School in a transitional society: The case of Serbia

Abstract

This paper explores the possibilities, scope and limitations of modernization of education in Serbia in the second decade of the XXI century. Together with social and political changes that started in Serbia in the year 2000, considerable changes were initiated in the area of education as well. Modernization of education became one of the proclaimed goals of social development, and decentralization, democratization and improvement of the quality of education were defined as the basic directions for a school system reform. The experience with the specification, implementation and duration of the planned changes reveals their direct dependence on the changes that were taking place in the political government, as a result of which some changes have been partially implemented, while others have been postponed. The transitional society with a low level of socioeconomic development and newly established democratic institutions views the reform of education as an instrument of economic revival and progress and development of the civil society, the stronghold of democracy. However, both the educational system and the society as a whole are in a state of incomplete modernization, which is reflected in the chronic social crisis and stagnation that has been going on for decades. This has practically resulted in the retraditionalization of the dominant value system, whose characteristic, among others, is resistance to change. The Serbian educational system therefore finds itself in a paradoxical situation – what should change the society must also be changed itself, while society itself resists the changes that should be brought about by the modern school. The concluding part of the article discusses some possible outcomes of modernization of education in conditions of an absence of a supportive social context.