JHP Athens Conference

Magazine "Duga"
Interview with Christina Koulouri

1) What kind of research was done to make Clio in the Balkans, what did it encompass and what are the main results?

From December 1999 to December 2000 the History Education Committee of the CDRSEE held a series of seven workshops under the title "Teaching sensitive and controversial issues in the history of South-East Europe". The workshops aimed to address more practical and immediate problems of history and history teaching in primary and secondary schools in the region and to investigate the possibilities of eliminating "conflict-producing" national stereotypes from textbooks. We have dealt with very sensitive and delicate issues in the teaching of history such as the Cyprus question, the Macedonian identity (or identities), religious education, the Former Yugoslavia in history textbooks, the perceptions of the Albanian past etc.

Each workshop was organized as follows: a questionnaire was distributed to participants and answered by them before the meeting; a report was produced which provided a description of the situation in each country, a general survey and -if possible- some conclusions about possibilities of change and improvement. Analysis focused on history textbooks and curricula. During the workshops papers on historiography, other school subjects apart from history, media, the process of nation-building and of construction of national identities were also presented.

The results of the workshops are included in the publication "Clio in the Balkans" and it is difficult to summarize them all here. I could mention a conclusion which is not included in the book: that in every country there are people ready to work for the revision of history teaching, sometimes against official politics; and that reforms and changes can be initiated by civil society, by intellectuals, teachers and academics.

2) Scandinavian historians managed to put together a joint history of Swedes, Danes and Norwegians by including all the three different viewpoints. In what way and based on what principles will a common history for the Balkan peoples be made.

While carrying out this Joint History Project, we had not in mind writing a common Balkan history. In our case, although there is a common historical past, such an attempt is more difficult because in Southeast Europe there are much more linguistic and religious differences than in Scandinavia (10 languages and at least three major religious faiths).

In our point of view, we should of course stress on a common history of the region but this new history should not be a new construction which would replace the national histories. It is rather a new interpretation of the national pasts based on a common Balkan cultural and institutional heritage. And it implies the introduction in history teaching of supra-national elements as a counter-weight to ethnocentric or even nationalistic historical narratives.

3) WHat will the committee that will work on this look like, will it be composed from the Board of Eminent Scholars?

The History Education Committee, which carried out the previous two-years-projects, will be in charge of issues concerning history teaching. The HEC has formulated two new project proposals, one about producing history textbooks for BiH and one about producing additional teaching materials for all Balkan countries based on topics common in all curricula. The HEC includes 17 members representing all SE European countries. We are all teachers and researchers at universities, schools and institutes of the region and with few exceptions we are historians. Some, like Neven Budak (Croatia), Snjezana Koren (Croatia), Valery Kolev (Bulgaria) and Bozo Repe (Slovenia), are already authors of history textbooks. Some others have worked on curricula development or on the authorisation of history textbooks and have been involved in similar projects.

4) What is the purpose of this "joint" history and what kind of reactions do you expect? Positive? Negative? Are there any reactions so far?

The focus of innovation has to be kept on the general concept of the goals and of the methods of school history and to take into account the readiness of history teachers. As a matter of fact, revision of textbooks does not mean -at least exclusively - change of content but development of new skills, abilities, applied knowledge etc. The results of the textbooks analysis should be propagated in all SEE countries, especially to decision-makers in the field of history teaching.

Reactions cannot be the same in all countries. Balkan countries are in different stages of economic, political and social development and have different recent experiences that vary between authoritarian political systems, parlementarism, dictatorships, wars, migrations etc. That's why we expect both positive and negative reactions -even in the same country. But we try to keep in mind that history teaching is a long-term investment where results cannot be achieved immediately. It is however an investment that deserves our patience.

There have been positive references in the press but also some negative reactions about workshops (in Cyprus for example). The book has just begun to circulate and we are expecting more reactions after the book will have been received and read.

5) Could you please quote sme intreresting examples from your reserach which demonstrate different views on the same event?

There are many cases where neighboring nations interprete the same event very differently or where the same heroes, sometimes under different names, belong to different national histories For example, the Greeks and other Christian Balkan peoples use the term "fall of Constantinople" while the Turks use the term "conquest of Istanbul" (1453). Another case is the case of Iancu de Hunedoara for the Romanians who is Hunyady Janos for the Hungarians. The Balkan Wars are also presented in very different ways in the textbooks of Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and FYR Macedonia respectively. And the list can be long...

6) What kind of level of education do you want to start with, at primary school level? How and when do you envisage the changes starting to take place?

In our research we included all levels of education and the materials we are going to produce will be addressed to pupils at the age of 12-18.

The changes do not depend on us but especially on governements and ministries of education. We are trying to approach them and make our work known. In each country we have formed a nucleus of people who can act as multpliers but still there is a lot of work to be done.

7) Are you lobbying to include the principles of multiuculturalism and political correctness in history education?

Our recommendations coming out of our work point exactly to the need of including multiculturalism in history teaching. School history is mostly ethnocentric and does not include the perpspective of the others. Our network which is becoming larger and larger tries to put pressure towards a multiperspective and comparative teaching of national history. This network includes now academic teachers, school teachers, curricula developers, textbooks authors, ministry officials etc.