Constructing national and European identities: the case of Greek‐Cypriot pupils

Abstract

The European Union’s increasing attention to social and cultural matters has been expressed through the notions of European citizenship and identity which are to be developed among children, adolescents and adults. Whether, and if so, how, children perceive a European identity to coexist with national identities is a challenging and relatively under‐studied question. This paper presents part of the findings of a study conducted in December 2000 which explored the ways in which 140 10‐year‐old Greek‐Cypriot pupils constructed their national and European identities. Results indicated that, despite positive attitudes towards Europe, pupils attributed little significance to the European identity, whereas national identities were extremely important. The discourse developed revealed essentialist and a‐historical representations of national identity, and an instrumentalist approach to Europe. Social psychological insights from self‐categorization theory are employed to explore whether the two identities were construed as in the same or different typical levels of abstraction. These findings are discussed within the broader socio‐political context of Cyprus and European integration.

Keywords:

• National identity
• European identity
• European integration
• self‐categorization theory

Acknowledgements

This paper has been drawn from my doctoral thesis, titled ‘The European dimension in education and pupils’ identity: a study of the impact of a primary school curricular intervention in Cyprus’. I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Michael J. Evans and Prof. Madeleine M. Arnot, at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, for their thoughtful guidance and supervision. I would also like to thank Prof. Martyn Barrett, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, for his comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Notes

1. The findings presented in this paper come from a broader, doctoral study, in which I investigated whether and how the implementation of an intervention programme with a European dimension in the subjects of History and Geography in the 5th grade of primary school would influence the ways in which pupils constructed their national and European identities, as well as their understanding of historical and geographical concepts. The research design was a combination of curriculum development, action research and quasi‐experimental research strategies. The study was conducted during the school year 2000/01 in four schools in the district of Larnaca. The data included in this paper are those collected with tests and interviews prior to the intervention programme and which focus on children’s national and European identities.

2. Another task included in the tests and interviews asked children to evaluate and hierarchize according to preference various national outgroups such as Greeks, Turks, Arabs, Americans, Russians, Israelis and others. The findings from this task are not included in this paper, but some of the children’s answers to this task, which were closely related to their national and religious identities (see also the following note), have been included to support the arguments of this paper.

3. Or other Christian Orthodox people for that matter, as, for example, the Russians:

Aki:  Because the Russians are Christians, too, we know what they believe in and so I will put ‘very much’ … (Grade 5C)

In one case, this criterion was also applied to justify more positive dispositions towards the Israelis, since pupils thought that they were Christians too:

Sofia:  … they are Christians … the same as us … they believe in Christ and that’s where Christ’s torture took place … (Grade 5B)