Role of education in peacebuilding (A comparative analysis of the history textbooks in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro)

The conflict-filled 1990s had a big effect on Balkan society, such that tensions (ethnic-based insults, provocations, physical attacks, etc.) are still felt in the region. These intergroup hateful behaviors pass down from generation to generation and become an endless problem, creating a security threat issue. The current study emerged as a result of the researcher's search for an answer to the question of what the effective ways are to reduce barriers that make a lasting peace impossible. This search started with the concept of Peace and continued with an emphasis on the strategy of conflict resolution, Peacebuilding. After that, as the main subject of this research, the role of education in Peacebuilding is examined. At this point, it became evident that education is very effective in reducing the mentioned barriers. That is, the peacebuilding implementation of education has the power to influence the development of peaceful environments by promoting tolerance and empathy, along with prevention of intergroup polarization and conflict. In this context, the study aims to draw attention to the importance of education in creating lasting peace. However, it is more common for education to have a destructive effect besides its peacebuilding character. Education applied with negative attributes can strengthen hostility and divisions between groups and prepare the ground for the conflict conditions. This situation is mostly observed in history education. Based on this, in this study, the following research question is formed: "Does the content in the education and history textbooks contribute negatively to peacebuilding?". An answer to the research question is sought with quantitative and qualitative methods. As case studies, history textbooks taught in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro are examined. The period investigated in the books is the years of Yugoslavia's dissolution. Within the scope of the quantitative method, based on the number of pages of the sample books, it is examined to what extent national history is conflict based. In the context of the qualitative method, the content analysis focuses on the images of the involved parties and whether there is a one-sided narrative. As a result of the examination of 19 sample books, it is concluded that history textbooks could have a negative effect on peacebuilding. It is seen that the history books taught in these sample countries have a feature that can increase hostility, deepen social divisions between groups, and normalize violence