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History, Identity, and Curricula: Public Debates and Controversies Over the Proposal for a New History Curriculum in Croatia

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Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks

Abstract

The article analyzes unsuccessful attempts to carry out a comprehensive reform of education in Croatia since the beginning of the 1990s. It examines political and ideological confrontations over the contents, goals, and aims of education since 1990, as well as efforts to re-define contemporary Croatian identity through education—from introducing nationalist themes and values at the beginning of the 1990s to more recent attempts to inject socially conservative views. The paper also analyzes the main issues arisen from the last proposal of the comprehensive curricular reform that started in 2015. It focuses on the debates over the proposal of the history curriculum, as well as professional, political and public expectations of its aims and contents. It shows how attempts to change the paradigm of history teaching—from a school subject that transfers “one truth” and “proper interpretations” of the past to a subject that perceives history as a critical engagement with the past—reflect views of Croatian historians about the public role of history.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, history textbooks inherited from the socialist period were modified in 1991 (mostly to remove Marxist terminology). In 1992 they were replaced with new ones, now strongly colored by the ideology of the Croatian statehood and nationalist perspective. New history curricula for primary and secondary schools were introduced in 1995, but they were pieced together from the titles and subtitles of textbooks published in 1992. For details, see: Koren and Baranović (2009, 96–105).

  2. 2.

    According to the last census in 2011, there were 4.28 million inhabitants, 90.42 percent Croats. According to religious affiliation, 86.28 percent were Catholic, 4.44 percent Orthodox Christian, and 1.47 percent Muslim. See: Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2011).

  3. 3.

    The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has been one of the two most influential political parties in Croatia since 1990. It evolved from the former League of Communists of Croatia and it is the largest party of the Croatian center-left. It led the coalition governments from 2000–2003 and 2011–2016.

  4. 4.

    See, for example: Kustura (2002).

  5. 5.

    In that period there were actually three conservative governments in a row led by the Croatian Democratic Union: the first from December 2003 to January 2008, the second from January 2008 to July 2009, and the third from July 2009 to December 2011. Retrieved from https://vlada.gov.hr/prethodne-vlade-11348/11348.

  6. 6.

    For the text of the Strategy, see: Narodne novine 124/2014. Also available online: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2014_10_124_2364.html.

  7. 7.

    Documents are available online: https://mzo.hr/hr/rubrike/odluke-o-imenovanju.

  8. 8.

    See: the proposal for the National Framework Curriculum, as well as the framework curricula for elementary school, gymnasium, and vocational education. All documents are available online: http://www.kurikulum.hr/dokumenti-nacionalnih-kurikuluma/.

  9. 9.

    The full name is the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education. It is a public institution founded in 2010, which takes care of the development of vocational education system and curricula, as well as adult education. Retrieved from http://www.asoo.hr/default.aspx?id=100.

  10. 10.

    Altogether nineteen new vocational curricula were approved by ministerial decision between June 16 and August 28, 2017. See: Narodne novine: službeni list RH, no. 58/2017, 68/2017, 71/2017, 74/2017, 77/2017, 78/2017, 79/2017, 82/2017, 83/2017, 84/2017, 85/2017. Also available online: https://www.nn.hr/.

  11. 11.

    Only a few days after its establishment, the new government announced guidelines for its future actions on the Parliament website. These included demands to stop the curricular reform and to revise the Strategy. The government quickly denied this and offered the explanation that the wrong document was mistakenly published on the website. See, for example: 24 sata (2016).

  12. 12.

    See, for example: Poslovni.hr (2016). For articles in English, see: Milekic (2016).

  13. 13.

    See: the webpage of the Croatian Parliament, Parliamentary Committee for education, science and culture, conclusions from the meeting held on May 19, 2016: http://www.sabor.hr/radna-tijela/odbori-i-povjerenstva/zakljucci-odbora-za-obrazovanje-znanost-i-kulturu-s-tematske.

  14. 14.

    The resignation of the Expert Working Group was extensively covered in the Croatian media, but also discussed internationally. For articles published in English, see: Reuters (2016), Milekic (2016), The Economist (2016), Kovačić (2016), Marini (2016), Šošić (2016).

  15. 15.

    For the contributions to the expert discussion, as well as answers from the work groups, see: the official web page of the CKR: http://www.kurikulum.hr/?s=odgovor+stru%C4%8Dne+radne+skupine&fbclid=IwAR33m_y-MMnkG5vMviN-TziKdoq8Vafk6DnlBoJ6ZpKqF0vy1Jodgzjx9Zc.

  16. 16.

    “Consultation with the interested public” is part of the process of adopting new laws and other regulations. There are various methods to conduct a public consultation (e.g., organizing public discussions, conducting surveys), but the method of online public consultation is mostly used. Public authorities are required to publish draft laws and other acts on the e-Counseling website, usually for a period of thirty days, and citizens can write their comments and suggestions.

  17. 17.

    For examples, see: Jerković (2016), Starešina (2016), Cvrtila (2016a), Kamenjar.com (2017), Direktno.hr (2016), Hrvatsko katoličko društvo prosvjetnih djelatnika (2017), Vjera i djela (2016).

  18. 18.

    See also: the answer: Koren (2016).

  19. 19.

    The commentary of Ante Birin in Odgovori na pristigle priloge stručnoj raspravi o prijedlogu Nacionalnog kurikuluma nastavnog predmeta Povijest, p. 224. Available online: http://www.kurikulum.hr/page/3/?s=odgovor+stru%C4%8Dne+radne+skupine.

