Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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342.7:37(063)(082)
ISBN 978-961-234-626-3
1. Smart, Dean, 1963- 2. European Standing Conference of History
Teachers’ Associations (The Hague)
236140288
2. Structural and Cultural Conditions for Teaching About Human Rights in the 21st Century 10-11
Dr. Milan Zver, Minister of Education and Sport, Republic of Slovenia
4. From Human Rights to Human Duties: Evolution of Mentalities in the 20th Century 14-16
Professor Cirila Toplak, Slovenia
6. Education for Inclusive Citizenship: Identity, History and Human Rights 22-24
Notes from the presentation of Dr. Dina Kiwan, United Kingdom
13. Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Relationship of History and Civic Education: Initial and In 53-56
Service Training of History Teachers-Some Questions
George Kokkinos, Vassiliki Sakka, Peter Trantas, Greece
16. How do high school students resolve social problems and use historical competencies all 70-72
through this cognitive process? A research project beginning in Quebec
Marc-André Éthier, Professor, Université de Montréal, with the collaboration of
David Lefrançois, Fellow, Université de Montréal
I hope that you will agree that this edition of The Bulletin offers a stimulating range of articles. Strong contributions are
present from Central and Southern Europe, with the introductory sections providing only a small flavour of the welcome
and historic environment offered by Slovenia. There are also clear indications of the vibrant intellectual debate in Bled
with the University of Ljubljana well represented by a number of articles: Professor Türk explores how conceptualisa-
tions of Human Rights, and the rights enjoyed by much of Europe on a personal level, changed during the later twentieth
century, and presents his recommended elements for a contemporary human rights programme. Professor Toplak from the
Political Science Department in Ljubljana considers the evolution of civil and human rights as concepts in the twentieth
century and Professor Igor Grdina explores how ‘emancipatory thought’ links individual and national rights, and how con-
siderable pressure is often placed on human rights by concepts of political ‘necessity’ and pragmatism.
Dr. Dina Kiwan tracks the thinking behind the development of the contested Citizenship National Curriculum in England
and Bedri Kola recounts how reform has transformed the Albanian approach to teaching about Human Rights and Edu-
cation for Democratic Citizenship in Albania. Helpfully Mihai Manea offers a clear overview on potential elements of
Human Rights education to complete the ‘backdrop theorisation’ part of this edition.
The outgoing EUROCLIO President, herself a Slovenian teacher, writes in this Bulletin that she hopes that this Bulletin re-
flects the energy found in Bled and there is certainly a sense of human activity throughout time reflected in Andreja Valič
Zupan’s Short Introduction to the History of Slovenia, and also in the articles for teachers which follow. You may be encour-
aged to consider the use of role playing and drama techniques to engage young people by Katerina Brentanou’s article on
drama techniques as a means of fighting xenophobia and exploring the concept of ‘the other’ in contemporary Europe.
Teachers flexibility is also challenged by George Kokkinos, Vassiliki Sakka and Peter Trantas who consider professional at-
titudes towards the relationship between History and Civic Education, and who consider the implications for initial and con-
tinuing teacher professional development in a very thought provoking article. A French-Canadian paper explores thinking of a
different nature, as Professor Marc-André Éthier and research fellow David Lefrançois of the Université de Montréal consider
how high school students resolve social problems and use historical competencies. Switching to a pan-European focus Dr.
Chara Makriayianni, EUROCLIO’s Policy and Research Officer reports on EUROCLIO’s 2007 Survey of Human Rights Education
across Europe.
Equality issues are explored by Lyn Reese, of ‘Women in World History’ group, where she explores dimensions of women’s
history and role in achieving change. Equality is also explored by Marjeta Šifrer who proposes the idea that even quite
young pupils can understand the concepts of social justice and equality in her article on active learning in the Primary
School.
Abuses of Human Rights are considered in several of the articles: Katja Holobar and Romana Franković investigate how teach-
ing about 20th century History can include teaching about human rights violations and international justice. Denis Detling
considers the plight of the 170 000 Volksdeutscher citizens tragically interned in Yugoslavia before the 110 000 survivors were
deported in the years after the Second World War. A different sort of abouse is considered in Emina Dautovic’s contribution on
‘The End of Democracy in Yugoslavia’, where different competing views of the ‘best’ way to run a state and build the perfect
society are implied by a role play based on the late 1940s in Yugoslavia.
During the official opening of the Conference Dr Milan In linking to recent history the professor noted that so-
Zver, The Minister of Education and Sport of the Republic cialist states were not, he felt, places where human
of Slovenia, welcomed attenders to the conference, and rights were totally abolished- but they were places where
spoke about the significance of Human Rights as a topic the ground rules were changed and the notion of ‘human
within History education. Dr Zver felt that sharing views rights’ was developed and applied in a particular way-
and experiences, promoting tolerance and enhancing an where some rights were preserved, and others abused.
awareness of each other is key to better citizenship. He Such states redefined the concept of ‘freedom’ in their
was followed by the Mayor of Bled, Mr Janez Fajfar, who own terms- and presented their actions as legal and le-
spoke to welcome participants to the conference, and gitimate by placing the needs of the state and major-
gave some information about the local area and its his- ity above the rights of the individual- which allowed the
tory- the town, the lake, and beautiful Lake Bled and it’s sense of the state to be above the human rights as above
island. The town was one of the earliest health resorts- the needs of the individual. In ‘the West’ there were also
with already more than a thousand hotel beds in 1900, interpretations of Human Rights. Michael Ignatius asserts
and a distinctive development as a place of relaxation that ‘human rights’ are a form of moral ‘trump card’ used
during the twentieth century, but also a place of conflict to suggest that some states are more ethical and legiti-
during the second world war and during the break-up of mate in their actions than others.
Yugoslavia, and a place of political importance during the
Tito years. Human Rights are not, of themselves to be worshipped-
they are present in order to be used, however they are
The EUROCLIO President, Ms Jelka Razpotnik, thanked not a ‘thing’ to have, they are instruments which need
the sponsors of the conference and explored EUROCLIO’s development, and serve no purpose if they cannot be un-
aims and objectives before handing over to Mrs Andrea derstood and accessed by the people. An understanding
Valič, the President of the History Teachers Association of of the rule of law, and the principle of accountability,
Slovenia, who spoke about the Slovenian HTAs two year need to be accessible to the masses to be managable and
partnership project with the Slovenian Ministry of Educa- convincing. In the past human rights were not always ex-
tion and Sport and EUROCLIO. Human Rights is a funda- pressed as an active concept- they were seen as some-
mental element of the policies of UN, the EU and the what organic. Today the concept is more prominent but
Council of Europe and are at the core of civic education, the specialists in the field often lack the knowledge of
civics and History education in schools. She spoke of the how might be best to educate society about the nature
sensitive and controversial nature of Human Rights edu- of Human Rights, and to achieve an appreciation that Hu-
cation and the way that it allows young people to acquire man Rights are there to help the powerless. Asked about
skills, concepts, attitudes and competencies which equip the role of the international community in securing hu-
them to take their place in society. man rights in troubled places Professor Türk expressed
concern about the lack of political energy to act swiftly
In the first lecture of the conference Dr Milan Zver seen in many states, which can allow state sponsored
pointed out that Human Rights are not just a theoretical abuses to continue without international action. Howev-
concept to be spoken about but not implemented. The er, he was also optimistic about the future, and felt that
period of industrialisation brought significant change to hopefully we no longer live in an era of conceptualising
society, but also challenges to lifestyle, political systems, socio-economic values, and therefore rights, bounded by
and cultural diversity. He raised the question of how far polarised political ideology.
it is possible to have a common concept of human rights
across different cultures- and asserted that there are Dr Lovro Šturm, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of
common standards of basic human dignity that run across Slovenia, presented a paper about Human Rights abuses
all cultures- and in this education plays a special role. in twentieth century on the territory of modern Slovenia.
In a lecture about the global need to ensure that Hu- The Minister started by discussing the nature of Slove-
man Rights are protected Romana Frankovic, from Am- nia under Fascism, National Socialism and Communism
nesty International (AI) in Slovenia, provided an overview before speaking about the how a national constitution
of the work of AI internationally, she provided a series should protect Human Rights, and how past abuses are
of powerpoint slides to contextualise the examples she addressed by the law.
mentioned,a nd had materials for the participants to In recently independent countries such as Slovenia there
take back and use with colleagues and in schools. The are often issues to resolve related to previous regimes,
audience asked a number of questions, related to how and the constitution consequently recognises the need
much positive action makes a difference, the impact of for human dignity, and the right to intellectual and spiri-
AIs work it’s campaigns. tual freedom, equality and rights.
Professor Danilo Türk, from the Faculty of Law at Lju- Dr Dina Kiwam, from Birkbeck College, of the University
bljana University, gave a lecture on the theme of Human of London, spoke about Education for Inclusive Citizen-
Rights in an era of Transition: From Ideology to a Sophisti- ship: Identity, History and Human Rights and used the situ-
cated Understanding. He identified a difference between ation in England within the UK as a case study.
historicism and historical trends, and noted the key turn-
ing point in the understanding of human rights marked by
the sequence of United Nations declarations at the end of
the 1940s and beginning of the 1950s- a significant act of
faith in the future which took place after world turmoil,
and in continuing time of conflict and division.
This article provides an overview of Slovenian History from early until more recent times, and illustrates how the
twentieth century led to an independent Slovenia.
The territory of the Present-day Slovenia was already set- The Hallstatt Period
tled by humans in the Paleolithic Period. One of the most The Early Iron Age lasted from the 4th to the 8th century
important archeological findings in the last few years on BC. Many new settlements were built in the Slovenian ter-
the Slovenian territory has been the finding of the flute ritory. Agriculture and casting of iron flourished. The tribal
in the cave Divje babe. It raised a lot of attention in the society was transformed into the society of the military
world of science. The flute is aproximately 55000 years aristocracy. A fine example of this culture is the bronze
old. According to the first theory it was made by the teeth situla from Vače, which was found in the central part of
of the beast, wheras the second theory proves it was made Slovenia.
by a neanderthal. Anyway, when the archeologists made
the identical flute, it produced sounds, so it was possible
to play on it.
There are many caves all over the Slovenian territory where
archeologists have found all sorts of interesting findings like
sewing needles, stone and bone arms and tools, remains of
The Vače Situla
beasts etc.
Neolithic Period
The Ljubljana Marshes were settled by lake dwellers, who Roman Times
lived in wooden dwellings, which were built on stilts driven From the end of the 2nd century BC the Roman State begun
into the marsh ground or lake bed. The lake dwellers were the military campaigns against the Noric state. In the first
mostly hunters, fishermen, stockbreeders and primitive farm- years AD the territory of present-day Slovenia was incorporat-
ers. To get around they used dugout canoes made by cutting ed into the Roman state. The area was divided into provinces
out the inside of the tree trunks. of Venetia-Histria, Noricum and Pannonia. In the provinces
the urban settlements or civitas began to spring up. The most
important Roman cities were Emona (the present-day capital
Ljubljana), Celeia (Celje) and Poetovio (Ptuj). Towns were
also important centres of Early Christianity with a flourishing
trade.
Reformation
The most important historical processes in the Slovenian ter-
ritory between the end of the 15th and the end of the 16th
century were defence against Turks, development of new
towns, peasant uprisings, the lively flow of Renaissance and
Humanist ideas and the Protestant Reformation.
Ljubljana in 1821
In this speech Dr Zver explores the importance of Human Rights Education, and explains how he sees this as a
fundamental part of education for active and progressive citizenship.
The reflection on human rights in 21st century has not much This raises numerous interesting questions. Could we agree
to do with history, but it rather refers to the future. In spite with adaptation of the human rights as universal and glob-
of that, allow me to present my standpoints on the develop- al concept to the different cultural settings? The answer
ment of human rights from the historical and sociological is probably yes! But, can we tolerate violations and en-
point of view. Discussing human rights is particularly vital dangering of human rights in some cultures where gender
for the countries, where people, in some periods, could not equality is not even adopted as a principle, where no reli-
experience freedom and democracy. Slovenia used to be one gious freedom exists, using the excuse of special cultural
of them. and traditional customs? Where are the limits of such ‘cul-
tural’ difference?
“La liberte est un absolu qui ne se choisit pas” (Sartre)
We must be aware of the fact that human rights are not In my opinion, the answer should be clear. Some core
only a theoretical concept to be understood and taught of the human rights should be reestablished all over the
about, but rather a cultural pattern to be lived upon. As world to ensure the dignity of everyone. No ideology, no
the minister responsible for education, I would say that religion could be above it! But the question remains, how
this primarily refers to young people. to carry out the above?
Sartre’s quotation that every one is convicted to freedom Education and human rights
may be interpreted in different ways. However, the truth All areas of the policy bear responsibility for the success
is that every person is essentially free, but it is also true of our countries, but education policy plays a special role.
that it is the social environment that primarily determines That is the statement in one of the papers of the Ger-
such freedom. Moreover, people should be capable of living man Presidency of EU regarding the values and EU future.
it,that means, whether their competences enable them an Education is the key to life chances of an individual, to
active social inclusion. What can a society and school do participate in cultural, economic and social life. Further-
in this respect? more, education forms identities and is crucial for social
cohesion.
Social Changes and Human Rights
The concept of human rights positions the individuals into If we add that the social inclusion means exercising the
the centre of the society. The society changes very quickly available rights, we, dear teachers, are putting very heavy
and human beings with it. Some 250 years ago, the ideas, responsibility on our shoulders. We are aware of the fact
knowledge, skills, myths, values, behavioral patterns that expectations of the society regarding schools are get-
mostly came out of agricultural concept of living. What ting higher and higher. School still has a strong impact on
followed was industrial culture. Some of the greatest in- the creation of what some people call software of mind
stitutions were established in that time, like market econ- when speaking about culture. Primary school is an institu-
omy, democracy, media, mass schools etc. Human rights tion, which is compulsory and plays a special role in the
were an inseparable part of them. All equal was the most society.
famous leading notion of the industrial times. Difference
was mostly regarded as a deviation. The main task of the education policy is to form the new
curricula of tomorrow. How to establish a school as a space
Today we live in quite different structural and cultural that contributes to the culture of respect? Respect of oth-
circumstances. We are faced with a new concept of un- er people who are and have the right to be equal and dif-
derstanding space, time, ourselves, others, environment. ferent at the same time. Since experts are anticipating an
Under such conditions, collisions occur in terms of values, increasing number of children with special needs, this will
paradigms and culture between individuals, social and certainly constitute an important issue in terms of human
political groups and generations, cohabiting in time and rights. It is crucial that we enable each child to become
space. Post-modern society is pluralistic and decentral- an equal member of society according to their capacities
ized; it stimulates our feeling and ability to tolerate the and abilities.
differences. Moreover, it requires an inclusion of differ-
ences. Freedom, equality and tolerance are becoming the What is the role of historical science?
key values, providing a basis for the exercising of human This question will be answered by your conference and fu-
rights. ture work! The development of human rights in the past
few centuries has been evident and easily recognized.
