Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2007. Sectio Scientarium Economicarum et Socialium. (Acta Academiae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 34)
M. Vas István: A gazdasági ismeretek oktatásának helyzete Magyarországon a XVIII. századtól napjainkig
M. VAS ISTVÁN* A gazdasági ismeretek oktatásának helyzete Magyarországon a XVIII. századtól napjainkig Historical Background of Teaching Business Education in Hungary from the 18 t h to 21 s t century Studying the historical judgement of business education, we can state that there has always been a demand for the knowledge in connection with economy in the Hungarian public education, tough with slight variations. Moreover, the necessity of applying practice-oriented methods - which is the topic of my thesis - appeared even in the 18 l h-century sources. How and why has the importance of teaching business education been changed during the past 300 years? How could the aims and programmes of several monarchs, ministers and parliamentary committees have been realised in practise? What new challenges must today's business education face nowadays? Did we or do we need such a subject at all? During my research I wanted to find answers to the above questions. I used parliamentary reports, syllabuses, legal acts, period-studies and secondary literature. As a result of my research, 1 can state that teaching business education appears in several ways in the Hungarian public education, since it has played a role in the primary, secondary and higher education both in general and professional levels, in further education, trainings and retrainings. I also heard about teaching some basic economic knowledge in nursery schools, evidently, only in a funny way. The necessity of teaching business education was acknowledged in all ages, though it was paid varying attention. Yet its aim has not changed during the last 300 years; i.e. "to teach people to be able to live successfully - according to their circumstances." But the business education often had a secondary function, too, legitimate the ever-existing political system. This aspect can be examined constantly in the periods I have studied so far. Another important criterion is the expectation of giving a kind of practiceorientation. Obviously, criteria of practice-orientatedness may change from time to time, as economy, society, education system and economics change themselves. Teaching-education can be especially effective independently of any if it is able to renew, follow the changes in demand and takes local conditions into consideration. * M. Vas István PhD hallagtó, főiskolai tanársegéd, Eszterházy Károly Főiskola, Gazdaságtudományi Intézet
