Teachers’ narratives about the possibility to teach controversial history of the 1965 affair in Indonesia

Some Indonesian teachers have entangled alternative versions in their teachings on the 1965 affair, a controversial vicious and political event in Indonesia, to counterbalance or even contest the communist coup narrative in the history lesson curriculum and school textbooks. Employing the sociological tools of Margaret Somers, this paper dissects the stories of eleven high school history teachers about what enables them to teach multiple interpretations of the 1965 affair. The inclusion of different accounts in their teachings is navigated by various narratives of the affair that they acquired or fabricated in certain socio-historical and political settings. However, teaching is far from an independent pedagogical action. Accordingly, the extent to which each teacher could easily teach multiple versions was related to surrounding actors inside or outside of the school and their narratives of the 1965 affair and communism, as well as perceived absence of any institutional practice to veto such teachings.