Whose history do we teach?

Dan Gillman (Waltham Forest NUT)
History can be an intensely political subject. This was clearly underlined when Margaret Thatcher took personal charge of writing the first National Curriculum for History.
As we seem to be approaching the onset of a new Tory administration it might be worth reflecting on how History faired under New Labour.
They failed to extend the age range asked to study it to anything like the European average. We've also seen the complete domination of the KS4 curriculum by the great exam board privateers and their stampede towards profit. All non-profit making options at KS4 were removed from the new specifications and all focused on the US victory in the new Cold War specification, a specification by the way that discounts completely the actions of the USA in either Vietnam or Central/South America!
We did at least see a move away from Thatcher's fixation with chronology, although OfSTED continues to underline their infatuation with this particular historical skill.
What would Cameron and the Tories bring? Well much of the same I'm sure, with a good dose of imperialist nostalgia mixed in as well. I'm not sure what's better; a party who eschews history or one who sees it from under the visor of a pith helmet!