[hr-education] Teaching children in a "divided society": the importance of divergent opinions in school textbooks

[***Moderator's note: The message below is a Council of Europe press
release that may interest list members.***]

27.10.2003 - Palestinians and Israelis involved in preparing and
overseeing school textbooks heard how education authorities in Northern
Ireland are trying to overcome the problems of teaching in a divided
society at a hearing of the Assembly's Sub-committee on the Middle East
this week.

The Assembly's rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, Mikhail
Margelov (Russia, EDG), hailed the "spirit of tolerance" that prevailed
during the meeting, on suppressing provocative language and incitements to
hatred and violence in school textbooks and the media. "What makes me
optimistic is the level of self-criticism we have heard," he said,
encouraging both sides to continue trying to build bridges with Council of
Europe help.

Participants heard examples of provocative language used in current
Palestinian and Israeli schoolbooks, but agreed on the importance of
teaching tolerance.

"All of us must give attention to what we tell our children if we want
peace to last," said Ilan Shalgi, who chairs the Education and Culture
Committee of the Israeli Knesset. He pledged to demand the ending of state
subsidies for Ultra-Orthodox schools using textbooks that were not "in the
frame of consensus".

Basri Ahmad Salmoodi of the Palestinian Authority's Education Ministry
denied that Palestinian textbooks incited violence - but said the
education system should support the "national aspiration" of the
Palestinian people.  He pointed out that the violence of everyday life in
the Middle East made the task of educators difficult: "The hatred that
kids see in their daily lives is far worse than anything they read in
their schoolbooks."

Cheryl Stafford, from Northern Ireland's education authorities, explained
how history curricula for schoolchildren had been revised in the "divided
society" of the province, where history had been used as propaganda, and
it was difficult to reconcile polarised views. "We try to show students
that historical judgments depend on the point of view of the person making
the judgment. Therefore, our textbooks always contain a range of different
viewpoints. We value a divergence of opinions, rather than seeking
absolute consensus. Teaching history is not about the transmission of one
view."

Source: 
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Communication%5Fand%5FResearch/Press/News/2003/20031027_teaching_children.asp



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