Key findings

 

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the economic consequences of the debt crises of 2007 and 2008, of the Covid-19 pandemic and of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have continuously challenged the livelihood of many families in Europe and around the world. Understanding economic crises from a historical perspective enables students to better respond to present and future experiences of such crises.

The second thematic report of the OHTE "Economic crises in history teaching" investigates the extent and the ways in which learners are being prepared to understand and cope with such crises through history education in the public schooling systems of OHTE’s member states. It combines curriculum and textbook analysis with an explorative study of teachers’ experiences and summarises its most significant conclusions into 10 key findings listed in the introductory chapter and in the video above.



The word “crisis” originates from the Greek for “decision” in the legal, theological and medical fields in society: “The term challenged hard alternatives: right or wrong, salvation or damnation, life or death” (Koselleck 1982: 617). Since the early modern period, it has been applied to numerous other areas of society, including the field of economics, and the processual nature and the reproducibility of crises have also come more into focus (Koselleck ibid.: 627).

What does the report contain and how was it drafted?

In order to analyse the ways in which the member states teach about economic crises in history classes, this report adopts a comprehensive methodology, combining curriculum and textbook analysis with an explorative study of teachers’ experiences and employing both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Curriculum Analysis

Curriculum documents were identified on the basis of submissions by the member states’ Governing Board representatives and of research carried out by experts. All curriculum documents selected were reviewed by the experts. In case of doubts regarding which curriculum versions were currently in force, the relevant documents were verified upon request of the expert by the competent authority of the member state. This process was co-ordinated by the OHTE Secretariat.

For all countries, the curricula analysed in the present report were in force for the school year 2023/24. The full list of curricula is available in Appendix 1. In some countries, the curriculum documents have since been updated or revised.

Textbook analysis

The textbook sample contains 350 textbooks from 16 of the 17 OHTE member states. 

Three textbooks per year/grade and country were selected for the analysis, according to criteria detailed in the report.

Explorative study of teachers’ experiences

The questionnaire was disseminated to teachers relying on the network and communication channels of the OHTE, the GEI, European and national history teachers’ associations and the ministries of education of the OHTE member states. A total of 800 history teachers participated in the explorative study; their distribution by country is detailed in Table 5.1 (Chapter 5). A minimum of 30 completed questionnaires was collected from each country, with the exception of those possessing the lowest numbers of history teachers among the OHTE member states.