Arab Educational Information Network

From the perspective of the Georg Eckert Institute, the paper draws a line from “traditional” textbook revision to several attempts to develop common textbooks of different status and methodology – from jointly developed and approved textbooks to joint projects developing alternative or supplementary teaching units or materials. All of them have their restrictions and merits. More closely, the Franco-German endeavor is discussed. The History textbook series for higher secondary students is officially approved for use in France and in the German federal states. It does not focus on Franco-German relations but on general (European and national) history. It was realized, however, only because of strong political support. Due to long cooperation in the textbook sphere, the authors did rarely have to struggle with different interpretations of the past. More problematic was to bridge the different teaching traditions, curricula and examination requirements. (Author’s Abstract)