Forum Oświatowe (Dec 2016)
History Education in Conflict Contexts: Toward Transitional Justice and Emancipation
Abstract
The international education agenda for post-conflict contexts is often focused on Education For All development goals and is influenced by an economic rationale and efficiency, whereas such contexts demand more focus on education for inclusion and reconciliation. Cole (2007) draws attention to an important path of reform: history education, and its relation with the goals of transitional justice and peace. Research (Foster, 2012) shows that in many countries, textbooks continue to adopt a single nationalistic narrative of the past that promotes some perspectives and ignores and silences others. The study critically approaches history education, its implications for identity formation, its potential relation to emancipation and the social aims of education, and the discursive production of official narratives. The case of history textbooks in conflict-ridden Syria is presented to highlight the need for critical history education in the transitional justice and democratization process.
