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Researching an Initiative on Peaceful Coexistence in Greek-Cypriot Schools

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Researching an Initiative on Peaceful Coexistence in Greek-Cypriot Schools MICHALINOS ZEMBYLAS, CONSTADINA CHARALAMBOUS, PANAYIOTA CHARALAMBOUS & PANAYIOTA KENDEOU RESEARCHING AN INITIATIVE ON PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE IN GREEK-CYPRIOT SCHOOLS A Mixed-Methods Study on Teachers’ Perceptions and Emotions1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter we examine the perceptions and emotions of Greek-Cypriot teachers regarding a recent governmental initiative that defined the development of “a culture of peaceful coexistence” between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots as a central educational objective of the 2008-2009 school year (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2008a, p. 1). This policy initiative sparked strong emotional reactions – both in the teacher community and in wider Greek-Cypriot society. The heated public debates that ensued revolved around the ‘appropriateness’ of such an objective in light of the island’s forced de facto division and the past traumas of this conflict-ridden society (e.g. refugees, missing persons). In this chapter we provide an in-depth exploration of the intersection between tensions at the larger socio-political landscape and teachers’ emotional readiness to deal with this initiative. To do so, our research draws on the findings of two separate studies – one quantitative and one qualitative – conducted towards the end of the 2008-2009 school year. This research was underpinned by a conceptualization of teachers’ emotions as constitutive components of teaching and educational change within contexts that are inevitably politicised (Zembylas, 2008), especially in the case of politically controversial issues (Clark, Hoggett, & Thompson, 2006; Goodwin, Jasper, & Poletta, 2001). In a world of unrelenting political and social change, understanding the emotional aspects of change is essential, if policy initiatives are to be more meaningful and successful. RESEARCH CONTEXT Before discussing our proposed conceptualization of emotions, we start with a brief overview of the ethnic conflict between the two rival sides in Cyprus – Greek Cypriots (the majority, around 80%) and Turkish Cypriots (the island’s largest –––––––––––––– 1 An extended version of this chapter is published as M. Zembylas et al. (2011). Promoting peaceful coexistence in conflict-ridden Cyprus: Teachers’ difficulties and emotions towards a new policy initiative. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(2), 332-341, February. D.B. Napier & S. Majhanovich (eds.), Education, Dominance and Identity, 177–198. © 2013 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. ZEMBYLAS ET AL. minority, around 18%) – and the repercussions on current ideological landscapes in both society and education. Cyprus emerged as an independent bi-communal state in 1960, following the Greek-Cypriot armed struggle against British colonial rule (1878-1960). Yet, independence was not enthusiastically welcomed since the anti-colonial rebellion, inspired by Greek nationalist irredentism, was undertaken for enosis or union with the Greek motherland (Mavratsas, 2004). Turkish Cypriots, also influenced by the rising Turkish nationalism, reacted negatively to the Greek-Cypriot ideal of enosis and they counterproposed taksim, or ethnic partition (Kizilyürek, 1993). These ideological tensions have produced the intractable conflict in the politics of the region that came to be known as the ‘Cyprus Issue:’ first, between 1960- 1974 the Turkish Cypriots were the main victims; then in 1974, after a failed military coup by the Greek junta to unify Cyprus and Greece, the Turkish invasion imposed the de facto partition of the island in two ethnically homogeneous parts and caused the forced displacement of Greek-Cypriot (about 200.000) and Turkish- Cypriot (45.000) populations to the south and north parts of Cyprus, respectively. After the declaration of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in 1983 (considered legally invalid by the U.N. and recognized only by Turkey), there are in effect two rival states in situ (Constantinou & Papadakis, 2001) and they lack any sort of substantial contact. This decades-long physical and cultural separation rendered the division in Cyprus almost complete – socially, emotionally, and politically – resulting in what Bryant (2004) described as ‘ethnic estrangement.’ Ethnic estrangement has also been reinforced by intensive processes of ‘nation-building’ after 1974 on both sides, which have heightened their respective ‘Greekness’ and ‘Turkishness,’ while constructing the other community as the ‘ethnic-Other’ and ‘arch-enemy’ of the collective Self. In the spring of 2003 the permission granted by the Turkish-Cypriot side for unfettered access across the dividing ‘Green Line’ rekindled hopes for a final settlement before Cyprus’ accession to the E.U in May of 2004. A few days before Cyprus’ accession, a comprehensive U.N. proposal for re-unification on the basis of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation – known as the ‘Annan Plan’ – was put to simultaneous referenda on both sides, but it failed, with a 65% ‘yes’-vote by the Turkish Cypriots but a 76% ‘no’-vote by the Greek Cypriots. Today, despite on- going diplomatic efforts, the partition remains in place. Importantly, ideological tension exists also within each community. In the case of the Greek-Cypriot community, research has recorded a long-standing conflict between two identity-discourses: the Hellenocentric discourse, which emphasizes the ‘Greekness’ of Greek Cypriots (traditionally supported by the political right) and the Cypriocentric discourse, which emphasizes ‘Cypriotness’ (mostly advanced by the political left) (Mavratsas, 2004; Papadakis, 2008; Spyrou, 2006). The left-wing party AKEL – now in power – has been the political power that, from early on after 1974, has led most ‘rapprochement’ efforts between the two communities, arguing for their shared ‘Cypriotness.’ Yet, until recently, the leftist pro-rapprochement ideology has been socially marginal, while Hellenocentrism has 178 .
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