ABSTRACT
Young Moldovans were at the center of the textbook reform and debate. The politicians wanted textbooks that made young Moldovans feel patriotic, education specialists wanted textbooks that encouraged students to think critically, and historians wanted textbooks that restored young citizens’ “true” identity. Despite the centrality of young people to the rhetoric about old and new textbooks, Moldovan students were largely excluded from the reform process. This chapter examines students’ opinions about the textbook reform and the ensuing debates, as well as their thoughts about their history, their nation, and the state. From group interviews I conducted in 2008, and individual interviews from 2003 and 2004, two points became salient. First, the students felt deeply disconnected from, and distrustful of, their government. Second, these students had different ways of defining themselves that transcended the government’s and historians’ dichotomous categories of Moldovan or Romanian. Feelings of uncertainty underpinned the interview discussions; the students were unsure of their place in society and in their country’s future. These findings demonstrate that Moldovan policy makers continued to miss the mark in developing and implementing history textbooks that resonated with citizens’ sense of national belonging.
