A rationale is presented for a new direction in educational historiography which reevaluates the treatment of the working class as active creators of history. Presently the impact of the working class on the public school history curriculum is not fully assessed or explained in light of other social and economic circumstances in the twentieth century. This neglect of working class history deprives a majority of students of an area of knowledge which carries the possibilities of explaining the past and making recommendations for future actions. Generally such knowledge of the working class is kept alive through the spoken word and music but is not recognized as legitimate knowledge for public school teaching. The result is ideological hegemony which is under control of the dominant culture and is unimpeded by a critical examination of its purpose. Educational historians need to continually examine the historical process of legitimizing or delegitimizing knowledge and especially develop participatory studies of working class history and culture. (Author/DE)