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Recent theories of historical consciousness focus on the role narration plays in contemporary people's attempts to give meaning to the past and orient their practical life as citizens. This article examines the need for probing students' historical ideas and for developing narrative competence as a way to engage them critically in contested memories of the collective past so as to expand their historical consciousness beyond memory and cultural traditions. Relying on a narrative approach, this study surveyed 635 French Canadian students from different regions of Canada. Canada, a multicultural state made up of nations-within (French, English, Indigenous), represents an interesting case for studying young citizens' representations of the collective past in a highly diversified society. This study offers new results on how these learners think about national history in the 21st century, and it discusses the implications for the development of narrative competence as a way to bridge the divide between the "cultural curriculum" and "historical thinking." We argue that history educators need to take more seriously students' narrative ideas if they truly want to have a lasting impact on their historical learning.

This article presents the results of a study that analyses students' historical narratives of the nation in relation to historical consciousness and how their sense of self-identification with groups affects their narrative structure and orientation. This study was conducted with French Canadian students registered in two high schools (n = 58) and one university (n = 18) in Ottawa, the federal capital of Canada. I found that a strong sense of identification leads young people to construct more engaging and militant stories of the collective past, with greater historical appropriation (using the collective "we") and a sense of continuity with past actualities. I then discuss the implications of this study for research on the narrative competence of historical consciousness and what history education might do in school to promote historical consciousness in Canada.

This article addresses the second-order concept of "historical significance" and attempts to answer the question of what criteria are used to make decisions about it in history and school history. Specifically, it explores the way Francophone and Anglophone students ascribe significance to selected historical events in Canada and discusses the implications of this study for history students and educators. The necessity of (re)considering how officials make decisions about historical significance in the school system is also examined.

This paper looks at the historical consciousness of prospective history teachers in Canada. Using a bilingual online survey instrument inspired by the pan-Canadian research "Canadians and their Pasts" with volunteer participants (N = 233), the study investigates their background knowledge, their perceptions of the trustworthiness of sources, their experiences in the history classroom, and their visions of school history. Results reveal that few prospective teachers have extensive knowledge of Canadian history and limited experience with active, inquiry-based teaching approaches to the past. However, a majority of them have very strong conceptions and sense of purposes regarding school history. The paper discusses the implications of this study, notably the need for professional communities of history practitioners.

The article examines why one needs more data on Canadians history and technology. At every level of society, technology has radically changed the way one thinks and behave, how people communicate and "make friends," shop around and find a partner, and learn from the world about how to live. Over the past 18 years, the number of Internet users has increased from 412 million to 3.4 billion worldwide. During the same period, the number of mobile subscribers, measured in number of users per 100 people, increased from 12 to more than 98.

The article examines why one needs more data on Canadians history and technology. At every level of society, technology has radically changed the way one thinks and behave, how people communicate and "make friends," shop around and find a partner, and learn from the world about how to live. Over the past 18 years, the number of Internet users has increased from 412 million to 3.4 billion worldwide. During the same period, the number of mobile subscribers, measured in number of users per 100 people, increased from 12 to more than 98.