Human dignity – a common base of all differences What we have to present to young people are the pro-
Human rights are increasingly become a global phenom- cesses, events and political systems, which have endan-
enon. Even more, a global society and global culture are gered the dignity of individuals. We should firmly state the
being created. It is known, that some of the processes of differen-ce between these systems and democracy. On the
standardization and uniformity may jeopardize cultural di- other hand, teaching only historical violations of human
versity in the world. In order to emphasize the importance rights is not a good way. It is of vital importance to transfer
of cultural diversity, a notion of glocality has been coined to the students the fact that the history of human rights is
to express a certain compromise between locality and glo- not only a ‘dark side of the moon’. The history of human
balization. rights is also the history of humanity.
10
11
In this paper Professor Türk explores how conceptualisations of Human Rights, and the rights enjoyed by much of
Europe on a personal level, changed during the later twentieth century, and presents his recommended elements
for a contemporary human rights programme.
There is hardly any doubt that the advent of human rights included in the legal order. In other places repressive prac-
after World War II represents revolutionary change. At the tices were used without much hesitation. The former SFR
international level this was marked by three seminal inter- (Socialist Federal Republic) of Yugoslavia was an example
national documents: The Universal Declaration of Human of both types of situation, parts of the country, in particu-
Rights (1948); the Convention on Prevention and Punish- lar Slovenia were quite sophisticated and found ways of
ment of the Crime of Genocide (1948); and the Convention integrating large aspects of human rights into a socialist
on the Status of Refugees (1951). ideological framework. In other places, such as in Kosovo,
state repression was brutal.
Change at the level of international law also reflected a
cultural change: human rights have become indispensable. The Democratic world, on the other hand, was different
They are no longer an internal affair of states. In fact, but not altogether free from ideological interpretation
the international debate on human rights has become one of human rights: Human rights were taken seriously but
of the most typical features of the international scene of also with an ideological note. Michael Ignatieff, (Ignatieff,
the past decades. New norms and institutions have been Michael (2001) Human Rights, Politics and Idolatry. Prin-
developed. ceton: Princeton University Press,) defined two types of
ideological interpretation of human rights in the West:
But has there been a single, unified culture of human
rights? Has there been genuine acceptance of the univer- − Human rights as politics and
sality of human rights? − Human rights as idolatry.
These are important questions with a profound implica- There has been a degree of ‘rights narcissism’ and belief
tion for the practice of human rights and for human rights that the West has resolved its problems. Human Rights
education. were used in a seemingly a-political manner: like a set of
‘moral trump cards’ whose function is to provide definitive
For the larger part of the era of human rights (i.e. from judgment of others, i.e. the people outside the realm of
the end of WWII up to the end of the Cold War) there have the ‘free world’. As a result, the bearers of this approach
been two cultures of human rights, one associated with the were disabled to understand the political and social com-
ideology and practice of the socialist camp and the other plexity of the issues at hand. Human Rights were then used
with the democratic world. as an instrument of policy of civilising others and conse-
quently became the most controversial part of politics in
Let us start with the socialist camp: There was no outright places such as the United Nations.
denial of human rights, in fact socialist states were among
the ones which ratified most of international human rights The other ideological interpretation of human rights views
treaties. But the interpretation of these treaties, and the human rights as a form of ‘secular religion’. Human rights
whole concept of human rights, was intensely ideological. become a matter of idolatry, humanism worshipping itself.
The distance between the normative and the real situation This approach overlooks the fact that human rights are in-
was very serious. struments of empowerment of people, and will be useful
to the extent that they serve the people and that it is
A good example of this technique is the priority accorded for the powerless people themselves to decide how to use
to economic, social and cultural rights, an ideological con- human rights. This simple precept is often forgotten by
cept motivated to provide a basis for avoidance of obliga- people in power in democratic countries.
tions in the field of civil and political rights. Economic,
social and cultural rights, to the extent they were imple- Not so in the case of the powerless. The Afro-American
mented, provided popular support and legitimacy, as well movement of 1960s was intensely religious and the distinc-
as a temporary social peace. They also offered a redefi- tion between religion and human rights was clear. Christi-
nition of the concept of freedom, essentially in terms of anity proper was the mobilizing factor, while human rights
freedom from want. This created an illusion of ‘democracy were, correctly, the objective, and after that objective
of a higher order’. was achieved, the means to protect human dignity. At no
point was the human rights cause turned into idolatry,
In addition to these techniques, the principle of legality there was simply no space for that.
was often used as superior to international definition of
human rights, in particular in such areas as freedom of But turning human rights themselves into a religion is idolatry
expression, freedom of association and the right to take and is insensitive to the people human rights are supposed to
part in government. serve. This lack of sensitivity transforms the language of hu-
man rights into the language of power and authority. It is here
There were significant differences from one socialist coun- that the inherent universality of human rights gets blurred
try to another. Where the ruling regimes were shrewd and universality starts to look like an exercise of western im-
enough and have accumulated enough wealth they were perialism. This contributed to the opposition to the univer-
able to bribe a large part of the population and rule with- sality of human rights and to the worshipping of alternative
out direct repression. Human rights were redefined and ideologies, such as the ideology of ‘Asian values’.
12
There are two principles which can serve as the firewall b. Cultivate tolerance without cultural relativism: the
against ideology: first, the understanding that human rights West now includes a larger area than ever before but it
as essentially legal concepts which are fundamental to the faces a greater problem of interaction with other civi-
organisation of society. Therefore their legal aspects have lizations, in particular with Islam. Dialogue is vital and
to be treated seriously. An intelligent sample of case law is must be tolerant but should not concede to the fashion
necessary in any serious programme of human rights edu- of relativism. Human rights are a secular and pragmatic
cation (it being understood that unnecessary detail should platform which should be handled in a manner which
be avoided). makes agreement possible across divergent cultural
viewpoints. In case of conflict of norms, human rights
Second, and even more important, understanding that hu- norms prevail over the norms of religious tradition.
man rights are there to help the powerless, irrespective of c. Cultivate the importance of the rule of law and the
how little sympathy the powerless enjoy in the eyes of the principle of legality but don’t reduce it to bureaucratic
general public or the holders of power. Therefore, dealing formalism.
with different kinds of minorities and excluded groups in
the society is likely to be the priority. These elements are among the essentials of a much need-
ed human rights agenda. There are many others and the
The first of the two mentioned principles requires careful prioritisation depends on the social context. The key to
presentation of the legal nature of human rights, without success is in the ability to demonstrate that human rights
creating the illusion that law automatically ensures human are of practical use.
rights.
There are big issues out there as well. The global debate
The second requires the necessary sensitivity for the dis- on human rights is right now in a lull but this situation will
advantaged groups of today, with the ability to translate not last. Sooner or later the discussion on human rights
human rights principles into meaningful and specific de- impact of globalisation will start again and the question
mands. Obviously, prejudice against the disadvantaged will be how can human rights help the victims of globalisa-
must be avoided. tion.
The UN should be directed towards these issues and should
Educators must be aware that without these qualities their play a role. The EU will have to define its approach to this
educational effort will remain idle and academic, without issue in the future. And, as before, the real change will
much influence on the real world. happen only insofar as human rights will prove to be of
practical relevance to the needed change.
Here are some elements for a contemporary human rights
agenda, which is as much an agenda of action as an agenda
of education:
13
In this paper, Dr Cirila Toplak, from the Political Science Department in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the
University of Ljubljana, explores how attitudes to Human Rights have evolved and developed, creating a more
inclusive approach- but also presenting challenges.
Human Rights as a ‘New’ Concept the ages. It was in ancient Greece where the concept of
The expression “human rights” is relatively new, having human rights began to take a greater meaning than the
come into use only after World War II, with the founding of prevention of arbitrary persecution. Human rights became
the United Nations in 1945 and the adoption by the UN Gen- synonymous with natural rights, rights that spring from
eral Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights natural law. According to the Greek tradition of Socrates
in 1948. It replaced the phrase “natural rights,” which was and Plato, natural law is law that reflects the natural order
no longer correct in part because the concept of natural law of the universe, essentially the will of the gods who con-
(to which it was related) had become controversial; and be- trol nature. This idea of natural rights continued in ancient
cause the phrase “the rights of Man” did not apply explicitly Rome; natural rights belonged to every person, whether
to the rights of women as well. they were a Roman citizen or not.
For the last part of the nineteenth and first half of the Despite this principle, there are fundamental differenc-
twentieth century human rights activism remained largely es between human rights today and natural rights of the
tied to political and religious groups and movements. Many past. For example, it used to be considered natural to keep
specific civil rights and human rights movements managed slaves. In the Middle Ages and later the Renaissance, the
to affect profound social changes during this time. Labour decline in power of the Church led society to place more of
unions brought about laws granting workers the right to an emphasis on the individual, which in turn caused the shift
strike, establishing minimum work conditions, forbidding or away from feudal and monarchist societies.
regulating child labour, establishing a forty-hour work week The next fundamental philosophy of human rights arose from
in the United States and many European countries, etc. The the idea of positive law. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) saw
women’s rights movement succeeded in gaining for many natural law as very vague and hollow and too open to vast
women the right to vote. National liberation movements in differences of interpretation. Jeremy Bentham, another legal
many countries succeeded in driving out colonial powers. positivist sums up the essence of the positivist view: “Right
is a child of law; from real laws come real rights, but from
Movements by long-oppressed racial and religious minori- imaginary law, from “laws of nature,” come imaginary rights.
ties succeeded in many parts of the world, among them … “Natural rights” is simple nonsense.” (J.Bentham, Anarchi-
the U.S. Civil Rights movement. chical Follies. In: N. Kinsella, “Tomorrow’s Rights in the Mirror
In the course of the 20th century there has been a dra- of History” in G. Gall, ed., Civil Liberties in Canada. Toronto:
matic growth in scientific advances and technological Butterworths, 1982, p.17.)
development. Advances in biotechnology, the use of new
information and communications technologies and the so- This transfer of abstract ideas regarding human rights and their
phistication of nuclear and conventional weapons of war, relation to the will of nature into concrete laws is exemplified
the power of transnational corporations and the reach of best by various legal documents that specifically described
international criminal activities make a renewed effort to these rights in detail: English Magna Carta adopted in 1215,
protect fundamental human rights more urgent than ever French Declaration of the Rights of Manin 1789, American Bill
before. of Rightsin 1789, the Geneva Convention in 1864 etc.
Nowadays, there are numerous human rights issues, from Human Rights Issues Today: Universalism vs.
arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and outright discrimina- Cultural Relativism
tion, to cases where the distinction between two sides is One of the most pertinent issues of the past twenty years
more subjective, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), has been the conflict between two different ideologies of
child labour, political asylum and cases relating to the AIDS human rights on a national scale, universalism, and cul-
crisis in Africa. tural relativism. Universalism holds that more “primitive”
Also increasingly pertinent issues are the right to the pre- cultures will eventually evolve to have the same system
serve the genetic heritage, the right personal and collec- of law and rights as Western cultures. Cultural relativists
tive fulfillment, together with the right to live in a balanced hold an opposite, but similarly rigid viewpoint, that a tra-
ecological environment, exoneration of future generations ditional culture is unchangeable.
from blame for any crime committed by their ancestors In universalism, an individual is a social unit, possessing inalien-
and the right of future generations to peace. able rights. In the cultural relativist model, a community is the
The rights of future generations are the duties of present basic social unit and concepts such as individualism, freedom of
generations. This was also recognized by the UNESCO Gen- choice, and equality are absent. It is recognized that the com-
eral Conference, when in 1997 it adopted the telling Dec- munity always comes first. This doctrine has been exploited by
laration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generations many states, which decry any impositions of Western rights as
towards Future Generations. cultural imperialism. These states ignore that they have adopt-
ed the Western nation state, and the goal of modernization and
Historical Development economic prosperity.
Although “human rights” is a recent term, it is an ancient
concept. It is a concept that has been constantly evolving Cultural relativism is in itself a very arbitrary idea and
throughout human history. Human rights have been intri- cultures are rarely unified in their viewpoints on differ-
cately tied to the laws, customs and religions throughout ent issues. Whenever one group denies rights to another
14
15
16
In this paper, Professor Grdina of the Science and Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences
(SAZU) explores the nature of pressures on human rights, and asks how far we can and should confront both the
past and the prejudices it has generated and sustained
Human diversity, which is an expression of the uniqueness notes all that follows .... In that way Rousseau managed
of each individual, was for a long time understood not only to create the opportunity for a multitude of strategies of
as a self-evident excuse, but also as a natural cause of the emancipatory thinking which led towards the equality of
inequality of human rights in the parade of years and ep- diversity. The idea that all which is attainable to someone,
ochs. Even religions founded on unprivileged and non-ex- is also attainable to someone else, is logical in a world of
clusive relations between the individual and the deity (or creatures striving towards goodness. The equality of rights
religious tenets), emerged relatively late in the processes cannot be questionable as a result. The authentic inten-
of cultural growth and civilisational advancement. Those tions of those who are good must be given free reign, as
based on principles of choice, or even eliminationism, are they are not capable of creating wrongness or evil. Faith-
certifiably much older. fulness to the starting-point actually offers the assurance
of ethical positivity.
