After the wall

In recent years, there have been substantial changes in the ways history has been taught in the schools of Europe. While the most radical changes have occurred in the nations of Central and Eastern Europe since the Berlin Wall and the other Cold War barriers collapsed in 1989, no school system has been stagnant. From one corner of the continent to the other, from Iceland to Romania, Portugal to Russia, history teachers have had to respond to a great variety of challenges. This book illuminates the ways in which history teachers in Europe are responding to these challenges. It includes articles from almost every European country and concentrates on the major issues which teachers are facing - e. g. the purposes of school history with particular reference to its role in developing a sense of national and other identities; the relation of the history to citizenship and of the teacher to the state; the needs of ethnic minorities; the balance of skills and content; assessment and out-of-school history. Since teachers and educationists learn best when they compare their own experiences with those of others, this book will appeal a wide audience, especially since, with the enlargement of the EU and the spread of liberal democracies, so many issues are much more fully shared than in 1989.