Vuka Denis
PhD Candidate in Didactics of History
Freie University of Berlin
Report
Denis Vuka
Studied Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology at University of Athens (School of
Philosophy). In 2011 he received his Master’s Degree in History and Didactics of
History offered by the same University (Faculty of Education). Since 2012 is a PhD
Canditate
at
Freie
Universität
Berlin,
Fachbereich
Geschichts
und
Kulturwissenschaften, Friedrich Meinecke Institut, Didaktik der Geschichte (Sofia
Saripolou Scholarship). His research focuses on history teaching, analyzing the role
and the influence of political ideology in textbooks. He is a member of the
International Research Association for History and Social Sciences Education
(IRAHSSE) and the International Society for the Historical and Systematic Research
on Textbooks and Educational Media.
Political Ideology and Education: The Case of (Myth)History Teaching in
Albania during Communist and Post-Communist period
My research project examines the extent and the ways in which political ideology
and social context influenced and shaped education and more specifically history
teaching in Albania. Political ideology being the main factor that shapes the content
and the objectives of education is the case under investigation, set in the context of
history didactics. The tracing of both ideological and political doctrines reflected in
history textbooks is expanded over the second half of 20th century, including the postcommunist era.
After World War II and the establishment of the new socialist educational system,
the role of ideology was overemphasized while the dissemination of the communist
Vuka Denis
PhD Candidate in Didactics of History
Freie University of Berlin
propaganda became the backbone that characterized mainly the social subjects taught
at schools. During communist domination, political ideology, considered as a product
of the State’s Politburo and Party’s official historiography, experienced changes
following the modifications in the interior or the foreign state’s policy making. The
content of the aforementioned ideological shifts are to be identified in an attempt to
analyze their function and their new role in the historical narrative. The aim of this
study is to provide “insights” into the ways in which history, during communism and
the years that followed its collapse, is taught.
During my four-week stay at the Institute, November/December 2013, I benefited
from the primary sources found in the library. The collection of the Albanian
textbooks mainly published during the 80’s and the 90’s allowed me to have a closer
look on the historical narrative. Given the amount of the available sources, I chose to
focus on the 4th and the 8th grades’ history textbooks which constitute a
representative sample of the specific historical period. Moreover, the subject of
national history was selected, under the notion that it represents a branch of study that
plays a decisive role in the shaping of historical consciousness and national identity,
providing an ideal area to detect ideological schemas and indoctrination.
At the same time, I had the opportunity to take advantage of the wide academic
literature and publications connected to textbook analysis, which proved to be a
valuable tool in consolidating the methodological approach that will be implemented
in my research. I decided to use a combination of qualitative methods and techniques,
namely: 1) Comparative Historical Analysis of textbooks issued in different decades
and rewritten after country’s political context shifts, 2) Descriptive-analytical method
(Hermeneutic analysis) which is deployed in order to discover the hidden meanings
and messages in the textbooks that are part of the whole constructing ideology, 3)
Visual Analysis will focus on reading the content of the images included in textbooks,
detecting their potential role and function.
The first analysis of the data confirms my initial hypothesis. History teaching
played a key role in the agitation and propaganda mission attributed to education
during this period, far exceeding its educational purposes and turning into an
important instrument of state policy. The omnipresence of ideology and the use of
Vuka Denis
PhD Candidate in Didactics of History
Freie University of Berlin
myths, as the cornerstone of national history during the whole examined period were
identified. History and myth coexist in a symbiotic form and ensure their survival not
only in the official historiography but also in the narrative of national history.
To begin with, the narrative of the communist period has a linear structure,
envisioning historical evolution as a progressive process guided by the eternal ”class
struggle” and the idealistic perception of an over-all resistance of the Albanians
throughout the centuries. The heroic resistance has a final destination (the Promised
Land), namely the building of the Albanian socialist society. On the contrary, the
post-communist historical narrative even if use the same teleological pattern, does not
refer to the “class consciousness” and to prior socialist background. The heroic
struggles of the Albanians to protect their land and the love of their country are the
sole concepts that were not subjected to any alterations. Other important elements,
distinctive in both narratives, include ethno-genesis myths, myths referring to national
homogeneity and cultural purity, myths regarding borders, victimization theories and
myths regarding the permanent struggle of the Albanians against the invaders.
In addition to the analysis of the narrative’s content, emphasis was given to the
implementation of visual analysis. The analysis of the images founded in the history
schoolbooks pages explored the ways in which textbooks were shaped by the political
and social context of the era. A first attempt was made to read their content and detect
their role and function, by examining the structure of the images, the interrelation
between text and images and the interaction between images and viewers.
A determinant role in the shaping of the first steps of my project played the very
meaningful conversations with other researchers and the aid of the helpful staff of the
library. Additionally, Georg Eckert Institute, with a vast textbook and academic
collection, offers an ideal environment to work and grow, owing to the experts on
textbook research and the events that are organised. Finally, I was given the chance to
take part in conferences, workshops, book presentations and colloquiums, and to give
a lecture in the workshop on Albanian-language textbooks at the beginning of
December.