Resurrecting the Past, Constructing the Future: A Historical Investigation on the Formation of a Greek National Identity in Schools, 1834-1913
This dissertation research combines archival data and historical methods and analyzes how schooling and education in Greece between 1834 and 1913 sought to shape a Greek national identity. The goal of this project is to present a historical analysis, that has thus far been absent from scholarship on the subject, and to convey how the adoption of a common national history in Greece, with roots to ancient Greece, assisted in the shaping of a Greek national identity. The timeframe this project examines is significant because it covers an important portion of Modern Greek history. The beginning of the modern state of Greece and the opening of the first Greek schools occurred in 1834, while 1913 represents the end of the Balkan Wars and the expansion of Greek schools and a Greek identity into newly claimed parts of Greece. The years between 1834 and 1913 were a time of major social, political and cultural changes in the state of Greece that helped to facilitate the formation of a Modern Greek national identity. Greek government legislation, textbooks, teacher's manuals, curriculum guidelines, opinions and other writings from and about this time period, provide the historical, social and cultural contexts analyzed in this dissertation. By focusing on these archival materials, this project contributes to the history of education, cultural and educational policy studies, comparative and international education, national identity formation, Modern Greek history and more broadly, European history.
Balkan Nationalism, European History, History of Education, History Textbooks, Modern Greece, National Identity Formation, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations