The Observatory on History Teaching in Europe (OHTE), part of the Council of Europe, interviewed Lecturer in European History, Dr Ida Milne, and postgraduate student Regina Dunne in November 2022 about why pandemic history should be taught.
The video was played at the plenary meeting of the OHTE in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 2 December 2022 and has recently been published as part of a series of thematic reports for the OHTE.
Speaking in the video, Dr Milne points out the importance of teaching the history of pandemics and natural disasters, stating:Â
I think that if we had taught and learned about pandemics at all educational levels, then society in general would have been better prepared for what was going to happen during Covid. And we might have reacted faster if, for example, people like politicians have read and learned about pandemics or even police forces, armies as well as medicine had known more – they would have realised much quicker what was going to happen.
The first thematic report of the OHTE analyses how pandemics and natural disasters are taught across different levels of education. It gives a detailed overview of the teaching of the two topics in OHTE’s 16 member states, along with a cross country analysis – combining information provided by educational authorities and by history teachers themselves.
