PG2B103 Modern History of Education

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Jiří Zounek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Michal Šimáně, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Veronika Štolfová (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Jiří Zounek, Ph.D.
Department of Educational Sciences – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Adéla Zajíčková
Supplier department: Department of Educational Sciences – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
PG2B001 History of education
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course focuses on the history of education and schooling in the Czech Republic today, especially the changes in the 20th century. The main topics include, for example, the development of school institutions, teacher education, school legislation, school reforms, but also the everyday life of teachers. Special emphasis is placed on the socialist and post-socialist periods of education. Students will engage in research projects in which they will learn how to plan and carry out their own research, as well as how to present their results, in the field of the history of pedagogy and education. They will gain a basic overview of the history of school and non-school institutions and adult education. They will work with literature, authentic sources and the oral history method. In this course, students will acquire important study (research) skills, but will also become familiar with key events and trends that have shaped modern Czech education, and is designed for anyone who wants to understand the historical context and its impact on contemporary education. Students can later use their knowledge and skills in conducting their own research in the preparation of their master's thesis.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
- use basic terminology and sources;
- describe trends that are crucial for further studying the history of Czech education;
- analyze and describe the history of educational institutions in the modern era (including the contemporary situation) in our region/country;
- apply their knowledge about historian’s work in solving concrete research projects;
- conduct research in the area of education and educational science history;
Syllabus
1. Development of educational institutions - Historical overview of educational institutions in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic. - Key changes and reforms in the 20th century. 2. Teacher Education - History and development of teacher education. - Changes in teacher education in different periods. 3. School legislation. - Overview of education laws and legislative changes. - Impact of legislation on the school system. 4. School reforms - Major school reforms in the 20th century. - The impact of reforms on the education system. 5. Ordinary life of teachers - Social and professional aspects of teachers' lives. - Changes in the status of teachers in different historical periods. 6. Socialist and post-socialist education - Characteristics of education in the socialist period. - Transition to post-socialist education and its development.
Literature
    required literature
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Oto POLOUČEK and Michal ŠIMÁNĚ. (Post)Socialist Transformation of Primary Schools : Processes, Stories and Challenges in the Czech Republic. Cham: Springer, 2024, 288 pp. ISBN 978-3-031-58767-2. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-58768-9. URL info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Dana KNOTOVÁ and Michal ŠIMÁNĚ. Normální život v nenormální době : základní školy a jejich učitelé (nejen) v období normalizace (Normal Life In Not So Normal Times. Primary Schools And Their Teachers (Not Only) During The So-Called Normalization Period). Vydání první. Praha: Wolters Kluwer, 2017, 192 pp. ISBN 978-80-7552-709-7. info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Michal ŠIMÁNĚ and Dana KNOTOVÁ. Socialistická základní škola pohledem pamětníků : sonda do života učitelů v Jihomoravském kraji (Socialist Primary School as Seen by Eyewitnesses : Probing teachers’ life in the South Moravia Region). Vydání první. Praha: Wolters Kluwer, 2017, 201 pp. ISBN 978-80-7552-493-5. info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Michal ŠIMÁNĚ and Dana KNOTOVÁ. Dějiny socialistického školství : terra inkognita historicko pedagogického výzkumu? K problematice zdrojů poznání minulosti (The history of socialist education : terra incognita of historical-pedagogical research? To the issue of the sources of the past). Pedagogická orientace. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, vol. 25, No 3, p. 319-344. ISSN 1211-4669. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5817/PedOr2015-3-319. URL info
  • VANĚK, Miroslav and Pavel MÜCKE. Třetí strana trojúhelníku : teorie a praxe orální historie. 2., přepracované a doplně. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2015, 326 stran. ISBN 9788087398623. info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří and Michal ŠIMÁNĚ. Úvod do studia dějin pedagogiky a školství. Kapitoly z metodologie historicko-pedagogického výzkumu (Introduction to the Study of History of Education and Schooling. Chapters from the methodology of historical research). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2014, 89 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-6944-2. Digitální knihovna FF MU info
  • VANĚK, Miroslav and Pavel MÜCKE. Třetí strana trojúhelníku : teorie a praxe orální historie. 1. vyd. Praha: Fakulta humanitních studií UK v Praze, 2011, 293 s. ISBN 9788072851454. info
    recommended literature
  • RÁKOSNÍK, Jakub; Matěj SPURNÝ and Jiří ŠTAIF. Milníky moderních českých dějin : krize konsenzu a legitimity v letech 1848-1989. Vydání první. Praha: Argo, 2018, 395 stran. ISBN 9788025725184. info
  • Pedagogické myslenie a školstvo na Slovensku od obdobia normalizácie po pád komunizmu. Edited by Blanka Kudláčová. Trnava: Typi Universitatis Tyrnaviensis, 2018, 244 stran. ISBN 9788056801239. info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Dana KNOTOVÁ and Michal ŠIMÁNĚ. “You have betrayed us for a little dirty money!” The Prague Spring as seen by primary school teachers. Paedagogica Historica. International Journal of the History of Education. Belgie, 2018, vol. 54, No 3, p. 320-337. ISSN 0030-9230. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2017.1394884. URL info
