Developing Common Values and Principles

Sharing core values could facilitate the development of trust between groups. In the case of BiH, patriotic education, a common practice around the world aimed at developing loyalty to the state and emotional ties to fellow citizens, would not work because it would be seen as an attempt by one group to assimilate another. Instead, democratic citizenship education based on shared civic principles could promote the development of social cohesion. This education contrasts with civic education in the former Yugoslavia. Yugoslav civic education, based on a liberal model, contained abstract socialist ideas, and discussions of ethnic issues were avoided. In contrast, post-conflict civic education instills democratic values and teaches how to resolve conflicts without violence. Despite the elements of a pluralistic, multicultural model of education, the challenge remains of how open discussions about ethnic issues can take place in a classroom.