History teaching in Europe

Teaching history

Nationalist interpretations and prejudice in history have long made of this subject a weapon rather than an instrument of knowledge and dialogue between countries. From early on, the Council of Europe has encouraged its Member States to confront and revise their textbooks in order to dispel the erroneous clichés and interpretations concerning their neighbour states.

The publication of more objective textbooks, followed by a discussion of history teaching and educational programmes designed to present Europe as a whole, enabled the integration of questions concerning civilisation, culture, and values that had previously been neglected in traditional curricula.

After having helped teachers and students from across Europe to discover and understand their common history since 1989, the Council of Europe aims to promote a lively and attractive historical education which incorporates the study and understanding of great events: the teaching of memory, the prevention of crimes against humanity and the greater appreciation of the European dimension in the teaching of history.

Learning and teaching about the history of Europe in the 20th century

Learning and teaching about the history of Europe in the 20th century

This is a study carried out by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig, Germany. Using a cross-section of secondary school history textbooks, it informs on the general developments in the presentation of history over the last decades, and provides an overview of how certain aspects of European history are dealt with. Some of the topics discussed are taken from the darker side of Europe's past, such as occupation policy, the Holocaust, genocide and war (more...)

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