Since 1989 Europe has undergone a deep change. Teachers and educationists show its effects on history teaching and learning.
After the collapse of the political systems in Central and Eastern Europe, geography, politics and mentality have changed. Looking anew at the continent and its nations, the view of history is affected and renders a discussion about the contents and the purposes of history education indispensable. The fourth volume of the Eustory Series "Shaping European History" illuminates how history teaching in Europe has changed since the Fall of the Wall in 1989.
The book presents articles on the major issues surrounding history teaching:
Which part plays school history in developing a sense of national and other identities?
How can history contribute to political education?
How can the needs of ethnic minorities be taken into account in education?
How do pupils learn history outside classrooms?
More than 30 articles by authors from all over Europe deal with these issues and, thus, give an insight into current developments of history teaching and learning in Europe.
Lesweprobe
Background
Political and social developments inevitably influenced our thinking. Politically, the break-up of the Soviet bloc with the attendant discrediting of the communist ideology is clearly the most significant change, but the growth of the EU is important too. Despite the economic crises and financial scandals of the late 1990's, liberal capitalism and, with it individual consumerism, dominate not just Europe but the globe. Europe's comparative economic success and its geographical position make it a magnet for refugees, not just from the many political trouble-spots of Africa and Asia but from their economic and environmental trouble-spots too. So to Europe's existing minorities problems, some of which go back centuries, is being added another potentially explosive layer. Terrorism has acquired global not just regional dimensions. S-E Europe has been torn apart by a savage war, ended by the intervention of a NATO force. Our young people are growing up, therefore, at a time when they and their local communities have continually to assess their relationships to their region, their nation, to Europe and to a world whose problems they cannot afford to ignore. Wherever they are living, technology is accelerating social change, especially through developments in ICT and the media.
In times of rapid and often bewildering change, History, well-taught, is a school subject of crucial importance. It should give to young people the understanding of who they are and how they and their society have evolved; of how they relate to other parts of Europe and to the world and, critically, of the values which should prove durable and which should guide them and the future society which they themselves will help to create. That understanding should enable them to mould, or at least cope with the massive social changes which they will experience, maximising the benefits these changes can bring and limiting the damage that they can do. No other school subject can create such an understanding nor is more important to a liberal democracy.
A major reason for EUROCLIO's creation was to enable history teachers across Europe to share their experiences of these changes and work as closely together as possible to ensure that history flourishes as a subject and that the young people of Europe benefit as much as possible from its strength.
The structure of the book
The first five chapters respond directly to issues caused by political changes since 1989. Robert Stradling's Introduction sets the scene by describing the major political and social changes provides since 1989. Chapter I (History teaching, national identity and citizenship) addresses immediately what must be the most important and controversial role of school history, how best can the subject contribute to creating a sense of identity among young people and to helping them become effective citizens in such changing times. Chapter II (Addressing minorities issues) explains how in different countries, the history curriculum aims to respond positively to the needs of minorities.
Chapter III (Syllabus change: what knowledge and which skills?) addresses the very difficult question of, with so much history to choose from, what choices are different school systems making, how great a part do classrooms teachers play in making that choice and what balance they are achieving between knowledge and skills. Chapter IV (Textbooks) describes developments in the writing and publishing of these important but controversial aids to teaching and learning. Chapter V (ICT) and VII (Out-of-school history) reflect on technological and social changes and how they influence pupils' thinking, while Chapter VI (Assessment) analyses some new approaches to history examining and their implications.
Chapter VIII (Centralised or decentralised control of the history curriculum) considers, in the context of recent political changes, the extent to which national governments control the teaching and learning of history in their schools, while the final chapter, Chapter IX (History in the school curriculum) integrates these themes through descriptions of the experiences of four very different European states - Iceland, Spain, Lithuania and Romania
As 2003 is the tenth anniversary of EUROCLIO, the volume concludes with an Endpiece which describes how EUROCLIO came into being, as well as EUSTORY's achievements to date. This is a fitting way to end for it is clear from many of the articles that both EUROCLIO and EUSTORY have been a beneficial influence on many of the developments described in this book.
