German-Polish Textbook Commission

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The Joint German-Polish Textbook Commission of Historians and Geographers was founded in 1972 under the auspices of the UNESCO commissions of Germany and Poland . The aim of the commission is an didactic exchange between experts from the fields of history, geography and didactics from both countries. The members analyze Polish and German textbooks and compile the results at specialist conferences and within a series of publications. The organization examines the representation of history in school books and intensifies the dialogue between the nations with the aim of optimizing school teaching. The commission is supervised on the German side by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig and on the Polish side by the Center for Historical Research Berlin of the Polish Academy of Sciences .

Conferences

The German-Polish Textbook Commission organizes a specialist conference every two years, which takes place alternately in Germany and Poland. The first specialist conference took place in Warsaw in 1972 , in which 14 recommendations were formulated for the representation of German-Polish relations in textbooks for history and geography. The number of recommendations was increased to 17 at a second meeting in Braunschweig that same year.

In 2016 teachers took part in a conference of the textbook commission for the first time. The work with the teachers is reinforced by workshops and the working group for teachers founded in 2018, which creates a direct connection between textbook research and teaching practice.

There is also an annual meeting of the Presidium , which is made up of ten Polish and ten German experts in history and geography. These are elected by co-optation on both sides . The meetings also take place alternately in Germany and Poland.

Publications

In their joint work, the members of the commission developed several textbook recommendations that were published between 1972 and 1995. In addition, the work Notes on the Treatment of Germany and Poland appeared in the geography textbooks of both countries in 2001. Many of the conferences that were held were also published, as well as a series of teachers' handbooks and several individual publications.

German-Polish history book

In 2008 the Foreign Ministers of Germany ( Frank-Walter Steinmeier ) and Poland ( Radosław Sikorski ) commissioned the German-Polish Textbook Commission to develop a joint textbook on history. A project group, together with the German publisher Eduversum and the Polish publisher Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne WSiP, developed the concept of the school book series Europe - Our History , the first volume of which was presented by Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Witold Waszczykowski in 2016. The second volume of the textbook was published in 2017 and should be supplemented by the third and fourth volumes by 2020.

Prices

In 2002 the Commission received the German-Polish Prize “for special merits in the development of German-Polish relations”, which is awarded within the framework of the Neighborhood Treaty.

On June 9, 2017, the textbook commission for the German-Polish textbook project was awarded the Viadrina Prize of the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) .

Chairperson

The chairmen of the textbook commission are elected by the members of the executive committee.

German side

Polish side

literature

  • Joint German-Polish textbook commission: Notes on the treatment of Germany and Poland in the geography textbooks of both countries. In: Internationale Schulbuchforschung 23 (1), 2001, pp. 129–134.
  • Krzysztof Ruchniewicz : The development process of the joint German-Polish textbook commission 1937 / 38–1972. In: "Archive for Social History" 45, 2005, pp. 327–352.
  • Thomas Strobel: Transnational Science and Negotiation Culture: The Joint German-Polish Textbook Commission 1972–1990 In: Eckert. The publication series Volume 139. V&R unipress, Göttingen 2016, ISBN 978-3-8471-0524-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Center for Historical Research Berlin of the Polish Academy of Sciences via the Textbook Commission , accessed on October 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ Recommendations of the Joint German-Polish Textbook Commission , accessed on October 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ Georg Eckert Institute on the history book project , accessed on October 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Press releases on the official history book project website ; accessed on April 17, 2019.
  5. ↑ Office: “Our history / Nasza historia: First German-Polish history book” , accessed on October 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ Joint declaration by the Foreign Ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland on good neighborliness and friendly cooperation
  7. ↑ Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the Federal Republic of Germany - German-Polish Prize , accessed on October 1, 2019.
  8. ↑ European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder): “For Europeanization from below and not from above!” - Joint German-Polish textbook commission honored with Viadrina Prize , accessed on October 1, 2019.