Transforming the Identity of the Enemy in Pre-school Children. A Case Study in a Greek Kindergarten

Abstract

The formation of young children’s national identity usually happens in early childhood.   The family and social environment, the school and the national festivals play an important role and have a particular effect on the formation of a child’s national identity and on the identity of the national ‘other.’ Research has shown that kindergarten students have already form a strong national identity, in favour of the dominant national identity. This is combined with stereotypes and prejudiced opinions against the non-dominant national identities. For the majority of Greek students, the national enemy is usually represented by the citizens of Turkey. In this article is presented an action research which took place in a Greek kindergarten; its aim was to transform the children’s view of the neighbouring ‘other.’ The individual activities aimed to help the children to transcend the stereotypical image of the Turk as the enemy of Greece and to discover cultural similarities between the two peoples. The research showed that after the completion of the activities, the young students formulated significantly more positive views than their initial ones about this particular national ‘other.’