After the collapse of the political systems in Central and Eastern Europe, geography, politics and mentality have changed. Looking anew at the continent and its nations, the view of history is affected and renders a discussion about the contents and the purposes of history education indispensable. The fourth volume of the Eustory Series "Shaping European History" illuminates how history teaching in Europe has changed since the Fall of the Wall in 1989.
The book presents articles on the major issues surrounding history teaching:
Which part plays school history in developing a sense of national and other identities?
How can history contribute to political education?
How can the needs of ethnic minorities be taken into account in education?
How do pupils learn history outside classrooms?
More than 30 articles by authors from all over Europe deal with these issues and, thus, give an insight into current developments of history teaching and learning in Europe.
Lesweprobe
Background
Political and social developments inevitably influenced our thinking. Politically, the break-up of the Soviet bloc with the attendant discrediting of the communist ideology is clearly the most significant change, but the growth of the EU is important too. Despite the economic crises and financial scandals of the late 1990's, liberal capitalism and, with it individual consumerism, dominate not just Europe but the globe. Europe's comparative economic success and its geographical position make it a magnet for refugees, not just from the many political trouble-spots of Africa and Asia but from their economic and environmental trouble-spots too. So to Europe's existing minorities problems, some of which go back centuries, is being added another potentially explosive layer. Terrorism has acquired global not just regional dimensions. S-E Europe has been torn apart by a savage war, ended by the intervention of a NATO force. Our young people are growing up, therefore, at a time when they and their local communities have continually to assess their relationships to their region, their nation, to Europe and to a world whose problems they cannot afford to ignore. Wherever they are living, technology is accelerating social change, especially through developments in ICT and the media.
In times of rapid and often bewildering change, History, well-taught, is a school subject of crucial importance. It should give to young people the understanding of who they are and how they and their society have evolved; of how they relate to other parts of Europe and to the world and, critically, of the values which should prove durable and which should guide them and the future society which they themselves will help to create. That understanding should enable them to mould, or at least cope with the massive social changes which they will experience, maximising the benefits these changes can bring and limiting the damage that they can do. No other school subject can create such an understanding nor is more important to a liberal democracy.
A major reason for EUROCLIO's creation was to enable history teachers across Europe to share their experiences of these changes and work as closely together as possible to ensure that history flourishes as a subject and that the young people of Europe benefit as much as possible from its strength.
The structure of the book
The first five chapters respond directly to issues caused by political changes since 1989. Robert Stradling's Introduction sets the scene by describing the major political and social changes provides since 1989. Chapter I (History teaching, national identity and citizenship) addresses immediately what must be the most important and controversial role of school history, how best can the subject contribute to creating a sense of identity among young people and to helping them become effective citizens in such changing times. Chapter II (Addressing minorities issues) explains how in different countries, the history curriculum aims to respond positively to the needs of minorities.
Chapter III (Syllabus change: what knowledge and which skills?) addresses the very difficult question of, with so much history to choose from, what choices are different school systems making, how great a part do classrooms teachers play in making that choice and what balance they are achieving between knowledge and skills. Chapter IV (Textbooks) describes developments in the writing and publishing of these important but controversial aids to teaching and learning. Chapter V (ICT) and VII (Out-of-school history) reflect on technological and social changes and how they influence pupils' thinking, while Chapter VI (Assessment) analyses some new approaches to history examining and their implications.
Chapter VIII (Centralised or decentralised control of the history curriculum) considers, in the context of recent political changes, the extent to which national governments control the teaching and learning of history in their schools, while the final chapter, Chapter IX (History in the school curriculum) integrates these themes through descriptions of the experiences of four very different European states - Iceland, Spain, Lithuania and Romania
As 2003 is the tenth anniversary of EUROCLIO, the volume concludes with an Endpiece which describes how EUROCLIO came into being, as well as EUSTORY's achievements to date. This is a fitting way to end for it is clear from many of the articles that both EUROCLIO and EUSTORY have been a beneficial influence on many of the developments described in this book.