Education and Youth

Working Group on History / History Teaching
Activities Report June 2002

Background

History/History Teaching is one of six priority areas/working groups of the Task Force Education and Youth.

History and History Teaching play an important role in developing national identity. Against the background of ethnic, cultural and national conflicts in South Eastern Europe history teaching was often used as a tool for promoting nationalistic ideologies. History textbooks have in many cases been dominated by biased historical interpretations. Sensitive historical issues and groups, such as the history of social and ethnic minorities, the history of neighbouring countries have often been excluded from the textbooks.

Therefore history education in South Eastern Europe has been identified as a key issue for the reconciliation and democratisation process and thus for long-term stability in the region by many key actors at expert and political level.

At the Sofia Conference on ”Educational Co-operation for Peace, Stability and Democracy” in November 1999 history experts both from the region and beyond developed a set of recommendations with regard to the most important issues and urgent needs in the reform of history education in SEE and lay out a strategic framework and action plan for the Working Group, which is co-ordinated by the Council of Europe:

1. To implement a framework for action building on and complementing existing expertise and ongoing programmes and initiatives
2. To develop a range of cross-border and multilateral initiatives in history education aimed at encouraging greater mutual and comparative understanding of the history of the region from a multiplicity of perspectives and at a multi-dimensional approach to history teaching (political, social, cultural and economic), developing the skills and values necessary for the development of civil society, e.g. critical thinking, tolerance, respect for diversity.
3. to facilitate the establishment of networks of experts and other key stakeholders in history and history teaching for the cross-fertilisation of ideas and experience.

Four priority areas for future activities in the filed of history education were identified:

• The Training of History Teachers in New Methodologies (e.g. comparative approaches to teaching the history of the region, teaching approaches designed to help students to analyse critically and interpret evidence; handling controversial and sensitive historical issues in the classroom; using out of school resources, incorporating a multiplicity of historical perspectives; drawing on social, cultural, political and economic approaches to history)
• The Development of Teaching Resources, supporting the above mentioned approaches
• History and History Teaching in Higher Education
• istory Teaching in Non-formal Education

Achievements

The 11 Quick Start Projects on History, which received funding at the SP Regional Funding Conference in March 2000, focused on teacher training, development of teaching resources and history teaching in higher education. Most of them have been finalised by now, some of them have already received funding to continue, others have, based on the results and experiences gained in the first phase of implementation, developed follow-up projects and are looking for funding for the next phase.

These Quick Start Projects provide a wide range of activities and concrete project results, such as stocktaking of the initial and in-service teacher training in SEE countries, creation of additional teaching materials on social and cultural history in the region in the languages of the region, training of textbook authors and teachers/teacher trainers in new methodologies, bringing together experts from neighbouring countries in order to analyse and discuss sensitive and conflictive issues of their joint history, establishing regional networks of young historians.

One major outcome and value added to the Quick Start Projects can be seen in the networking and cross-fertilisation among the projects. Thus projects profited from sharing a pool of experts and expertise, the exchange of materials and project results. The Working Group on History and History Teaching served as a platform for the exchange of information and expertise.

Overview of the Quick Start Projects on History and History Teaching, 2000-2002

1. Teacher Training

   • Conference on the Training of History Teachers in SEE, Athens, September 2000, implemented by the Council of Europe
   • Comparative Study: Teaching and Learning about the History of Europe in the 20th Century, implemented by the Council of Europe
   • National/Regional History Teacher Training Seminars, implemented by the Council of Europe and Euroclio
   • South Eastern European History Teachers’ Education Project, Phase 2: Teacher Training Workshops, implemented by the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in SEE

2. Development of Teaching Resources

   • Development of Teaching Materials and Teacher Training for History Teaching in Albania, Bulgaria, and FYR of Macedonia, implemented by Euroclio
   • Co-ordination of Textbook Research, Textbook Development and Comparison in History in SEE, implemented by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research
   • Creating Additional Materials for Teaching SEE History, implemented by the Center for the Study of the Balkan Society (CSBSC) Graz, Society for Social History, Belgrade and the Balkanistic Seminar at the University of Blagoevgrad
   • Publication of a multi-author textbook of 20thcentury SEE history, implemented by Open Society Archives/Center for Publishing Development Budapest
   • Translation and publication of key studies of recent regional history into local languages of SEE, implemented by Open Society Archives/Center for Publishing Development Budapest

3. History Teaching in Higher Education

   • Board of Eminent Historians, implemented by the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in SEE
   • Shared History Project: Deconstruction of National Hate Narratives, implemented by the Sabanci University Istanbul, the Panteion University, Greece, and the Columbia University, USA

4. History Curricula
   • Development of History Curricula for Pre-university Education in Albania, implemented by the Council of Europe

Next Steps for Action

Based on the experience and results of the Quick Start Projects the stocktaking and development of curricula and standards for history teaching has been identified as a fourth priority in addition to teacher training, development of teaching resources, and history teaching in higher education.

Furthermore new projects should have a clear regional dimension and involve at least three SEE countries, have a mid-term perspective and a dissemination strategy of project results to ensure a sustainable impact on policy and practice, involve local as well as international expertise and contribute to the building of networks.

Within a targeted call for new projects the Task Force has received 12 projects on history and history teaching, covering the development of curricula and teaching resources, regional teacher training with a focus on new methodologies and approaches, such as cultural history and oral history, and sensitive and controversial issues of common history. After the final screening of these projects a short-list of proposals will be put forward to the donor community for funding within the next weeks.

The Working Group on History and History Teaching will continue to serve as a forum for discussing, developing and co-ordinating the implementation of new approaches to history education across the region, for sharing ideas, experience, expertise and facilitating cross-fertilisation between projects and initiatives as well as in helping potential project co-ordinators to draw up proposals for funding. However, Working Group meetings will select specific thematic issues in order to provide for in-depth discussions on reform priorities and on implementation strategies.

The Working Group, currently involving about 25 members, mostly history experts from SEE universities and representatives of Western European and international institutions active in this field, aims at further expanding its regional network of key stakeholders in history education in SEE countries, including history teachers at school level.

The next Working Group meeting is envisaged for end of November 2002.