THE PEDAGOGY OF THE TRANSFORMATION: ECONOMICS EDUCATION IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

This article presents a critical analysis of economics education in central’ and eastern Europe since the 1989 revolutions. The infusión of Western economics teachers and literature, while introducing a new perspective to central and eastern Europe, has also created problems. These problems stem from the narrow perspective and belief in the universal validity of orthodox economic theory held by these teachers and their failure to teach any other perspective. The author advocates a different type of economics education for central and eastern Europe. It includes a broader focus on societal problems and the integration of economic history, comparative economics, economic development, and history of economic thought into economics curricula. Finally, the author recommends that economics education be focussed on giving students a perspective with which to develop their own alternative policies for their respective nations, teaching them that there is more than one economics paradigm and that there are multiple alternative transformation paths.