Teaching history in a postwar social context—the case of the Croatian Danube region

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of empirical research examining history teachers’ opinions on teaching recent history, and on the revocation of a moratorium on teaching former Yugoslavia’s recent history in Serbian minority schools in the Croatian Danube region. The research was conducted in 2003, involving a sample of 29 primary and secondary history teachers in both the majority and minority programmes in the two counties affected by the moratorium. The post‐war divide is evident from the differences in teachers’ opinions regarding the moratorium’s revocation and the presentation of minority history in history teaching. On a general level however, when the history of the Croats and Serbs was not discussed, most of the teachers advocated a liberal concept of history teaching.

Notes

1. These are classes held either in the Serbian language or classes implementing other models of teaching national minority children in Croatia, such as: teaching in two languages (natural sciences are taught in Croatian, whilst the humanities or ‘national group of subjects’ are taught in the minority language); or special care for the mother tongue and culture (Serbian Language and Literature, History, Geography, Music and Fine Arts are taught as an additional programme alongside the full educational programme in the Croatian language). For details on the models of national minorities’ schooling in Croatia see: Mesić & Baranović, 2005, pp. 64–84.

2. In addition to Central and Eastern European countries, Ferro (2003) has shown that such politicising of history teaching is a worldwide phenomenon, pertaining for example, to Asian and African countries as well.

3. Discussions on German and French history textbook development, as well as German and Polish textbooks, are often quoted examples of how history teaching can be used as an instrument for conflict settlement and the improvement of tolerance (Pingel, 1999; Mayer, 2002).

4. The Croatian Danube region is still in the process of post‐war social reconstruction and is marked by a climate of mistrust between Serbs and Croats. According to Ajduković (2003, pp. 11–39), it is a social situation in which even a superficial relationship with members from the other group is seen as negative by members of one’s own group.

5. The research was commissioned by the Committee of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MoSES) to develop recommendations for teaching former Yugoslavia’s recent history in schools in the Croatian Danube region after the revoking of the moratorium.

6. The war brought changes to social norms and behaviour patterns, national identity becoming the most important characteristic in the different relationships between individuals (Ajduković, 2003, p. 18).

7. A broader analysis of the findings is published in the Croatian journal for history teachers: see Baranović & Jokić (2004).

8. Most minority programme teachers are of Serbian nationality, only two teachers are of another ethnic origin or they did not state their ethnicity. The majority programme teachers are mostly of Croatian nationality, only two of them are of another ethnic origin, or they did not state their ethnicity.