How did East and West Germany and Japan reconstitute national identity after World War II? Did all three experience parallel reactions to national trauma and reconstruction?

History education shaped how these nations reconceived their national identities. Because the content of history education was controlled by different actors, history education materials framed national identity in very different ways. In Japan, where the curriculum was controlled by bureaucrats bent on maintaining their purported neutrality, materials focused on the empirical building blocks of history (who? where? what?) at the expense of discussions of historical responsibility. In East Germany, where party cadres controlled the curriculum, students were taught that World War II was a capitalist aberration. In (West) Germany, where teachers controlled the curriculum, students were taught the lessons of shame and then regeneration after historians turned away from grand national narratives.

This book shows that constructions of national identity are not easily malleable on the basis of moral and political concerns only, but that they are subject to institutional constraints and opportunities. In an age when post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation has become a major focus of international policies, the analysis offers important implications for the parallel revision of portrayals of national history and the institutional reconstruction of policy-making regimes.

During an armed conflict or period of gross human rights violations, the first priority is a cessation of violence. For the cease-fire to be more than a lull in hostilities and atrocities, however, it must be accompanied by a plan for political transition and social reconstruction. Essential to this long-term reconciliation process is education reform that teaches future generations information repressed under dictatorial regimes and offers new representations of former enemies. In Teaching the Violent Past, Cole has gathered nine case studies exploring the use of history education to promote tolerance, inclusiveness, and critical thinking in nations around the world. Online Book Companion is available at: http: //www.cceia.org/resources/for_educators_and_students/teaching_the_violent_past/index.html

Supplementary education consists of private instruction that complements and sometimes 'shadows' formal school content. Providers range from informal and part-time tutors to highly institutionalized, multi-national corporate franchises. This phenomenon is growing worldwide and has many potential impacts on formal education systems. This volume is the first multi-national examination of this topic and includes 'big picture' analyses to comparatively explain the intensity, authority and policy contexts of supplementary education. Quantitative and qualitative case studies of countries with high and low intensity forms of supplementary education are detailed. The chapters aim to deepen comparative and interdisciplinary knowledge on the impact of these educational markets on formal school systems, and inform future research and policy on supplementary education.