Authors

Tadeusz Wojtych¹;  ¹ University of Cambridge, UK

Discussion

The past is heavily contested in both Central Europe and North America. Researchers of education explored how history textbooks from individual countries portray other nations. Transitional justice scholars analysed how post-conflict societies worked towards reconciliation through Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs). However, researchers in these fields have not yet adequately addressed how both TRCs and bilateral historians’ commissions affect the content and form of history textbooks. Diverse reconciliatory bodies – from the Polish-German Textbook Commission to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission – receive ample and emotional media coverage. However, these commissions’ concrete impact on education remains unexamined. My research is a step towards filling this gap: I explore how TRCs and bilateral commissions affect the portrayal of former adversaries in history textbooks. I analyse Polish, German and Canadian textbooks published before and after the commissions convened. I trace the changes in content and form, as well as in ways of learning and thinking (memorising, source analysis, independent research) promoted by these textbooks. In this paper, based on work-in-progress, I discuss my research methods and initial findings. This comparative project sheds light on the differences, unobvious parallels, and transferable experiences of reconciliatory education in Central Europe and North America.