Although we mustn’t overlook the fact that states were
formed on the basis of the hierarchic order, which basically In spite of the fact that it is relatively simple to convinc-
represents systemized inequality. The most that they were ingly establish the reasonability of the struggle for equal
able to achieve up until now, regarding under privileging rights, as well as for the principle of emancipation on the
and non-exclusivism, is the fundamental accessibility of all basis of the axiom about human goodness, their exercis-
functions to everyman and peaceful interchangeability of ing in everyday practice often met with all kinds of short
their bearers. It is not surprising that states enjoy such a circuits and commotions. The Russian empress Catherine
bad reputation with a great deal of defenders of universalis- II, a Platonic republican, certainly didn’t write for no(?)
tic principles, whose thought is based on non-exceptionality purpose that philosophers are fortunate people because
and non-particularity. In the second half of the 19th century, they put their wonderful ideas only on soft paper, while
Maximilian Gumplowicz even vividly defined the state as le- poor rulers are forced to inscribe them on human backs,
gally organized gang of robbers (as he couldn’t, at least in which are much harder material....The well-hardened cul-
his vocabulary, do without his famous father’s socio-Darwin- ture of seigniorage and exclusivity only slowly retired be-
istic theories); Marxists and anarchists were convinced that fore new ideas. After all: the world already functioned in
its end was near. Hierarchy which is creator of the diversity the time of the validity of ancient rules, but if it were to
can be in practice hardly harmonized with the universal be changed at least to some extent, it is not certain that it
valid principles. will stay that way in the future! Besides we mustn’t forget
that people are in origin nothing but human - and not good
Awareness about the mutual similarity of people, which or evil (or god knows what else).
gradually evolved into the idea about their equality, had a
much harder time gaining acceptance. In the course of the After that, the French revolution put on the agenda many
centuries even the thought about the connection between other questions, which were before their eruption deemed
races couldn’t take root for very long time. It seems that unthinkable. Violence, which the »new regime« employed
the wild arms race after the Second World War and contem- to survive, even led to such excesses of freedom, that con-
poraneous planetary climate changes were the ones who servatism as its counterpart was able in many aspects to
really set the state on the daily schedule of everybody and define, or better to constitutionalise itself, as the protec-
everyone. In the European cultural space it was Christianity, tor of humanism. Equality, only before the divine or the
which equalized people in regard to their characterization heavenly Trinity, was from the viewpoint of cohabitation in
with the consequences of the original sin, and its opponent many elements – especially on the individual level – more
enlightenment, which unified the masses in its noble aspira- bearable than the aspirations for the full implementation
tions toward happiness in spite of all, that managed to create of its purely earthly namesake fraternité–egalité–liberté,
a solid basis for at least fundamental problematisation of the which strove to present itself as a legitimate heiress of the
inequality of rights. Deep affinity was forced to stay hidden ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau.
behind visible variety.
Revolutionary responsibility for progression towards the
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was the most preoccupied with chosen ideals, which became a rival of the conservative
ethical dimension of human destiny among all the thinkers care for existing life (whose very existence, not just form,
of the 18th century, and who wasn’t satisfied merely with was in restless times put under question for several times),
moralistic remarks on actuality and with the philosophical firstly led to an uncompromising conflict, and subsequently
commentaries on reality, strove with all his might to find a ended in a more or less felicitous synthesis of both original
principle of both – while failing to imagine that evil could positions. After all it is humanly logical – not only psycho-
(although only in the form of the after-effect of Adam’s logical understandable – that the »new regime« would, after
fall) represent a common denominator for all people. On its enforcement, begin to aspire toward the preservation of
the background of »competition« with the Christian vision its results, which its protagonists saw as accomplishments
of the world – which philosophers considered a system of of civilization. It seems typical that Robespierre’s cult of
prejudice- he managed to come by the axiom on human the highest being represented an attempt to create a tran-
natural goodness, which, in spite of its orientation towards scendental guarantee of the order which had been consti-
an ideal pre-civilisation state, opened conceptual space tuted by the French revolution. The concept of permanent
for an optimistic view on and in (especially future) his- systematical change suited only the most restless of spir-
tory. The initial position in life indeed always indelibly de- its, and had no chance at all to prevail in practice. During
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Writer Fran Erjavec shared his opinion when he wrote: It can be said of Austro-Hungary that its eastern half be-
“I deem the nation’s most sacred thing, its greatest asset, to longed to the first, and its western one to the second group.
be that which is, when lost, lost for ever. This asset is lan- Nicely sounding fundamental laws were thus confined to
guage.” paper only; they were only suitable for quarrels and rows
amongst representatives in the state and provincial parlia-
The troublesome revitalisation of once neglected languages that ments. German liberal politics in 1895 would rather caused
were all but extinct in everyday communication is an unique a constitutional crisis than to permit the constitution of
- albeit very late - affirmation that the nationalists of Jurčič’s bilingual classes in the lower gymnasium in south-Styrian
and Erjavec’s type had their eyes set for the future. Contem- Celje (in which the county council eventually forbade even
porary accusations based on everyday politics that they are in the display of Slovene signs above the pavement!). In No-
fact backward looking, were the result of misunderstanding of vember 1897 Karl Hermann Wolf - perhaps motivated by the
reality in the midst of emancipatory processes; such criticism famous “backsider” administered by Josip Gržanič to ban
overlooked the positioning of those ideas within the current Khuen-Hedervary in the Croatian Sabor in October 1895 -
of modernisation. Lingual rights are collective par excellence, threw fisticuffs at Fran Šuklje following a heated debate on
due to them being inextricably linked to communication (only the imposition of lingual equality in Czechia and Moravia.
Franz-Josephian statistics could take note of the absurd of a
place - such as the south Styrian hamlet of St. Jurij by Southern After the squarely hundred-kilogramme Slovene M.P. was
Railway - being inhabited by a single person speaking a certain able to ward off his considerably lighter German colleague,
vernacular language!) As every translation is something of a a full-blown fight erupted in Vienna national council, after
betrayal of the original meaning, and often of the context, it which the Reichsrat was to experience only individual periods
is clear that individual idioms are not completely interchange- of lucidity, but was otherwise incapable of constructive ac-
able, or replaceable. Languages certainly do not reflect real- tion. The representatives of the people literally competed in
ity, but are rather speaking actuality. Each of them contains a inventing innovative ways of obstruction (Slovene M.P. Josip
slightly different totality of the world. Dragotin Dežman, who Gostinčar spoke for 14 hours straight before the fiscal depart-
was in revolutionary year 1848 a devoted Slovene nationalist, ment of parliament in December 1912!).
but later came to advocate the primacy of German language in
the south western counties of the Hapsburg monarchy, came to In 1911 the first gunshots erupted in the Viennese national
a wholly different conclusion. council and in 1912 also in the parliament in Budapest. In the
Hapsburg monarchy, which never succeeded in finding a way of
According to his judgement, the aforementioned area would stable co-habitation for the Central-European nations - which
otherwise succumb to backwardness (Dežman, who became is hardly surprising, as it was unwilling to grant them equality
Deschmann, was rewarded by the Viennese government for - collective rights presented a much greater problem than in-
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This is an edited account of the main ponts of Dr Kiwan’s presentation in Bled, which charted the development
of Citizenship education in the UK and its significance and conceptual origins.
There are fours areas we should consider in education to quirement to educate for ‘active citizenship. Subsequently
help create a sense of inclusive citizenship, these include the ministry responsible for schools, the Department for
the socio-political context; and understandings of diversity Education and Skills or DfES commissioned The Diversity
and inclusive citizenship; the context of Key policy docu- and Citizenship Report (Ajegbo, Kiwan and Sharma, 2007)
ments; and our practical connections with policy initiatives and the House of Commons established a Select Commit-
in other domains e.g. immigration and nationality. tee Inquiry into Citizenship Education. Interestingly this
high level inquiry took evidence not only from education
Context policy spheres, but considered the broader policy domains
In the UK, across Europe and indeed globally there is a of nationality and immigration.
heightened interest in how diversity relates to citizenship,
and governments and individuals struggle to balance the Understandings of ‘multiculturalism’
needs of unity and diversity, not only evident in discourses The UK is, after all, a ‘multinational’ and ‘polyethnic’
in England, but indeed internationally in a number of dif- state, with implicitly defined national identity, but vari-
ferent nation-state contexts (Banks 2004), including the able personal identities which change with context. There
United States (Ladson-Billings 2004), Canada (Joshee 2004; is also uncertainty and confusion: What is, and what de-
Kymlicka 1999) Denmark (Mouritsen 2006), France and fines an ‘English’ identity? Is ‘Britishness’ defined in ra-
Germany (Brubaker 1998; Kastoryano 2006; Luchtenberg cialised terms? How have attitudes to the ‘ethnic other’
2004). changed since the first Act to control Commonwealth im-
The pressure to react is increasingly shown through ex- migration in 1962; the Race Relations Act of 1976 or the
amples of policy and practice initiatives, for example: setting up of the Council for Racial Equality (CRE). Modern
in the formation of a Transatlantic Task Force on Immigrant Britain, some argue, is largely a secular state, but is it re-
Integration led by Antonio Vitorino, former European Com- ally a multicultural society, with less than eight per cent
missioner for Justice and Home Affairs and Rita Sussmuth, of the population from ethnic minorities? Politicians have
former President of the Bundestag,Germany; and also in the to debate the best way to respond, and decide whether
Council of Europe’s youth policy initiatives around human an ‘assimilation’ or ‘integrationist’ stance best serves our
rights, diversity and participation. In the United Kingdom national needs for the future. To some extent this is a false
we have faced an increase devolution for the less popu- debate. Britian has always been a multicultural state, with
lated parts of the United Kingdom, the pressures of in- waves of incomers throughout our history.
creased globalisation, a sense of increased social pluralism In recent years a liberal consensus about what is meant by
and the pressures of increased post-war migration. Great- multiculturalism has been challenged, Joppke and Lukes,
er awareness and a public debate about such challenges (1999) refer to a debate about ‘hodgepodge’ vs ‘mosaic’;
has brought some accompanying benefits, for example the Sen (2006) wrote about ‘plural monculturalism’, and Jop-
recognition of ‘institutional racism’ as a result of the Ste- pke and Lukes (1999), saw multiculturalism as a route to
phen Lawrence Inquiry; the parliamentary Amendment to critique Western liberalism. Alongside these views a view
the Race Relations Act (2000) and the passing of a Human of ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ multiculturalism has developed.
Rights Act. The Parekh Report (2000:23) suggested that-‘Multicultural-
ism is not about difference and identity per se but about
There remains a concern with social exclusion, made more those differences that are embedded in and sustained by
pressing by inter-ethnic group disturbances in some urban culture; that is a body of beliefs and practices in terms of
areas in the Summer of 2001; and in the wake of the terror- which a group of people understand themselves and the
ist attacks of September 11th 2001 in the USA and the Lon- world and organise their individual and collective lives.
don bombings July 2005. In England, which as a separate Unlike differences that spring from individual choices, cul-
education system to that of Scotland and Northern Ireland, turally derived differences carry a measure of authority
and a broadly similar system to Wales, media attention has and are gathered and structured by virtue of being embed-
surrounded the expansion of single faith specialist schools ded in a shared and historically inherited system of mean-
while a renewed Education and Inspections Act in in 2006 ing and significance.’
and National Curriculum (version 4) from September 2008 Continued media and public discourses have continued to
which places an emphasis on multiethnic understanding, challenge the notion of multiculturalism as a comfortable
have focused teachers and politicians minds on how well consensus, for example Alibhai-Brown (2000); Blunkett
fitted our system is to create well young people prepared (2001) and Philips (2004). Terminological confusion re-
for adult citizenship in a changing world. Despite a con- mains, challenged by Parekh (2000) as ‘woolly liberalism’,
cern for inclusion and ‘British values’ this elements of the with Alibhai-Brown (2000) doubting whether the current
media also promotes continuing and populist concern with concept of multiculturalism would have the capacity to
rising immigration and asylum seekers promote human rights and equality of opportunity, and
A policy review of citizenship education in England in 1998, Delanty (2003) claiming that it was not a model for soci-
with the publication of the ‘Crick Report’ lead to the cre- etal change since its anti-racist stance was ineffective and
ation of a new statutory curriculum subject for secondary over-celebratory.
schools in 2002: Citizenship. Strucutred in three strands
– ‘social and moral responsibility’, ‘community involve- Some research evidence
ment’, ‘political literacy’ the subject also includes a re- The research methodology included interviewing of 30 par-
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What is the Relationship of History Teaching to Citizenship Above: Recording thoughts during a session
Education? In part it may be the role of History in ‘incul- And outside...
cating’ ‘shared values’ but if so, what are these ‘shared
values’? Are they ‘minimal’ or ‘maximal’ notions, and how
far do practical issues, such as topic space and emphasis
in an overcrowded curriculum impact on what is taught
and learned?
History’s pedagogical approaches are also significant, the
basic enquiry question-oriented approach used in British
History teaching, using relevant historical examples also
helps to develop contextualised ‘citizenship thinking’
which is a skill and mind-set transferable to relevant con-
temporary issues.
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This article provides some outline materials about the development of Human Rights as a concept, and offers a
series of ways of structuring the subject for teaching and learning.
“The very ultimate goal of the history teacher is to shift to the individual the burden of learning and to act as a real
citizen of a democratic Europe”
John W. Gardner
“Teaching History”, December 2006
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When the history teacher approaches human rights issues a historical perspective can be followed-.
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12. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - 1869 - 1948 -Constitution -A set of laws by which a country or organiza-
Gandhi began his career in South Africa, where tion is governed.
he practiced law and agitated against racism directed at
Indians. There he developed his tactics of non-violent con- -Covenant -A formal legal agreement such as the Interna-
frontation based on the principle of respect for life; he tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Interna-
called his strategy «satyagraha» (truth force). Later, in In- tional Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
dia, after a massacre by the British, Gandhi led a series of
satyagraha campaigns until India achieved independence -Conventions -International agreements dealing with spe-
in 1947. Gandhi’s campaigns alternated with imprison- cific subjects.
ment. His «constructive program» consisted of movements
against class discrimination and for Muslim-Hindu unity, -Cultural Rights -The right to preserve one’s cultural iden-
women’s rights, and basic education. tity and development.
13. The United Nations Charter - 1945 -Death penalty -The sanctioned taking of life by the state
The U.N. Charter was signed by 51 nations in the as a punishment for a crime.
postwar climate of 1945. It established an international
organization dedicated to maintaining peace and security -Declaration -A formal statement or announcement of in-
and to cooperation in solving economic, social, cultural, tent.
and humanitarian problems. Although it affirmed «faith in
fundamental human rights,» its signatories disagreed on -Democracy -Government by all people in the country--di-
the nature of these human rights. The first U.N. conference rectly or by representation.
therefore rejected a proposal to include protection of hu-
man rights as an article of the Charter. The Charter gives -Discrimination -Distinguishing between people on the ba-
the U.N. General Assembly and its Commission on Human sis of their race, culture, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual
Rights primary responsibility for promoting human rights. orientation, religion, physical handicap, or characteristics
The Commission was instrumental in creating declarations other than individual merit.
and covenants on human rights, including civil, political,
economic, social, and cultural rights. Although not legally -Economic rights -Rights that concern the production, de-
enforceable, these documents are used to interpret the velopment, and management of materials for the necessi-
human rights provisions of the U.N. Charter. ties of life.
14. Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 1948. -Freedom of expression -The freedom to express views in
Because representatives at the U.N. conference in 1945 print and other media, and to receive as well as commu-
wrestled with reconciling their various conceptions of hu- nicate ideas.
man rights, the clauses relating to human rights that were
finally included in the U.N. Charter were very ambiguous. -Genocide -The systematic killing of people based on race
The U.N. assigned an International Commission, with El- or ethnicity.
eanor Roosevelt as chairperson, to clarify the Charter’s
references to human rights. The result was a statement -Human rights -Rights that universally belong to people re-
of universal goals concerning human rights and freedoms, gardless of their sex, race, color, language, national origin,
which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1948. age, class, religion, or political beliefs.
