European Historical research, and also European Educational research, has regions that it sheds more spotlight on, and it has regions that are definitely out of focus. One of the former is for example the „DDR“, one of the latter is the now called country North Macedonia (MK in this abstract). While the one vanished into the BRD after 1989, the other one emerged as a nation state on ist own after the fall of the socialis eastern states.

In education, there is only little research emerging from MK, and even less dealing with educational topics in MK. Therefore, in this presentation I want to close this research gap with answering one specific research question at the ECER 2024:

1. What role did socialism/communism play in education in Yugoslavian times in the geographical region of MK, how did this change after 1989 and what role did democracy play thereafter, in the newly established national state?

Before the establishment of the University in Skopje in 1946, in the beginning of Yugoslavian times, students from the Macedonian part of Yugoslavia could only pursue teacher education outside of Macedonia, for example in Belgrade or Sarajevo. Up to this day it is only in Skopje that all subjects and school levels are offered for prospective teachers. Until 1991, there were additional teacher education programs for primary education. However, in the last 20 years, these programs were either integrated into universities.

While the „Wende“ took place in Germany in 1989, the „Wende“ happend in MK a little bit later, in 1991, when MK stepped out of the remaining part of Yugoslavia (which was mostly Serbia then). As many other countries after the „Wende“, there was the wish for a fast change of the nation to democracy, including the institutions for schooling. Instructions for changing the education system were communicated to schools and teachers through laws, curricula, regulations, etc. (cf. Janík & Porubsky 2020), as today too. However, these legislative changes normally reach schools later than intended. Furthermore, schools do not „simply“ implement the changes, they transform these into their instution. Mensching calls this process (and product) „living practices“ („gelebte Praxis“, Mensching 2018). Those become visible in the local mesosystem of the individual school (for macro-, meso-, micro-system, see Altrichter & Maag Merki 2016). Because of the fast tempo in changes, also changes in government, schools didn’t have sufficient time to implement all the changes before new ones were introduced (cf. Rizova, Bekar & Velkovski 2020, p. 1502).

Before 1991, teacher education in Yugoslavia was shaped by socialist state ideology, emphasizing the concept of "socialist unity." This ideology permeated the entire education system, from elementary to higher education. Teachers spoke positively of this socialist unity, referring to it as "brotherhood" and "friendship." Teachers are always part of a school culture and professional community (Helsper 2008), and this is crucial for their professional satisfaction (Rothland 2013). The societal contract in with teachers in Jugoslavia implied trust in their autonomous, professional actions (Hargreaves & Fullan 2012). The absence of trust, the „erosion of trust“ (Bellman & Weiß 2009) particularly after 1991 in MK, resulted not only in the loss of autonomy but also in demoralization among teachers (Peck, Gallucci & Sloane 2010, S. 452).

This publication is based on 16 interviews conducted with teachers in MK. Due to the segregation of the school system into Macedonian- and Albanian-language schools (see Atanasoska 2020), it is essential for me to stress that only teachers from the Macedonian-language school system were considered in this study. Finding teachers who studied during Yugoslav times was a challenge. In the end, seven of 16 teachers began and/or completed their teacher education before 1991, and all of them started working before 2001, before the segregation of the school system. The problem centred interviews (see Mayring 2023) took place between 2019 and 2021, with two conducted online (due to Covid-19) and all others in-person. While nine of the 16 interviewed teachers studied and/or started their work after 2001, these interviews were nevertheless included as the responses provide additional insights into the developments. Of the 16 people, two were male. The age at time of the interview ranged from 38 to about 80; two of them were already in pension. Also, two of the teachers also had experience as being the headmaster at their school, but were teachers (again) in the years before the interview was conducted. All interviews were transcribed in the language of the interview (Macedonian) and analyzed using qualitative content analysis (Mayring 2010).

In socialist Yugoslavia, teacher education included an intensive study of Marxism and socialism, including criticism of Western capitalism. This naturally changed in the new state of MK, where the new form of government was democracy, and capitalism an integral part of it. For the teachers, this focus on capitalism and capital accumulation is a negative side effect of democratization. The quality of teachers in the Yugoslav teacher education system is emphasized as exceptional and outstanding by the „older“ teachers. University educators at that time had gained extensive practical experience before starting their teaching careers in teacher education. The "new" educators in the new national state are referred to as theorists by the respondents, which carries a negative connotation. The highly competent educators from the Yugoslav era were soon removed from their positions after 1991. Teachers in the former Yugoslav republic were supposed to serve as socialist role models. For the teachers in my interviews, it was clear that they passionately conveyed "socialist patriotism" to their classes. The interviewees experienced in Yugoslavia teachers being "equal," regardless of their party affiliation, and that the socialist idea of "brotherhood and unity" (Calic 2019) was a reality in their lives. The idea of socialism and patriotism towards Yugoslavia naturally disappeared in 1991. Democracy after 1991 is simply "there" and is mentioned in the interviews in a general way, while the socialist unity is positively connotated for the teachers. Nevertheless, no teacher rejects democracy as a form of government, and no interviewee indicates that they long for socialism again. The "Yugonostalgia" in MK is expressed particularly in the positive values of socialism, in contrast to today's "turbo-capitalism" and party nepotism (Popovic, Majsova & Anastasova 2021). Although the teachers do not describe their thoughts as nostalgia, they agree with this statement regarding the zeitgeist in MK.

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