Global themes in the social studies curriculum of Greek primary education : the case of the 1982 and 2000 reforms

Abstract

This study features a content analysis of the Greek primary school social studies curriculum of two consecutive educational reforms—those of 1982 and of 2000—both of which are used in schools today. The purpose of the study is to determine if there are global themes in the curricula of both reforms, and to compare which of the reforms includes the most references regarding global themes. The analysis revealed that even though the majority of references address national orientations, both of the reforms contain references to global themes; however, the 1982 reform has more references than that of the year 2000. It is recommended that countries in the European Union and beyond revisit their curricula in order to enhance global orientations and international perspectives, especially in the area of social studies, so that students are better able to make the leap from being national citizens to becoming ‘cosmo-citizens’.