National Identity and Educational Reform: Contested Classrooms

181 Pages·2014·1.352 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Anderson Worden

National Identity and
Educational Reform
National identity in Moldova remains contested despite repeated attempts
by governments, historians, and educators to cultivate a shared sense of
national belonging through the development of history textbooks. Concern
over professional status and distrust of the government’s motivations hin-
dered these reforms, demonstrating that the success of such efforts greatly
depends on teachers’ and citizens’ social memory and everyday lives.
This volume looks at educational reform and the struggle over national iden-
tity in the history classroom from the perspectives of five different groups:
elected politicians, Ministry of Education officials, textbook authors and
historians, teachers, and students. Each chapter explores the actors’ moti-
vations and agendas regarding reform, their role in promoting or obstruct-
ing the reform process, and their opinions about the ensuing controversy.
Drawing on months of fieldwork and original research, author Elizabeth
Worden examines the importance of teachers and students in the success or
failure of a reform initiative.
Elizabeth Anderson Worden is an assistant professor at American Uni-
versity, Washington, DC. Her research examines how governments foster
national belonging through education during social and political transi-
tion. She has published articles in Compare and Comparative Education
Review. Dr. Worden’s research interests include history teaching, memory,
citizenship education, and international exchange.
Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education
This is a series that offers a global platform to engage scholars in continuous
academic debate on key challenges and the latest thinking on issues in the fast
growing field of International and Comparative Education.
Books in the series include:
1 Teaching in Primary Schools in
China and India
Contexts of Learning
Nirmala Rao and Emma Pearson
with Kai-ming Cheng and
Margaret Taplin
2 A History of Higher Education
Exchange
China and America
Teresa Brawner Bevis
3 National Identity and
Educational Reform
Contested Classrooms
Elizabeth Anderson Worden
National Identity and
Educational Reform
Contested Classrooms
Elizabeth Anderson Worden
Routledge
I
n Taylor & Francis Group
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First published 2014
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
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© 2014 Taylor & Francis
The right of Elizabeth Anderson Worden to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Worden, Elizabeth Anderson.
 National identity and educational reform : contested classrooms /
Elizabeth Anderson Worden.
  pages cm — (Routledge research in international and comparative
education ; 3)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 1. Nationalism and education—Moldova. 2. Nationalism and
historiography—Moldova. 3. Educational change—Moldova. I. Title.
 LC93.M65W67 2014
 379.476—dc23
 2013036577
ISBN13: 978-0-415-71954-4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-315-86732-8 (ebk)
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FORESTRY www.sfiproaram.ora Printed and bound in the United States of America
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Pentru
Prietenii mei din Moldova cu recunoştinţă
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Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Moldovan Histories: An Overview of Moldovan History,
the Post-Soviet Textbook Development, and Social Memory 20
2 The Government: Creating Identities 39
3 Historians, Textbooks Authors, and Historical “Truth” 57
4 Teachers: Mediating the State and the Nation 80
5 Students: Sharing the Past but Not the Future 103
Conclusion: Learning Lessons from Moldova 117
Research and Methods Appendix 131
Notes 143
Bibliography 151
Index 163
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Figures
1.1 The Republic of Moldova. 18
1.2 Moldova in the Context of Europe. 19