The Declaration is not legally binding, but its content has
been incorporated into many national constitutions, and it -Mediation -A process whereby a third person helps disput-
has become a standard measure of human rights. ing parties to settle their disagreement by discussing the
issue until both are satisfied with the solution.
G. Human Rights Education- A Basic Glossary
History teachers should explain the basic notions / terms -Moral rights -Rights based on general principles of fair-
of human rights ness and justice.
-Affirmative Action-Action taken by government or private -Natural rights -Rights that belong to people simply be-
businesses to make up for past discrimination in education, cause they are human beings.
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This article explores the transition in Albania to teaching more fully about Human Rights in schools in Albania.
The first section of the article considers how the Ministry of Education has worked to encourage teachers to
consider and include Human Rights by ‘top-down’ policy initiatives and other incentives, with the second section
considering ‘bottom- up’ (teacher-led) initiatives.
The new Albanian reality, which is a testimony to the dy- on the 10th of December- to coincide with Tolerance and
namic economic, social and cultural transformation under- Peace Day
way in the country, has put the individual and education
in new relationship. Society is not only generating new New Guidelines of the Ministry of Education for the school
options for the individual to develop but is also charging year 2000-2001 to emphasise the importance of Education
everyone with more responsibilities. for democratic citizenship, with consideration of educa-
tion for patriotism, peace, human rights, a European di-
Education is facing new perspectives, its old mission to train mension, and environmental and health education:
future citizen is presently considered as multiple folded.
Democratic citizenship education is expected to play a cru- From 2000 to develop a new curricula for health education,
cial role. The new civics curriculum is in line with the philoso- and from 2001 to launch Intercultural and Human Rights edu-
phy of the present situation and challenges of the future. cation- as a joint project of MoE, Institute of Pedagogical Re-
Schools are adopting a strategy of training citizens capable search and UNESCO, to develop the civic education curricula
of exerting their civil responsibilities and freedoms, capable
of making their contribution to further spiritual emancipa- In Patriotic education the aim is to make student aware
tion, social and material development of society. and conscious of their national identity and in the same
The already changed Albanian society and the perspective time respect other’s culture and national heritage
of living together, lays down the necessity for new know-
ledge, values and skills. In Peace education the aim is to make young people aware of
their role as real partners in the peace building process and
I. Education for Democratic Citizenship as a enable them to be active citizen in solving and preventing
conflicts, to help them learn to accept and respect differ-
‘Top-Down’ (Ministry led) activity
ences etc.
On June 1995, the Albanian Parliament passed a law relat-
Human Rights Education
ed to Pre-university Education in Albania. It broadened the
In 1995, the IPR in cooperation with national and interna-
legal basis for social development and citizen education of
tional agencies took the initiative to develop curriculum
the younger generation.
guidelines that were introduced as cross-curricular and ex-
tracurricular activities for pupils in grades 1-8.
Explicitly, Article 2 of this law writes:
‘The mission of education is the spiritual emancipation,
These collaborative efforts led to the publication of about
material progress and social development of individual.’
500 000 pupils activities textbooks for all pupils of grade
Compulsory public education aims at developing students
1-8. In these Human and Children Rights are addressed in
intellectual, creative, practical and physical capacities
Civic Education themes in the 6th grade
and developing basic cultural values and citizenship skills.
Human Rights are part of curricula of high profiled (orient-
ed) education. They take 30 % of the programme "Citizen-
The policy of the Ministry of Education and Sciences
ship 1" of the 10th grade.
Based on these goals, the Ministry of Education and Sci-
Teachers are recommended to mention Human Rights in
ences and all the education system in Albania have been
their teaching every time aspects of their teaching could
committed to:
accommodate the theme in civic education, and are also
1. Enable young people to understand, analyse and influen-
part of the new standards for civic education.
ce social policy
2. Help young people to develop participatory problem
Environment and health issues are currently a priority
solving and decision making skills
within the biology and chemistry curriculum, even though
3. Help young people to develop commitment skills, demo-
the social and citizenship dimension of these areas is not
cratic values and attitudes necessary for a peaceful and
taught in these subjects.
democratic coexistence in Albania and in the region.
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The project started as a pilot one and aimed to: III. The Role of NGOs
Create a co-operative climate in the participating
schools; A large number of NGOs are operational in Albania- and
Develop models of pupil, teacher and parent partici- even though the efforts of NGOs have not been well coor-
pation and to support the creation of the necessary dinated to compliment each other it’s worth saying that
structures and working methods for co-operative there are a lot of them that have given a significant contri-
working; bution in the field of citizenship education. The following
Enhance the role of schools as social centres in the are some of the initiatives that were partnered with NGOs
local communities and to allow the population to in particular during the last 5 years:
feel ownership of ‘their’ schools; In view of the present situation in Albania the training of
Encourage co-operation between schools; serving teachers was made one of the priorities of Educa-
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tion for democratic citizenship. The idea behind this pri- The Place of Human Rights in the History and
ority is that any effort to effect changes in the school cur- Geography Curriculum.
riculum and school environment (whatever their quality)
would fail if there are no capable people to apply them The subject and the creative substance of History and Ge-
creatively in the classroom. ography is: first of all the study of the human beings and
human society in time and space in all its political, social,
In 1995 the publication of students books was accompanied economic, religious and cultural dimensions.
by teacher training workshops and publications for teach-
ers on the topic: This is the main reason that in comparison with the other
• ‘Human Rights for Primary Teachers’, in co-operation subjects the teaching objectives of history and geography
with the Norwegian agency ANA (later MIRA) Founda- are closely linked with the conscientiousness of the pupils
tion (1994); to defend the social justice for all, and they make a key
• ‘It’s Only the Right’ – a translated publication- in co- element in these school disciplines.
operation with UNICEF;
• ‘Human Rights Education at School– Guidelines for The inclusion of different matters, in the subject of ge-
Teachers’, in co-operation with The Netherlands Hel- ography, which are linked with instillation of the pupils
sinki Committee; with information and positive values, must be seen as part
• ‘Human Rights Education at School : A Manual for and parcel of their geographical formation. The majority
Teachers’- in co-operation with The Albanian Centre of items in geography related to Human Rights relate to
for Human Rights and the Netherlands Helsinki Com- issues around free movement and the exchange of ideas
mittee. and goods. Such a study can also be about how ‘rights’
have developed in a specific place or culture - in different
The publishing of the textbooks and other teaching ma- spaces of the world and how it would be closely linked with
terials in the field of Human Rights is accompanied with the conversations and agreements amongst states, regions
the training of a large number of teachers of Civic educa- and across the globe.
tion and other subjects. During 1995-1996 national training
sessions, of one day workshops dedicated to human rights In these subjects it is possible to consider equality and
education, were organised by The Institute of Pedagogical Human Rights regardless of race, giving different examples
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The weather becomes less friendly, but from inside the Conference Centre the view become more beautiful!
35
This article present a number of practical materials for introducing the concept of Human Rights to younger
pupils
Human rights are the rights a person has simply because • obey their parents and teachers,
he or she is a human being. • cook,
• tidy their room,
Marjeta Šifrer developed this approach through an action re- • clean,
search approach in her own classroom with pupils aged 12. • go to school …
The project was called: What are Human Rights? - Making a
Human Rights Tree. Pupils are introduced to the concept of
Human Rights and work cooperatively to create an image of
a Human Rights Tree- which helps to define human rights and
human needs. They then present their work to each other.
Plan of Activities
I planned that my teaching would cover seven key stages:
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1 All children have the rights in this set of tens statements, no matter what their race,
colour sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or to
who they were born.
2 You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a
healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.
4 You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical
services.
6 You have the right to love and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but
from the government where these cannot help.
7 You have the right to go to school for free, to play, and to have an equal chance to de-
velop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful.
Your parents have special responsibilities for your education and guidance.
8 You have the right always to be among the first to get help.
9 You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e.g. you shall not
be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally.
You should not work before a minimum age and never when that would hinder your
health, and your moral and physical development.
10 You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people.
This set of statements is taken from the United Nations teaching resources webpages, with slight adaptations of language
For more resources visit: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources.asp
39
In this article Katrina Bentanou explores ‘the other’ in contemporary Europe, images of xenophobia, and high-
lights the importance of using active techniques in making learning memorable and engaging, and considers how
this challenging classroom technique can be best used to challenge prejudice and racism.
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Teaching Materials
Role Cards
Card A
Card B
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Lyn Reese’s article represents a feminist approach to human rights, and an attempt to address too frequently ne-
glected areas of history- human rights and women’s history and role in achieving change. She convincingly argues
that greater attention to these areas is key in changing young peoples attitudes and society in general.
Alarming accounts of abuses of women’s human rights ap- progress toward parity with men is to continue. For his-
pear regularly in today’s media. News items describe dis- tory teachers, first steps can be taken by having students
turbing events. Young girls sold for sex or servitude, honor explore past examples of ways societies have institutional-
killings, forced or prevented abortions, the growing problem ized gender divisions, and the struggles of some women as
of aids among women, worldwide incidences of domestic well as men to overcome those which they deemed to be
violence - these are only a few issues of concern. However repressive and harmful.
distressful, the prevalence such sensational reports offer
unique opportunities to link contemporary problems to his- Find links to women’s rights organizations, and excerpts from
torical attitudes about women and their position in society. the treaties mentioned above at:
Integrating primary source readings and student awareness http://womeninworldhistory.com/bled-webLinks.html
activities into commonly taught topics are two ways to do
so. In this article I model these approaches by discussing Primary Source Readings:
two short internet available source readings, and provide I encourage using primary source readings when they cor-
follow-up discussion questions. I also describe a class activ- respond to a topic or period that is commonly taught.
ity which illustrates the effects on society of the denial of Introducing at least one early in the course gives a base
women’s rights. I further direct teachers to links to internet with which to compare to others from later times or cul-
sources on this topic, and a list of suggestions for their use. tures. Those that allow a woman (or women) to speak for
themselves are naturally the most engaging. Students con-
Women’s human rights - a new concept: nect easily to readings which provide intimate examples
Only relatively recently has the fact that women’s rights of women’s agency and actual life experiences. Others,
need to be spelled out as a separate category been ac- however, can be used to demonstrate the deep and almost
cepted and incorporated into the modern, expanding ide- universal belief in gender difference. Early laws, codes, or
as about human rights. The effort to do so emerged as a influential teachings describe where males had rights and
distinct aspect of human rights during the international where women’s rights might have been restricted. They
women’s movements of the 1980s. Now, after immense ef- also demonstrate the extent to which social structure and
forts on the part of millions of women and men, there is gender attributes were culturally specific. Assumptions
recognition that beyond political and civic rights, there are that men and women were essentially different creatures,
social and economic arenas where women’s’ rights have not only biologically, but in their needs, capacities and
been ignored. functions, usually was felt to be a natural state, accepted
without question. Learning of the existence of dualistic
Two important international women’s rights documents are gender systems, which sometimes resulted in the subordi-
now used as tools by women’s rights groups around the world. nation of women, helps explain the extent to which laws,
One is the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination work patterns, expectations, and societal attitudes shaped
Against Women (CEDAW, entered into force in 1981). The women’s lives. This is of key importance. Student aware-
Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between ness of the historical reality that gender mattered is essen-
women and men through ensuring women’s equal access to, tial to their understanding of the contemporary struggles
and equal opportunities in, political and public life. It also is for women’s human rights.
the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive
rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influen- A list of suggested primary sources and their internet links
tial forces shaping gender roles and family relations. As of may be found on my website:
November, 2006, 185 countries - over ninety percent of the http://womeninworldhistory.com/bled-webLinks.html,
members of the United Nations - are party to the Conven- with suggestions for their use at:
tion, making it the second most widely ratified international http://womeninworldhistory.com/ActivitySuggestions.html
human rights treaty.
Two Examples: Caroline Norton (1808-1877 England)
The second treaty is the Declaration on the Elimination of and Kishida Toshiko (1863-1891, Japan): Both Caroline
Violence Against Women (UN Resolution, 1993). It spells Norton and Kishida Toshiko broke social norms by publicly
out wide forms of violence against women. Its wording advocating change not only in the legal status of women,
includes the phrase, “Recognizing that violence against but in the way society viewed their roles. Their concerns
women is a manifestation of historically unequal power re- illustrate issues from reform periods in the nineteenth
lations between men and women, which have led to domi- century where maneuvering for women’s rights within the
nation over and discrimination against women by men.” context of marriage often took precedent over others, in-
cluding female suffrage. Debates about women’s expanded
International recognition of women’s human rights does rights within marriage and women’s access to education
not mean implementation. An essential step toward re- were voiced in many nations which were dealing with new
specting, promoting and defending those rights is learning ideas about societal change.
about them. Projects that introduce students to not only
these treaties, but to the wide range of international and Caroline Norton’s emotional account describes her disas-
local women’s rights organizations are needed if women’s trous marriage. Another reading, her “Letter to the Queen”
44
Kishida and other champions of social change for women 8) Select a quote, or quotes, from the read-ing(s) which
faced harsh resistance. Kishida was often harassed by the might have relevance for women in the world today. (Are
police, and once was jailed. By the end of the century, there any similarities between the historic issues they
the government reinstated the most conservative and op- raised and ones facing women in your country today? If
pressive model of the family in the Civil Codes of 1898. so, what?).
Japanese women were lumped together with mental in-
competents and minors. Among other restrictions, a wife 9) How have ideas of gender changed since then? Which
could not enter into a legal contract without her husband’s ones?
permission, nor share in his estate after his death. Adul-
tery was a crime for a wife but not for a husband. In the 10) What do you think might be the effects the denial of
event of a divorce, the wife had no custody rights over the women’s human rights issues had on the society in which
children. Gender-specific curriculum and sex segregation these women lived? On the future of their society?
also was instituted in the schools. Two years later, under
Article 5 of the Police Security Regulations, women were Posing this last question could led into a whole class
prohibited from joining political organizations and holding awareness activity called the Effects Wheel. The following
or attending political meetings. Effects Wheel description focuses on the question, “How
Toshiko’s clarion call for “equality and equal rights,” plus does a lack of women’s rights negatively impact societies
excerpts from the Japanese Civil Codes of 1898, can be read as a whole?” It also can be used as way to illustrate the
as an example of the type of reaction women rights activ- effects on society of any historic or contemporary situa-
ists have had to face. Students can find out the situation tion or event.
for women in Japan today, discover other periods when the
struggle for women’s rights suffered repression, or try to The Effects Wheel
determine the situation of the global women’s movements Objective: To raise awareness, clarify thinking, and gen-
today. What successes have been made? What, in their opin- erate discussion about the inter-relatedness and conse-
ion, are the greatest problems women still face? quences of women’s human rights abuses.
