La Roumanie / Rumänien / Romania
Bucuresti
( 1999)
To be a teacher of philosophy and social sciences in an ex-communist country, like Romania, is not a very easy job. You have to face with a lot of prejudices and old-fashion mentalities, and also with a lot of unknown variables and incertitude's. Some people would say, thinking at Bertrand Russell's theory about the problems of philosophyı, that it is in its spirit to promote and to value the incertitude. And they would think that a Romanian teacher of philosophy has now a good chance to practice this spirit. I would replay saying that they are right and, in the same time, they are wrong.
They are right when they think that Romanian teachers of philosophy have now the liberty to discuss controversial issues, to ask questions and to refuse dogma, to think critical and independent. Away from communism - the slogan of '90s in Romania - meant also, away from the dogmatism and from a unique perspective about reality. In Romania people refused to believe longer in the certitude of a unique philosophy which pretended to be “scientific”, “completely true” and “above of any possible doubt”. The end of the communist regime was, in the same time, the end of monism and uniformity and the beginning of pluralism and diversity.
So, the teachers have now a real chance to teach philosophy using methods and strategies according with the free, critical and open spirit of the philosophy. They can present students different solutions to philosophical problems developed by different thinkers, without having to criticize them from a Marxist perspective. In the process of teaching philosophy teachers emphasize now the ideas of diversity and possible alternatives.
But, the teachers of philosophy have also to face a lack of values and principles specific to a period of transition when the society reconstructs its own system of values. The previous values and principles are no longer acceptable, but the society did not establish yet a new and coherent system of values.
In early '90s, many teachers felt themselves confuse and insecure because they had the feeling of indoctrination.
Now teachers are more confident in their own knowledge and skills but they still face a lot of problems: teaching new curricula, using new textbooks and educational materials, promoting active learning, using alternative methods of evaluation and, last but not least, dealing with a very scarce time of teaching.
Let's have just an example! In the last 11 years teachers of philosophy and social sciences had to teach a new curriculum almost every year, because in the process of the reform in our educational system since 1994 we have changed the curricula, as it follows:
- in 1990 - new curricula in philosophy and in all social sciences;
- in 1993 - a new curriculum in philosophy;
- in 1994 - a new curriculum in economics;
- in 1994 - a new subject: Civic Culture/Civic Education;
- in 1996 - a new curriculum in civic education at 3rd grade;
- in 1997 - a new curriculum in civic education at 4th grade;
- in 1999 - new curricula in civic education at 7th and 9th grade and in logic at 9th grade;
- in 2000 - new curricula in civic education at 8th grade and in psychology at 10th grade.
And for the next school year is planed to introduce new curricula in economics (11th grade) and philosophy (12th grade).
Why do we teach Friedrich Nietzsche?
The curriculum in philosophy in the secondary school introduced in early '90th, is focused on concepts but not on authors. We teach philosophical problems and not history of philosophy.
The curriculum indicates nine themes to be taught. These are: Human, Liberty, Justice, Happiness, Truth, Time, Order, God and Philosophy.
When we teach one of these themes, after a brief introduction, we come with relevant philosophical texts selected from different authors and discuss the problem based on texts. We strongly encourage students:
- to read the texts,
- to identify the fundamental concepts, ideas and arguments,
- to present and explain different philosophical conceptions about the problem, and
- to express and defend their opinions.
The authors are nominated in the curriculum and the students are used to learn that philosophy provides relevant texts from these authors for different themes. It is compulsory to teach students about Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Locke, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, J.J. Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Marx, Hegel, Freud, Bergson, Sartre, Camus, B. Russell, () K. Popper and, also, about Romanian philosophers like Vasile Conta, Mircea Vulcanescu, Mircea Eliade, Lucian Blaga, Emil Cioran or Nae Ionescu.