History of education as a changing research field

ENThis study focuses on the 1990s, when the well-organised community of Baltic educational historians faced the challenges of a changing political system. Researchers who had previously worked under strict authoritarian rule had to accomplish three tasks: 1) create a new narrative of the history of education of the Baltic states, emancipated from Soviet ideology, and explain sources available in the newly-opened archives; 2) learn to “sell” (at conferences and through publications) their stories to a foreign audience of historians; and 3) become involved in the global community of educational historians. Our sources are monographs on the history of education and 41 doctoral theses developed in the Baltic states. These sources were confronted by academic studies from internationally recognised scholars in various regions, characterizing global trends in the current history of education. We developed a model of requirements and analysed how the supply from the Baltic states complied with global trends in the history of education. We conclude that the national history of education was rewritten by getting rid of the simplified Soviet “class struggle” stories, and also fulfilled the demands of the local community, that is, confirming the importance of education for uplifting a nation and proving the long standing connection between the Baltics and Europe. The development of education in the Baltic countries was primarily explained in a frame of European political history and not the history of education. Communication with the global community of historians of education formed slowly: on the one hand, information about their activities was lacking and finances and foreign language knowledge was insufficient, but on the other hand, nationally-oriented stories about history filled with local facts were just politely regarded by an international audience.From the perspective of the global history of education, studies in the Baltic states about education of specific social groups (e.g., ethnicity and disability) were more up-to-date. Keywords: history of education, national narratives, doctoral theses, Baltic states. [From the publication]