Kaurin, Dragoljub
(2012)
Professional education in contemporary Serbia: an examination of the intellectual transition from state-socialism to post socialism.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
The thesis, professional education in contemporary Serbia, an examination of the transition from state-socialism to post-socialism tries to answer the question of the changing patterns of professional education in contemporary Serbia in the light of the advent of post-socialism, after a very long period of reign of state-socialism. It does so by employing an in-depth historical analysis. It is argued that the economic problems in post-socialism, blocked transformation, exclusion from the European Community, and other problems impacted on the change in professional education patterns. Post-socialism is distinguished by the growing marketization, globalization and the economic intra-dependence, as well as the stronger influence of the emerging markets. In Serbia, it is distinguished by the fragile economic recovery and the emergence of the new economic order. The thesis uses Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony to explain the inevitability of the knowledge economy and Karl Popper’s theoretical concepts developed in his study Open Society and its Enemies. Methodologically, the project used chiefly qualitative methodology: questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions. In addition to this, there is also abundant use of the relevant documents, useful for documentary analysis, as well as biographical method. Empirical conclusions of the project are based on 5 months survey in contemporary Serbia, based on qualitative methodology, and participants were university teachers, lawyers and researchers. Survey is understood here as a social science research technique.
The project findings are organized around three major subcategories: democratization, governance and civil society, institutional sustainability and graduate employment, and internationalisation and the European Union. The system of professional education is characterized by the growing democratization, the implementation of the Bologna Process, the introduction of course fees, the overall marketization of education and the emergence of private universities. Policy-makers and educationists should be cautious because this system causes enduring inequalities. Unemployment is also a significant problem for the change in professional education patterns. The influence of markets on professional education is stronger and companies and enterprises are looking for university talent to gain the increase in profit and they have a clear stake in shaping the new system of professional education. This brings significant changes to professional education in general and the creation of the curricula in particular. Although the state-socialist system of professional education was distinguished by the increased level of international cooperation, it is growing more intense and it happens more often in the context of post-socialism. Serbian professionals, educationists, and policy-makers are having many more opportunities for international cooperation.
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