Contextualization

BiH is set in the western part of the Balkan peninsula in south-eastern Europe.

According to its geographic, ethnic, cultural and historical characteristics, the Balkan district is a very complex, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multicultural district with a very turbulent and chaotic past and present as well. With the break-up of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) the Balkans became even more complex, especially in the western region (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008).

BiH is also one of the Balkan countries generally known for wars because of the recent Bosnian War which occurred between the years 1993-1995 and other previous wars in the history in which BiH was affected deeply. The country consists of three constituent ethnicities and three different cultures; Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats all being citizens of this country, trying to live together in one country. It is stated in Malcolm (2002) that all these nations were of the same ethnicity named slaws, but had different branches of Christianity; Bogomils, Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

According to Franjo Rački‟s Bogomil theory, later in the history, Bogomil Christians, -which is an ancient branch of Christianity-, chose Islam as their religion (Malcolm, 2002), meaning Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Muslimism became three major differences of these slaw-raced community. This difference became so distinctive that people adopted their religions as their ethnicities, therefore they were named as Croats (Catholics), Serbs (Orthodoxes) and Bosniacs (Muslims). However, although these people were classified with different labels, they lived together in peace for many years and became each other‟s neighbors until the wars became manifestations of their being enemies (Eric and Harvey, 2004).

1.4.2 Education in BiH

Throughout history, for a long time Bosnian people lived together and went to the same schools. Before the war the country was one of six republics making up the SFRY and was classified as a mid-developed country with a well-developed educational system (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008). However with the last war, starting in 1992, three separate educational systems based on three curricula emerged. One was Serbian, the second was Croatian and the third was Bosnian (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008).

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Today in BiH, students generally attend „separate and mono-ethnic schools‟, which is a retrograde phenomenon that works contrary to all contemporary international aims and the efforts of various organizations to promote educational progress (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008).

Instead of growing up in a culturally diverse and rich society, students are separated from one other, often learning to hate those who are `different`.

Separate curricula, separate `languages`, separate history text-books, separate alphabets, separate religious studies… (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008: 359).

This segregation has a negative effect on the current situation of the education in BiH, as it separates the values which should provide the unity of the community in a post-war country, working contrary to the international aims.

The Dayton Peace Accord and primarily its Annex 4, which serves as the Constitution of BiH, reflected the results of the war and became a reason for the division of the country into two entities moreover including the Brcko District formed by means of arbitration in later times. Furthermore, the educational administration in one entity, the Federation of BiH, is decentralized and responsibility for education is distributed to the cantons. In the other entity, the Republica Srpska (RS), a centralized form of administration was provided while the Federation of BiH is being divided into ten administrative cantons, each of which is again being divided into municipalities and local authorities (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008).

On the other hand, the RS became more centralized and had a series of municipalities in addition to a central government (Rado, 2004 cited from Pašalić-Kreso, 2008).

In conclusion to this decentralized organization thirteen constitutions and thirteen ministries of education (two entity level ministries, ten cantonal ministries and the ministry of the Brcko District) were established. As a result of this, an immense increase in educational bureaucracy and an extremely expensive and inefficient system for such an impoverished country came out. So far, practice has shown that these administrative units have quite different, diametrically opposed, concepts of education and that each conducts its own `policy` (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008). Thus, each canton and municipality have developed their own `brand` of education, further dividing a small country of less than four million inhabitants, with no consideration

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for the educational implications, which would have on students moving from one canton to another to continue their education (Pašalić-Kreso, 2008).

However, all the educational regulations are not negative and hopeless in BiH. There are some example schools in some cantons of BiH which are making integrated and mixed education trying to resolve and prevent the ethnic conflict in the country.

Sarajevo canton, which is the focus topic of this study, is one of these ones, and the sample schools observed in this study are three of the schools which are more or less claiming to serve the peaceful coexistence in BiH.

1.4.3 Education and conflict resolution

Towards the end of the communist system period in BiH, ethnic and religious differences in the country became more distinctive and a war against different ethnicities and religions started in the country (Malcolm, 2002; Mustagrudic, 2000 cited from Davies, 2004). Ethnic conflicts affected the whole community, including the schools and education system. Nevertheless, education could be one of the best means for conflict resolution and prevention in the entire country. This is because education has a large impact upon pupils and teachers, who potentially could use the conflict resolution skills gained from their education after graduating, thus providing peaceful coexistence amongst their communities (Davies, 2004).

Education via the family, schools, the media and community organizations must be turned into a force for reducing intergroup conflict. It must serve to enlarge our social identifications in light of common characteristics and super ordinate goals. Furthermore, education must seek a basis for fundamental human identification across a diversity of cultures in the face of manifest conflict (Hamburg, 1994: 6).

If education is not used accordingly then the conflicted areas can turn into chaos, and the effects of wars like those in BiH, which have deteriorated the education system and ceased all kinds of economical developments in the country, can go on and the countries cannot be liveable any more.

However if the necessities indicated by Hamburg (1994) can be provided in an area, if the type of education applied in a place can enlarge the social identifications in light of common characteristics, and if it can find a basis for fundamental human

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identifications across a diversity of cultures, then differences and positive diversities will be the wealth of that community. This will therefore mean that the people will be freed from fear of the other and enjoy diversity within democracy. In addition, if education is used accordingly, it will be one of the most effective means to surpass the differences amongst any community². Thus the conflicts generally posed by differences in a community will be resolved via education.