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In the first part of the presentation I will examine the role of economics in governing future education development. I will argue that this question has often been simplified, which creates the impression that there is an unresolvable conflict between, on the one side, those who claim that the future generation competencies are undoubtedly matter of economics and, because of that, economic aspects must be considered while governing the education in Serbia (frequently asked questions, ”who will pay for that“, ”how will that be financed“, ”what is the rational between the investment and the outcome“, etc.), and, on the other, those who claim that education is public good and as such cannot be regulated based on economic parameters and ”invisible hand“ of the market. In conclusion of the first part I will argue that whilst education as public good cannot be regulated solely by the question ”how can education cost us less“, governing the education as public good should involve economic dimension as well. In the second part of the presentation I will argue that further development of education in Serbia requires social consensuson the following question: what are the key competencies that next generation of citizens should develop in order to simultaneously pursue their own interests and contribute to the society development when they take part in the life of a society? As one’s life in a society cannot be boiled down to economic life, similarly, the list of key competencies cannot come down only to those which enable individual to participate in economic life and overcome its challenges. As an example of the tendency to reach social consensus on key competencies I will present OECD project DeSeCo (Defining and Selection of Key Competencies). In the conclusion, I will argue that similar project should be conducted in Serbia.
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Positioned within the field which is delineated by tradi-tional humanities, on the one side, and contemporary crit-icisms of Bologna educational reform, on the other, this paper aims to indicate social significance of studying and teaching literature today. The following question is used as a starting point for analysis: did ”culture wars“, which significantly influenced our understanding of art and art production in the last decades, indeed prove the necessity of overcoming all those literary-educational models that are often connected, sometimes having a negative con-notation, to the adjective “humanist”?The concept of humanities explored in this paper was defined by the Chicago school (R. McKeon, R. S. Crane) in the mid-twentieth-century; slightly modified, it was advocated among Yugoslav scholars by literary theorist and historian Svetozar Petrović. Instead of identifying hu-manities with specific objectsof analysis, or abstract aimsof analysis, identifying should be made with methodsof analysis and interpretation, which are used in the encoun-ter with ”unusually excellent“ works and achievements.However, one might ask whether such an understanding of humanities can put an end to all misunderstandings and contradictions inherent to the study of literature? In order to answer the question, roles of teacher,researcher,and criticare examined, relying on Crane’s and Petrović’s points of view. It is then emphasized that those three functions must be integrated in the process of education. In conclusion, concrete public interest is recognized not only in stopping negative university trends and tenden-cies, but also in enriching existing institutional frame-works with specific type of ”charismatic“ pedagogy.
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This presentation aims to provide a rich contextual back-ground for the subsequent discussions. It gives a sketchy account of education policy making in Serbia from the perspective of the last 20 years of its development. Four discrete phases of this development will be described: 1) the nineties, with a special focus on civic activism and the development of a vibrant NGO community, 2) the begin-nings of reforms 2000-2004, characterized by post-war enthusiasm and the wish for “catching up with the world”, 3) the 2004-2008 period of conservativism in education and 4) the 2008-2012 social inclusion period. The case study of introducing inclusive education will be also presented, to il-lustrate the variety of barriers, views of diverse stakeholders and the interplay between national, local and school policy.
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This paper first briefly describes educational system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In theory, this system consists of twelve distinct administrations, which have equal rights.In reality, there are only three administrative bodies, which are under the rule of three nationalisms (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian). These nationalisms, which determine aims and purposes of education, cause discrimination, endanger child rights, and disregard publicly promoted European values. I will identify legal regulations which legitimize such discriminatory and oppressive practices within the field of education and thus take care about national(ist) interests rather than human rights in general and child rights in particular. Second part of the paper examines how nationalism affects school subjects, in particular literary curriculum. I will argue that literature has a privileged place among school subjects, mainly because of its specific way of thinking about moral values. (Storytelling, reader’s imagination and empathy are central to literature, which makes literary study more adequate for moral and ethical formation of children than history, geography, religion and other nonnational subjects.) To support my argument, I will present results of the research done on literature textbooks which are used in higher grades in elementary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not only this research recognized the relationship between ideology and literature, it also explored different types of that relationship. In conclusion, I will present alternative solutions for creation of literature textbooks, regarding their contents as well as critical interpretations.
