National Histories in South-Eastern Europe and History of a United Europe |
This project was made posible through the generous support of the Higher Education Support Program of the Open Society Institute (Zurich/Budapest) |
The Training Session was organised by: Narrative Report |
Introduction: The First European Training Session of the project: "National Histories in South-Eastern Europe and History of a United Europe" deployed, as scheduled, between 7-10 November 2002, in Lugoj, Romania. The Training was honoured by the participation of: Mrs. Daniela Grabe - Expert in Methodology of Teaching History at the Center for the Study of Balkan Societies and Cultures, Department for South-East European History, University of Graz; Dr. Erich Wendl - Senior Consultant/Trainer in European Affairs; Secretary General of the Europaische Akademie Wien and Co-ordinator of the South and Central Europe Network (SCENE); Dr. Carol Capita - Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of History - University of Bucharest, Associate Member of the Institute for Educational Sciences and co-ordinator for several History textbooks; Mr. Nikola Zezov - Assistant Professor at the Institute of History of the Faculty of Philosophy, University "St. Cyril and Metody" in Skopje (FYROM) Deployment of the Training: Thursday 07.11.2002 The arrival and the registration of the participants and the trainers was scheduled to take place between 15.00 hours and 17.00 hours in Lugoj, Hotel Tirol. Those participants interested to have a first contact with Lugoj were invited to visit the head-office of the Foundation "Angels of Hope", the contact-point in Lugoj of the Organising Group . The Opening Ceremony was held in the Conference Room of Hotel Tirol and started at 19.00 hours. Welcome speeches were delivered on behalf of the Municipality of Lugoj and of the EUROLINK - House of Europe. A brief introduction was made to the objectives of the European Training Seminar by the representatives of the Organising Group. A cocktail was offered in the honour of the guest trainers and participants.
Friday 08. 11.2002 The opening lecture for the morning session was given by Dr. Erich Wendl (European Academy Vienna) and was entitled "Living History - Recent History". The subject of this introductory lecture regarded the way political events that are contemporary to us influence our perception on History as science and on historical events. For example, perception of other parts of Europe has changed dramatically in view of the Enlargement Process, and we know more now about other European countries than we did before the process began, but by no means enough. Some practical examples were given, starting with the requirement of having a visa in order to visit another country. What once seemed as compulsory, in order to pass one border or another, is now futile for the countries members to the Schengen Agreement. Freedom of movement is completed by the freedom of expression, or by the freedom of the press. One other important aspect dealt with the definition of different layers of identity starting with regional, going on with national, and ending with European "citizenship". More and more, debating identities is done through a cultural perspective. Answering to several questions from the audience, Dr. Wendl elaborated on the subject "Does Europe want Balkan countries to be part of the European Union?" He explained that, throughout the years, the expectations on both sides grew unrealistic. For example, there is a current misperception in Candidate States that, once a Member, they will become automatically rich and prosperous. Balkan countries can contribute significantly to the European cultural heritage. Touching another subject Dr. Wendl emphasised how difficult is to speak about contemporary national history without being emotional. The solution would be providing History students, scholars and teachers significant critical analysis skills, and at the same time, several depictions of the same historical event from different sources. The second part of the morning session belonged to Ms. Daniela Grabe, and had as theme: "Variety of Methods in History Teaching". The presentation began with a short introduction of the trainer and of the participants and a brief overview of the training. The methods presented were the following:
As a partial conclusion, the importance of summarising the information was stressed. Sometimes it is not necessary to give grades. The presentation of the teaching material should be challenging, so the information should not be provided immediately, but gradually. (Eg.: Showing a picture, step by step). The afternoon session continued with a short project presentation of "History and history teaching in SEE" and of the additional teaching materials: "Childhood in the past" and "Women and Men in the past", sponsored by Kultur Kontakt, Task Force of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, within the Stability Pact. The trainer introduced the staff and the organisations that contributed to the drafting and layout of the materials. Difficulties encountered all throughout the process were recalled. Additional free teaching and information material, published under the auspices of the European Commission and the Council of Europe, was presented and offered to the participants. Some of the topics evoked were: minorities and racism, the European Union and its Members, European Institutions.
