Whose Story? And How? Nonlinearity and the Study of History

• In Event: Perspectives on Chaos and Complexity Theories in Education

Abstract

Professional historians of various schools of thought over the twentieth century have pushed back on these assumptions with little effect on the public’s historical memory or the teaching of history in K-12 schooling. More importantly, even within the profession of history, counter-narratives and challenges to the status quo continue to operate within the status quo of so-called disinterested research seeking some measure of objective truth (Novik, 1988). To attempt to truly experience a paradigm shift, a new framework for understanding must emerge. The purpose of this paper to argue for complexity theory as a methodological framework, or lens, through which to study and understand history.

Author

• Serina A. Cinnamon, University of North Carolina at Pembroke