Volume 9, Number 4

Multiculturalism and History Education: Teachers’ Perceptions

  Authors

Nikolaidou Charis and Repoussi Maria, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

  Abstract

The present paper attempts to explore the perceptions and views of public primary school teachers in the city of Thessaloniki on multiculturalism and historical education. In particular, the involvement of teachers in the implementation of intercultural practices was studied, while specifically the history course was chosen since on one hand it gathers many identical features and on the other hand it is offered for the design and implementation of many intercultural interventions. The city of Thessaloniki with its multicultural past was used as a basis for outlining the trends and views of the human resources that serve education. The sample of the research consisted of 413 teachers from the primary schools of the prefecture of Thessaloniki. The quantitative methodological approach was followed and the data were collected using a questionnaire. The results of the research showed that the teachers’ training in matters of intercultural education is incomplete, a fact that affects their perceptions and their intercultural practices in a negative way. The research also showed that history curricula are in need of great changes in respect to integrate the multicultural perspective.

  Keywords

Intercultural education, perceptions, local history, Thessaloniki.