Slovak Models of History Teaching since 1993

Abstract

Upon the formation of the Slovak Republic, an independent model of teaching social sciences was created on the basis of the Czechoslovak educational system. The implementation of conceptual, procedural and methodological changes followed slowly after the radical ideological transformations in 1989. Teaching history at schools underwent gradual changes due to the amendments of national educational programmes and many recommendations. The extensive school reform of 2008 identified more precisely the criteria for the selection of curricula, nature and content of knowledge, range of students’ competences, as well as the methodology of teaching and learning. Students’ creativity and active role within the modernizing school system became a priority. National Educational Programmes set the framework for the curricula and their content as well as performance standards for students, which schools individually specified on their own. The other aspect of modernisation of the education system involved the reduction of the number of history lessons per week for elementary schools. Currently, further corrections of the National Educational Programmes for all types of schools and all subjects take place, which are aimed at strengthening even more students’ competencies. Such amendment shall come into force as of 1st September 2015. The article provides analysis of the process of creation, modification and implementation of the Slovak models of history teaching since 1993 up to now.