TY  - JOUR
AU  - Jovanović, Rodoljub
AU  - Marić, Dea
PY  - 2020
UR  - http://rifdt.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/123456789/3792
AB  - In the context of legacies of mass violence and political oppression during the recent past in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), history teaching is seen as an important factor in building sustainable peace and democracy. Caught between various national and international policy actors, history teaching has been subject to frequently overlapping and inconsistent reforms. Despite prolific research on history education in the Western Balkans teachers’ experiences of history education and its transformation have largely remained unexamined. This paper explores history teachers’ perceptions of and approaches to the topics they find difficult to teach. The paper draws on data gathered through an online survey that yielded 793 responses from history teachers and 14 regional history education expert interviews. The results show which topics teachers consider difficult to teach in six Western Balkan countries, and how certain individual characteristics (e.g. religiousness and level of education) and school characteristics (e.g. urban or rural and a monocultural or multicultural environment) link to the roles teachers assume when teaching controversial topics.
PB  - Taylor & Francis
T2  - Journal of Curriculum Studies
T1  - Controversy in the classroom: how history teachers in the Western Balkans approach difficult topics?
IS  - 5
VL  - 52
SP  - 636
EP  - 653
DO  - 10.1080/00220272.2020.1780326
ER  - 

@article{
author = "Jovanović, Rodoljub and Marić, Dea",
year = "2020",
abstract = "In the context of legacies of mass violence and political oppression during the recent past in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), history teaching is seen as an important factor in building sustainable peace and democracy. Caught between various national and international policy actors, history teaching has been subject to frequently overlapping and inconsistent reforms. Despite prolific research on history education in the Western Balkans teachers’ experiences of history education and its transformation have largely remained unexamined. This paper explores history teachers’ perceptions of and approaches to the topics they find difficult to teach. The paper draws on data gathered through an online survey that yielded 793 responses from history teachers and 14 regional history education expert interviews. The results show which topics teachers consider difficult to teach in six Western Balkan countries, and how certain individual characteristics (e.g. religiousness and level of education) and school characteristics (e.g. urban or rural and a monocultural or multicultural environment) link to the roles teachers assume when teaching controversial topics.",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
journal = "Journal of Curriculum Studies",
title = "Controversy in the classroom: how history teachers in the Western Balkans approach difficult topics?",
number = "5",
volume = "52",
pages = "636-653",
doi = "10.1080/00220272.2020.1780326"
}

Jovanović, R.,& Marić, D.. (2020). Controversy in the classroom: how history teachers in the Western Balkans approach difficult topics?. in Journal of Curriculum Studies
Taylor & Francis., 52(5), 636-653.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2020.1780326

Jovanović R, Marić D. Controversy in the classroom: how history teachers in the Western Balkans approach difficult topics?. in Journal of Curriculum Studies. 2020;52(5):636-653.
doi:10.1080/00220272.2020.1780326 .

Jovanović, Rodoljub, Marić, Dea, "Controversy in the classroom: how history teachers in the Western Balkans approach difficult topics?" in Journal of Curriculum Studies, 52, no. 5 (2020):636-653,
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2020.1780326 . .

TY  - RPRT
AU  - Jovanović, Rodoljub
AU  - Marić, Dea
PY  - 2017
UR  - http://rifdt.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/123456789/3795
AB  - Following many studies that looked into history curricula and history textbooks in the Western Balkans region, what actually happens in the classroom is mostly left unexamined. For example, it is unknown how teachers approach curricular expectations dictated by the state bodies;
in which ways they use, and would like to change, the teaching materials prescribed by the educational authorities; how different elements of their societal context determine the ways they deal with difficult topics in their classroom; whether the history teaching paradigm has
shifted from lecture-dominant to learner-oriented and how pedagogy has shifted from one narrative transmission to narrative analysis. Furthermore, given the fact that in the Western Balkan region there have been many international interventions in the field of history teaching, what has been the effect? To try to outline the answers to these questions, together with history teaching experts
and practitioners from the region, we developed a large-scale mixed-method study looking into needs of history teachers. The principal technique of the data collection through an online survey was complemented with focus groups of a selection of history teachers, stocktaking sessions and
experts interviews in each country. A total of 793 teachers participated in the survey; around 400 teachers participated in the stocktaking sessions; 40 teachers in focus groups and 14 history education experts completed expert interviews. History teachers from Albania (66),
Bosnia and Herzegovina (210), Kosovo* (67), FYR Macedonia (113), Montenegro (115) and Serbia (222) gave their assessment of the current state and the needs in history teaching in their country through the survey specifically designed for this purpose. Through the combination of the aforementioned quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection we set out to explore several issues. Firstly, we aimed to grasp teachers’ perceptions of their participation in, and level of, democracy in schools and educational systems. Secondly, we wanted to grasp their experiences of employment and professional development procedures. Thirdly, we wanted to explore if the prevailing teaching practices correspond with policy expectations of learner oriented
and competence based teaching that would consequently foster critical engagement with counter narratives and controversies. In the end, we aimed to explore if teachers’ individual characteristics, their self-perception in the context of schools, educational systems and society, and their understanding of history didactics influenced their practice of teaching controversies. The same topics were explored in more depth by focus groups consisting of history teachers and by history teaching experts that gave their view of the situation and specifics of the context in all six countries. Additionally, we aimed to test the avoider-risk taker continuum model of teacher’s roles when facing controversial topics. We looked into several factors determining whether history teachers will take a role of the avoider, container or the risk taker in approaching the contested topics. Moreover, we examined how certain individual characteristics (e.g. religious adherence and level of education) and school characteristics (e.g. urban/rural and mono-cultural/multi-cultural environment) affected the teachers’ position on the continuum. Understanding teachers’ views and practices can help us understand how teaching controversial topics in a way that dismantles biased and one-sided interpretations can be fostered. This contribution can help improve history teaching in the Western Balkans, but also expand our knowledge of the processes of dealing with troubled pasts in post-conflict societies around the world.
PB  - The Hague : EUROCLIO
PB  - Thessaloniki : CDRSEE
T1  - Teachers On Teaching: How Practitioners See The Current State And Future Developments In History Education Across The Western Balkans
UR  - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rifdt_3795
ER  - 

