Documenting the January 6 attack on the US Capitol: A comparative case study on German and US perspectives for teaching the historical and the contemporary

Abstract

The storming of the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021 shocked the world and challenged democratic norms. Considerations on how to teach the events of January 6th remains an open question, not just for the United States but for other democratic nations, including Germany. This comparative case study explored the similarities and differences in how US and German social studies/history teachers made meaning of the January 6th attack and their rationale for teaching (or in some cases not teaching) the event. The international comparison sheds light on how threats to democracy are perceived by educators and their pedagogical rationales for teaching them. Findings suggest that teachers’ analysis of media credibility and instructional decision-making were complicated by their social and cultural connections to the event. German participants expressed a greater willingness to teach the events of the insurrection compared to their US counterparts. This study offers recommendations beyond teaching January 6th for teacher educators and education stakeholders supportive of teaching difficult and controversial histories. Exploring these international comparisons also calls into question how events are remembered and taught, potentially impacting democratic education.