Teaching Archaeology in a Greek Experimental School (original) (raw)

"In a country like Greece teaching about the past is a matter of particular meaning and value. Archaeology, though, is not included in the Greek curriculum system and archaeological finds are used, exclusively, for the illustration of History and Language textbooks. Therefore to teach archaeology in a Greek high school is, almost, a Sisyphean duty. Despite the slow rate of change, there is a continuously increasing tendency in the Greek educational system for examining and practicing new methods and subjects. The “Flexible Zone for Innovative Activities” which is encouraged by the Pedagogical Institute of Greece is such a program. “Project” approach and experiencing are now experimentally applied in Greek schools. In the Experimental School of the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece, an Archaeology Club exists since 2001. In this Club twenty-one students come in close contact with archaeology through specific classroom and outdoors activities that are, mainly, formulated by them. The goal is to familiarize them with archaeological critical thinking and the interdisciplinary methods of archaeology, and to realize the complexity of constructing the past and shaping a personal contact with it, far away from the official “sealed” data of school History. Beyond this Club, students participated in three different projects during the above-mentioned “Flexible Zone” activities. These projects were: “Local History in the classroom” (school year 2001-2002), “What do we eat today?” (2002-03) and “Genesis” (2003-04). Environmental education, prehistoric archaeology and local history were combined with experiencing learning, critical thinking and various artistic actions. The archaeological evidence for everyday food and social organization, from the Palaeolithic hunter and gatherer till the Byzantine farmer, was the concern of the first project. The finds of archaeology and palaeontology for the appearance of man in comparison with analogous evidence from the physical sciences, and the beliefs of theology and mythology were the request of the latter."