@techreport{
author = "Jovanović, Rodoljub and Marić, Dea",
year = "2017",
abstract = "Following many studies that looked into history curricula and history textbooks in the Western Balkans region, what actually happens in the classroom is mostly left unexamined. For example, it is unknown how teachers approach curricular expectations dictated by the state bodies;
in which ways they use, and would like to change, the teaching materials prescribed by the educational authorities; how different elements of their societal context determine the ways they deal with difficult topics in their classroom; whether the history teaching paradigm has
shifted from lecture-dominant to learner-oriented and how pedagogy has shifted from one narrative transmission to narrative analysis. Furthermore, given the fact that in the Western Balkan region there have been many international interventions in the field of history teaching, what has been the effect? To try to outline the answers to these questions, together with history teaching experts
and practitioners from the region, we developed a large-scale mixed-method study looking into needs of history teachers. The principal technique of the data collection through an online survey was complemented with focus groups of a selection of history teachers, stocktaking sessions and
experts interviews in each country. A total of 793 teachers participated in the survey; around 400 teachers participated in the stocktaking sessions; 40 teachers in focus groups and 14 history education experts completed expert interviews. History teachers from Albania (66),
Bosnia and Herzegovina (210), Kosovo* (67), FYR Macedonia (113), Montenegro (115) and Serbia (222) gave their assessment of the current state and the needs in history teaching in their country through the survey specifically designed for this purpose. Through the combination of the aforementioned quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection we set out to explore several issues. Firstly, we aimed to grasp teachers’ perceptions of their participation in, and level of, democracy in schools and educational systems. Secondly, we wanted to grasp their experiences of employment and professional development procedures. Thirdly, we wanted to explore if the prevailing teaching practices correspond with policy expectations of learner oriented
and competence based teaching that would consequently foster critical engagement with counter narratives and controversies. In the end, we aimed to explore if teachers’ individual characteristics, their self-perception in the context of schools, educational systems and society, and their understanding of history didactics influenced their practice of teaching controversies. The same topics were explored in more depth by focus groups consisting of history teachers and by history teaching experts that gave their view of the situation and specifics of the context in all six countries. Additionally, we aimed to test the avoider-risk taker continuum model of teacher’s roles when facing controversial topics. We looked into several factors determining whether history teachers will take a role of the avoider, container or the risk taker in approaching the contested topics. Moreover, we examined how certain individual characteristics (e.g. religious adherence and level of education) and school characteristics (e.g. urban/rural and mono-cultural/multi-cultural environment) affected the teachers’ position on the continuum. Understanding teachers’ views and practices can help us understand how teaching controversial topics in a way that dismantles biased and one-sided interpretations can be fostered. This contribution can help improve history teaching in the Western Balkans, but also expand our knowledge of the processes of dealing with troubled pasts in post-conflict societies around the world.",
publisher = "The Hague : EUROCLIO, Thessaloniki : CDRSEE",
title = "Teachers On Teaching: How Practitioners See The Current State And Future Developments In History Education Across The Western Balkans",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rifdt_3795"
}

Jovanović, R.,& Marić, D.. (2017). Teachers On Teaching: How Practitioners See The Current State And Future Developments In History Education Across The Western Balkans. 
The Hague : EUROCLIO..
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rifdt_3795

Jovanović R, Marić D. Teachers On Teaching: How Practitioners See The Current State And Future Developments In History Education Across The Western Balkans. 2017;.
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rifdt_3795 .

Jovanović, Rodoljub, Marić, Dea, "Teachers On Teaching: How Practitioners See The Current State And Future Developments In History Education Across The Western Balkans" (2017),
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rifdt_3795 .