Postcolonial theory in history education and school textbooks.

The critique addressed to "multiculturalism in education" in relation to its teaching models and textbooks.

Abstract

Postcolonial theory has become increasingly integrated into contemporary research on historical science and
history education, particularly in connection with the development and revision of textbooks across all levels
of schooling. The academic discourse surrounding multicultural education—fueled by rising immigration, the
refugee crisis, and the displacement of intellectuals from their countries to major Western urban centers—has
revitalized postcolonial thought and its major representatives, both in former colonies and in colonial powers.
From Willinsky’s concept of “floating fortresses–labs” to Stradling’s multicultural models of history teaching
through the Council of Europe, a postcolonial perspective on history education has emerged. This perspective
interrogates dominant narratives through models of multiperspectivity, historical empathy, biopolitical
awareness, and a critical engagement with Western academic discourse as reflected in school history textbooks
in Cyprus and beyond, across the tri-continental context. All of the above are framed within Foucault’s notion
of the “panopticon”.