Democratic citizenship, history education, and national identity in the Republic of Moldova

This dissertation analyzes the public debates surrounding national history textbooks in the Republic of Moldova as a means of understanding both the broader controversies related to the writing and teaching of a post-Soviet history and the role of history education in constructing a cohesive democratic citizenry and furthering democratization of society. Three primary factors have slowed the development of a national history: a contested national identity, entrenched educational hierarchies, and the politicization of the textbook debates. These factors, which hinder the reform of history education, also represent substantial challenges to education for democratic citizenship and act as impediments to the further democratization of this post-Soviet state. The findings of this qualitative study are drawn from fifty in-depth interviews with Moldovan historians, university professors, teachers, and government officials. The inclusion of schoolteachers in the study represents a marked departure from research on national identity in the region, which is traditionally studied from an institutional perspective and not from the perspective of everyday life. As a result, this dissertation argues that the government and the intellectual elite fail to understand how the Moldovan populace defines themselves and the role of national identity in their lives. This incongruence between these groups further complicates the formation of a cohesive post-Soviet citizenry and thereby further impedes democratization. The examination of the history debates also uncovers factors that hinder education reform policy during the transition from communism to democracy. Among other findings, this study argues that the exclusion of schoolteachers from the writing of new history textbooks has alienated teachers from the state, which negatively affects the implementation of state-sponsored education policy. Several policy implications can be drawn from this study, including the need on the part of the Moldovan Ministry of Education to develop transparent and inclusive mechanisms to formulate and administer education policy that is acceptable to and understood by teachers in the classroom. Additionally, the Ministry should expand its efforts at advanced teacher training and provide rural teachers with more support in understanding new pedagogical methods and curriculum.