“The Peaceful and Constructive Battle”: UNESCO and Education for International Understanding in History and Geography, 1947–1967

Abstract

From its beginning, UNESCO made education for international understanding in school history and geography a priority. As these were the areas where children were most likely to encounter nationalism in state schools, a reform of these subjects was critical to the success of education for international understanding. The experience of two world wars and the threat of further conflict created a sense of urgency that sometimes allowed historical scholarship to be sacrificed for ideological ends. The major contributions of UNESCO in history education were pedagogical and involved new ways of organizing the subject for school instruction.