Comparing the promotion of European identity at three ‘European Schools’: an analysis of teachers’ perceptions

This article presents some preliminary findings from a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council that is investigating how the ‘European School’ ethos of developing a European identity amongst its pupils is being pursued. The project involves a multiple case study of three European Schools (Brussels I [Belgium], Culham [United Kingdom] and Alicante [Spain]) to identify the steps being taken and the conditions in place that are seen to contribute towards this ethos. The study's research proposal was published in an earlier issue of this journal and this article follows on from that by presenting some of the research findings to date. The findings presented here are from one dimension of the project, namely that of teachers' interpretations of and attitudes towards the European identity ethos and their attempts to implement it through their teaching. The findings are based on an analysis of interviews conducted with history, geography and English language teachers in the English language sections of the three schools. Analysis of this sample of interviews was conducted in order to discover some of the key themes that are arising in relation to the study's research questions across the three schools.