Constructing Historical Consciousness in Greece
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CONSTRUCTING HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN GREECE: CULTURAL SYNCRETISM IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN UNIFICATION DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Robin M. Giampapa ***** The Ohio State University 2005 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Robert Lawson, Adviser _______________________ Professor Peter Demerath Adviser College of Education Professor Gregory Jusdanis Copyright by Robin M. Giampapa 2005 ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation study is to explore high school students’ negotiation of historical knowledge in the modern Greek educational system. Both a theoretical and empirical inquiry into Greek students’ attitudes about history, the project is situated within the political context of a currently expanding European Union. Utilizing an ethnographic case study approach, data is collected in a mixed methods manner through history classroom observations, in-depth interviews, a detailed student questionnaire and photographic representations with lyceum students, teachers and administrators at Anatolia College, a private, college-preparatory school located in northern Greece. The data is analyzed using the constant comparative method and the results are considered in relation to the Greek national and International Baccalaureate teaching programs. This comparison is used to describe the ways students negotiate official and critical knowledge and how these forms of negotiation influence young Greeks’ historical consciousness. Generally, the study explores the relationship between education and identity. It is suggested that the latter be understood as engagements in various discourses, the former as a major participant in the process. Specifically, the study has been concerned with two distinct history education programs offered at the school, one constructed ii around a national curriculum and the other around a non-national curriculum, and how each participates in and influence students’ development of historical consciousness. In doing so, the goal has been to provide a conceptualization of cultural identity among these young Greeks in the context of Greek, European and European Union processes. The outcomes of the research reveal five discourses utilized by students in constructing historical consciousness. These discourses: common cultural heritage, burden of the past, autochthonous Hellenism, the mobiles and occidentalism, combine in complex, syncretic ways to form a collective identity among Anatolia youth that is comfortable with coexisting tensions and mixture. This analysis suggests that its not so much the curricular content that shapes cultural identity, rather, it is the ways in which students choose to negotiate the types of knowledge presented to them that they choose to engage in specific discourses. This implies that identities are not passive constructions of the educational process, but rather they are active choices and actively changing to suit certain conditions. Additionally, it suggests that Greek students’ cultural identity is one by which national identities are cast not as alternatives to a European identity, but as compatible with it. iii To my family and friends iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my advisor, Professor Robert Lawson, for his unvarying support and scholarly guidance throughout my doctoral process. His initial encouragement and subsequent enthusiasm and advocacy made my idea of this dissertation a reality. I am equally grateful to Professor Peter Demerath for inspiring me by example of his own scholarly work and contagious passion for research in the field. His conscientious direction was an invaluable component in this process. In the same respect, I owe much gratitude to Professor Gregory Jusdanis for introducing me to the field of Modern Greek studies and welcoming my desire to approach the field from an educational perspective. His own publications have also shaped my intellectual development and his well-rounded support is wholly appreciated. I would also like to thank Professors Antoinette Errante and Patti Lather for their encouragement, collaboration and influence on my work. A special thanks to Anatolia College and all those students, faculty and administrators who graciously participated in my study. They allowed me to observe them and intrude on their lives, yet made me feel like a welcome member of their community from the moment I arrived in Greece by embracing my study with particular interest. Without their cooperation, this dissertation would not have been possible. v Finally, I am grateful to my family and close friends for their understanding and support. Particularly, to my mother and brother, who stand by me no matter what the situation and provide me with unconditional love. To Denny, Charlie and Alex, whom I am extraordinarily fortunate to have in my life and who continually provide models of kindheartedness and generosity that I hope to emulate. And to Panayiotis, whose love I cannot compare and whose presence makes the journey significant. vi VITA January 30, 1968 Born—Columbus, Ohio 1991 B.S. The Ohio State University 1998 M.A. The Ohio State University. 