The history of education as a teaching subject and academic discipline: Macedonian pathways and crossroads

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article explores the position and the ideological background of the study of the history of education in Macedonia over a span of almost 80 years: from the late1920s, when it was introduced as a subject in teacher schools, until 2004 when the last change of the study of history of education as scientific discipline was made due to the Bologna reform in higher education. Within this time frame, two main lines of development are followed. One refers to teacher education, and the second to the academic path of educational study. Both lines met in the1980s, when the education of primary-school teachers and education specialists faced the common university challenges. The analysis of the study programmes has shown that the academic position of the history of education has been declining over the years, in both teaching and research. Reflecting on causes, attention is paid to the ideological turnovers: from the Marxist and Leninist theory of education that was dominant in the socialist period to the neoliberal agenda in education implemented since the late1980s. In relation to its ideological foundations, the status of the history of education is examined within the latest reform of the programme of educational studies that reflected the national and international trends in higher education and the social and political changes that caused them.