| Abstract: | Abstract Efforts aimed at the development of a European dimension to the general education curricula offered in the different European countries have been stepped up in recent years, both within the countries of the current European Union and within the wider range of European countries belonging to the Council of Europe and subscribing to its Cultural Convention. The immediate importance of these efforts is seen to lie in the desirability of offering an education to young people that helps them make the most of their opportunities not only within their own national borders but also in the wider European Community to which they now belong and in which they have new rights and responsibilities. More generally, these efforts are also seen to be important in consolidating a Europe in which past animosities can finally be abandoned and replaced by a firm pan‐European attachment to ideals of freedom and cooperation between European nations, dedicated to the defence of democracy, human rights, freedom and tolerance. But, how successful have these efforts been? What are the problems encountered? What are the prospects for the future? How far is it proving possible to develop the European dimension across the curriculum? How successful is the European dimension, or might it be, in achieving its intended objectives? These questions, all of which are more puzzling than they might at first appear to be, are touched on in this paper. |
