Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Romanian Education System: Historical Perspectives

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Europe in the Classroom

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Educational Media ((PSEM))

  • 251 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter Szakács locates the Romanian education system within larger world trends in terms of its origins, changing structure, organisation and declared aims. This historical overview covers the establishment of a mass education system in the Romanian provinces at the end of the nineteenth century, education politics in Greater Romania following the First World War, education during state socialism and post-socialist developments following two decades of reform. The key argument is that, while always serving a nation-building script, the Romanian education system has always followed its own evolutionary logic. This is a logic which has widely matched institutionalised models of education worldwide, even if discourses deployed in different historical periods have taken on the specific ideological colouring(s) of their time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, B. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apple, M.W. 2004. Ideology and Curriculum. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, D., H. Kohler, and M. Stock. 2007. Socialist Ideology and the Contraction of Higher Education: Institutional Consequences of State Manpower and Education Planning in the Former East Germany. Comparative Education Review 51 (3): 353–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balica, M., C. Fartușnic, I. Horga, M. Jigău, and L. Voinea. 2004. Perspective asupra dimensiunii de gen în educație. București: Institutul de Ştiinţe ale Educaţiei.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benavot, A., and J. Resnik. 2006. Lessons from the Past: A Comparative Socio-Historical Analysis of Primary and Secondary Education. In Global Educational Expansion: Historical Legacies and Political Obstacles, ed. A. Benavot, J. Resnik, and J. Corrales, 1–89. Cambridge: American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benavot, A., and P. Riddle. 1988. The Expansion of Primary Education, 1870–1940: Trends and Issues. Sociology of Education 61 (3): 191–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blokker, P. 2004. Modernity and its Varieties. A Historical Sociological Analysis of the Romanian Modern Experience. PhD diss., European University Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boia, L. 2001. History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness. Budapest: CEU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butuca, A. 2001. Minorities, Culture and Education. In Values and Education in Romania Today, ed. M.C. Călin and M. Dumitrana, 189–216. Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campeanu, P. 1991. National Fervor in Eastern Europe: The Case of Romania. Social Research 58 (4): 805–828.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capita, L. 1992. Postwar History and Unification of Europe in Textbooks. The Romanian Experience. Paper presented at the European Seminar on Post War History and Unification of Europe in Textbooks, Berlin, Germany. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED371975

  • Capita, L., and C. Capita. 1999. Country Reports on Education: Romania. In Education and Media in Southeast Europe: Country Reports, ed. U. Brunnbauer, H. Grandits, S. Gruber, K. Kaser, R. Pichler, and C. Promitzer. Graz: Center for the Study of Balkan Societies and Cultures.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caraiani, O. 2001. National Identity and Political Legitimacy in Modern Romania. In Moral, Legal and Political Values in Romanian Culture, ed. M. Czobor-Lupp and S. Lupp. Washington, DC: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caramelea, R. 2004. Viaţa cotidiană într-o şcoală de fete în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea’. In Despre femei şi istoria lor în România, ed. A. Ciupală. București: Editura Universității din București.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceaușescu, N. 1971. Expunere la consfătuirea de lucru a activului de partid din domeniul ideologiei și al activității politice și cultural-educative. Speech held in July 1971. http://ro.wikisource.org/wiki/Expunere_la_consfătuirea_de_lucru_a_activului_de_partid_din_domeniul_ideologiei_și_al_activității_politice_și_cultural-educative

  • Culic, I. 2005. Re-Writing the History of Romania After the Fall of Communism. History Compass 3(1). doi: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2005.00157.x.

  • D’Hainaut, L. 1981. Programe de Învățământ și Educație Permanentă. București: Editura Didactică şi pedagogică.