Time: 30 minutes.
Find an easy to read excerpt from one Kishida Toshiko’s
speeches plus pertinent sections of the reactionary Japa- Materials: Chart paper and markers. Copies of “Effects
45
A visit to Ljubljana
46
[Adapted from Sue Lewis and Anne Davies, Gender Equity in Mathematics
and Science, Canberra, Australia: Curriculum Development Centre, 1988]
47
In this article Katja Holobar and Romana Franković investigate how teaching about 20th century History can in-
clude teaching about human rights violations and international justice.
The teaching of Human Rights can easily be integrated into Role Play Activity
the standard school curriculum, and this is especially true In the activity STEP FORWARD, different history moments
in history lessons where a number of documents, major in the Second World War were investigated from the as-
events and historical figures can be used to illuminate both pect of the human rights violation. In particular, the ways
the violation and growth of human rights throughout his- of introducing this activity into daily school practice were
tory. outlined.
The 20th century was perhaps the bloodiest in history. Mil- Firstly distribute the role cards and ask the participants to
lions of people were victims of genocide, crimes against hu- quietly read the role card, without showing it to anyone else.
manity, war crimes, torture, extra-judicial execution and Participants should think about the nature of the character
‘disappearances’. These crimes were committed through- shown. School age pupils would need some help, and contex-
out the world during international and civil wars as well as tual knowledge to do this in a meaningful way.
during peace time.
Ask each participant in turn the questions shown below.
A range of methodologies and strategies can be used in We suggest that you start with someone you feel will ‘get
everyday school practice in order to foster an understand- into role’ and ‘perform’ effectively so as so model the sort
ing of the meaning of ‘Never Again’, to promote empathy of response you would like.
with the victims of human rights violation and raise aware-
ness about the inequality of opportunities in our society. Stimulus questions:
What are your family like?
Here we present some materials about the Internation- Where did you live?
al Criminal Court which plays an important role in fight What is your everyday life like now?
against impunity for some of the gravest crimes. Are you rich?
Are you happy? Why?
The aims of using these materials include- What frightens you?
• investigating different aspects of the 20th century to
consider human rights violations and international ‘One Step Forward’ Activity
justice; The participants should then individually line up, beside
• learning about the International Criminal Court (ICC), each other like on a starting line with plenty of space in
which was established in July 2002, and its role in front of themselves.
bringing justice for victims who might otherwise be
ignored- a big step forward in fighting against the When you read out scenarios if their character would be
impunity of systematic mass crimes; able to answer “Yes” to the question, they should take one
The activity was designed to use with adults/teachers to forward. If they answer “No” they do not move.
raise their awareness of Human Rights issues, but could
easily be adapted for young people. • Do you feel that you are a respected member of
society?
Teaching Activity 1: Living During The Second World • Can you invite friends to your home for dinner?
• Can you go to the cinema or the theatre at least once
War
a week?
• Do you feel that your opinions on social and political
issues matters and your views are listened to by your
Starter Activity government?
Begin by explaining the connection between the teaching of • Is it likely that the newspapers will say positive things
human rights and teaching of history. about your group?
• Can you openly fall in love with the person of your
Divide the participants into the groups of four persons. choice?
• Is your language, religion and culture are respected
If they do not know each other, ask the participants to intro- in the society where you live?
duce themselves to each other with one local/national his- • Do you feel you get picked on or bullied due to your
torical event or a person which/who has contributed to the beliefs?
world-wide respect of the human rights and democracy. • Are you frightened of the police?
• Can you celebrate religious events and festivals with
Ask each group to then discuss how these events/persons your relatives and friends?
made a contribution to greater respect for human rights. • Are you positive about your future?
Some of the examples will be negative aspect of human This should make the characters spread out, and physically
history- but which led to better thigns as a reaction. There show the amount of freedom or rights that some groups had,
are certainly several dark periods in our history, which and which groups were denied rights.
could and should not be forgotten. One of the darkest pe-
riods of which is the Second World War, and massive viola- Ask the participants to look and see where other charac-
tions of human rights. ters are standing- if this fair? Is this what they expected?
48
Starter Activity
The second part of the workshop focused on the role of
the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague. We recom-
mend a visual source to act as a starter and ourselves play
a short section of the Amnesty International DVD on the
Debate during a workshop session
organization of the ICC from ‘In Search of International
Justice’.
49
A. B.
You are a 14-year-old Jewish girl, living in the Nether- You are a 22-year-old gay person (homosexual) in Ger-
lands in 1942. many during the Second World War.
What are your family like? What are your family like?
Where did you live? Where did you live?
What is your everyday life like now? What is your everyday life like now?
Are you rich? Are you rich?
Are you happy? Why? Are you happy? Why?
What frightens you? What frightens you?
C. You are a 17-year-old Rom (gypsy) girl living in Slov- D. You are a 50-year-old Jewish salesman from Poland in
enia (Gipsy) in 1942. 1942.
What are your family like? What are your family like?
Where did you live? Where did you live?
What is your everyday life like now? What is your everyday life like now?
Are you rich? Are you rich?
Are you happy? Why? Are you happy? Why?
What frightens you? What frightens you?
E. It is 1942, you are a 12-year-old boy from Germany, a F. it is 1942, you are a 40-year-old member of the SS
member of the organisation Hitlerjugend. troops.
What are your family like? What are your family like?
Where did you live? Where did you live?
What is your everyday life like now? What is your everyday life like now?
Are you rich? Are you rich?
Are you happy? Why? Are you happy? Why?
What frightens you? What frightens you?
G. It is 1942, you are a 45-year-old worker in a factory H. It is 1942, you are the wife of German General.
where weapons are produced.
What are your family like?
What are your family like? Where did you live?
Where did you live? What is your everyday life like now?
What is your everyday life like now? Are you rich?
Are you rich? Are you happy? Why?
Are you happy? Why? What frightens you?
What frightens you?
I. It is 1942, you are a member of the resistance move- J. You are a solider in the Russian army in 1942.
ment.
What are your family like?
What are your family like? Where did you live?
Where did you live? What is your everyday life like now?
What is your everyday life like now? Are you rich?
Are you rich? Are you happy? Why?
Are you happy? Why? What frightens you?
What frightens you?
50
C________ D__________
E_______ F______
caused many grave crimes. ICC
is a principle in law. ICC doesn’t have jurisdiction over
guarantees that all are equal crimes committed before the
before the law. Court’s establishment.
G_______ The H _ _ _ _
I__ The J _ _ _ _
Stands for the International
Criminal Court which inves- has a right to adjudicate and
tigates and prosecutes indi- decide on legal matters.
viduals accused of very serious
crimes.
51
S_______ T________
was the 48th state which is a crime that still isn’t includ-
signed and ratified the Rome ed among the crimes within
Statute. the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The U _ _ V______
is one of very small number of should be treated with com-
states that oppose the ICC passion and respect for their
dignity.
W__ _X___
interest is shown in some trials
crimes are one of the gravest because of the coverage they
crimes prosecuted by the ICC. have been given in the news
or the horrifying nature of the
crimes.
52
In this article the level of teachers’ engagement, subject knowledge and theorising about civic education as an
element of the history curriculum is considered by a team of researchers, with some interesting conclusions, and
possible implications for both initial and in-service teacher education.
The gradual shift of interest in the research of History Di- his role, he is forced to comply with certain didactic prac-
dactics (History Didactics, Teaching and Learning History) tices: a) selectiveness and fragmentation in the approach
from the cognitive and value content of the history lesson, of historical phenomena, b) suppression of controversial or
i.e. from the discourse analysis and the ideological func- traumatic historical events or conversely, analysis of these
tions of schoolbooks in conjunction with the mapping of cur- events based on personal beliefs, c) naive, superficial or
ricula cores to a) the investigation of the learning process, even idolized presentation of the cognitive content of cru-
namely the methods of configuring historical thought and cial teaching material [5].
accumulating historical knowledge and b) the identification
of the perceptive horizon and the understanding of percep- In general, the research data available, lead to the de-
tive mechanisms, their shaping and functional methods, duction that, despite the introduction of innovations in
and cognitive structures of students and educators, can be the framework of educational policy, esp. in the past two
considered a paradigm shift. During the last decade inter- decades, in the cognitive and value content of the his-
national research has proven the significance of especially tory lesson as well as in the teaching methodology and the
educators’ mediative function in the learning process. On evaluation-performance, historical education continues to
the one hand, this mediative function refers to the educa- depend mainly on the educators’ mentality, scientific con-
tors’ scientific knowledge of the science in question, History figuration, didactic training, preferences and motives [6].
and History Didactics, in combination to their more general
pedagogic training and on the other hand, with their so- George Kokkinos’ (et al) research entitled Historical cul-
cial and cultural background, their political and ideological ture and consciousness. Students’ and educators’ view-
viewpoints and their personal experiences. points and attitudes on History in Primary Education
(Noogramma, Athens, 2005), was conducted during 2002
According to the classification provided by Hauessler-Bohan – 2003. What is more interesting is that this research was
and Davis, history educators can be divided in the follow- conducted, contrary to almost all other such researches,
ing three groups: a) those who deal with the history lesson in geographical areas far from both the capital and the
as a soul contributing narrative, its primary goal being the second largest city. In particular, it took place in two towns
shaping of a collective identity and the internalization of in diametrically opposed locations (Rhodes, Ioannina), in
dominant models, b) those who emphasize on the scientific the southeastern and northwestern boundaries of Greece
nature of the history lesson without, however, questioning respectively. Due to their particular history, these towns
so much the epistemological and evaluative assumptions have strong multi-cultural elements, but also experience
of historical knowledge or its socio-political significance the strong pressure of immigration fluxes after the col-
and finally c) those, who having realised the socio-political lapse of communist regimes.
significance of history lesson and historiography in general,
as well as the historicity of the history science itself, at- This research consisted of questionnaires filled in by a sam-
tempt to direct the learning process to the understanding ple of 275 educators and 651 students in these areas. Its
of historical method, aiming to shape historical skills that results were analyzed in combination, with reference to
will allow students to voice a well-founded, reliable his- both statistical and qualitative characteristics. The qualita-
torical view [1]. tive characteristics relate to the purely historical thought
and the aspects of historical consciousness that are mapped
It is known however that neither the scientific background with educators and students. Both the historical thought
educators gained at graduate and post-graduate level, or and the historical consciousness of students and educators
while in training, nor their pedagogic or didactic educa- were classified based on the analytical tools contributed to
tion, or even an adequate combination of the above, can international debate by Jőrn Rűsen and Jerzy Topolski [7],
automatically re-direct the learning process to the sub- among others, as well as by the British supporters of the
stantial reception of the necessary innovations that will empathy approach to the history lesson.
enable the improvement of teaching history in schools [2]. In this article we will focus on identifying educators’ at-
Furthermore, the interceptive role of various factors has titudes, perceptions, and viewpoints.
been noted: educators’ idiosyncrasies and their social or
ideological obsessions [3], the power of pedagogic and di- The questionnaire given to educators contains 56 ques-
dactic conventions, the attitude of co-workers and school tions. The aim is to depict a) educators’ social and scienti-
environment in general, the duty of any employee, which fic profile (sex, age, studies, marital status, place of birth
compels educators to organize their didactic strategy with and residency, process that lead to choosing the teaching
the sole purpose to run through the lesson’s cognitive con- profession, b) their general educational and family back-
tent, to safeguard control and a misconceived discipline grounds, as well as the way these factors influence family
in the classroom. This last element, found in educators’ strategies during the choice of professional career, profes-
well documented disinclination, to demonstrate initiative sional practices and scientific culture, c) their scientific
in their teaching, which by nature requires availability and social activities, as well as d) their epistemological
of adequate teaching time and may risk the well estab- assumptions, their agony to evaluate and set the various
lished, by the dominant conventional model of teaching, historical periods of Greek, European and World history
role of the educator [4]. When an educator, esp. a History in order of precedence according to their importance –
teacher, chooses to remain prisoner of the conventions of whether these periods are part of the teaching programme
53
54
Practice e.g.: work in an archive, visiting e.g.: observing teaching, inter- e.g.: travel with a class,
a museum, writing a newspaper viewing children, preparing and project week against rac-
article, preparing a documentary administrating history lessons ism, work with handicapped
film children
of “culture of history” and “politics of history” (i.e. mass Though the sample is rather small (not representative) and
media, public, semi-official, and official use - sometimes no solid conclusions can be drawn, we can by all means get
even abuse - of history) and of “theoretical concepts and an idea, as we can detect general trends and features in
empirical studies of historical consciousness”. history teachers’ attitudes resembling to those of the pre-
viously mentioned research on the subject. One can agree
As part of the problems of teachers’ attitudes towards un- on the interest, especially of younger teachers to get more
derstanding and implementing/applying innovative meth- and efficient education on practical fields, mostly provid-
odology in History Teaching and the core meaning and aims ing help in daily teaching routine; they accept the core
of History teaching arises mostly from inefficient initial aims of Teaching History in a theoretical level but, again,
training in University and College respective departments, there is a kind of confusion when asked to support this ac-
this Council of Europe research aims to form a kind of “Rec- ceptance by certain choices.
ommendation’’ for all European Historical Departments in
Tertiary Education, based on data gathered through an Therefore, as several studies on teachers’ attitudes and
-over 80 pages -questionnaire and facts and data regis- teachers’ lives have been made and/or are still going on,
tered by Eurydice and nation-scale official statistics. Some exploring the close relationship between their personal
questionnaires resembling to the ones filled in the above and professional identities and suggesting that they are
mentioned Greek research were distributed to colleagues interlinked with their teaching roles in terms of personal
who attended the workshop [15], in order to get an idea fulfilment [16], the importance of adjusting and strength-
of an random sample of attending the Conference history ening the Initial and In Service Training Courses taking into
teachers’ attitudes and viewpoints on the subject. consideration all the previous, is quite obvious and could
be a consensus point for all interested parties of the edu-
After processing the data, we can see that: cational world [17].
Most of the teachers strongly feel their nationality, while
they feel less European citizens and hardly world citizens. References:
They seem to promote very much their national identity 1. C. Hauessler-Bohan and O. L. Davis, “Historical Con-
when teaching and enough of European citizenship. They structions: How Social Studies Student Teachers’ Historical
all agree on promoting Local History and half of them Thinking is reflected in their Writing of History”, Theory
National History, while most support teaching History of and Research in Social Education, 26 (1998), 173-197.
