About Us and Our Neighbours: History Textbooks in the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine

Abstract

The principal research question pursued by this work is as follows: How do the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine present one another in their history curricula and textbooks? How do the history textbooks of each of these three countries present the relationship between majorities and minorities in each case? As these key questions indicate, the book focuses on two main objectives: first, to generate improved understanding of the state of the discipline of history in these countries via discussion of reforms to and debates around history curricula in each country; and second, to shed light on the ways in which history textbooks in each of the three countries represent the other two and their peoples. Curriculum development and textbook production in all three countries still remain centralised. Textbooks are produced by state and private publishing houses. Most textbooks are curriculum-based and developed according to the guidelines issued by the Ministries of Education in each country, which control the content and quality of textbooks through their textbook publishing policies. History curricula and textbooks in all three countries have progressed, but we still encounter many problems, among them the following: • the content of curricula and history textbooks continues to place too much emphasis on national aspects to the detriment of the global, regional, and local dimensions of history; • it reflects the history of wars and violence instead of giving more space to periods of peaceful coexistence, cooperation and cultural communication, or of mutual enrichment between various social groups as well as between nations; • it neglects regional history and cultural and historical links with neighbouring countries; • as it stands, it has the potential to cause difficulties in history education and the development of ethnic identity, as well as in the relationship between “Us” and “Others”; • it leads to or tolerates poor textbook design. The relationship between national and European history remains a closely debated topic in all three societies. Their shared reality, as evidenced by this study, is that all three countries are currently not presenting the other two in any meaningful way in their history textbooks at all educational levels. In all three countries, history education and textbooks are dominated by political history and narratives of victimisation. National histories do not pay attention to their neighbours. History textbooks play an important part in the process of collective identity formation, of the building of a relationship with the past and the emergence of images of the “other”. The content of textbooks determines, in many cases, students' attitudes to their neighbours. Therefore, if the situation in history education is to improve and a respectful approach to “others” in history textbooks is to take root, there is a great need for joint efforts in this field by politicians, professionals and civil society stakeholders in Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.

Die hauptsächliche Forschungsfrage, die mit diesem Werk verfolgt wird, ist wie folgt: Wie präsentieren die Moldawische Republik, Rumänien und die Ukraine sich gegenseitig in ihren Geschichtscurricula und Schulbüchern? Wie präsentieren die Geschichtsschulbücher von jedem dieser drei Länder die Beziehung zwischen Majoritäten und Minoritäten in jedem Fall? Wie diese Schlüsselfragen zeigen, liegt der Fokus des Buches auf zwei Hauptzielen: Zuerst, soll ein verbessertes Verständnis für die Disziplin Geschichte in diesen Staaten mithilfe von einer Diskussion über Reformen und Debatten um Geschichtscurricula in jedem Land generiert werden, und zweitens, sollen die Art und Weise, in welcher jeder der drei Staaten in Geschichtsschulbüchern die jeweils anderen beiden und ihre Bevölkerung darstellen, beleuchtet werden.