Aims of the Project
Since the Georg Eckert Institute has been carrying out intensive analyses of South-East European textbooks for a considerable length of time, the main task now lies in drawing together the experience gained from the international survey of textbooks in this region and putting it to use. In concrete terms, this will mean:

In the course of this process the Georg Eckert Institute will try to initiate a regular exchange of ideas on textbooks and curricula between the ministries of education or national pedagogic institutes and institutions responsible for the further training of teachers and for curriculum development.

Regional Focus

The de-ideologization of teaching materials, originally aiming at eliminating Marxist concepts was accompanied by a renewed political instrumentalisation that was then tuned to each country's own new national constitution. To legitimize their new political structures, constructions providing evidence of national continuity reaching back to the Middle Ages were drawn up and presented in history books and other literature in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. The former Marxist historical outlook was virtually replaced by a purely national perspective, in which an unbiased view of historical developments is the exception.

From a didactic standpoint, what is striking about the textbooks of all three of these countries is that they hardly ever present history in a controversial or multi-facetted way. The histories are mostly presented as a straight path culminating in the emergence of each state at the end of the 20th century. The period of Ottoman rule and the founding of Yugoslavian states are regarded simply as "deviations" from this main path. To put it in broad terms, there is a scientific concept behind this that sees history as a discipline which will lend its scientific methods to establishing and giving authoritative weight to so-called indisputable "objective truths". Under these premises it becomes impossible to discuss the fact that such scientific analyses and even history teaching itself are always based on a certain and for obvious reasons necessarily limited perspective.

Thus, with regard to didactic approach and factual content, there are many points which underline the necessity for concentrated, long-term efforts to implement new approaches to history teaching in the countries in question. Moreover, use can be made of the fact that the region in which the Georg Eckert Institute would be operating is one relatively large language area, which is by no means uniform, but throughout which the closely related Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian and Macedonian tongues can be understood by all parties concerned.

Concentrating on this region should, however, not distract from the fact that many of the problems and deficiencies detected in the textbooks of newly founded independent states emerging from the former Yugoslavian federation are also common in the history books of other South-East European countries. The main problem so far seems to be the focusing in historical textbooks on national history, that often takes up as much as 60% of the entire contents. In this process, not only is the history of neighbouring countries often reduced to a few paltry dates and facts but there is an equally glaring lack of developing a sense of an overall European context. Though links to and membership of Europe are strongly emphasized in each country's postulated conception of itself, it hardly plays a role either in a historical or a current context in textbooks. However, the Balkans are and always have been an integral part of Europe, and as such they are bound to Europe by a complex web of historical alliances formed and broken. The question, to what extent and in what manner these complex relations should be covered in history textbooks offers an excellent starting point from which to restructure accounts of national histories within the broader European context.

Another important point is that the national histories of several South-East European countries were and still are being intertwined through processes of migration and demographic movements across frontiers producing ethnic minorities in each country. Throughout South-East Europe today the schooling of ethnic minorities and their representation in the textbooks of the majority population constitutes a critical problem. Both segregation and multicultural integration have a long tradition in the region. Autonomy with regard to education, often laid down in a country's constitution tends to reinforce divisive and segregative tendencies which are reflected in the continued stereotypical and enemy-oriented presentation of history in textbooks. Today, this situation is particularly acute in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the problem is beginning to arise more and more frequently in Macedonia and Rumania too.

A minority, who throughout South-East Europe has scarcely acquired basic educational rights, are the Romanies or European gypsies. Their own education and their rightful inclusion as a people in the history of South-East Europe as taught in schools is a pressing issue, of which education ministries are now becoming aware.

The project is to be closely coordinated with the activities of the Council of Europe for reform of history teaching in South-East Europe. As emphasized by the ministers of education in their final declaration(4) at the conference "Education for democratic development and stability in south-east Europe", the aim of the project will be to overcome old rivalries between enemy states, thus following the tradition of the Georg Eckert Institute and European Parliament with regard to the revision of school textbooks and curricula since World War II. The Georg-Eckert-Institut acts as the Council of Europe's clearing house for the exchange of textbooks and information on textbook projects.

The project should also help to implement the recommendations of the committee of education ministers

Implementation
The next step in the realization of this project is the setting-up of a network structure between the academic and political institutions working in the textbook sector. In cooperation with the UNESCO, the Georg Eckert Institute is therefore presently working developing an Internet forum relevant for textbook projects in South-East Europe. The forum will serve to make announcements and provide information about up-coming events as well as to facilitate work on different projects even about communication in the Internet. With the active participation of textbook experts from South-East Europe as well as from other countries, this Internet forum can develop into an informational and professional medium that is up-to-date despite great geographic distances. The Georg Eckert Institute will be responsible for the contents and technical maintenance of the South-East European network.

The Georg Eckert Institute is simultaneously striving towards establishing closer contacts with the curriculum planners, textbook authors, publishing house representatives, and representatives from the ministries of education of the different countries and ethnic groups. The South-East European countries themselves should also get involved in the process of getting to know one another. The Georg Eckert Institute hopes to involve all South-East European countries in this process while maintaining the regional focus.

Thus, depending on the general political framework in each country, the focus should be the commencement of structured communication with the corresponding partners not only in the main regions but also in the other South-East European countries. This entails:

To facilitate the realization of this program, several events have been planned:
1. The Georg Eckert Institute intends to implement 2 workshops within the space of two years in which textbook experts from different countries or nations can meet and exchange ideas.

2. Furthermore, the Georg Eckert Institute is planning the implementation of a summer school, which will be open to participants from all of South-East Europe.