Друштво и реформе: образовне политике и политике идентитета

Abstract

The reform of education in the Republic of Serbia has been passing through different phases after 2000, with the ultimate goal to connect ‘domestic’ with European education and, according to this, to define new educational policies. Policies of identity as an important aspect of the educational policies in multicultural and multilingual society are of particular importance since they indicate the equality or inequality of different actors in education. Recognition and evaluation of different identities in institutionalized education may contribute to strengthening the potentials for their understanding, appreciation, and acceptance in the entire society. Identity policies, however, are always formed in accordance with different selection of a particular social order. Selected development strategy of ruling groups directly affects the formation of educational policies, such as its implementation has a reverse impact on different dimensions of initiated social processes. The adopted educational policies in the so-called contemporary Serbian society provide: (1) presentation of various identities within ‘domestic’ institutionalized education and a greater synergy of education and other social actors in their promotion; (2) presentation of education as an element of cultural identity which ensures the interfusion of traditional value systems and new cultural values – the identity which makes a clear distinction between the realities which enrich our lives and the others whose purpose is to preserve the achieved life organization. In this paper we dealt only with the second aspect of the education-identity relation, and the aim was to emphasize the importance of social and cultural context for the ultimate goals of educational and identity policies. The creators of educational policies in the Serbian society seem to overlook this connection and primarily tend to adopt the solutions which represent a part of homogenization of education on a global scale. In the paper a descriptive-analytic method was used.