History Teaching as ‘Propaganda’? Teachers’ Communication Styles in Post-Transition Societies

This paper analyses history teaching through the lens of communication styles – dissemination, propagation, and propaganda – as proposed by Social Representation Theory. We view a history classroom as a communicative space and history teaching as situated standpoints-in-action. These standpoints can occupy different places on a continuum between the two extremes, dissemination versus propaganda: that is between an academic instruction style, neutrally presenting different perspectives on the past, versus straight-forward ideological teaching. We analyse interviews with Estonian and Latvian history teachers and show how communication styles are defined both by the teacher’s understandings of the past and history as well as by her/his perceived action space that is delimited by social, political, educational and academic demands and contexts.