Saturday 09.11.2002 The morning session was partly used by Ms. Grabe for some practical activities, based on the materials disseminated the day before. Working in groups and in pairs, as well as reporting skills were discussed upon. An analysis was made on how some chapters and didactical hints of the additional teaching materials can help students develop critical thinking, to judge historical events from the others’ point of view, how they can help develop mutual understanding. Concrete didactical ideas and possible school lessons were drafted. Some of the topics were: children and work, children and school, children and family, education of girls and boys. A three hour noon-brake was a perfect occasion for the participants and the invited trainers to visit the historical town of Lugoj, a good example of multi-ethnicity and practised tolerance throughout the centuries. The visit started with an official reception gently offered by the Mayor of Lugoj, Mr. Marius MARTINESCU. The town’s history was briefly presented and official declarations were made to the representatives of the press by the Mayor and Mr. Sever Avram, Executive President of EUROLINK. A glass of champagne and traditional Romanian drinks closed the reception. The tour went on with a visit to the "National College Coriolan Brediceanu" one of the oldest institutions of teaching in the Banat region, and the newly established private European University Dragan. Other historical monuments and sites of Lugoj were also explained to the participants during the tour. The afternoon session began with a presentation offered by Mr. Antonio Eduardo Mendonca, Director of the Centre for Socialist and Post-Socialist Studies at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. The theme was mainly related to the future role Balkan countries will play as Members of the European Union. One of the special tasks that is envisaged could be that of a filter for the Union, as it will border Turkey and former USSR. The question of mental borders was also presented. The problem of controlling immigration also has a direct link with Balkan countries with regard to the new regulations approved within the Sevilla Summit. It was mentioned that even socialist politicians begin to change their opinion on the subject. More and more, immigration is seen as a "contract" between the immigrant and the receiving country. The "beneficiary" accepts in this terms the patterns regarded by Western civilisations as social progress (Eg.: Muslims find it hard to accept prerogatives and freedoms that women have in Western societies). The European Union is changing in its structure as well as in its procedures. An emphasis is put on the changing role of the Nation-State, in the conditions of the transfer of sovereignty from national governments to the European institutions as well as to the socio-administrative regions. The example provided is Spain, divided in 17 autonomous regions. One of these regions is Catalogna, a rich province but also having some of the most nationalistic demands, going as far as considering themselves as an "European country", in some cultural or social fields. The curricula is drafted in Catalan and children learn Spanish as a foreign language, the History of Spain is integrated in the History of Europe, separately from the History of Catalogna. Another region benefiting from an extended type of autonomy is the Basc region. The conclusion is that if we want to be more Europeans, we have to become more regional. Another point on the agenda was the status of schools and how they should avoid becoming a stage for social and political confrontations. Schools often have to compromise between social expectations (what is the public opinion ready to accept), scientific expectations and corporate expectations. The second presentation of the afternoon-session belonged to Mr. Nikola Zezov, Assistant Professor at the Scopje University, Macedonia. The focused issue regarded the influence political changes in FYROM had on the Historical curricula. During the communist regime, History was mainly used as a tool to prove the "brotherhood" links with the other nations that constituted Yugoslavia. However in the '70s and the '80s manipulation gradually disappeared and Macedonian historiography began a fast development especially after the 1974 Constitution. What was considered as positive by the speaker was that after acquiring independence in 1991, nationalism was not practised in Macedonian Historiography, and occasional abuses were made only to defend national Macedonian interest. Attention was brought, however, on the way politicians use sometimes history writings to gather political capital. The afternoon- session was concluded with the intervention of Dr. Carol Capita from the Faculty of History at the Bucharest University. The lecture was entitled: "Perspectives from Afar and from Near - Minorities and the Other in the Teaching of History in SEE". History teaching has always been a central point in all debates concerning education. The relation history-truth has always been a difficult one. The lecturer asked for a debate on the objects, institutions, values, ideas and beliefs that create solidarity among members of the society and are aimed at insuring the continuity in time of that human grouping. Several examples on how public/historical perception can be altered with the help of visual, printed materials (pictures, texts, other historical documents). The conclusion was to always check the source for reliability and adequacy. Its interpretation should be done correctly and objectively. The evening concluded with a Farewell Party in the honour of guest lecturers and participants, held in the Festivity Room of the "Coriolan Brediceanu" Highschool.
Sunday 10.11.2002 The final morning session hosted the final General Debate on the suggestions and proposals expressed during the seminar, moderated by Mr. Sever Avram. A very interesting initiative, concordant with the goal of the Seminar, was mentioned by Mr. Angel Angelov - from Bulgaria - that is a Balkanic history book that covers common social features of the countries in the area. Although political events are far from finding an unique interpretation among historians from the region, the firs step seems to have been done. A general opinion was that theoretical historical knowledge should be prevented from being mixed with the political rethorics. Also teaching staff should bring Europe in the foreground of their lectures and adapt to communitary standards and ideology. An ad-hoc analysis was made on the procedures that can be found in Romania on the adoption/modification of the curricula. The lack of educational materials and competent staff with regard to the European institutions was brought up. The situation in the Republic of Moldova was also debated and once again the lack of teaching materials (books, maps) was expressed. Highschool teachers from the host town - Lugoj, also expressed their openness to the new teaching techniques and curricula as presented during the works of the Seminar. The excellent quality and the pertinent information provided by the trainers were mentioned as the main positive aspects. Both teaching and analysis techniques were praised and participants were enthusiastic to disseminate the information among colleagues, students and pupils. At the end, the composition and duties of the Joint South Eastern-European Task Force Group of the project were settled. Also, using proposals of participants, important comments were considered for the improvement of the Agenda of topics of the next Training Session, to be deployed in March 2003. A Second Issue of the Newsletter will synthesized the observations and conclusions of the workshops, as well as the expressed opinions, suggestions and proposed innovative methods during the First Training Session. The Evaluation Feed-Back Forms were collected from the participants and sealed in an envelope, and Certificates of Graduation were delivered to all participants, confirming their participation to the First Training Session within our project. The departure of the participants was scheduled after 13.00 hours.
Follow up: The event enjoyed of a special attention from the local media, as it was presented in the regional daily "Redesteptarea" and in the weekly "Actualitatea" within the "Events" section. Interviews on the works of the Seminar, as well as remarks related to its importance, were made by Mr. Ioan Valcan, Director of "The Angels of Hope" Foundation, a humanitarian organisation in Lugoj, Mr. Nikola Zezov, on the behalf of Youth Council of Prilep (project partner), Mr. Silviu Hariton, on the behalf of ERASMUS Society and Mr. Sever Avram, as President of EUROLINK - House of Europe in Bucharest. For more details, please see the attached translation. Also, local private radio channels (Analog and Nova) reflected the event through short interviews and reports after the meeting with the Mayor of Lugoj. For conformity, Coordinating partner organisations: Youth and Student Department of the EUROLINK-House of Europe Student Association in History Studies "ERASMUS" |