  • THOMPSON, Paul and Joanna BORNAT. The voice of the past : oral history. Fourth edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017, xii, 484. ISBN 9780190671587. info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Michal ŠIMÁNĚ and Dana KNOTOVÁ. Cesta k učitelství v socialistickém Československu pohledem pamětníků (On teaching in socialist Czechoslovakia through the perspective of contemporaries). Studia paedagogica. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2016, vol. 21, No 3, p. 131-159. ISSN 1803-7437. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2016-3-7. Digitální knihovna FF info
  • ZOUNEK, Jiří; Michal ŠIMÁNĚ and Dana KNOTOVÁ. Diktafon a/nebo dokument/historický pramen? Orální historie a archivní materiály ve výzkumu dějin socialistického školství (Dictaphone and/or documentary/historical source? Oral history and archival materials in research of history of socialist education). In Mücke, P.; Brychta, M. Na hranicích mezi minulostí a přítomností. Současné perspektivy orální historie. Vydání první. Praha: Česká asociace orální historie, 2016, p. 83-96. ISBN 978-80-7464-880-9. info
  • ABRAMS, Lynn. Oral history theory. Second edition. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016, xi, 238. ISBN 9781138905399. info
  • YOW, Valerie Raleigh. Recording oral history : a guide for the humanities and social sciences. Third edition. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, xxi, 425. ISBN 9780759122673. info
  • KNAPÍK, Jiří. Děti, mládež a socialismus v Československu v 50. a 60. letech. Opava: Slezská univerzita, 2014, 207 s. ISBN 9788075100573. info
  • STORCHOVÁ, Lucie. Koncepty a dějiny : proměny pojmů v současné historické vědě. Vydání první. V Praze: Scriptorium, 2014, 449 stran. ISBN 9788087271872. info
  • ČECHUROVÁ, Jana and Jan RANDÁK. Základní problémy studia moderních a soudobých dějin. Vyd. 1. Praha: NLN, Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2014, 756 s. ISBN 9788073085568. info
  • MOREE, Dana. Učitelé na vlnách transformace : kultura školy před rokem 1989 a po něm. Vyd. 1. Praha: Karolinum, 2013, 185 s. ISBN 9788024622989. URL info
  • RITCHIE, Donald A. The Oxford handbook of oral history. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, xvii, 542. ISBN 9780199945061. info
  • KASPER, Tomáš and Dana KASPEROVÁ. Dějiny pedagogiky. Vydání 1. Praha: Grada, 2008, 224 stran. ISBN 9788024724294. URL info
  • WALTEROVÁ, Eliška. Úloha školy v rozvoji vzdělanosti. Brno: Paido, 2004, 295 stran. ISBN 8073150832. info
  • THOMPSON, Paul. The voice of the past : oral history. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, xii, 368. ISBN 0192893173. info
    not specified
  • Pedagogické myslenie, školstvo a vzdelávanie na Slovensku v rokoch 1945 - 1989. Edited by Blanka Kudláčová. Trnava: Typi Universitatis Tyrnaviensis, 2019, 441 stran. ISBN 9788056803691. info
  • ŠIMÁNĚ, Michal. České obecné menšinové školy a jejich učitelé v období první Československé republiky (Czech elementary minority schools and its teachers in the period of first Czechoslovak republic). In Komenský. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, p. 26-30. ISSN 0323-0449. URL info
  • Pedagogické myslenie a školstvo na Slovensku v medzivojnovom období. Edited by Blanka Kudláčová. Trnava: Typi Universitatis Tyrnaviensis, 2014, 157 stran. ISBN 9788080828110. info
  • KUČEROVÁ, Silvie and Michal ŠIMÁNĚ. Birth and death of Czech elementary schools during the 20th century in border region – The common features of two stages of evolutional continuum. In XV. International Conference of Historical Geographers, August 6–10, 2012, Prague, Czechia. 2012. info
  • History and material culture : a student's guide to approaching alternative sources. Edited by Karen Harvey. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2009, xiv, 210. ISBN 9780415468497. info
  • YOW, Valerie Raleigh. Recording oral history : a guide for the humanities and social sciences. 2nd ed. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira, 2005, xvi, 398. ISBN 0759106541. info
  • JŮVA, Vladimír. Dějiny pedagogiky. 1. vyd. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1981, 193 s. info
Teaching methods
Instructions for performing the project work; preparation of joint project work by the students; presentation and defence of partial project results; presentation and discussion of project papers
Assessment methods
The seminar paper and its presentation will be evaluated both in terms of form and content. The formal evaluation of the presentation is focused on the speed of speech, pauses, pronunciation, but also on clarity, clear structure of the interpretation, accuracy of the interpretation or response to questions. The seminar paper will be evaluated on the basis of the following content and formal criteria: - Appropriately chosen aim, problem and research question; - Relevant source base, the thesis must include primary or secondary sources, but also specialist sources on the topic (mainly scientific monographs and articles from peer-reviewed pedagogical journals, quality web sources; textbooks and popular manuals can only be a supplement; the thesis should also use several foreign language titles); - A clearly described analytical and critical approach to sources, working creatively with sources, comparing and evaluating them (with very strict adherence to APA citation standards); - authorial contribution, which can be in two areas: (1) the author works with the available sources in a new way, using them to answer a newly posed question; (2) the author works with sources, sources or literature, or creates new sources through qualitative research (oral history method) in order to gain new insights on the topic; thus, the aim of the work cannot be a mere summarization and sorting of the commonly available literature; - the formal treatment of the thesis (in particular the topic, the name of the author, a clear structure of the whole thesis, division into subchapters, conclusion).
Language of instruction
Czech
Study support
https://elf.phil.muni.cz/24-25/
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught every week.
Teacher's information
All basic information about the course is published in the online course in the ELF environment, which students can access at any time before the start of the course. The basic information includes the course programme, the course requirements, the topics of the seminar papers, the requirements for their preparation, the methods of presentation of the papers (if assigned), important deadlines, etc. Students are obliged to familiarise themselves with these conditions. Examination dates are published in the IS MU.
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