The representation of Byzantium in history school books of general education in Greece

M.A.The main purpose of this postgraduate study has been to record and investigate the ways in which Byzantine history is presented in the history textbooks of the Hellenic general education. Our attempt has been to demonstrate the ways in which this part of the Hellenic history is presented within the curriculum and syllabi, in order to investigate the various parameters (social, political, cultural, pedagogic and religious) that affect the historic Donsciouness of the Hellenic Primary and Secondary school learners.For research purposes, we contemplated that the study should be separated into two parts. In the first part we examined the theoretical constituents which define History as a subject under the subheadings of "What is history", "Historical event and its elements", "Historical knowledge and validity" as well as "History in general education". We then attempted to sketch out a rough outline of Byzantium and its history through a timeline of the dynasties. In the beginning of each dynasty, we referred to the ruling emperors and then attempted to identify the main factors which, in our opinion, had shaped each period so that the reader can, at least, conceptualize the long, eventful and diverse history of the Byzantine Empire. In the beginning of the second part, we refer to articles and paragraphs of the Hellenic constitution and Hellenic legislation that form the framework within which are defined: the overall purpose of Hellenic education, the structure and function of Primary and Secondary education, the framework for dealing with cross-cultural issues, as well as the general framework and defming directives that are set to promote the development of the European citizen's awareness but also to sustain the national and cultural identity. We, then, proceeded in dealing exclusively with the aforementioned Hellenic general education textbooks