  20. 20.

    This commentary of Ante Nazor is quoted in: Cvrtila (2016b). The last sentence of the commentary refers to the transcripts of talks led by Croatian President Franjo Tuđman with his associates, partners, and other political actors from Croatia and abroad between 1990 and 1999. These talks were taped and their transcripts appeared in public after Tudjman’s death. They contain sensitive political material usually not available for public usage. Some excerpts and even whole transcripts were published in newspapers and books (see, for example: Lucić 2005). Some excerpts were used as evidence during the some ICTY trials, specifically those of Bosnian Croats.

  21. 21.

    The commentary of Mladen Ančić during the discussion about the proposed history curriculum in the Croatian Institute for History took place on April 22, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ZvQtLDdgY, 2:02:40–2.04.09.

  22. 22.

    For the text of the Declaration, see: Narodne novine 102/2000: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2000_10_102_1987.html.

  23. 23.

    Nacionalni kurikulum nastavnoga predmeta Povijest: prijedlog, February 2016, 51. Available as pdf document on: http://www.kurikulum.hr/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Povijest.pdf.

  24. 24.

    This claim by Ante Nazor was made during the political TV show Otvoreno on Croatian Television on May 25, 2016. For the footage, see: https://vijesti.hrt.hr/336501/otvoreno-zasto-je-boris-jokic-dao-ostavku (accessed January 6, 2019). See also: the polemics between Ante Nazor and Jurica Pavičić regarding the proposal of the history curriculum: Pavičić (2016a, b), Nazor (2016). Also: Pavičić (2017).

  25. 25.

    This is a commentary from the contribution to the general public consultation from a conservative civil society association, In the Name of the Family. See: https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=3745 (accessed January 6, 2019).

  26. 26.

    See: Odgovori na pristigle priloge stručnoj raspravi o prijedlogu Nacionalnog kurikuluma nastavnog predmeta Povijest, p. 38. Available online: http://www.kurikulum.hr/page/3/?s=odgovor+stru%C4%8Dne+radne+skupine.

  27. 27.

    A 2007 study showed that the Croatian curricula were among the most prescriptive in Europe. See: Koren and Najbar-Agičić (2007). In the Croatian context, such a detailed prescription of contents always increases the risk of obligatory interpretations and official versions of history.

  28. 28.

    See: Odgovori na pristigle priloge stručnoj raspravi o prijedlogu Nacionalnog kurikuluma nastavnog predmeta Povijest: http://www.kurikulum.hr/page/3/?s=odgovor+stru%C4%8Dne+radne+skupine, contributions to the general public consultation: https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=3745 and the discussion about the proposal of the history curriculum in the Croatian Institute for History, April 22, 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ZvQtLDdgY.

  29. 29.

    For the appointments, see: the web page of the Ministry of Education: https://mzo.hr/hr/rubrike/odluke-o-imenovanju.

  30. 30.

    The second protest was also well covered in the Croatian media. For articles in English, see: Milekic (2017).

  31. 31.

    So far, the curricula have been sent for review to the British Council (English Language), France (French Language), Slovenia (Mathematics, Geography, Physical Education), Estonia (Nature and Society, Biology, Computer Science), Finland (Technical Culture, Music), Austria (Computer Science), UK (Computer Science), and Italy (Latin Language). For reviews, see: the website of the Ministry of Education: https://mzo.hr/hr/rubrike/.

  32. 32.

    For the review, see: the website of the Ministry of Education: https://mzo.hr/hr/rubrike/.

  33. 33.

    The HAZU was included in the review process as the most important scientific institution in the country, although among its 160 academics who are experts in their respective fields of study none are specialists in educational sciences. A group of historians from HAZU signed the review of the history curriculum. According to the response of the History Work Group, there were several misplaced and flawed comments and conclusions in the HAZU review. For both the review and the response, see: https://mzo.hr/hr/rubrike/. For other comments on the reviews, see: http://www.historiografija.hr/?p=9314.

  34. 34.

    See, for example: Kršul (2018), Jutarnji list (2018).

  35. 35.

    See: the decision on the appointment of twelve members of the Expert Working Group for the implementation of curriculum reform on the website of the Ministry of Education, April 17, 2018: https://mzo.hr/sites/default/files/dokumenti/2018/OBRAZOVANJE/Nacionalni-kurikulumi/odluka_o_imenovanju_clanova_ers-a_17.4.2018.pdf.

  36. 36.

    For the comments, see: https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=9427.

  37. 37.

    Contributions to the general public consultation are available on the government website esavjetovanja.com, from which the following excerpts are taken: https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=9427. For media reactions, see: Ponoš (2018).

  38. 38.

    For the members of the new history work group, see: Ministry of Science and Education (2018). For media reactions, see: Šimićević (2018). For the reaction of the Ministry of Education to the article, see: Novosti (2018).

  39. 39.

    See, for example: Jutarnji list (2019).

  40. 40.

    For the comments, see: https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=10217.

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  1. University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Snježana Koren

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  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Gorana Ognjenović

  2. Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Oslo, Norway

    Jasna Jozelić

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Koren, S. (2020). History, Identity, and Curricula: Public Debates and Controversies Over the Proposal for a New History Curriculum in Croatia. In: Ognjenović, G., Jozelić, J. (eds) Nationhood and Politicization of History in School Textbooks. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38121-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38121-9_6

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