Studies
Dévavári, Zoltán
The violence of illusion. The conceptual and political history of the first South Slavic state (1914-1941)
Part II (1929-1941)
More than two decades have passed since the second breakup of Yugoslavia into successor states, but no clear assessment of that unified state of South Slavic peoples, Yugoslavia, or of its connection to history, has been produced in the general historical literature. The politicization of grievances, the exclusively ethnocentric approach, the differing interpretations of the bloody events of the recent past and the impact of the emotionally overheated coalescence of this past with the present is expressly and exponentially felt. This paper focuses on reconstructing the circumstances of the birth of the Yugoslavian state, calling on the assistance of the ambitious work and monographs produced on the topic by exceptional South Slavic experts; it explores the cause and effect relationships of disturbances in the operation of domestic politics; and lastly draws conclusions based thereon which are free from emotional and ideological clichés.
Ötvös, Zoltán
Analysis and summary of the situation and mid-term experiences of the subject of history in the National Secondary School Academic Competition (2011-2018)
The following paper presents a broad analysis of the situation as well as changes and experiences gained in the period since a long analysis was prepared in 2011. The aim is to complete three tasks. On the one hand, it analyzes in detail data from the past year; on the other, it summarizes the indicators and trends of the past period. In addition to presentation of the data and the analysis, the goal is to provide useful information for preparation for competitions in the subject in the coming period. Thus it summarizes the past essay and contest topics as well as advice recommended for writing on them from earlier years. The third aim of the summary was to analyze the state of the subject, its teaching in schools and its position in public education in the light of the National Secondary School Academic Competition.
Latest issues
The renewal of history teaching
Kojanitz, László (ed.)
In March 2018, the Knowledge Management Directorate of the Eszterházy Károly University-Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development organized a series of talks on the renewal of history teaching. We invited historians, experts in history didactics, textbook authors and editors, and history teachers who participated in the preparation and editing of the New Generation textbooks: Ágnes Fischerné Dárdai, Attila Herber, Ilona Horváth, Attila Pók, András Kampós, József Kaposi, Géza Kas, András Katona, László Kojanitz, Fruzsina Légrádi, Mariann Nagy, Mihály Pálinkás.
The participants met on a number of occasions to debate the situation of history teaching. Some participated on all three occasions, while others were able to come just one or two times. Everybody agreed that significant changes and renewal would be necessary for history teaching in schools to fulfill its task and equip new generations with the knowledge and skills to understand the events of the past and orient them in the world.
In the following, one can read an edited version of the most interesting parts of the debate, focusing on these main questions: I. What are the fundamental questions of the renewal of history teaching? II. What is the goal of history teaching? III. What teaching strategies should get a bigger role in history teaching? IV. What should teaching materials be, what should be the criteria for their selection? V. What methods should be used by teachers during lessons? VI. In what forms should history be conveyed to students? VII. What is necessary for changes? What could support this renewal?
The position of the Teachers’ Chapter of the Hungarian History Society on the 2018 draft of the National Core Curriculum
The idea of establishing the National Core Curriculum (NCC) was formulated in 1989, at the dawn of the change of system. After much debate and many versions, the NCC laying down the content requirements for the first ten grades was adopted in 1995. However, its universal introduction in schools was not implemented, as it was superseded by the framework curriculum introduced in 2001. The following version of the NCC appeared in 2003, expanded to the twelfth grade, but with the detailed content requirements removed. The so-called new NCC of 2012 was really based on the 1995 version, as it kept that version’s development-centered orientation, while leaving subject names unchanged, too; but it also featured the reinclusion of concrete curriculum content. As a result of all of this, there is a debate among education researchers on how to number the National Core Curricula until now (such as NCC 1, NCC 2, NCC 3), as all of them applied essentially the same principles, but with different stresses here and there. The draft NCC published on September 1, 2018, overwrote, in a number of places, content elements in earlier NCCs that had been included as a matter of professional consensus.
Workshop
Dancs, Katinka
National symbols, the knowledge-based elements of national identity I.
National symbols based on the opinions of primary school teachers
Domestic research has so far turned little attention to familiarizing primary school students with national identity or exploring Hungary’s pattern of national enculturation. In our research, we summarized the characteristics of national symbols and investigated which people, events or created works can be seen as national symbols, based on the opinions of teachers. National symbols belong among elements of knowledge-based national identity, they are the tools used to express communal solidarity. In the course of the interviews, the participants listed the things they consider national symbols. At the time the teachers filled out the research questionnaire, they carried out an assessment of the national symbols that appear most frequently and that are mentioned in the curriculum and professional literature. The results of the research support the planning of tests which can gauge the level of knowledge students have of national symbols.
Kas, Géza
Opportunities offered by the digital world in museum pedagogy, or an idea for a project
Contemporary students, the members of Generation Z, who wake up and fall asleep with their smartphones and tablets, collect the majority of information with the help of these devices – mainly from the internet. This medium is inconceivably enriching, which can make reality and everyday life boring in comparison. Thus traditional educational structures, including museums that show conventional museum exhibitions and museum pedagogy programs may easily become irrelevant, as long as they can hardly, if at all, hold students’ attention. At the same time, the transfer of traditional values and the knowledge of Hungarian history is an indispensable necessity for the patriotic upbringing of today’s youth, for genuine orientation in the world and for acquiring a basic understanding of cultural literacy. It would be a fine thing if students’ interests could be piqued by museums and historical memorials, prompting multiple visits to such places. The development of digital technology and the increase of internet penetration can help resolve these problems. Fortunately, most museums now use digital elements in their exhibits. For example, they show in digital form the transformation of historical sites, how buildings appeared in various eras, and visitors may even freely browse digital interfaces to acquire more detailed information. But this is not enough for today’s students.
