Postcolonial theory in history education and school textbooks.

Postcolonial theory has become increasingly integrated into contemporary research on historical science and history education, particularly in connection with the development and revision of textbooks across all levels of schooling. The academic discourse surrounding multicultural education—fueled by rising immigration, the refugee crisis, and the displacement of intellectuals from their countries to major Western urban centers—has revitalized postcolonial thought and its major representatives, both in former colonies and in colonial powers. From Willinsky’s concept of “floating fortresses–labs” to Stradling’s multicultural models of history teaching through the Council of Europe, a postcolonial perspective on history education has emerged. This perspective interrogates dominant narratives through models of multiperspectivity, historical empathy, biopolitical awareness, and a critical engagement with Western academic discourse as reflected in school history textbooks in Cyprus and beyond, across the tri-continental context. All of the above are framed within Foucault’s notion of the “panopticon”.