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History teachers hold the

key to sustainable peace

Jonathan Even-Zohar, Director, European Association of History Educators

any factors have to be taken into account when

working to prevent – or rather transform –

conflicts, but one element that usually plays a

prominent role is the issue of history and especially of its

‘correct’ interpretation. This can take several forms and

shapes. It can be about the history of the land; a group’s

claim to territory going back into ancient history, or a

more recent unjust ruling by a greater power about new

borders. It can be a matter of a perpetrator’s unwilling-

ness to admit past crimes or a victim’s exaggeration of

the crime. It might even be the results of historic football

matches. All conflicts are rooted in history, and the way

in which they are learned through history either resolves

or sustains them. As the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization founding mantra

goes, war starts in the minds of men, or to be more precise,

in the minds of boys. At school, learning about battles and

borders has been the dominant story through the existence

of history as a school subject since its birth in the nine-

teenth century. For this reason, we believe history teachers

to be of enormous importance to the creation of a more

peaceful world, and this is the story of our association’s

fight to be the change in the field of history education.

The European Association of History Educators (EUROCLIO)

was officially founded in 1993, but already in 1992 dele-

gates from 14 countries (Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium,

Portugal, Hungary, Estonia, the Netherlands, France, the

United Kingdom, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Sweden

and Norway), representing 18 history teachers’ associations,

had decided that a European organization was needed to

support the learning and teaching of history by sharing and

exchanging knowledge and professional experience. The

immediate cause for the foundation of such an institute was

the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the dissolution

of the Soviet Union in 1992. These events changed the scope

and perspective of history and history education in Europe

completely, and for many countries a European dimension

in history education suddenly became possible and impor-

tant for the future.

Thus the decision was made to renew contacts between

East and West and reinforce a history education that could

act as a tool to foster integration, peace and stability in

Europe. From 1993 onwards, EUROCLIO grew rapidly

and today it represents 71 member organizations from 50

(mostly) European countries. It connects not only 40,000

historians and history, heritage and citizenship educators

Teachers from the Netherlands visited Turkey in 2008, gaining profound

insights into the complexity of history teaching

The encounter of Dutch and Turkish perspectives in history education opened

new horizons for professional intercultural dialogue, resulting in a unique

support, training and collaborative writing project

Image: EUROCLIO

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