Chapter 1. Introduction -- Part I: Contexts of Czechoslovakian School System Development -- Chapter 2. From the Habsburg Monarchy to the Czechoslovak Republic: Education in Historical Context -- Chapter 3. From Stalinism to the Prague Spring – Education in Complicated Times -- Chapter 4. Schools and Teachers Two Decades Before the Fall of the Communist Regime -- Part II: Schools and Teachers in the Period of Changes -- Chapter 5. Transforming the Education System: A Difficult Return to Democratic Europe -- Chapter 6. Schools: Everyday Life in the Period of Post-Socialist Transformation -- Chapter 7. Schools in a Network of (External) Relationships -- Chapter 8. Teachers: Various Life Stories and Perspectives -- Chapter 9. Learning and Teaching: The Legacy of the Socialist Era and New Challenges.

This book addresses the transformation of primary education in the former Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. It follows the overall transformation of education and school policy and offers original insights into the everyday life of the schools at that time. It also provides a unique perspective on the whole transformation process. The work discusses the school environment in the context of specific local characteristics, such as parents, community, regional institutions, and national and international contexts. The book specifically focuses on the changes in primary school management in terms of economics, organization, and personnel. The processes of pedagogical change are an essential theme of the book. They cover how teachers proceeded through the changes in their work at the time of the transformation and the reasons for their resistance to change, including the challenges that the transformation introduced into their work and personal lives. The book also monitors how the teachers navigated the selection and use of new textbooks and tools, such as digital tools. The work originates in historical-pedagogical research, based primarily on the oral history method and complemented by the study of contemporary documents. .