, 124, 198, 246 teacher, 195, 250 textbooks, 91, 98, 101 State-run public schools, 17 Sunday School, 139, 170, 210 activities, 172 classes, 128 curricula, 139, 153 teachers, 129 Supra-nationalist ideologies, 11, 12, 85n6 Supra-nationalist Islamist orientations, 238 Supra-nationalist orientation, 9, 10 Supra-nationalist religious-based, 85n6 T 2011 revolution, 11, 17, 101, 114, 115, 162–163, 188, 189 2011 uprisings, 189 2013 revolutions, 17, 101 Type of civic engagement, 225, 226 Typology of citizenship, 207