Development and Re-Configuration of Heritage Perception: History Textbooks and Curriculum

Abstract

The plundering, looting and neglect of archaeological and heritage sites are quite common in many parts of the world. Turkey is one such country that has a poor record of preservation of archaeological and heritage sites, particularly those of minority ethnic groups and from the prehistoric and ancient periods. In other words, those which are not part of the national/official past of Turkey. The main reason for this is that Turkish formal education neglects the prehistoric and ancient past, and ‘others’ the past of minority groups. This paper will examine and discuss how and to what extent archaeology and heritage related topics are presented in formal education in Turkey, i.e., national, minority groups, prehistoric and ancient pasts and antiquities by analysing the curriculum and textbooks from 2013. Specifically, this paper will demonstrate that history education in schools has a major impact on the development and re-configuration of heritage perception, which can either lead to the protection or neglect of heritage.

Effective or not? Success or failure? Assessing heritage and archaeological education programmes – the case of Çatalhöyük

“…Most of them also pointed out that they had no knowledge about archaeology, heritage, or Çatalhöyük before participating in the education programme. The main reason for this is that the Turkish formal education system has largely neglected archaeology and heritage topics that are not related to ethnic Turkish and Islamic history (Apaydin 2016). Additionally, levels of informal education by museums or NGOs are quite low in Turkey compared to western countries such as the UK or US (Apaydin 2015).…”

“…The second and third categories of this question indicate how Turkish formal education, which has strong nationalist and Islamic agendas influencing history education, influences people's perception. I have argued elsewhere (Apaydin 2016) that most locally educated students in Turkey have imposed on them an official history that only includes Turkish, Islamic and the Ottoman periods, and mostly excludes other histories such as the prehistoric or ancient past. This has been the case since the Turkish State was established in 1923.…”

“…In following decades after the construction period, the focus of textbooks shifted and gave more importance to the Islamic periods, the Ottoman Empire and Turkish past, as well as the history of the modern Turkish Republic, which also helped to shape Turkish ideology and nationalism (see Apaydin 2015Apaydin , 2016. In the twenty-first century Turkey, the content of history textbooks hasn't changed much.…”

“…Thousands of years of history, starting with the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, are presented in only a few paragraphs. Minority heritages, such as that of the Greeks and Armenians, are completely neglected (Apaydin 2015(Apaydin , 2016. Therefore, it is not surprising that most of the participants neither recognise the site as 'their' heritage nor recognise it as a heritage site at all.…”

“…There are many issues in working with children, including the different learning abilities and understanding of the past of children whose physical and personal development (Falk and Dierking 2000, 11;Falk 2005, 266), motivation, age, interest and cognitive development (see Davis 2005) are different. Most children perceive the past according to their socio-political backgrounds and, most importantly, as individuals of the society, they interpret and value the material culture of the past as part of political ideology (Smith 2006(Smith , 2010(Smith , 2012 that is largely learned from formal education (Apaydin 2016). In other words, political use of past greatly affects the valuing of the material culture of the past (Smith 2006) The interpretation of heritage in Turkey provides a good example of the topdown approach, which prevents interactive learning possibilities of children (Apaydin 2016).…”