    Google Scholar 

  • DiMaggio, P.J., and W.W. Powell. 1991. Introduction. In The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, ed. W.W. Powell and P.J. DiMaggio, 1–38. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drace-Francis, A. 2006. The Making of Modern Romanian Culture. Literacy and the Development of National Identity. London: Tauris Academic Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumbrăveanu, L. 2007. Romania. In The Education Systems of Europe, ed. W. Hörner, H. Döbert, B. von Kopp, and W. Mitter, 626–645. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Durandin, C. 1990. Le système Ceaușescu. Utopie totalitaire et nationalisme insulaire. Vingtième Siècle. Revue d’histoire 25: 85–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fretwell, D.H., and A. Wheeler. 2001. Romania: Secondary Education and Training. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gidó, A. 2011. School Market and the Educational Institutions in Transylvania, Partium and Banat between 1919 and 1948. Cluj-Napoca: Institutul pentru Studierea Problemelor Minorităților Naționale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilberg, T. 1983. Romanian Reform Movement in the 1980s: Fundamental Changes in the Making? Nationalities Papers 11 (1): 41–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giurescu, D. 2001. ‘Învățământul în România între anii 1948 și 1989’. Unpublished speech delivered at University of Craiova, November 22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grek, S., and M. Lawn. 2009. A Short History of Europeanizing Education: The New Political Work of Calculating the Future. European Education 41 (1): 32–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, T.G., and Z. Millei, eds. 2013. Logics of Socialist Education: Engaging with Crisis, Insecurity and Uncertainty. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatos, A. 2006. Sociologia educatiei. Iași: Polirom.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitchins, K. 1992. Historiography of the Countries of Eastern Europe: Romania. American Historical Review 97 (4): 1064–1083.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopper, E. 1971. A Typology for the Classification of Educational Systems. In Readings in the Theory of Educational Systems, ed. E. Hopper, 91–110. London: Hutchison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iordachi, C. 2001. The Unyielding Boundaries of Citizenship: The Emancipation of “Non-Citizens” in Romania, 1866–1918. European Review of History 8 (2): 157–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2002. Citizenship and National Identity in Romania: A Historical Overview. Regio—Minorities, Politics, Society 13 (1): 3–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iordachi, C., and B. Trencsényi. 2003. In Search of a Usable Past: The Question of National Identity in Romanian Studies, 1990–2000. East European Politics and Societies 17 (3): 415–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamens, D.H., and A. Benavot. 2006. World Models of Secondary Education, 1960–2000. In School Knowledge in Comparative and Historical Perspective, ed. A. Benavot and C. Braslavsky, 135–154. Hong Kong: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krücken, G., and G.S. Drori. 2009. World Society: The Writings of John W. Meyer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legris, P. 2009. Les Programmes Scolaires d’Histoire dans L’Enseignement Secondaire. In La fabrique scolaire de l’histoire: Illusions et désillusions du roman national, ed. L. De Cock and E. Picard, 28–52. Marseille: Éditions Agone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livezeanu, I. 1995. Cultural Politics in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation Building, and Ethnic Struggle, 1918–1930. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahler, F. 1981. Integrating Education with Production and Research in Romania. Prospects: Quarterly Review of Education 11 (4): 403–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majuru, A. 2011. Egalitatea de şanse şi perfecţionarea continuă în educaţia românească (1850–1950). Bucharest: Working Paper of Romanian Academy Programme Valorificarea identităţilor culturale în procesele globale. http://www.cultura.postdoc.acad.ro/cursanti/adrian%20majuru.pdf

  • Marin, G. 2004. Comment construire en Roumanie une identité nationale et européenne? Les nouveaux manuels d’histoire des Roumains. Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest 35 (3): 5–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J.W. 2006. World Models, National Curricula, and the Centrality of the Individual. In School Knowledge in Comparative and Historical Perspective, ed. A. Benavot and C. Braslavsky, 259–271. Hong Kong: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2010. World Society, Institutional Theories, and the Actor. Annual Review of Sociology 36 (1): 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J.W., J. Boli, and G.M. Thomas. 1994. Ontology and Rationalization in the Western Cultural Account. Institutional Environments and Organizations. Structural Complexity and Individualism, 9–27. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J.W., F.O. Ramirez, and Y.N. Soysal. 1992. World Expansion of Mass Education, 1870–1980. Sociology of Education 65 (2): 128–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miclea, M., D. David, D. Funeriu, R.V. Florian, D. Ciuparu, M. Ionac, T. Luchian, et al. 2007. România educaţiei, România cercetării. Raportul Comisiei Prezidenţiale pentru analiza şi elaborarea politicilor din domeniile educaţiei şi cercetării. Commission report. http://old.presidency.ro/static/rapoarte/Raport_CPAEPDEC.pdf

