Making History Work for Tolerance: a Research-Based Strategy to reduce the Intolerant Usage of History Teaching

How political narratives and perceptions of the role of different groups (majority and minority) in society are projected in history teaching? This project aims to offer research-based answers at political, policy, professional and student levels!
  The project “Making History Work for Tolerance “is a research-based strategy to reduce the intolerant usage of history teaching in three EU member states. It addresses the need to reduce the political manipulation of history education in order to increase tolerance among the majority and minority populations (including migrants) and to reduce xenophobia in three EU countries – Denmark, Slovakia and Latvia. The project is intended to contribute to practice-oriented activities such as training for history teachers, enabling them to resist the politicisation of history education and to promote a critical and reflective approach to learning about the past and its implications for the coexistence of different groups in society.  

Tolerance from a history teaching point of view is understanding how and why differing narratives of an event develop and persist in public memory.
History teaching expert, Slovakia

The worst that can happen is when teacher sees history only as black and white; divides everything into bad and good and then pushes this on a student. This goes against a system which belongs to a democratic state.
History teaching expert, Latvia

Project Leader: Network of Education Policy Centers Project Partners:
  • Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS, Latvia
  • Danish History Teachers Association, Denmark
  • Orava Association for Democratic Education, Slovakia
  • EUROCLIO
Funder: The Think Tank Fund of the Open Society Foundations Timeframe: April 2014 – June 2015
 
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