THE ‘MINOAN’ EXPERIENCE OF SCHOOLCHILDREN IN CRETE

Abstract

Minoan Crete’ is currently taught in primary schools (at Third Grade, age 8) throughout Greece as part of the history curriculum. For Cretan children, however, the experience is different, because they are physically surrounded not only by the remains of the Minoan past but also by its modern constructions and appropriations. This physical environment plays (and, to some extent, even constitutes) a major part in this educational process and the development of Cretan and Greek identities. In this paper I discuss a specific case study in which the Minoan past is interpreted, constructed, and appropriated within and outside a Cretan school.