Western Countries and hardly History of Africa, Asia and 2. Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik, Teaching History
Latin America. They also seem to support the ¡modern’ for the Common Good, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Pub-
aims of teaching history (¡to form and enhance the iden- lishers, Mahwah – New Jersey – London 2004, 249.
tity of democratic citizen’, ¡to improve tolerance towards 3. According to Penelope Harnett referring to Evans’ typol-
otherness and difference’, ¡to help people acquire mental ogy (R.W.Evans ‘Educational Ideologies and the Teaching
skills’), less agree on the aim of forming national identity, of History’ in G.Leinhardt, I.L. Beck and C. Stainton (eds)
while, contradictory, most agree on the aim of ¡forming Teaching and Learning in History, Lawrence Erlbaum Asso-
ethos/moral through historical paradigm’ and the major- ciates, Hillsdale New Jersey 1994) of history teachers, he
ity supports the pure cognitive aims of teaching history indicates that ‘their beliefs about history influence both
(to know the most important political-military events’ and selection of content and ways in which they teach the
the mechanisms of social and economic evolution’). The subject’, while five broad categories of history teachers
majority also disagrees that the content of subject history emerge from his data: storyteller, scientific/historian,
could be the same for the schools in Europe, while few relativist/reformer, cosmic phi-losopher and eclectic,
believe that the content could be the same in schools of resembling more or less to Hauessler-Bohan and Davis
their region. The potential of history for citizenship edu- classification mentioned above: Pen. Harnett, History in
cation is evident in their answers, but, contradictory to the Primary School; Reshaping Our Pasts. The Influence of
previous answers, they seem to believe that this can be Primary Scholl Teachers; Knowledge and Understanding
served through common subjects in History in Europe. Fi- of History on Curriculum Planning and Implementation’,
nally when asked to answer what kind of training seminar in Heirnet, International Journal of Historical Learning,
they would like to attend, the majority chose first Meth- Teaching and Research, Vol. 3, N. 2, July 2003 (visited on
odology and Practice in History Didactics, then using I.T. in April 2007).
teaching history, while History as Science (Epistemology, 4. ibid. Keith Barton – Linda Levstik, 251, 252-253.
methodology, historiographical trends) and Intercultural 5. bid., 253 and 255, and K. D. Vinson, “The Traditions
History Didactics followed. Finally, though they expressed Revisited: Instructional Approach and High School Social
an interest in keeping up with scientific developments in Studies Teachers”, Theory and Research in Social Educa-
the field, they were hardly readers of educational journals tion, 26 (1996), 50-82.
or scientific reviews.
55
56
Denis’s materials here offer the chance to tackle issues related to the aftermath of war, and the impact that conflict has
on human rights by studying the persecution of some 170 000 Volksdeutschers (members of the German ethnic minority)
in Yugoslavia immediately after the Second World War, and resultant 60 000 deaths within this group. Yugoslavia was not
exceptional in this reaction to the war and resident minorities. Germans met with the same fate in the whole of Eastern
Europe, and a similar fate befell the Italian community in Yugoslavia during the same period. The activity involves three
groups responding to a series of tasks.
A great majority of Volkdeutschers were settled through planned colonisation in the 18th century Habsburg Empire, which was
encouraged by the Habsburg monarchs in accordance with ideas of cameralism and physiocratism. Their immigration was aimed at
populating uninhabited areas, and stimulating the development of agriculture and trade. After the fall of the Habsburg monarchy af-
ter the First World War, the Germans became a Yugoslav ethnic minority in the newly established state. During the Second World War
members of the German ethnic minority were divided among themselves, as were many others in the Yugoslav area – some served
the fascists, some joined the anti-fascist movement, and some merely tried to survive the turbulent times.
The National-Liberation War was led under the slogan of Fight for the ‘national and social liberation of the peoples
in Yugoslavia.’
1. Based on the material you have received try to explain what was meant by social and national liberation
2. Did the guaranteed rights apply to all? Explain your viewpoint
3. Discuss within the group the issue of collectivisation of guilt- what does it mean?
You are working to a fixed time limit to prepare, then you will be asked to carry out the interview
Based on the sources provided, prepare for an interview with Group 3, who will be playing the role of Volks-
deutschers who have survived internment camps and deportation from Yugoslavia…
Your task, as young research historians, is to learn as much as you can about what happened to the Volksdeutschers
in post-war Yugoslavia and how they feel about their experiences.
You are working to a fixed time limit to prepare, then you will be asked to carry out the interview
Read the testimonies of Volksdeutschers who survived deportation and life in the internment camps in Yugoslavia.
You are taking on the role of elderly Volksdeutscher survivors who will be interviewed by young research historians
(Group 2. ) who will want to learn in detail about your hardships.
Remember:
You are now around 80 or more!
Suggestion:
divide the testimonies among yourselves in the group and try to prepare collectively, as a group and not as indi-
viduals, for the interview.
57
SOURCE 1
Declaration of Basic Rights of Peoples and Citizens in Democratic Croatia, adopted at the third session of ZAVNOH
(National Anti-Fascist Council of the Peoples’ Liberation of Croatia) in Topusko on 9 May 1944.
1. The Croatian and Serbian people in Croatia have entirely equal rights. The ethnic minorities in Croatia will
be given full rights for their ethnic existence.
2. All citizens of the federal state of Croatia are equal before the law regardless of nationality, race and reli-
gious denomination.
4. Every citizen is guaranteed the safety of their person and property. Private property and private initiative in
the economy are guaranteed.
5. All citizens are guaranteed the freedom of religious denomination and freedom of conscience.
SOURCE 2
Rules for the transfer of enemy property into state ownership, and on the public use of the property of absent
persons.
Produced by AVNOJ (Anti-Fascist Council of the Peoples’ Liberation of Yugoslavia), 21st November 1944
Article 1
On the day this Decision takes effect the following is transferred into state ownership:
• all property of the German Reich and its citizens which is situated on the territory of Yugoslavia;
• all property of persons of German nationality, except Germans who fought in the National Liberation Army and
Partisan forces of Yugoslavia or are subjects of neutral states, and did not have enemy status during the occupa-
tion;
• all property of war criminals and their helpers, regardless of their citizenship, and property of persons who
were sentenced to loss of possessions in favour of the state by verdict of civil or military courts of justice regard-
less of their citizenship.
The property of Yugoslav citizens in this case comes under the Decision, regardless of whether they are in the
country or abroad.
Article 5
The aim of putting all nationalised or sequestered property under the control of the Public Administration of
Peoples’ Resources is the maximum exploitation of these resources and property for planned production, in order
to achieve victory in the liberation war as quickly and successfully as possible, and to create conditions for the
successful economic reconstruction of Yugoslavia as a whole and of all of its federal units (…)
(The Official Gazette of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, year 1, no. 2, Belgrade, 6th Feb 1945, pp.13-14; Source taken
from the book: Vladimir Geiger, Folksdojčeri pod teretom kolektivne krivnje ( Volksdeutschers Under the Burden of Col-
lective Guilt), Osijek 2002, 56)
SOURCE 3
The hardships of the German civilians in Yugoslavia caused by Tito’s regime from 1941 to 1948.
From some 540 000 Germans living in Yugoslavia until 1941, some 95 000 were members of German, Hungarian and Croa-
tian military forces, and some 245 000 Germans were evacuated to Germany before Yugoslavia was reconstructed under
Tito’s regime. In the period between October 1944 and April 1945, the remaining
200 000 Germans came under the control of Tito’s regime. With an exception of some 8000 people, the remaining 170
000 ethnic German civilians (from children to elderly people), in the period from 1945 to 1948, were sent into camps,
out of which 51 000 women, children and elderly people succumbed to illness, hunger and other hardships. Out of 64 000
victims from 1941 to 1948 some 40 000 are documented by name.
(Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944-1948., Die Station eines Volkermordes, Donauschwäbische Kulturstif-
tung, München, 1998.; data translated by Denis Detling)
58
Key
Red shading: Areas in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia where Volksdeutschers lived
Source 4b.
Key:
Red stars: locations of Camps in which more than 2000 Volksdeutscher – civilians died
Red circles: Camps in which more than 200 Volksdeutscher – civilians died
These maps were created by Denis Detling based on the book Verbrechen an den Deutschen in Jugoslawien 1944-1948., Die
Station eines Volkermordes, Donauschwäbische Kulturstiftung, München, 1998.
59
7 July 1945
‘The Yugoslav Government is of the viewpoint that all Germans who are within the borders of Yugoslavia should be
relocated and sent to Germany, when favourable technical conditions for that are attained.-
We have this right due to the following reasons:
1) Because the Germans who are in Yugoslavia today were settled by German invaders on land that belonged to
Yugoslav people.-
2) Because the Germans of the German minority since their arrival in our country have worked against the inter-
ests of the peoples of Yugoslavia, putting themselves in the service of German imperialists. This has specifically
manifested itself during this war, when they were actively and fully engaged in the fight against our army and the
National Liberation Movement in general.-
3) Because German minorities in Yugoslavia did so much evil to the peoples of Yugoslavia that their further stay
within the borders of Yugoslavia would disrupt the consolidation and construction of our country.
Based on the previously said, those considered for repatriation are all German men and women according to
the following criteria:
1) Whose mother tongue is German (descends from the marriage of a German man or woman).-
2) Who descends from a marriage in which the father is German-
Excluded from this are the following:
1) Who have actively assisted the National Liberation War (remain with their immediate family – children,
father and mother)
2) German women who are married to Yugoslav men, with children.
3) Children up to 16 years of age from marriages between a Yugoslav woman and German man, in case the
woman decides to stay in the country and leave her German husband. A Yugoslav woman married to a Ger-
man man can decide freely whether to leave with her husband or remain in the country with children up to
16. In case the wife is not of Yugoslav nationality, she is obliged to follow her German husband.
4) Persons who can prove that they are Austrian citizens or of Austrian nationality do not have to leave. But
careful attention should be given in case persons of German citizenship or nationality present themselves as
such. This pertains to persons who are offenders in the same way as the Germans are, because in that case
the same criterion of repatriation applies. If the Austrians were members of the Kulturbund they have to
leave.
For the purpose of repatriation the authorised ministries constituted the National Commission with the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, which is responsible for organising, managing and controlling etc. the repatriation of Germans /…/
Immediately after receiving these directives, promptly (by courier or dispatch) send to this Commission the overall
number of persons for repatriation and which camps they are now situated in. This information is urgently needed
in order to have the necessary overview and undertake further measures. The Local and District Commissions can
decide on employing the repatriates as workforce during their stay in the camps. All these tasks should be com-
pleted thoroughly and promptly, because the transport of repatriates is to follow immediately, from the whole of
Croatian territory to Germany.’
(Taken from the book: Vladimir Geiger, Nestanak Folksdojčera, Nova stvarnost, Zagreb, 1997 and Vladimir Geiger,
Folkdojčeri pod teretom kolektivne krivnje, Osijek 2002)
60
Picture taken from Vladimir Geiger’s book Nestanak Folksdojčera (The Disappearance of Volksdeutschers), Nova stvarnost,
Zagreb, 1997
SOURCE 7a
Testimonies of Camp Survivors: Repatriation
“In front of our eyes train carriages were sealed and left, their destination unknown, people said to Russia (Ros-
tov). Later we heard that most of the detainees died of lack of food, thirst and heat. Some, reportedly, later sent
word from Germany.” Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“At the time, transports were organised for Germany, but we didn’t want to go because we were born here and we
wanted to go home, as we did nothing wrong. After a few days we were taken to the Valpovo camp. After a while
there was another transport to Germany. This time we had to board the train. We were transported in cattle car-
riages full of people, exhausted and ill, to the Austrian border. They wouldn’t let us cross, so we went back via Velika
Pisanica, the Šipovac camp to Krndija. Everything was destroyed there, so we spent about three weeks in the open.
From Krndija they made us go on foot, under guard, to the Valpovo camp.”
Elizabeta Konig, born Reitz in 1921
“However, we were brought back. Germany and Austria had already taken enough exiled Volksdeutschers and they
couldn’t accept us…. We went back to the Valpovo camp where we were again separated from our father.”
Franciska Bušljeta, born Poker in Brčko
SOURCE 7b
Testimonies of Camp Survivors: The Valpovo Camp…
“The Valpovo camp was bigger and better secured with barbed wire. In the centre of the camp circle was a wood-
en scouting tower with a spotlight. On one side were barracks in a few rows and on the other there was a building
for the partisans. In that building there was a so-called doctor’s surgery. The cabin we slept in was 20 metres long
with bunk beds made of planks along the whole length of the room. There was about half a metre space for each
person. Here in Valpovo there were more guards than in Josipovac. And they also had dogs. The guards were rough
and brutal. There were partisan women whose behaviour was frightening too. They often lost consciousness falling
to the floor, they shouted and swore asking for Ustasha blood and to cut their throats and making other blood-
thirsty comments.”
Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
61
“Our family tragedy started on 29 April 1945 – at 2 o’clock in the morning. Armed young men came to take us to a
hearing. They kept assuring us that they knew us and that nothing bad would happen to us. They took us to a pri-
vate flat where the military command of the city of Brčko was. There we found several families with German last
names. During the questioning our late father showed he had a Yugoslav certificate of citizenship. He explained
that he arrived during the annexation of Bosnia by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy as a civil servant.
“Our late mother and us three sisters were brought up as Croats in a religious spirit. We were not members of
any political organisations. Apparently, someone had intervened on our behalf, to let us go. However, our flat had
already been taken by a “good neighbour”, so they probably gave up the idea.”
Franciska Bušljeta, born Poker in Brčko
“Elizabeta Konig (b1921) together with mother Ana Reitz (b1892) and father Andrija Reitz (b1885) and daughter
Erna Konig (b1943), we were taken away from our home in 153 Divaltova Street in Osijek on 10 May 1945, first to
the City Garden, where many of our neighbours and acquaintances were gathered. In the evening we were trans-
ported by train to Josipovac, where we spent about three months, in Youth barracks, on earthen floors. We could
not take anything with us, apart from the clothing we were wearing.” Elizabeta Konig, born Reitz in 1921
“We were living in Mrzović, so on 27 October 1944 we escaped through Hungary to Austria. When the Russians
came there, they told us to go back to Yugoslavia because there was enough work there, after the war. We arrived
home through Podravina in late May 1945, in the afternoon. A notice from the National Council came immediately
informing us that all German property was confiscated and that we had no civil or human rights and that we should
be ready to be taken to Đakovo the following morning, where a camp was established in the old mill for all Ger-
mans from Đakovština.”
