Resolution 2584 (2025)1Provisional version

Multiperspectivity in remembrance and history education for democratic citizenship

Parliamentary Assembly1. The importance of history teaching has been affirmed by the Council of Europe Summits of Heads ofState and Government in 1993, 1997 and 2005, and its relevance for democratic citizenship and stability iswell captured in the motto of the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe: “Teaching History, GroundingDemocracy”. A well-designed history education is essential to gain a deeper and more nuancedunderstanding of the past and apply it to evaluate with a critical eye the present, as it develops the capacity todifferentiate between facts, memories, interpretations and perspectives, and to detect and analyse distortionand propaganda.

2. At a time when historical narratives are increasingly distorted to justify aggression - most notably in thecontext of the ongoing war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine - the role of critical, evidence-based history education in countering disinformation has become vital. Referring to its Resolution 2558 (2024)and Recommendation 2280 (2024) “Countering the erasure of cultural identity in war and peace”, theParliamentary Assembly emphasises the perils of politicising history and highlights the power of historyeducation to build resilience against the misuse of narratives justifying aggression, human rights abuses, andterritorial claims.

3. The Assembly holds that the inclusion of sensitive and controversial parts of history in school curricula,the consideration of multiple perspectives and the analysis of historical sources can play a role in reinforcingdemocratic culture within a society and fostering respect for different opinions, pluralism, tolerance anddiversity. Taking students out of the classroom to learn in situ from historical places and sites of remembranceshould be part of this process. The Assembly firmly believes that history education should be a key part ofhuman rights education and a foundation for young people to develop democratic citizenship.

4. However, delivering quality history education in schools can be very challenging due to overloadedcurricula, traditional teaching practices and, in many instances, highly centralised education systems. Historyteachers may struggle with addressing multiple coexisting perspectives; they may lack adequate training andeven though they may have deep knowledge of their discipline they often have limited time to work on theoverall historical context with students, and limited access to teaching and financial resources. Moreover, inmany countries, initial teacher training does not include the development of competences in deliveringcitizenship education.

5. The Assembly values the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture developed bythe Council of Europe and welcomes the political momentum provided by the 2023 Standing Conference ofMinisters of Education for the renewal of the civic mission of education. The Education Strategy 2024-2030“Learners First – Education for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Democratic Societies” aims to establish a EuropeanSpace for Citizenship Education to exchange good practices and implement existing Council of Europeinstruments and tools.

1. Assembly debate on 29 January 2025 (5th sitting) (see Doc. 16090, report of the Committee on Culture, Science,Education and Media, rapporteur: Ms Luz Martinez Seijo). Text adopted by the Assembly on 29 January 2025 (5th sitting).

See also Recommendation 2290 (2025).

https://pace.coe.int

https://pace.coe.int

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