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Serbian history curriculum and lessons have more in common with military prep schools than with academic discipline that should foster critical and analytical thinking. Teaching history boils down to mere memorization of facts, reinforcing the authoritarian model of education: teachers and textbooks offer “the truth” that ought to be taken for granted. Textbooks are often apodictic, because they aim to represent their contents as unquestionable facts and interpretations. Even the most controversial events from the past come down to simple sentences leaving no room for questioning (for example, ”The first Balkan war was liberation war. The second Balkan war was unjust.“). Content analysis shows that history textbooks are based on the warrior morality and ethics: to sacrifice life for one’s homeland is the greatest achievement, whereas being passive and inactive is considered to be an ideal form of political behavior. Frequent quotes from epic poetry are used to maintain and reinforce the way of thinking specific to the nineteenth century; these quotes serve to emphasize aims and wishes of the collective instead of individual. History curriculum and lessons provide space for producing and spreading authoritarian way of thinking, ethnonationalism, xenophobia, and picture of the past in which “we” are represented as victims of all neighboring countries and powerful nations.
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I will present the case study of expanding access to Roma students in Serbia during the implementation of the Decade of Roma Inclusion. I will describe a comprehensive set of actions in enrolment, curriculum and assessment, but will particularly focus on the different types of administrative barriers Roma face when accessing schools and the barriers integration policies face during implementation through the public education system. The analysis of these barriers lends itself to rethinking of the setup of education governance from a human rights based perspective
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This presentation questions whether a national school curriculum should be planned in a subject-based way, that is by taking for granted from the start that the curriculum should be built largely around a familiar set of traditional school subjects – mother tongue and literature, mathematics, science, history, geography etc. After a brief historical look at how the curriculum came to be conceived in this way, the presentation explores the aims-based alternative to a subject-based curriculum. As things are at present, at least in a country like England, although general, overall aims are laid down nationally for school education, they have little impact on what schools do. Since familiar discrete subjects are the places where curriculum planning effectively begins, it is their internal aims that tend to dominate; and where links are made, eg in official documentation, between subject requirements and general, overall aims, these are often problematic. A suggested aims-based alternative begins from a defensible set of general aims appropriate to a liberal democratic society, covering aims to do with the student’s own wellbeing, his or her moral and civic dispositions, and preparation for work. From these general aims, further more specific aims are derived. These overlap many of the subject-based aims we currently have, but downgrade some of the latter and offer more flexibility than at present for school activities that lie outside traditional subjects or involve elements drawn from a number of them. As an example, defensible aims to do with social cohesion fit well into the liberaldemocratic framework from which this aims-based curriculum begins. The presentation looks at some of the subaims in this area, to do with dispositions and with the kinds of understanding these require; and points to various kinds of student activity lying outside as well as inside subjectfocused work.
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In many nations of the world, educational policy is moving in specific directions, what can best be described as “conservative modernization.” A new alliance has been built that combines a neoliberal faith in markets and privatization, a neoconservative commitment to a return to a romantic view of traditional knowledge, and a new managerial emphases on performance, measurement, and accountability. The result of this combination of movements has often been a transformation in the very meaning of democracy, increased inequality, and a loss of teacher autonomy and respect. There are alternatives to these kinds of policies, ones based on more critically democratic policies and practices. I shall critically examine the dominant reforms that are becoming increasingly influential, demonstrate a number of their negative effects, and describe more thickly democratic possibilities and movements.
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This presentation provides both overview and analysis of key elements of a struggle for public higher education free of charge, taking into account local, regional, transitional and broader Europen contexts and circumstances. There are two important aspects in the focus of the presentation: practical (concerned with organization, unions, and direct democracy) and theoretical (concerned with documents, principles, value systems). The presentation particularly focuses on Declaration on science and higher educationwritten by the union ”Academic solidarity“. Authors of the Declarationhave identified various problems regarding the higher educational system and its reforms as well. In order to critically analyse and, ideally, overcome some of those problems, the presentation outlines key principles and ideas from the Declarationas well as problems that implementation of the Declarationmay face: from the structure of the academic community to dominant system of values in the society.
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The doctor-patient relationship and communication have been the central topics for discussion during the last fifty years. In the sixties of the last century the patient autonomy and its practical expression – informed consent were explored as the most important issues in order to fulfill the legal and the ethical norms in this communication. There has been a shift in the focus of doctor- patient relationship recently. Nowadays new practices are developing in the European countries and in Bulgaria in particular in order to attain a good collaboration between the patient and the medical team: self-management of the disease, health education for healthy life style, etc. The main goal of the medical team is to achieve better health of the patient sharing responsibilities of both the parties on the base of mutual trust.
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Uzbekistan is in the middle position among the countries of Central Asia. It has a population of over 30 million. The annual increase in the number of population is 500 000 or 1,7%. Uzbekistan is considered as a country with young population, the average age is 27, and duration of life is 73. Approximately 50% of the population is aged 18–49, with increases every year and those aged over 50 years. Uzbekistan has taken more than 12 public health laws.
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