Stefan Schwob, born in 1930 in Mrzović, near Đakovo
SOURCE 7d
Testimonies of Camp Survivors: Life in the Transit Camp Josipovac and Deportation to Valpovo
“Then a long line of innocent people, civilians, followed their “way of the cross” from Josipovac to Valpovo,
another camp. We walked the whole day along a dusty village road, without food, water and rest. It was hot, the
sun was burning. The people were kept going by armed partisans on horses with whips. Weaker persons, mostly old
people, would fall, but no one was allowed to help them. We had to go on, and behind us shots could be heard.
My mother fell too, and I stopped beside her. A partisan on a horse, tall, dark, in a well- tailored suit (I don’t know
the rank), harshly ordered me to go on, playing with his gun. He came close with his horse, as if he was going to
trample over us. After I said it was my mother, and that he could kill me too, he rode away and hit someone with a
whip.” Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“One day we started on foot from Đakovo to Josipovac, near Osijek. We were walking along the railway when
the guards saw that the children, old and sick people could not walk. They started to shoot along the rails and
managed to stop a cargo train. They put us in open carriages that took us to Osijek. Josipovac, a former German
village, was full of detainees. Two days later they transported us to a camp in Valpovo.
Stefan Schwob, born in 1930 in Mrzović near Đakovo
“Our “way of the cross“ then continued. We walked through villages in Slavonia, from Bošnjaci, Županja, Štitar,
Babina Greda, Piškorevci to Osijek, escorted by partisan soldiers and an officer (a Macedonian who told my father
that he was embarrassed by being given this task). We arrived in Osijek after 11 days of walking. We immediately
noticed that they were removing Volksdeutschers from their flats and houses, but we didn’t yet realise what was to
follow. We were put in the camp “Josipovac” in barracks, and the whole complex was closed off by barbed wire. …
In “Josipovac” we were separated from our father. After some time, we who were younger were assigned work tasks.
My mother volunteered because she didn’t want to get separated from us. We worked on Fajfer’s farm “Ovčara”.
We had to dig sugar-beet and we slept in the barns. The food in the camp and on the farm was disgusting. … After
working in the fields, they would take us back to “Josipovac”, where our father was waiting for us.”
62
“The barracks were full of detainees, so there was no place for us. We slept in the field, on the grass. We had pil-
lows and blankets, which our friends had given us when we left. Also, due to bad hygiene conditions there were a
lot of lice in the barracks. At least we were saved from that.”
Franciska Bušljeta, born Poker in Brčko
“The barracks were full of bedbugs and lice. The hygiene was very bad. We all washed under one tap in the camp
circle, and we also drank water from this tap. … We could sometimes have visitors, depending on the mood of the
management and guards. The visitors didn’t enter the camp, but talked through the barbed wire in the presence of
guards. Sometimes the guard would only allow the visit, and sometimes we could take food or soap or clothing. Visi-
tors frequently had to take things back, and since we were hungry, we cried on both sides of the fence. During a visit
my sister told us that our brother was arrested and in prison in Osijek.
Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“Immediately after arriving at the camp, men were separated from the women. In the cabin where my father slept
was a doctor named Schmidt, who worked in the surgery. He was about 50, small, plump, with slightly grey hair and
a moustache. Dr Schmidt told my father that he would ask for an assistant in the surgery and advised me to apply,
in order to protect me from rape and other hardship, of which he had heard. Detainees were closed in cellars and
beaten. A public disgrace was to be tied to the “post of shame”. There were several posts in the camp circle where
disobedient detainees were tied and left to stand throughout the day with no food or water. I was with the generous
doctor during the day. Nights were dangerous because guards would patrol the barracks and use flashlights to pick
persons for “night interrogation”.
Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“I was ill there … I got dysentery and lost weight. There were many insects (lice, flees, bedbugs) in the barracks
and we lay on bare planks. Some 3000 people died of typhoid. When typhoid spread in Valpovo, they closed down
the camp and sent detainees to other camps.”
Stefan Schwob, born in 1930 in Mrzović near Đakovo
“Life in the camp was difficult, we were exposed to harassment and beating by the guards, who were armed with
guns or pistols, and they had sticks for beating.”
Franje Tein, born in 1924 in Sag near Valpovo
“We communicated little among ourselves, because we could get a beating for that. We were tense and scared. I
remember that the Cigler brothers from Retfal in Osijek were detained in the camp. One of them tried to escape, but
was caught and immediately executed. That day we had to watch his execution. After that Prekodravac told us that we
would get the same if we tried to escape. At night they took us to Prekodravac’s cabin and interrogated us or accused
for taking the side of the fascists and beat us. Several times I noticed that from 2 to 3 in the morning there was a wagon
to take dead detainees away, but I don’t know where they were buried.”
Franje Tein, born in 1924 in Sag near Valpovo
“There were approximately five to seven people dying in the camp per day of typhoid and dysentery. The bodies
were taken out by detainees under watch by the guards. For a while my father was among those who took out the
bodies. He never wanted to say where they were buried, but since they returned in an hour or two, I guessed that
they were buried somewhere near Valpovo. The Red Cross, or some other humanitarian organisation never visited
the camp, of course.”
Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
SOURCE 7f
Testimonies of Camp Survivors: Food in the Camp
“I don’t know how they fed us, but I remember being hungry.”
Franciska Bušljeta, born Poker in Brčko
“There was little food, two meals a day of very bad quality. We would wait in line with an aluminium pot and
spoon. In the rain we ate standing or on the grass in the camp circle.
Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“Here it was very bad, we got pea, potato or bean soup. We were also given some corn or barley bread. Everything
was cooked without lard or salt. In the morning we would get oak bark tea without sugar, to prevent diarrhoea. We
got little water per person, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening.”
Stefan Schwob, born in 1930 in Mrzović near Đakovo
“One day over twenty small children died. After this, the commander of the Valpovo camp let the women go beg
for milk in the neighbourhood! Where was the people’s government? I remember well that in Valpovo all the rooms
were in wooden cabins, we ate mulberry leaves and the men used dry leaves for smoking. If somebody took water
out of the time allowed , they were punished and tied to a post near the well and had to look into the sun.”
Stefan Schwob, born in 1930 in Mrzović near Đakovo
63
“After some time a group of some fifteen detainees, among which were my parents and I, were taken to a burnt
down farm called Hrastovac. This was somewhere near Valpovo, but I don’t know exactly. In a big building, which
we couldn’t approach, the guards were sleeping, while we slept in a barn, whose windows were closed from the
outside at night. We didn’t get food, but were told to eat what we found. We survived on the remains of potatoes,
or raw grain, which my father stole in the fields. My mother, who used to weigh 85 kilos, was only 40 at the end of
our detention. After three to four weeks we were brought back to Valpovo.” Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“My whole family: father, mother, myself, my brother and two sisters – six and two years old, came to work in a
brick factory in Donji Miholjac. I was then fourteen and a half years old and I had to work as an adult. I was still
weak from being ill in Valpovo, but we had three workers and three children in the family. The food was bet-
ter than in Valpovo, we had salt and good drinking water. We went begging from door to door in Donji Miholjac
because we were hungry. In some houses we would get some milk for the children, which was important, others
would turn us out. It was summer so we could bathe in clean water outside in the brick holes. There were six
families of detainees, the older women cooked and looked after the children and the others worked. There were
no more barbed-wire fences nor guards. … In mid August we left on foot through Valpovo to the Krndija camp.”
Stefan Schwob, born in 1930 in Mrzović near Đakovo
“In Valpovo we also had to work hard in the field, constantly harassed and badly fed, half-naked and barefoot.
Rozina Petrović from Osijek, born Holstein in 1927
“We had to go to work … and that was better than staying in the camp, where there was disease, typhoid, dysen-
tery, lice and bedbugs. Sometimes the villagers would give us food.”
Elizabeta Konig, born Reitz in 1921
“Prekodravac used to hire us out as labourers to citizens of Valpovo and get a fee for it. We were treated as slaves
because anyone could hire us for any work, but had to pay Prekodravac for it. I was lucky because I was hired sev-
eral times by my father’s friends and was paid for the work. They were called Bračevac and Ugraj and were kind to
me, relieving me from the everyday misery of the camp.”
Franje Tein, born in 1924 in Sag near Valpovo
SOURCE 7h
Testimonies of Camp Survivors: Leaving the Camps
“On 1 May 1946 we were released from the camp, as were all the other detainees.
Rozina Petrović from Osijek, born Holstein in 1927
“I don’t know how I was released or who spoke for freeing me, I’m grateful to God that I survived.”
Franje Tein, born in 1924 in Sag near Valpovo
“In late September 1945, a new “commission” arrived at the camp. It was led by an OZNA (State Security Police)
member, Moco Bunjevac, and a man named Tepeš (or Tepavac?) from the city NOO (National Liberation Council).
They divided us into groups. My parents and I were sent to the Municipal Court Prison in Osijek. My brother was
already there. My mother and I and another twenty women were placed in a room 4 metres long and wide. They
never interrogated us. In the evening of 23 December 1945 we were released with discharge certificates dated 12
December. My father was sentenced to three years of prison and eight years of loss of civil rights and confiscation
of entire property.” Paula Kotnik, born in 1927
“When we went back to Valpovo camp again, we were informed that the discharge certificate had arrived for us,
but not for our father. We left on 15 August 1945, sadly saying goodbye to our father, a day I will never forget. He
was later taken to Krndija camp with the other detainees where he died on 4 February 1946.
Franciska Bušljeta, born Poker in Brčko
“After some time I started to work in a home for children who lost their parents in the war, which was situated in
the Valpovo Castle. I was discharged from the camp on 29 April 1946 and remained working in the Home until 1948.
My daughter was with me, and the food was good, we got clothes sent by the UNRA. My parents were discharged
on 6 May 1946, returned to Osijek and with the help of good people continued with their lives.
Elizabeta Konig, born Reitz in 1921
Testimonies taken from the book Radni logor Valpovo (The Valpovo Work Camp) 1945-1946, Osijek, 1999.
64
This teaching activity addresses the key question: ‘What was the perception of democracy in Yugoslavia after
World War II?’, and is centred on teaching about post-war period linked to the international context with interior
development of Yugoslavia. The work with the sources has a potential of deve-loping motivation for students.
65
There were two basic political groups aiming at governing the nation:
1.) communists, led by marshal Josip Broz Tito, who had military force, monolith and mass Communist Party, the
reputation of liberators and support of the allies, especially USSR;
2.) liberal politicians represented by King Peter Karadjordjevic, who were disunited, lacked effective power and
had reputation of runaways from the occupied country, supported by Great Britain and the USA. The Great Powers
intended to organise the world according to their needs, and secure peace and stability in a lasting manner. The
Powers planned to renew Yugoslavia as a stable and unified state, able to meet the international obligations, and
to achieve that in the fastest and the cheapest way. They intended to prevent any possibility of renewal of clashes
within the country.
Federal unit/autonomous Votes in total % Votes for National front % Votes for the box without
region the list %
66
“I think that today we have no right to say to out peoples, which gave so many sacrifices and victims
during the War for freedom and equality, the following: Brothers, indeed you fought, shed blood, but
these sacrifices are not important any more, they are useless, now the elections will decide if you
are going to be equal or not. The one, who put things in this context, in my opinion, wants confusion in Yugoslavia, not
prosperity nor peace. Does the request of our peoples to be included in the Constitution as equal nations and to decide
equally, means violation of sovereignty of Constitutional parliament? I don’t think so.”
“The new social organization of our country requests a new form of political life. Numerous and heterogeneous in their
perceptions, political parties would be the greatest obstacle for a fast and lasting development of our country. Not only
the political, but also the economical structure of our country excludes possibility of existence of a number of parties,
with the old programs and old visions. A unified economy demands political unification. Imagine this: we ended the War,
now we should rebuild the country, (…) and we have different leading parties. One says: we should not build this bridge,
but the other one. The other will say: why does Bosnia, Lika, Montenegro, for example, get more help than some other
republic…they would say: why do we need industrialization, electrification…, let every peasant work as he knows and
is able to…It would paralyze all our powers…”
Tito’s speech on the Second Congress of the National Front of Yugoslavia, 27.9.1947.
‘Our military and police force were strong enough and self-confident, but the support we had amongst the people,
especially in the middle class, was insufficient… The greatest part of the work in this field was Kardelj’s responsibility.
But I was also included, to make a common platform with supporters of national front, republicans and agricultural
party… all together, the discussions and the search for the right formulations were held in ultimate mutual respect,
even in a friendly manner. The only “incident” occurred with the representative of one group of intellectuals of minor
importance. Provoked by something, he nervously yelled: “We are not equal! We ask equality!” –That provoked me, so
I added: “After all you are not equal! You can not be. After all, behind us, the communists, there are 50 divisions and
one horrible war, and you are just a group. You misunderstand equality! This is not about forcing equality, it’s rather
about negotiations.”
–All were quiet after this, even Uncle Jasa, only Dragoljub Jovanovic was smiling ironically.’
Tasks:
A. Based on the analysis of the sources and the data given in the table, answer this question:
What attitude did the Yugoslav Communists take to democracy in Yugoslavia after 1945?
B. Study the results of the first elections in 1945 with the estimates of the support for the parties suggested by the
communists, liberal democrats and Western monitors.
67
Source 3. The Memorandum of Yugoslav democratic political parties in London addressed to the
Foreign Ministries of the five ‘Great Powers’:Great Britain, USA, USSR, France and China
‘We deeply regret that we must declare that the Government, empowered by moral, material and military support of
the Great Allies, established in our country the regime which has nothing to do with democracy and freedom, neither
in political issues nor in State organisation.
That regime is totally overpowered by one political party, communist one, in one word, to one obvious minority and its
force: its politicised police and politicised army, today the so called “Yugoslav army”. That small party, supported by its
armed political force, tries to implement its own programme, in some areas at once, in others in fast steps… (It) seems
to be the basic condition… (that) dictatorship … (is taking over) as a way of ruling…
All the economic measures, which this government uses, deliberately destroying and paralysing the state economy have
the same aim. The first result will be the fall of the living standard for people, making everybody depend on the govern-
ment for their survival, and from the secret police OZNA for personal freedom. With one Election law which gives the
Communist party and its government the right to choose not only candidates but the voters also, there can be no doubt
about the outcome of the elections. The result will be 100% for the governmental party.
