Studies
Gyertyánfy, András
Reflections on the State of History Teaching in Hungary
The author of this essay thinks that the most important problems of history teaching in Hungary are a method concentrating too much on facts instead of making pupils to think and a practice spending too much time on earlier ages instead of the 20th century. To his opinion both result from discussing too many topics in classes which in turn seems to have three reasons: teachers stick to the frame curriculum and the textbooks, new didactic theories are often communicated in a bad way and thus accepted only to a limited extent by teachers and also some other false concepts of teachers.
Pálinkás, Dénes
The Árpád Line – Bunkers and Battles in Transcarpathia
During my time as a secondary school and university student, I was able to visit Transcarpathia, that beautiful countryside which once belonged to Hungary, on several occasions. In addition to the number of deservedly famous monuments of Hungarian history (for example, the Palanok Castle, Khust, the Reformed churches), I discovered an extraordinary, but little known historical monument: the Árpád Line. The bunkers and other structures in the regions of Transcarpathia and Transylvania, formed a connected defence system stretching along the border of historical Hungary, and not unsuccessfully, considering it withstood the Soviet Army’s 4th Ukrainian Front on several occasions. This impressive creation became redundant in the autumn of 1944, because, after Romania exited the war (and became an ally of the Soviet Union), the Soviet Army “circumvented” it through South Transylvania. Let’s get acquainted with the system of bunkers with a short history!
Latest issues
Hegyesi, Zsolt
The Relationship Between Miklós Zrínyi and György Lippay Based on the Poet-General’s Works and Letters
This paper gives a picture of the relationship between two great figures of the 17th century: Miklós Zrínyi and György Lippay. First, Lippay’s career is presented in short, then the author turns to their close relationship in the 1640s. In the 1650s, Lippay took the stage as a pragmatic politician. Zrínyi, on the other hand, turned his attention to Transylvania, and a conflict arose between the two. After the fall of Transylvania, Zrínyi was deeply disappointed. The author also shows Zrínyi’s anger with Lippay, who was against the endeavours of György Rákóczi II. By the 1660s, Lippay had put aside his prejudices and become a supporter of Zrínyi, who was forging a national policy of unity. Their tragedy lies in the fact that they could not bring their joint fight against the Turkish Empire and Viennese Absolutism among Europe’s peculiar superpower political relations to fruition. The expulsion of the Turks came only decades after their deaths, according to the will of the Habsburgs, leaving Hungarians no room for manoeuvre. Although a leader as extraordinary as Miklós Zrínyi is rarely born, we must also not allow the work of Archbishop Lippay to be forgotten.
Workshop
Apró, Melinda
The Teaching of the Holocaust in the Framework of Primary School Project Instruction
In recent years, the general tendency in Europe has been an increase in prejudiced behaviour, the exclusion of minorities from society, and the preference for extreme political views. At the same time, the education system has started paying more attention to educating learners to be democratic, active citizens. This appears on all curriculum levels (National Core Curriculum 2004, 2007, 2012), as well as in the system of values of teachers and the methodological repertoire. The complexity of the problem is seen as “we consider social studies, civics, democratic thinking and historical literacy as a closely related, integrated whole as social studies and civics literacy”, thus the development of a number of areas together is necessary to establish appropriate abilities and attitudes.
This research examines the question of what attitudes and knowledge 17- and 18-year-old students have in this area, and how their democratic thinking can be developed. On the basis of domestic and international studies, the development of the capacity in question can be best helped by promoting awareness of the relativity of history, by using individual life stores and by examining real-life problems. This study presents a methodology which aims to reduce prejudiced behaviour and develop democratic, civic attitudes by using the possibilities of project teaching in presenting an authentic field of problems, the Holocaust.
Kesjár, Róbert
The Reflection of Russian and Soviet History in Hungarian Secondary School Textbooks, Part 2
In his work, the author shows and analyses, first, how the Russian people, Russia and, finally, the history of the Soviet Union are presented in some of the secondary school history textbooks in circulation in Hungary today. In our previous issue, he examined Russian history before 1917. In our current issue, he analyses the reflection in Hungarian textbooks of the Soviet-Russian state and the history of the Soviet Union after the Bolshevik takeover of power.
Juris, Renáta
Satisfaction with Instruction for History Teachers
The study examines the satisfaction with instruction of students who participated in a course of teacher training for history teachers in the present as well as under the earlier system. To determine this, she strives to uncover the practice of teacher training in Hungary, especially the formal and informal goals of history teacher training which goes on at Eötvös Loránd University. She takes into account not only the results of domestic researchers, but also alludes to the current European tendencies. After mapping out the goals and basic principles, she compares those students’ experiences and opinions with the results of a gauge of their satisfaction with their instruction. On the basis of the mapping out of the satisfaction with history teacher training, we can say that the most serious deficiency at present has proven to be the misalignment between students’ needs and the content offered in university instruction, as well as the lack of a closer cooperation between faculty participating in teacher training at university and practice teaching schools. The analysis of experiences creates the opportunity for a number of development proposals to be made.