  • Mincu, M. 2007. ‘La riforma dell’ educazione professionale in Romania: dal principio politecnico ai programmi Phare. Rassegna CNOS 23 (1): 67–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mincu, M.E., and I. Horga. 2010. Visions of Reform in Post-Socialist Romania: Decentralization (Through Hybridization) and Teacher Autonomy. In Post-Socialism Is Not Dead: (Re)Reading the Global in Comparative Education, ed. I. Silova, 93–123. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mocanu, A.Ş. 2010. Spiru Haret. Începutul activităţii sale legislative (1896–1899). Paper presented at Simpozionul Naţional Al Cercetării Istorice. http://www.usv.ro/pro-doct/database/2010/27/prezentate/01.pdf

  • Momanu, M., and M.-E. Samoilă. 2014. Adult Education in the Context of the Communist Education Reform in Romania: Policies, Institutions and Publications (1945–1955). Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences 149: 613–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murgescu, M.L. 1999. Între ‘bunul creștin’ și ‘bravul român’. Rolul școlii primare în constituirea identității naționale românești (1831–1878). Iași: Editura A’92.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2004. Istoria din ghiozdan. Memorie și manuale școlare în România anilor 1990. Bucharest: Dominor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pârâianu, R. 2001. National Prejudices, Mass Media and History Textbooks: The Mitu Controversy. In Nation-Building and Contested Identities: Romanian and Hungarian Case Studies, ed. B. Trencsényi, Petrescu Dragoș, C. Petrescu, C. Iordachi, and K. Zoltán, 93–117. Budapest: Regio Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, F. 1972. Observations on Education in Hungary, Romania, the USSR, and Poland. NASSP Bulletin 56 (368): 65–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavel, D. 2000. The Textbooks Scandal and Rewriting History in Romania: Letter from Bucharest. East European Politics & Societies 15 (1): 179–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, L.B. 2013. Democratic Aspects of Communist and Post-communist Schooling in Central and Eastern Europe. In Logics of Socialist Education: Engaging with Crisis, Insecurity and Uncertainty, ed. T.G. Griffiths and Z. Millei, 155–171. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrescu, D. 2009. Building the Nation, Instrumentalizing Nationalism: Revisiting Romanian National-Communism, 1956–1989. Nationalities Papers 37 (4): 523–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pleșa, L. 2006. Mihail Roller și “Stalinizarea” Istoriografiei Românești. Annales Universitatis Apulensis, Series Historica 10 (1): 165–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Puttkamer, J. 2008. Framework of Modernization: Government Legislation and Regulations on Schooling in Transylvania (1780–1914). In Cultural Dimensions of Elite Formation in Transylvania (1770–1950), ed. V. Karady and B.Z. Török, 15–23. Cluj-Napoca: EDRC Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rădulescu, D.C. 2003. Învățământul Public din România în Secolul al XIX-lea: Evoluție și Consecințe Sociale. Calitatea Vieţii. Revistă de Politici Sociale 14 (2): 177–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. ‘Învăţământul românesc 1948–1989—între derivă şi recuperare instituţional- funcţională’. Calitatea Vieţii. Revistă de Politici Sociale 17 (3–4): 307–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez, F.O., and J. Boli. 1987. The Political Construction of Mass Schooling: European Origins and Worldwide Institutionalization. Sociology of Education 60 (1): 2–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez, F.O., and J.W. Meyer. 1980. Comparative Education: The Social Construction of the Modern World System. Annual Review of Sociology 6 (1): 369–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2002. National Curricula: World Models and Historical Legacies. In Internationalisation: Comparing Educational Systems and Semantics, ed. M. Caruso and H.-E. Tenorth, 91–107. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ronnås, P. 1982. Centrally Planned Urbanization: The Case of Romania. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 64 (2): 143–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusu, M.S. 2013. Topografii ale trecutului: structurarea și restructurarea conștiinței istorice românești prin manualele naționale de isorie. Sociologie Românească 11 (1): 84–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014. (Hi)story-Telling the Nation: The Narrative Construction of Romanianism in the Late 19th Century. Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology 5 (1): 97–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. Memoria naţională românească. Facerea şi prefacerile discursive ale trecutului naţional. Iaşi: Institutul European.