Working Towards a Common History
By the POST Education for Peace Team

POST Research Institute (POST RI) is an NGO set up by a group of people whose aim is to work for the cultural, social and environmental improvement of Cyprus. POST RI’s vision is to make a difference through social and cultural activities with its dynamic, effective and productive group both at national and international levels. The mission of POST RI is to prepare projects that can be utilised by people who are involved or interested in social and cultural matters. It executes, manages and coordinates a variety of projects.

POST RI believes that peace can only be sustained through education. This is based on research that has shown that education plays a crucial role in establishing long-term peace and reconciliation after an ethnic conflict occurs. We believe that contributing to Peace should be our primary goal because the social, cultural and environmental improvement of Cyprus can only be achieved when the society that we live in is harmonious.

To this end, POST RI has conducted projects on “Education for Peace” since 2004. POST RI’s first project (E4P I) focused on the analysis of the fifth (final) grade primary school books. Extracurricular activities were conducted in order to pinpoint the elements that generate nationalism, hatred and prejudice against the ‘other’. The study was published in a book format and was widely distributed to interested parties such as academics, teachers, social NGOs, researchers, local authorities, unions etc. No similar study or collaboration between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots has been published until now. The project resulted in the reformation of the educational material used in Turkish Cypriot schools, which led to the promotion of mutual respect and conciliation by removing certain elements that produce nationalism.

Similarly, in the second project (E4P II), the team analysed the revised history textbooks used in lower secondary schools, in relation to text and visual materials and noted the differences between the old and newly revised textbooks. The team organised a series of workshops in various areas in the Turkish Cypriot Community to meet the history teachers teaching in different schools and exchange views regarding the use of the new books and teaching methodologies. The team also prepared questionnaires for the workshops: one for teachers, one for parents and one for students, in order to gain a broader understanding of the real case in practice. During March 2007, the final report will be published and delivered to the interested parties; articles will be written to the daily newspapers to share the findings of the project with the general public and workshops will be organised in various places to discuss the study and the team’s findings with a wider audience.

Reform of the education system in terms of revision of the textbooks and the curriculum is certainly necessary, otherwise the current method of education will continue poisoning children’s minds by promoting hostility. The reform of education also includes changes in curriculum, teaching methods and management structures. In addition to the elimination of ethno-centric and racist elements in the textbooks and school practices, the reform strategy should aim for a modern, high standard of education that is free of political opinion, and to bring the education system in line with European standards. Textbooks in national subjects such as history, social science and literature should contain material that is acceptable to all (in the case of Cyprus acceptability by both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities).

The development of a dialogue between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teachers, educators, local NGOs and competent authorities, for the reformation of school education has been initiated through the project Education for Peace, which will hopefully see the next generation of citizens and leaders enter into a multicultural and multinational society. Both communities’ history should be jointly prepared and common history should be taught. A bilateral, transparent understanding of history should be replaced with a common way of explaining this subject matter. In conclusion, there is a need for an urgent education reform in Cyprus in order to achieve peace and reconciliation, and the project “Education for Peace” certainly plays a vital role in assisting in this reform in the whole of Cyprus, with the long-term aim of a harmonious Island. For this reason the POST RI team wishes to continue its work by undertaking “Education for Peace III”, with the aim of making a comparative analysis of the secondary school history books and providing training to history teachers across the divide.

For more information about POST RI, visit: http://postri.org/