Chapter 13: Does History Teaching Contribute to Showing Respect and Sympathy for Others?: Debates on History Textbooks and the Curriculum in Turkey

Now, as in the past, various explanations of the past are given according to the nature of history as a discipline and the specific reasons for the teaching of history. As a result, history education is being discussed not only by academics but also by the wider community.

The reason for knowing about the past is not simply in order to understand and give meaning to the present. It also has a more complicated and political aim; for example an understanding of the past forms the identities of individuals, of unions and nations, by providing evidence on how the formations of society and values at present have developed in the past. At this point, the aim to “know the past” and understand the past may be transformed into the concept of “constructing the past for the present.” History teaching has an important role in transferring the constructed past to the masses.