1999-2002 Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Education vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………… ii DEDICATION ………………………………………………………………… iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………… v VITA …………………………………………………………………………… vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………. viii LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………. xii CHAPTERS PAGE CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………… 1 Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………. 1 Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………………… 4 Theoretical Assumptions …………………………………………….……. 9 Significance of the Study …………………………………………………. 14 Overview of the Chapters ………………………………………………. 16 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE……………………………. 21 NATIONALISM AND MODERN GREECE ……………………..……... 23 An Historical Narrative of Modern Greece …………………….… 24 Types and Processes of Nationalism …………………….……….. 26 Nationalism as a Cultural Phenomenon in Greece ……………….. 30 Creating a National Myth …………………………………….…… 32 Crisis of the Nation-State ……………………………….………… 34 CONSTRUCTING A NEW EUROPEAN SPACE ……………….……… 36 The European Union as an Imagined Community ………………... 37 viii Rendering “the West” …………………………………….………. 41 The New Identity Project ……………………………….………… 43 HISTORY AND HISTORY EDUCATION ……………….…………….. 48 The Postmodern Historical Debate ……………………………….. 48 School History versus Other Kinds of History …………………… 52 CHAPTER 3: EDUCATION IN EUROPE: REFLECTIONS ON THE LAST THREE DECADES ……………..………………………..………………. 56 DEVELOPING A EUROPEAN DIMENSION IN EDUCATION….……. 57 The Council of Europe ……………………………………………. 59 The European Union ……………………………………………… 60 Outcomes of a Europeanization of Education …………………….. 62 PROBLEMATIZING ASSUMPTIONS ……………... ……………….…. 65 The Rhetoric of Inclusiveness …………………………………….. 65 Assuming Positive Outcomes ……………………………………... 66 THREE DECADES OF EDUCATION REFORM IN GREECE ………… 68 The Decade of the 1980s: PASOK and Third Way Socialist Reform…………………………………………… 70 The Decade of the 1990s: Return of PASOK and EREFORM 2000 ………………………………………….. 72 New Century: New Democracy for Education ………………….... 75 Forces that Bind ……………………………..……………………. 76 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .……………..……………… 80 DEFINING THE PROJECT ……………………………………………… 80 Research Design ……………………...…………………………… 81 Explicit Purposes and Research Questions …………………..…… 82 Framing Epistemologies ………………………………..………… 85 Anatolia College: The Setting and Negotiating Entry ……………. 87 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH ……………………………………..91 Justification for Doing an Ethnographic Case Study……………….92 Criticisms of the Methodology ……………………….…………… 94 DATA COLLECTION METHODS ………………………………………97 Participant Observation …………………………………………… 98 Individual and Group Interviews …………………….……………. 101 Student Questionnaire …………………………………………….. 102 ix Photographic Representations ……………………..……………… 104 ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN. 105 Trustworthiness …………………………………………………… 105 Interpretation and Representation …………………….….……..… 107 Language Issues ……………………………………………………108 CHAPTER 5: COMPARING STUDENT HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH OFFICIAL AND CRITICAL KNOWLEDGES ………………………………………………………………… 110 AN INTERNATIONAL ORIENTATION TO EDUCATION …………….110 Historical Roots in Asia Minor …………………………………….113 Influences from America ………………………………………….. 114 The International Baccalaureate Program ………………………… 117 CONTRASTING APPROACHES TO HISTORY EDUCATION ……..… 120 Three Central Concepts ……………..…………………………….. 122 Vignette I: Portrait of a Lesson …………………………………….124 Describing School History in the Greek Lyceum ………………… 126 Vignette II: A Room with a View ………………………………….131 The IB Way to School History ……………………………...…….. 133 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ….....141 What Happens in History Classes? ……………………..………… 141 Which Historical Methods Would You Use? …………………..… 143 CHAPTER 6: IMAGINING CULTURAL IDENTITY AS A SYNCRETIC PROCESS OF DISCOURSES AMONG GREEK YOUTH ……….……….… 147 FIVE DISCOURSE GENRES OF CULTURAL IDENTITY …….……… 149 Common Cultural Heritage …………………………………..…… 152 Burden of the Past ………………………………………..……….. 160 Autochthonous Hellenism ………………………………..……….. 167 The Mobiles ………………………………………….…………… 174 Occidentalism …..…………………………………………………. 179 A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE DISCOURSE GENRES .....…………….. 188 Conceptualizing Cultural