Teaching contested narratives
Subtitle: identity, memory, and reconciliation in peace education and beyond
By: Zvi Bekerman and Michalinos Zembylas
Contributors: Zembylas, Michalinos
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521766890
Subjects: Reconciliation; Peace; PSYCHOLOGY / General; Study and teaching; Conflict resolution
Description: "In troubled societies narratives about the past tend to be partial and explain a conflict from narrow perspectives that justify the national self and condemn, exclude and devalue the 'enemy' and their narrative. Through a detailed analysis, Teaching Contested Narratives reveals the works of identity, historical narratives and memory as these are enacted in classroom dialogues, canonical texts and school ceremonies. Presenting ethnographic data from local contexts in Cyprus and Israel, and demonstrating the relevance to educational settings in countries which suffer from conflicts all over the world, the authors explore the challenges of teaching narratives about the past in such societies, discuss how historical trauma and suffering are dealt with in the context of teaching, and highlight the potential of pedagogical interventions for reconciliation. The book shows how the notions of identity, memory and reconciliation can perpetuate or challenge attachments to essentialized ideas about peace and conflict"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Part I. Introduction and Theoretical Underpinnings: 1. Introduction; 2. Problematizing peace education Romanticism; 3. On conflict, identity, and more; Part II. Living and Teaching Contested Narratives: 4. Victims and perpetrators: how teachers live with contested narratives; 5. (Im)possible openings; 6. The everyday challenges of teaching children from conflicting groups; 7. The emotional complexities of teaching contested narratives; Part III. Mourning, Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Problems and Possible Solutions: 8. The nationalization of mourning in troubled societies; 9. The work of mourning in schools: ambivalent emotions and the risks of seeking mutual respect and understanding; 10. Forgiveness as a possible path towards reconciliation; Part IV. Conclusions: Implications for Peace Education: 11. Becoming critical experts of design in schools; 12. Memory and forgetting: a pedagogy of dangerous memories; 13. De-essentializing identity; 14. Designing a different path for reconciliation pedagogies.