CIU contributes to history and peace education studies

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dilek Latif from the Department of Political Science and International Relations of Cyprus International University (CIU), who was part of the team formed to prepare the first General Report on the state of history teaching in Europe published by the Council of Europe “Observatory for History Teaching in Europe” (OHTE), presented the main findings of the report at an international conference.

The conference "Teaching history or teaching peace?" was organized for the third time this year by the Observatory for History Teaching in Europe (OHTE) in Strasbourg, France, and Latif presented the section of the General Report on textbooks in the Plenary Session: "History on the page: what future for history textbooks?”

Giving information about the report, Latif said that different methods and practices applied in the field of history education in OHTE member countries were examined. Noting that history and history teaching have been included in many discussions, Latif said, “History and history teaching are subject to manipulation by propaganda and anti-democratic forces. In addition, considering the cases of manipulation by political agendas, the findings of the report are very meaningful and symbolic." 

Latif noted that the findings of the research also point to the role of history education in the current political, cultural and social challenges facing Europe, especially the integration of immigrants and refugees into Europe, and attacks on democracy and democratic values.

Reminding that the History Teaching Observatory in Europe was established in November 2020 by the Council of Europe with the aim to improve human rights, democracy and the rule of law,  the observatory considers  history teaching as an indispensable component.  Latif also mentioned that  the History Teaching Observatory of Council of Europe consists of 16 member countries including Turkey, Cyprus and Greece. 

Latif also gave information about the purpose of the Observatory, saying that their basic approach is to provide an impartial overview of the state of history teaching in Europe and specialized analysis on certain topics through regular and thematic reports.
 
Stating that in various sessions of the conference, references were made to the contribution of history teaching methods to peace, democratic values, reconciliation, critical thinking and achieving a more just international society, Latif said that the research team also discussed the content of the General Report, its methodology, the data collected from OHTE member states and the results of the surveys.