According to Mayer and Rosman (2016), in the modern information society, epistemological beliefs are relevant components of the learning process. With respect to the development of the research on epistemological beliefs, Hofer and Bendixen (2012) argue that identifying cultural and societal factors that influence these beliefs are crucial for the future inquiries. Also, they believe that the examination of these factors are justified by the socially constructed nature of epistemological beliefs, too. In the context of history education, this direction is in accordance with Epstein’s view (2009, cit. Segall, Trofanenko, & Schmitt, 2018) that students’ identities and cultural environment determine their historical understanding and historical thinking. Additionally, in the international research several studies suggest that the understanding of the discipline’s interpretative nature is also essential to historical understanding (e.g., Maggioni, VanSledright, & Alexander, 2009).

Regarding the socio-cultural context of the study, participants have been involved in the research from the southern part of Hungary and from Vojvodina. Vojvodina is an autonomous province in the northern part of the Republic of Serbia with almost 2 million inhabitants and 26 different ethnicities (Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, n. d.). 251.136 Hungarians live in the northern part of the province (2011 Census), and Hungarian is one of the six official languages of Vojvodina. The cultural, political and economic relationships between Hungary and Hungarians from Vojvodina are intensive, close and many-sided. Since 2011, ethnic Hungarians have the opportunity to apply for simplified naturalisation and earn dual, Hungarian-Serbian citizenship.

The present study aims to compare Hungarian ethnic majority and ethnic minority grammar school students’ epistemological beliefs about history. The following research questions are posed: RQ1: Are there any similarities or differences between ethnic majority and minority students’ evaluation of history-specific epistemological beliefs? RQ2: Does history grade influence ethnic majority and minority students’ history-specific epistemological beliefs?  RQ3: In light of the results, can one examine these findings in a comparative perspective (Europe and beyond)? Taking Peck’s advice (2018) about avoiding generalizations in studies focusing on students’ identities and historical understanding into account, hypotheses have not been formulated in connection to the above mentioned research questions and the results are primarily interpreted in the Hungarian socio-cultural and historical context.

The (pedagogical) relevance of the study can be underlined from several perspectives. First of all, the cultural environment in which the investigation was carried out is unique. Secondly, a high number of Hungarian students from Vojvodina plan to pursue studies in the higher education at Hungarian universities. This study draws the teacher community’s attention to the fact that beside the use of the same language and similar cultural settings, specific features of the ethnic minority community should also be taken into consideration during the learning and teaching process. Thirdly, despite the fact that epistemological understanding is emphasized through fostering historical thinking in the Hungarian National Core Curriculum (2012) as well, there is a lack of empirical research on this field in Hungary.

Hungarian grammar school students from Hungary (Nmajority=510; Mage=17.58, SD=0.82; Nfemale=63.9%) and ones from the autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia (Nminority=233; Mage=17.39, SD=0.66; Nfemale=65%) have completed the questionnaire. 11th and 12th grader grammar school students have been involved in the study. Between October and December 2018, three grammar schools from Hungary and four grammar schools from Vojvodina have joined in the investigation. Due to the fact that research into epistemological beliefs concerning history is a neglected area in Hungarian literature, the questionnaire developed by Stoel and his colleagues (2017) has been selected for the purposes of this study. The adapted paper-and-pencil instrument consists of 26 items in Hungarian language (translated by László Kojanitz), which are scored on a 6-point Likert-scale (1=completely disagree, 6=completely agree). All items are discipline-specific, abstract and void of any historical period or event. The researchers have designed the questionnaire to measure two dimensions: (1) naive or nuanced statements about (2) historical knowing (strategical thinking) or historical knowledge. With the help of three subscales of the questionnaire, students have been compared on the basis of (1) historical knowing: nuanced scale, (2) historical knowing: naive scale, and (3) historical knowledge: objective scale. Regarding the adaptation process, a translation-back translation procedure has been carried out. First, two translators, one of whom is a teacher of history and English with a PhD from history, have translated the questionnaire from English to Hungarian. After that, two other experts have translated the texts to English. Finally, one researcher from the field of history education (PhD) have paraphrased the items. Before using the instrument in this study, several pilot studies have been undertaken among university students and grammar school students as well. All values have been imported into SPSS 25. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and independent samples t-tests have been executed.

With regard to the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha values are .64 (ethnic majority group) and .73 (ethnic minority group). In order to compare how the two groups evaluate different statements about the nature of history, independent samples t-tests have been used. The results show that there are no significant differences between ethnic majority and minority students’ nuanced beliefs about historical knowing. Interestingly, significant differences are found in the case of naive beliefs about historical knowing (ǀt375.841ǀ=4.40, p<0.000) and objective beliefs about historical knowledge (ǀt731ǀ=4.29, p<0.000). Hungarian students from the ethnic minority community evaluate more positively both naive statements about and historical knowing (Mmajority=3.70, SD=0.80 vs. Mminority=4.01, SD=0.92) and historical knowledge (Mmajority=3.06, SD=0.74 vs. Mminority=3.32, SD=0.80). After selecting students who have the highest history grade (5), 172 ethnic majority and 156 ethnic minority students have been compared. Ethnic minority students value the historical knowing: naive scale (ǀt305.742ǀ=4.07, p<0.000) and the historical knowledge: objective scale (ǀt326ǀ=3.85, p<0.000) significantly more positively than ethnic majority students. In the case of the historical knowing: nuanced scale, no differences are found. These results indicate that ethnic majority and minority students’ strategic thinking is on a similar developmental level. However, ethnic minority students tend to nurture both naive and nuanced beliefs about the nature of history. This specific feature shows similarities to the findings of Porat (2004). Students in his study were able to adapt narratives from different perspectives (textbook and social milieu). Peck (2018, p. 322) summarizes this phenomenon as a “survival instinct” of ethnic group members. Thus, the present study contributes to fostering research on ethnic minority students’ education.

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