4 Ways a School Tour to Greece Offers More Than Simply History

If it's impossible to understand the present without first knowing the past, then its impossible to know the past without truly understanding Greece. The enduring footprint of classical Greek civilisation on the world's culture was, and still is, immense.

But a visit to Greece offers more than just a window into days long lost for students. The nation itself is transforming and full of life, and young learners can begin to compare the past to the present and draw connections.

The local view of the past

An activity that students can engage in on a school tour to Greece that they are unable to do in the classroom is meet the Greek locals. While strolling on the shores of Ios or marvelling at the frescoes in the Athens Museum, students can discuss what they have picked up about the heritage of the country with the very people who are forging its current heritage. They can receive a unique view on how this past is re-envisioned by those who make up the Greece of today.

Glory days gone but not forgotten

Students who study classics and history will visit Crete or the Parthenon and be struck by how the ancient forefathers of Western civilisation created so much – yet they may not link this to life in modern Greece. Many might imagine a nation that was formerly the lofty heart of an international culture and a light for intellect is now relegated to the edge of potency and security in Europe. This is no doubt an oversimplification, yet this concept of how Greece has transformed and how it now reflects on its past is a unique aspect for young people to consider on a school tour.

History, progress and circles

As students of antiquity develop their understanding, they may begin to ponder historiography or the question of how history is written. Since this is slightly obscure and theoretical, it can be very helpful to take a school tour to Greece and practice historiography rather than discuss it. The means by which Greece has changed over centuries, and the way its classical past has been pondered, considered and reflected upon in relation to its current culture, allows students to think about whether or not history works as progress upon progress or in a cyclical fashion.

Keeping the Greek connection

It is imperative for students of history, geography and cultural studies to wrestle with how social identity is formed. Even though this can be a difficult and philosophic concept to think about, a school tour to Greece is a fantastic way to consider how the Greek identity has been formed in light of its past and up to its present. Many people have not considered much of the history of Greece after the wane of the classical period up, but from Roman to Medieval to Renaissance times this nation has been active, and considering the change in the idea of being Greek over this time illuminates the concept of identity.