The paper considers the relationship between remembrance narratives on national heroes and proliferation of political attitudes, values and behaviours during democratisation. It discusses the impact of interpretations of the past on the development of civil society in the context of public education as an instrument of identity politics. Comparing the experiences of Chile, Estonia, Georgia, Poland, South Africa and Spain, the authors present the role of national heroes in the legitimisation of behaviours and attitudes, new elites and national unity. The discussed results prove that the establishment of a pro-democratic system of civic education increases chances for successful consolidation of democracy in post-authoritarian countries.

Family involvement in education is highlighted as a  key factor to boost students’ success. In this paper, we analyze ninth-graders’ discourses on how they see family participation in school-related activities. data derive from 38 biographical interviews involving students from eight public schools from North Portugal. Following a  narrative approach, findings emphasize that active involvement of parents make up a  fundamental dimension for the consolidation of educational projects. data reveal that mothers play a leader role in the educational setting, while fathers’ lack of participation can impact negatively on students’ trajectories. In addition, research indicates that an extended family can emerge as crucial to the maintenance of a schooling project.

In the current dynamic world the strategic communications (STRATCOM) mean a comprehensive process which is aimed at developing, promoting, and distributing the required narratives and messages of any organization in order to form and ensure its positive image, inform counterparts (adversaries) and target audiences of the organization’s intents and positions, main tasks and achievements. While implementing the STRATCOM, it is very important to remember about their main rules and principles which are unique for both security and defence sector and business. Unfortunately, in the current “hybrid” measurement sometimes we should realize the effectiveness of the SC activities, thus it is necessary to define the measurements of effectiveness and performance for effective evaluation of activities. Ukraine has been repelling the aggression in the Eastern Ukraine since 2014 within massive hybrid warfare against it. This fact has caused the initiating a range of reform and innovative processes in Ukraine. Since then, we have known about the STRATCOM in Ukraine. In (Historical retrospective analysis of formation and development of strategic communications in security and defence sector of Ukraine) we have analyzed the process of development of the SC in security and defence sector. This process was speeded and pressed up by the warfare. Moreover, it was implemented in line with existing NATO principles and standards. Even the definition and concept of the STRATCOM were taken from the NATO documents. However, the reality reveals the necessity to revise the term definition and consider the implementation of business processes related to communications in security and defence sector. Some nations have already passed through this transformation and changed the approach to their SC. Even NATO Military Policy on Strategic Communications MC 0628 was successfully used until 2014. It is the STRATCOM baseline documents and it needed to be revised (NATO and Strategic Communications. The story so far. The Three Swords Magazine 33/2018. pp. 65–73). In the article the authors make some proposals how to improve the STRATCOM definition and improve the whole process of their realization.

Narration in Pedagogy – Meaning, Research, Interpretations

The author addresses the position of narratives in the field of educational studies, the meaning of narratives, methodological conditions for research into narratives as well as the possibilities and limits of interpretation related to narrative research. The author argues for the importance of narratives for educational studies, because as a field of knowledge and academic discipline it relies on access to particular forms of individual experience. Educational studies need access to experience related to the subjectivities of those involved in educational processes – educators and pupils. Narratives as a departure point for learning about and understanding another person, her relations with others, intentions and course of her educational actions – as an educator or a pupil – is an important area for educational studies, which promises to open new perspectives of knowledge.

The study assessed children’s ability to develop narratives and express ideas. It comprised 120 children (5-10 years), and differences in relation to age, sex, and economic area were measured. To this end, we compared four schools in 2 economic areas (poor and average). We used 2 picture and 2 story re-telling tasks designed to elicit narrations reflecting the generation of ideas in response to visual and auditory stimuli. Significant differences for age and sex but not economic areas were found. Suggestions are made for balancing brain activity and developing more creative approaches in teaching and assessment.

Peculiarities of the EU’s heritage diplomacy

This article aims to fill the gaps in the discourse on heritage diplomacy, especially concerning the EU’s efforts on heritage. Heritage diplomacy is a new term, the discussions about a more precise theorization of which are still ongoing. Thus, of particular interest was the question of the functions and defining features of the heritage diplomacy of the European Union in terms of its internal (“domestic”) and external (“foreign”) dimensions. Considering this research question, the article focuses on defining the main functions and features of the European Union’s heritage diplomacy activities through their heritage-specific projects and initiatives, especially given the intensification of the EU’s heritage activities in recent years. To do this, firstly, the concept of heritage diplomacy was analyzed and the role and place of heritage and heritage diplomacy in the EU policy was indicated. This article defines heritage diplomacy as the process of instrumentalising the tangible and intangible past (heritage) and the narratives around them to promote (geo-)culture and/or intercultural relations. Then, a careful analysis of the EU’s initiatives and projects on heritage (European Heritage Label, European Capitals of Culture, European heritage awards, UNESCO-EU joint projects, etc.) was done, through which many functions of EU’s heritage diplomacy were pointed out and categorized within the internal (“domestic”) and external (“foreign”) dimensions. Among the functions were defined the following: integration, creation and strengthening of European identity through making a European narrative, ‘Europeanisation’, cooperation, raising awareness of other issues (such as about the practices of sustainability), conservation, culture preservation, involvement of non-European cultures in the cultural dialogue (heritage as a platform), peacekeeping, etc. Although the two ought to be distinct, a blurring between the two dimensions was pointed out, resulting in the notion of the heritage diplomacy of the European Union as being mostly done on the level of the European Continent.