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schifirneț, C. 2014. Spiru Haret, Education and School Legislation Reform. Revista Română de Sociologie 25 (3–4): 311–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schofer, E., and E. McEneaney. 2003. Methodological Strategies and Tools for the Study of Globalization. In Science in the Modern World Polity: Institutionalization and Globalization, 43–74. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W.R., and J.W. Meyer. 1994. Institutional Environments and Organizations. Structural Complexity and Individualism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scurtu, I. 2007. Istoria contemporană a româniei (1918–2007). București: Editura Fundaţiei România de Mâine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M. 2008. Balancing Globalisation and Local Identity in the Reform of Education. In Internationalisation and Globalisation in Mathematics and Science Education, ed. B. Atweh, 365–382. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soysal, Y.N. 1994. Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soysal, Y.N., and D. Strang. 1989. Construction of the First Mass Education Systems in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Sociology of Education 62 (4): 277–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szakács, S. 2007. Now and Then: National Identity Construction in Romanian History. A Comparative Study of Communist and Post-Communist School Textbooks. Internationale Schulbuchforschung 29 (1): 23–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szaz, M.Z. 1977. Contemporary Educational Policies in Transylvania. East European Quarterly 11 (4): 493–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tismăneanu, V. 2004. Understanding National Stalinism: Legacies of Ceaușescu’s Socialism. In Romania Since 1989: Politics, Economics, and Society, ed. H.F. Carey, 27–48. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsantis, A.C., and R. Pepper. 1979. Romania. The Industrialization of an Agrarian Economy Under Socialist Planning. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tudosoiu, N.S. 2010. Educaţia în sistemul comunist din România (anii 1965–1989). Diss., Universitatea Bucureşti.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich, C. 2001. Romanian Education: Its Evolution and Reform. In Values and Education in Romania Today, ed. M.C. Călin and M. Dumitrana, 121–149. Washington, DC: CRVP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdery, K. 1991. National Ideology Under Socialism: Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceaușescu’s Romania. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vlăsceanu, L., A. Neculau, A. Miroiu, I. Mărginean, and D. Potolea. 2002. Școala la răscruce. Schimbare și continuitate în curriculumul învățământului obligatoriu. Studiu de impact. Polirom: Iași.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, G. 2010. Inclusive Education in Romania: Policies and Practices in Post-Communist Romania. International Journal of Inclusive Education 14 (2): 165–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zamfir, E., and C. Zamfir. 2003. Politica socială a regimului socialist român’. In Dictionar de politici sociale, ed. L.M. Pop. București: Editura Expert.

    Google Scholar 

Curricula

  • National Curriculum Council. 2000. The New National Curriculum. Bucharest: Editura ProGnosis.

    Google Scholar 

Laws

  • Legea Educației Naționale (National Education Law). 2011. Parlamentul României.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legea educaţiei şi învăţământului (Law of Education and Schooling). 1978. Marea Adunare Nationala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legea învăţământului 1995, Republicată 2009 (Education Law 1995. Republished 2009). 2009. Parlamentul României.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legea privind Învățământul în Republica Socalistă România (Law regarding Education in the Romanian Socialist Republic). 1968. Marea Adunare Nationala.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, Member of the Leibniz Association, Brunswick, Germany

    Simona Szakács

Authors
  1. Simona Szakács
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Szakács, S. (2018). The Romanian Education System: Historical Perspectives. In: Europe in the Classroom. Palgrave Studies in Educational Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60258-5_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60258-5_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60257-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60258-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation