Citizenship Education curriculum in Greece - beyond ethnocentric or eurocentric approach

Abstract

The issue of intercultural and citizenship learning has concerned scholars for a long time while subjects such as history, geography, civic and citizenship have been shaping young peoples’ identity. Under migration pressures and the European Union’s integration these subjects have been often challenged and transformed. In the case of Greece, subject’s textbook topics on immigration and diversity have been promoting more ethnocentrism and eurocentrism. This paper presents those findings, and in so doing it explores the ways in which the Greek state’s and the EU’s intercultural education policy have impacted the specific school subject. It focuses on the Greek nation’s identity formation, while discussing the country’s response to the EU’s calls for common policies in the area of intercultural and citizenship education. The last section of this essay provides new insights into the educators’ tools to implement less ethnocentric and more inclusive curriculums and programs by exploring an extracurricular, online peer mentoring program that was initiated and implemented in Australia to foster intercultural awareness.