education as a building block of shared societies and values – quality and equity in education...
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Education as a Building Block of Shared Societies and Values – quality and equity in education
Dženana Husremović
Department of Psychology
University of Sarajevo
Shared Societies And Values Sarajevo Forum, 24-25.06.2015
BiH – (post)conflict societyDeeply divided with (mainly) superficial
attempts to authentically reconnect Large group identity (Volkan, 2006) as
spiritus movens for BiH large ethnical groups◦Subjective experience of people linked by
persistent sense of sameness, while they share common characteristics with “other” or “foreign” group
New generations with no memory for “good, old, times” educated to embrace large group identity
BiH – (post)conflict societyCultural amplifiers and markers
for differentiation (Husremović, Powell, Šišić, Dolić, 2007) ◦Religion◦Language ◦Culture (prominent people, places,
economy, science, art,...) ◦The people◦State
"Obrazovanje u BiH:Čemu učimo djecu, analiza sadržaja udžbenika", Fond Otvoreno društvo 2007 http://www.erisee.org/downloads/2013/2/bh/Analysis%20of%20teaching%20books%20for%20national%20subjects%202007%20BH.pdf
Education in BiH Fragmented, yet centralizedThe perfect place and time to
potentiate minimal differences between groups and strengthen large group identity
No need for cooperation among political and professional stakeholders in consensus building because this is the goal
Public focus on education outcomes important for large group identity
Education in BiHNo valid data on academic
outcomes leading us to speculate about quality
Equity – equal chances for everybody?
Results of the research on BiH data shows that academic success is largely dependent on socioeconomic status of the family
Where do we live?
Two examples from geography texbooks (6th and 9th grade – elementary school)Can you guess which one is for whom?
Od "zemljice Bosne" pa do daytonske Bosne i Hercegovine malo je mira i sreće bilo u ovim zemljama.(From ancient times till today’s Dayton Bosnia there has been a little peace and happiness) Moj zemljopis 8, A. Markotić i M. Markotić, Znanje, Mostar, 2005
Područja na kojima se dodiruju različite kulturne i civilizacijske sredine najčešće su područja nepovjerenja i sukoba. (The areas in which different cultures and civilizations meet are often places of distrust and conflicts).
Geografija 4, udžbenik za IV razred gimnazije, Madžar i Kichl, Školska naklada Mostar i Školska knjiga Zagreb, Mostar, 2001
Glorification of war
Current research – values as outcomes in education (in progress)
Universal values are promoted “universal” within large group, but “not so” universal for other groups
1. Group identity
2. Univesal values
3. Particularization
4. Introjection – part of individual
identity
Mechanism for particularizationRelativisation (hate speech as
patriotism)Insinuation Reduction (language as national
marker instead of communication tool)Mystification - creating mythological
base for group identity InductionImputationIgnorance
Are there and what are the solutions for BiH education?Researches on values and education
outcomes Out-of-box policies based on the
empirical findings Focusing on common denominators
strong enough to overcome large group identities (like employability, mobility and related education outcomes)
Inside work with the help of experienced professionals in social and political science
Instead of conclusion...Current system of education is part of
social traumaQuality is still out of focus due to other
“important matters”Need for strengthening large group
identity doesn’t allow equity in educationBut…lessons learned from other nations
with problems: it takes time, lot of effort and some very
persistent people to heal and recover society from large-scale traumatic event, especialy if the mourning process is as complicated as in BiH