Teaching for Humanity in a Neoliberal World: Visions of Education in Serbia

In Serbia, teachers and policy makers express different and sometimes competing visions of education. Teachers express their desire to “awaken” students by using progressive pedagogies, while European Union and World Bank reformers appropriate progressive education in the service of neoliberal goals. The research findings presented here indicate that many teachers also seek to help students become what they call “complete humans,” not solely to “develop human capital” (a neoliberal goal). Teachers’ perspectives suggest the continuation of Slavic ideas of humanism and reflect a desire to maintain an identity distinct from others while achieving the modernity of Western Europe.