How to initiate educational reform by introducing only one subject that will be studied as an optional? In the middle of the 19th century, a group of pedagogues and teachers in Serbia began a reform process by introducing handicrafts into primary school teaching. The idea of the strong educational potential of handicrafts was first exhaustively explained by Sreten Adžić in 1887. We will present interpretations of this idea, its development, and practical implications for the school context and local communities in Serbia at the end of the 19th century. The given case is inspiring for considering many burning issues in contemporary education.

Aleksandra Ilić Rajković is an Associate Professor at the Department of Pedagogy and Andragogy, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. At the same institution, she completed her doctorate in 2013 on “Activity school in Serbia (1880-1940)”. She is engaged in the courses dealing with the history of pedagogical ideas and history of schooling. Her current research interests orient towards a history of education, activity school, history of textbooks and school knowledge.