Fostering inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia, the importance of pre-service teacher training

Abstract

One of the most important challenges for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is overcoming ethnic tensions. To tackle this issue, the ethnic attitudes of people have to be altered and stereotypes and prejudices need to disappear from society. One important social mechanism in society with the capacity to achieve this, is the education system. Schools are unique psycho-social spaces that have the potential to foster inter-ethnic relations. The current segregated education system does not live up to this potential and therefore changes have to be made. In the development of a more integrated education system, teachers play a key role. Their level of competency for working in a multi-ethnic environment are crucial for the success of an integrated education system. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has therefore developed a program to improve the competencies of student-teachers for working in a multi-ethnic environment. This mixed-methods study examined the effect of this project on the competencies (consisting of dispositions, knowledge and skills) of student-teachers. Both the qualitative and quantitative results showed that the competencies of student-teachers improved because of their participation in the project. The quantitative analysis (N=150) compared the self-reported level of competencies of a group of students who participated in the project to the level of competencies of a control-group of students who had not participated. The project-group scored significantly higher on competency than the control-group. Focus groups with students who participated in the project and interviews with representatives of involved faculties and NGO’s demonstrated an increase in the level of competencies of student-teachers when they participated in the project. Further research in the feature is needed to verify and generalize the results to the entire population and to explore the effects of the project and the improved competencies of student-teachers on the inter-ethnic relations in the country. Several practical implications based on the results of this research and the studied literature were formulated.