Schools and Teachers Two Decades Before the Fall of the Communist Regime

This chapter focuses on the period between 1969 and 1989. Attention is paid to the onset of ‘normalization’ after the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, to how Czechoslovak society slowly fell into a state of lethargy and closedpmindedness, and to the deteriorating economic situation. The communist government tried to ‘calm’ the population by implementing pro-social and pro-family policies and by tolerating people’s escape into private life. The perestroika and glasnost initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev are presented in the text. However, the Czechoslovak government showed little willingness to follow this new course. The main part of the chapter is devoted to the school system, particularly primary schools and teachers. The topic is mapped from a macro-historical perspective, describing the key education acts and presenting critical analyses of the state of the school system and the limited possibilities for educational reforms, which were not able to go beyond the ideologically conditioned concept of a unified school until November 1989. We pay attention primarily to the everyday life of teachers, looking into the ‘workshop’ of a socialist teacher, including his lesson planning, tools, and textbooks. Teachers’ out-of-school life and free time activities are also an important topic. The political education of teachers is briefly considered.