HomeRepublic of Macedonia (2011-2012)

Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

The violent conflicts of the (recent) past still hold much weight in inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia and the countries of Former Yugoslavia. These issues are even more apparent in history education, where narratives of the conflicts and sensitive issues in Macedonia’s past are either exclusively-ethnically driven, or simply ignored by educators who are not well aware how to effectively teach about them. The project History that Connects, “How to Teach Sensitive Topics in Macedonia” is a part of the History that Connects, “How to Teach Sensitive Topics in the Countries of Former Yugoslavia” Programme and aims at improving history education built on existing experiences in the Western Balkans, specifically in the Republic of Macedonia, in a way that it fosters peace, democracy, tolerance and critical thinking. The project will aim at creating an active, innovative approach to history education in the Republic of Macedonia that contributes to peace and deals with the inter-ethnic divide in education.

Project Outline

Currently, the divided communities of the Republic of Macedonia follow different educational pathways. The country is ethnically diverse and its nationhood and history are complex and often contested. Since the Ohrid Agreement on August 13 2001, there is a growing gap between the educational systems of the Albanian and Macedonian speaking populations, as well as a large lack of acknowledgement for the other minorities in the country. History educators for each community focus primarily on the history of their own ‘nation’; learning about the other is not compulsory in national history education. The continuation of the divided histories will do little to promote social cohesion between the differing ethnic groups, and continue to exacerbate overt societal tensions. These differing interpretations of the past lead to disputed interpretations today and despite numerous calls from international political actors, including the Council of Europe, OSCE, UNICEF and the European Commission, there remain vast challenges within education in the Republic of Macedonia to address the ethnic divide and prevent future conflict. The region needs this project as there is a need for greater innovative expertise in the teaching and learning of history, especially with a cross border regional focus, empowering dialogue and critical thinking on sensitive topics in the recent history. Without enhanced innovative high-quality professionalism, history curricula, history textbooks and the (in-service) history teachers training might continue to play a dividing force in this region. The project is also required as it will develop a bottom-up understanding of European standard curriculum development key and transversal competencies as laid out in the European Reference Framework also relevant for innovative learning in history classes.

Target Groups

The project targets a civil society of a younger generation of historians, history and civics educators in higher and secondary levels, curriculum developers, textbook authors, policy makers, historians and experts in the field of history and civic education and students as lasting agents of change in the Republic of Macedonia.

Project Aims and expected results

Aims

Strengthening of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious civil society organization of history educators
Improving professional capacities of history educators to deal with sensitive issues
Improving the skills, lobby and networks of history educators

Expected outcomes

Involvement of over 80 history educators from Macedonia and the Western Balkans from multi-ethnic and multi-religious backgrounds.
Improved professional capacities of at least 60 history educators in dealing with sensitive issues
Improved lobby and network skills of history educators, and comprehensive analyses and recommendations of current curriculum, disseminated to relevant stakeholders.

Project Coordinators

Joke van der Leeuw-Roord
Jonathan Even-Zohar
Mire Mladenovski
Besnik Emini

Activities

Activities planned for the period 2011 and 2012 include the active participation from the History Teachers Association of Macedonia (HTAM) in 3 regional “History That Connects– Former Yugoslavia”, authors and experts sessions and the drafting of recommendations on Albanian language and Macedonian language history curricula. HTAM will organize regular active association members meetings. In January, the first Inter Ethnic Teacher Training Seminar will be organized, followed by a second and third one in June. In August 2012 a Stakeholders Conference on the Development of History Education in Macedonia will be organized, including the presentation of the research on the current state of history education in Macedonia (see below). Several management meetings will be held, to help the planning and effective implementation of project. Lobbying, outreach and dissemination of information will also be an important part of the Project.

Study on current Macedonian history education

The Association of History Educators in Macedonia, ANIM, and EUROCLIO, the European Association of History Educators have been asked by the Macedonian Minister of Education Mr Kralev in Skopje on 19 September 2011 to make an overall scan of the process of textbook production and publishing, resulting in a systematic analysis with guidelines on how to improve it and propose concrete interventions in the process. The study willconcentrate on a variety of issues such as the history curriculum and its development, class room practice, pre-service and in-service teacher training and the procedures for school, national and university entrance assessment. The inquiry will target on the role of the main actors such as the Ministry of Education, The Bureau of Educational Development, the Education Inspection, the National Agency for textbooks and also on Trainers, Teachers, Trainee students, school students and parents. The research will focus on a wide variety of questions and will use literature study as well as oral interviews with and written questionnaires among stakeholders. The study will serve as the basis of recommendations on how to develop innovative and responsible history education in Macedonia.

Downloads

Programmes, Reports and other relevant material will be made available for download here.

