The teaching of post-war history in schools

Greek textbooks seem to suffer a degree of discomfort, if not outright fear, in the face of recent Greek history. World War Two seems to form a chronological barrier, in so far as we seem simply to prefer not to teach our children about anything that has happened since. The Greek experience thus differs from that of other European countries, where history is taught in detail up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Is it really necessary to view events with the benefit hindsight in order to teach them? If so, how many decades’ hindsight is required? In the case of Greece, where the political passions that fueled post-war history have now largely abated, might it not be time to reduce the distance between History and the present day?

The “History as a historical phenomenon and the teaching of History” cycle seeks to shed light on such critical issues as the molding of the collective consciousness through the way History is taught in schools and through public debate on historical matters, and the oft-noted disparity between the History of specialist historians on the one hand, and the ‘official’ version of history taught in schools, and public history in general, on the other. It will also address how political goals and social trends can impact on the teaching of History.