Signed by- Dr Vlatko Macek, the President of Croatian Peasants’ party, now in Paris; Dr Zivko Topalovic, the President
of the Socialist Party, now in Rome; Mr Adam Pribicevic, Honorable President of the Independent Democratic Party, now
in Rome; Dr Miha Krek, the President of the Slovenian People’s Party, now in Rome; Dr Slobodan Jovanovic, previous
President of the exiled government of Yugoslavia in London; Jovan Banjanin, Vice-President of the Yugoslav National
Party; Veceslav Vilder, the President of the Executive Board of the Independent Democratic Party; Dr Milan Gavrilovic,
the President of the Serbian Agricultural Party; Radoje L. Knezevic, the Executive Board Member of the Democratic
party; K.LJ.Miletic, Executive Board member of the Radical Party’
Archive of Yugoslavia: Exiled government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1941-1945), file 158, document 573.
Source 4. Collaboration between communists and some liberal politicians on establishing new
political organisation in Yugoslavia 1945.
‘Our military and police force were strong enough and self-confident, but the support we had among people, especially
in the middle class, was insufficient. (…) The greatest part of work in this field was Kardelj’s responsibility. But I was
also included, to make common platform with supporters of National front, republicans and agricultural party. (…) all
together, the discussions and the search for the right formulations were held in ultimate mutual respect, even in a
friendly manner. The only “incident” occurred with the representative of one group of intellectuals of minor impor-
tance. Provoked by something, he nervously yelled: “We are not equal! We ask equality! –That provoked me, so I added:
After all you are not equal! You can not be. After all, behind us, the communists, there are 50 divisions and one horrible
war, and you are just a group. You misunderstand equality! This is not about forcing equality, it’s rather about negotia-
tions. –All were quiet after this, even uncle Jasa, only Dragoljub Jovanovic was smiling ironically.’
Tasks:
A. Based on the analysis of the sources and the data given in the table, answer this question:
What attitude did the Great Powers take to democracy in Yugoslavia after 1945?
B. Study the results of the first elections in 1945 with the estimates of the support for the parties suggested by the
communists, liberal democrats and Western monitors.
68
Source 5.
Transcript from the Great Powers Potsdam Conference,
Third Session, 19th July 1945.
Participants:
Anthony Eden British, Foreign Minister (Member of the elected National Government and Conservative Party)
Josef Stalin, USSR, Russian Leader of the Soviet Union, (Communist Dictator)
Harry Truman USA, President of the United States of America (Elected Republican/Conservative Party leader)
Winston Churchill British, Prime Minister (Elected Prime Minister, National Government and Conservative Party)
Eden: “Next question – about Yugoslavia. We’ve already submitted one little project about this question.”
Stalin: “I don’t think that we can consider this matter without the presence of Yugoslav representatives.”
Eden: “We should pay attention on the fact that we made an agreement on Yugoslav mater on Crimea conference with-
out Yugoslav representatives.”
Stalin: “It is independent and the alliance country now, with it’s own legitimate government. We shouldn’t resolve the
mater without the presence of the Yugoslav representatives.”
Truman: “Do you seriously suggest that we should invite them here? I don’t think it would be appropriate.”
Churchill: “We already signed the agreement made on Crimea conference, and now we see that this agreement is not ful-
filled: there is no election law, parliament is not extended, legal procedure not established. Tito’s administration controls
everything with help of politicized police, controlled newspapers, just like in some fascist countries also.”
Stalin: “You see, the information which Mr. Churchill refers to, concerning violating some decisions of Crimea confer-
ence, these information, according to our sources, are not reliable.”
Truman: “We will just waste our time by analyzing every political complain. If we invite here Tito, Franco or other
statesmen it will not lead to a good outcome.”
Stalin: “You are right about this.”
Source: Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam, (Collection of documents), Moscow 1971. p. 240–242.
‘Communism has its great weaknesses: by founding its doctrine on materialism, believing that the cause justify the means,
however hard it seemed, it ruins spontaneous tendency for freedom of the human race (we should add another big tendency
– security). (…) It is very dangerous to oversimplify how strong support of the nation is towards government, or not. The
estimation that 85-95% people are against the government is just guessing… My personal opinion that the wide population,
although skeptic and unsatisfied, are still not totally against government. Why would they be? If we put aside measure such
as government control or wheat ransom it is not any harder for them than it was during previous regime… We must not take
for granted attacks of sarcastic former politicians of cosmopolite elite as a voice of common people. Even if we assume that
great majority of population is against the communism, it doesn’t mean that the number of those why would be ready to
sacrifice their lives for overthrowing the government is larger than those who would defend it.’
John M. Cabot, Chargé d’Affairs
Source: Museum of the History of Yugoslavia, Travels and Visits of J. B. Tito, I-3-b/759-2
Tasks:
A. Based on the analysis of the sources and the data given in the table, answer this question:
What attitude did the Great Powers take to democracy in Yugoslavia after 1945?
B. Study the results of the first elections in 1945 with the estimates of the support for the parties suggested by the
communists, liberal democrats and Western monitors.
69
In this article Marc-André and David explore their research plan to consider how teachers and young people in-
teract in historical problem solving, and how these processes operate.
The subsidized researches which we have conducted, and documents: corroboration, critique and putting in context.
continue to conduct, in the domain of political awareness However, empirical research into the learning and usage
and, alone or in teams, have explored and are exploring of historical competencies remains relatively sparse, and
the use of history that future teachers of social studies at that on their transfer to political practice is yet inexist-
the secondary level, as well as their students, make when ent in French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. This
resolving problems of a socio-political nature. While these amounts in general to case studies on the way in which
individuals cite numerous cultural references associated very small numbers of subjects, often primary/elementary
with history, including many learnt at school, our research or university students, perform (or not) on a predeter-
suggests that subjects rarely called upon competencies mined task in an artificial context.
in the analysis of history during resolution of problems.
These results corroborate evidence for the relative fail- As a result, we are ignorant about what events, under what
ure of history courses in effect in Quebec between 1982 conditions and in what ways school students mobilize and
and 2005 in regard to their principle training objectives: transfer historical competencies. Do they, for example, do
the teaching dispensed did not train in historical compe- so when they have to resolve a problem in science class,
tence; the textbooks discouraged reasoned political prac- when they have to write an argumentative text in French
tice; school-students, teachers and university students class (first language), when they have to deliberate about a
exposed to the teaching of history understood poorly how moral issue in ethics and religious culture class (a non-con-
this discipline is constructed; they were barely aware of fessional philosophic and anthropologic study of believes
questions related to historical interpretation and mul- that exist in Quebec or elsewhere) or when they have to
tiple causality; they foster poorly-founded perceptions get along when deciding how to organize their graduation
relative to the ends of the teaching of history itself. ball?Theoretical Framework.
However, normative discourses which postulate the beneficial The well-known work of Flavell and Ross (1981) on meta-
effects of learning historical competencies on the development cognition fed the resurgence, based on the fundaments
of a reflective practice towards politics abound in the scien- of cognitive psychology, of research on cognitive, affec-
tific and professional literature. Innumerable authors main- tive and social processes involved in learning in the school
tain in fact that the study of history is one of the best means environment. This research was particularly interested in
of teaching school students to postulate problems (that is, to the development of a conscious, autonomous and strategic
see them, specify them and analyze them) in regard to cur- executive centre for thought processes. From the middle
rent public controversies, to expose them to factual inquiry, of the 1980’s on, it produced a wealth of theoretical devel-
to question their own beliefs, to weigh arguments and to de- opments. The later research conducted by Schön (1994),
bate them, in brief to deliberate with respect and tolerance. then by others, on the reflective competence of profes-
sionals in action inscribed itself in part into this movement.
In addition to this, most of the contemporary historians af-
firm that these tasks are what define their profession. In Schön showed that the know-how acquired and mobilized
their opinion, the competent historian in fact does many by practitioners, when the time comes to postulate and re-
things. He highlights, selects and critiques pertinent docu- solve a problem, often remains tacit. These practitioners
ments in order to establish the facts. He identifies actors and manage to keep abreast, with virtuosity, of a large number
witnesses, as well as their interests. He examines the point of complex tasks. Yet some of these turn out to be barely
of view of different protagonists. He elucidates relevant cir- aware of what they are doing and of the reasons why they
cumstances and deeds so as to identify the numerous causes have proceeded the way they have, while others - reflec-
of a political, social, economic, or cultural phenomenon, al- tive practitioners - reflect on (and articulate) the effects
ways ordering and organizing these causes. He probes diverse of their daily practice in respect to their intentions, both
dimensions of the problem. He frames historical periods ac- while they are in the middle of acting and retroactively.
cording to structural homogeneity connected to the problem. These consciously direct and organize their strategies of
He sets the question being examined into a wider context and acquisition, recall and processing of pertinent declarative,
underscores the underlying societal issues. He renders pub- procedural or conditional knowledge.
lic his sources and procedures (with footnotes, primarily…). Following Schön (or D. Kuhn), we conclude that the reflec-
tive approach of the practitioner is necessarily paradig-
This enumeration covers in their entirety the disciplinary matic, since it is a matter of finding and circumscribing a
competences as proposed in the course Citizenship History problem (connected to the reflective subject’s practice), of
and Education, but does it correspond to the real practice collecting and analyzing data, of critiquing and interpret-
of historians? Researches conducted on our continent (by ing these analyses, and then of acting in consequence. This
Seixas and Wineburg, for example), in regard to how profes- means that reflective thought is learnt in situations, in op-
sional historians, teachers and students of history process erating on a relevant object, and following this is general-
to reasoning when they interpret written sources, indicates ized. Conversely, a competence is effectuated in a specific
that the claims of historians are founded but that three domain and is developed from out of structures (and from
general strategies guide their intercourse with primary a base of knowledge) proper to this domain, but it neces-
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2007 EUROCLIO questionnaire had its focus on the theme of the conference Human Rights Education: Lessons
from History. This is a summary report on the questionnaire findings.
Participants to the Annual Conference and Professional In addition the three different ‘generations’ of rights,
Training Development Course of EUROCLIO and the Slove- which cover different dimensions of human activity, recog-
nian History Teachers’ Association were kindly requested nized by the international were deployed:
to discuss the questionnaire on a wide as possible scale
within their own associations in order to enhance the va- First generation rights (Liberty rights):
lidity of its results. The help and collective effort of all These include the civil and political rights -
those who contributed to the completion of the question- such as the right to freedom of expression,
naire was valuable in gathering important information on freedom of association, the right to life, to
human rights and history teaching in each country. a fair trial, to participation in the political
life of society, and so on.
During the Conference results were presented and there
was time for questions and discussion. The aim was to Second generation rights (Equality rights):
raise constructive debate at a European and international These include the social, economic and
level on the important issue of human rights’ awareness cultural rights - such as the right to an ad-
and mutual respect. equate standard of living, to work, to join a
trade union, to health and to education.
The questionnaire comprised three parts:
Third generation rights (Solidarity rights):
Part I: Demographics These rights are also known as ‘emerging’
Part II: Definitions rights, because they are still in the process
Part III: Human Rights and History Education of being acknowledged and recognised.
They refer to the collective rights of soci-
Part I: Demographics ety or peoples - such as the right to sus-
The questionnaires were completed, in many different tainable development, to peace, or to a
countries, by either: individuals, members or board mem- healthy environment.
bers of History Teacher’s Associations, most of the board
or all the Associations’ members. The majority, from
various countries, of those who took the responsibility Part III: Human Rights and History Education
of completing the questionnaire, were Board members of
Member Associations (31%). For this section, participants to the research were asked
to have at hand their country’s National Curriculum on His-
To the question ‘Is there a debate in your country about tory (if any) whilst completing the questionnaire, so that
how ethnic, religious or linguistic groups should be taught the information provided would be as accurate and repre-
in the official educational system?’ the majority of those sentative as possible of their country’s official policy on
who completed the questionnaire stated that such debate history teaching.
ranged from little to a moderate extent (3.43 out of 4,
on a Likert scale, where: 1=not at all; 2= little; 3=moder- To the first question, the majority of those who completed
ately; 4=to a great extent.) the questionnaire noted the moderate extend to which his-
tory curriculum requires them to teach about the history
of human rights (3.25 out of 4, on a Likert scale, where:
1=not at all; 2= little; 3=moderately; 4=to a great extent).
The history of children was the one least requested to be
taught (2.39 out of 4).
The wide definition offered by the Council of Europe, Hu- The majority moreover noted that their history curricu-
man Rights Education and Compass was used to identify lum requires to a moderate extend to: put emphasis on
human rights issues: ‘Almost any question concerning vio- promoting respect for human rights (3.41 out of 4); and
lations of rights may be termed a human rights issue’. to teach about the history of different religious (2.86 out
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‘The history of the Dutch constitutional state is part of the ‘See the HA’s forthcoming report Teaching Emotive and Con-
curriculum in secondary schools, as is the history and mean- troversial History, 3-19, published in March 2007 and available
ing of the United Nations. In our curriculum it isn’t only the free to all HA members, and from the HA website for a clear
past that we are teaching, but we also hope that the stu- statement on how to tackle such issues throughout the whole
dents look at the present. In a way: take some lessons from history curriculum from age 3 to age 19’.
the past. We try to do that especially in topics of human
rights, for example the position of women in a society, free- ‘There is no specific best practice’.
dom of speech and crimes against humanity’.
‘Dialogue based on multiperspectivity of opinions’.
• Human rights in general, and individual rights in particular, seem to be at the ‘top of the list’ in curricula and
are very much connected to the history lesson.
• The promotion of human rights seems to be linked to a more process oriented way of teaching history
(distinguishing facts from opinions, evaluating and using historical sources in their historical context, handling
conflicting interpretations, utilising appropriately different types of historical sources, developing debating skills)
• There is variability to the way human rights are understood in each country. Also, differences exist within
countries and between Associations (with emphasis ranging from individual rights to more collective ones).
• Certain countries lack guidelines and special curricula on human rights; thus there is a lot of space for
improvement.
• Sharing examples of good practice and engaging in productive dialogue and cooperation can lead to the
advancement of critical thinking and promotion of human rights around Europe.
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In April 2008 the City of Bristol has the honour to host EUROCLIO’s international conference on the theme of
identity, diversity and values- involving teachers from across Europe and beyond- and a chance to showcase the
best that the City of Bristol has to offer.
www.EUROCLIO.eu
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Website: www.euroclio.eu
• Organises an international training conference each year together with, and hosted
by, local History Teachers’ Associations (HTAs), with 150-200 participants from many
countries working together to share and study innovative approaches and methodologies
for the teaching and learning of history and citizenship.
• Has since its foundation in 1993 run projects with local HTAs in Abkhazia, Albania,
Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland,
France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldavia, The Netherlands, Poland,
Romania, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
and Ukraine.
• Works together with a range of partners: the Council of Europe, the European Union, the
OSCE, UNESCO, national and regional governments, universities and organisations such as
the Anne Frank Foundation (Netherlands), the Körber Foundation and the Georg Eckert
Institute (Germany).