Partners

Implementing Partner: ANIM - Association of History Educators in Macedonia
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia
Council of Europe
EU Delegation
OSCE Mission
Soros Foundation
Regional Cooperation Council
Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe (CDRSEE)

28 August 2012

Deputy-Minister of Education Neziri supports EUROCLIO Report "A Key to Unlock the Past, History Education in Macedonia Analysis of Today, Suggestions for the Future"

Posted in History that Connects - Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

alt

The EUROCLIO report: A Key to Unlock the Past, History Education in Macedonia: Analysis of Today, Suggestions for the Future, has been presented at the EU-Info Centre of the EU-Delegation in Skopje on the 29th of August 2012, to the Macedonian Deputy-Minister of Education Mr Safet Neziri. The report is the finalisation of the EUROCLIO / ANIM project "How to Teach Senitive Topics in Macedonia" and is intended to promote a responsible and innovative teaching of history, based on multi-perspectivity, critical thinking and mutual respect. The Deputy-Minister applauded the efforts of EUROCLIO and ANIM - Association of History Educators in Macedonia, as they work for History Education that builds bridges. The report can be found below.

icon Report EUROCLIO (322.56 kB)

28 August 2012

Programmes available for the EUROCLIO / ANIM activities in Macedonia

Posted in History that Connects - Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

In the last week of August several EUROCLIO and ANIM events will take place in the Republic of Macedonia.

The first event will be in the morning of the 29th of August. At the EU-Info Centre there will be the launch of the EUROCLIO / ANIM report: A Key to Unlock the Past. History Education in Macedonia: An Analysis of Today, Suggestions for the Future. This report will be handed over to the minister Mr Pance Kralev. For a full overview of all the activities during this launch and the different international speakers, please view the programme.

icon Programme launch (1004 kB)

After the launch there will be an International Symposium on History eEducation in the afternoon, also in the EU-Info Centre. The programme for this Symposium can be found below.

icon Programme Symposium (1.87 MB)

Finally there is the first annual conference of ANIM, from the 30th of August until the 1st of September in Mavrovo. The programme for this conference can be viewed here.

icon Programme Annual Conference ANIM (4.32 MB)

11 July 2012

Public Launch of EUROCLIO Analysis on History Education in Republic of Macedonia

Posted in History that Connects - Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

EUROCLIO Managers and Coordinators discussed the Analysis Plans with the Minister in September 2011 On 29th of August, between 11.00-12.30, the EUROCLIO Analysis Report "A Key to Unlock the Past, History Education in Macedonia: Analysis of Today, Suggestions for the Future" will be launched. Minister of Education and Science Pance Kralev and Deputy-Minister Safet Neziri are invited to receive and comment on the findings. The Launch will be introduced by Mire Mladenovski (President of Association of History Educators in Macedonia, ANIM) and Besnik Emini (Vice-President of Association of History Educators in Macedonia, ANIM). Joke van der Leeuw-Roord, Executive-Director of EUROCLIO, will introduce the finding of the report and present them to the Minister. Chief-Inspector for History in England, Mr Michael Maddison (OFSTED) will give his views on the findings. The Launch will take place at the EU Info Centre in the European Union Delegation Building. The event is public, but please register by sending and e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

10 July 2012

Successful final Capacity Building and Curriculum Workshop within the History that Connects - Republic of Macedonia project in Veles

Posted in History that Connects - Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

alt The final Capacity Building and Curriculum Workshop of the EUROCLIO/Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs project “History that Connects – Republic of Macedonia” took place in Veles, Macedonia. Over thirty history teachers from Skopje, Veles and the region gathered between 27- 29 of June. The structure of this event was similar to the teacher training sessions in Ohrid and Stip. There were several presentations from regional observers about the educational status in Scotland, Ukraine, Kosovo and Serbia. Also international experts Neil McLennan and Iryna Kostyuk, gave interesting and dynamic workshops about active learning and interactive history teaching. Participants were given new insights how to teach sensitive topics in history and how to promote active learning in the classroom. These activities and aims where strengthened by guest speaker Albert Hani from the ZDF Forum, who gave a clear overview of the activities of his organization. Joke van der Leeuw-Roord, activated the participants in discussions about the recommendations that were suggested during the previous two seminars in Ohrid and Stip about textbooks and curriculum. The participants discussed actively and the end result was very inspiring. During the concluding session many expressed the intention to actively use these active learning methods in the classes and to participate in the first annual conference of ANIM in august. This project will be concluded in august when the ANIM and EUROCLIO will present their recommendations to the Macedonian Minister of Education.

15 June 2012

Third Capacity Building and Curriculum Workshop in Veles Macedonia

Posted in History that Connects - Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

The third Capacity Building and Curriculum Workshop within the EUROCLIO/OSI/UNAOC Program “History that Connects - How to teach sensitive Topics in Macedonia” will be held in Veles, Macedonia, 27-29 June 2012. Representatives from Kosovo and Serbia, as well as international experts from Ukraine and Scotland will actively engage during the workshop. The workshop is co-organized with the History Teachers Association of Macedonia (HTAM), and aims to:·

Present and discuss concrete examples of Integrated History Education in Macedonia alt Strengthen the organisational and networking capacity of the Association of History Educators in Macedonia ·

Finalise the practitioners input into the action research report, supported by the Minister of Education of Macedonia, into challenges and solutions for Integrated History Education in Macedonia

Share experiences and challenges for international Education from Serbia, Scotland, UK and Ukraine

Strengthen the connections between different stakeholders in History Education

Bring together History Educators from different regions of Macedonia and activate the Association National Network.

A draft programma can be found here below. For more information please contact Jonathan Even-Zohar or Mirjam Zeilmaker, organizers from EUROCLIO·

icon Draft programme Veles (747.14 kB)

Former Yugoslavia: History that Connects Macedonia

More Articles...