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In the example of Mrs. Zabloudilová and other colleagues for whom the revolution provided the chance to elicit changes in the school, we again see incidents of those who were up until that point the conforming part of the population. People, who quietly respected the situation at hand during communism, suddenly began to actively come out against the regime. But then they pointed fingers at those who were up until that point fellow travelers on a single boat. The revolution divided the people with a sharp knife. After these tempests in relations, the situation settled down. Mr. Hájek won the competition for the post of principal. During the interviews he said that “someone” had requested that he enter the competition. This aspect is interesting – none of the three principals of the school who provided an interview admitted wanting to be principal. They had all seen themselves as having heard somebody’s call and succumbed to a certain social pressure. What’s more, a number of teachers had repeated another interesting observation that the revolution had occurred all over the district of Lán similarly to how it had happened at Chestnut School. At seven of the eight schools, men had taken over the position of principal and all were gym teachers. Mrs. Veberová added with a laugh that the revolution had taken place in pubs and only men had access to it there because the women were taking care of the kids. Still another aspect is apparent from the testimonies of some of the teachers affected by 1989. All agreed that the principal’s political affiliation had nothing to do with whether the communist leadership welcomed the changes or not. Mrs. Krečmerová, a teacher, recalls that at Beechwood School the revolution took place with great euphoria. Everyone, including the former communist principal, welcomed the changes in unison. This could explain what the teachers were talking about regarding the transferring of teachers to various schools, that those less politically reliable were sent to smaller towns and villages (this appeared in the testimony of Mrs. Rezková who was nearly transferred to Brook School. This would have of course meant that the smaller the school and town, the lower the “political reliability” toward the communist regime. This hypothesis would need to be verified by further research. Yet according to the respondents, the leadership at Chestnut was mistaken in their view of which way things were going, and in the decisive weeks opted for cautious loyalty to the regime. This came back to haunt them after the revolution had played out.
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Everyone agreed that problems did not arise in the classroom. Teachers first began to cautiously abandon words such as “socialistic” and the likes, and gradually modified the curriculum and freed it from ideological information. Some mentioned minor misunderstandings with parents who began insisting that the school not influence their children ideologically. The bad aftertaste from the politicized relationships was gradually replaced by the airy optimism of the acquired freedom, which manifested itself in possibilities to travel, learning foreign languages and broadening horizons as one wanted and an end to wasting times at meetings and political training. Chestnut moved into this free developmental phase that certainly was not without its problems.
Mrs. Zemánková – the Linden School principal Mrs. Zemánková, the Linden School principal, was born around 1941. Her father was a farmer. “After the war it wasn’t good to be a private farmer, so my father lowered his head and joined the communist party, and remained there until his death.” Mrs. Zemánková followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the communist party, since “that was the prerequisite, so that I could work where I thought I could best serve.” She had wanted to be a teacher since childhood and was the first in her entire family to graduate from university. At the pedagogical institute in Brandýs nad Labem she became certified to teach physics, chemistry and workshops. She was hired at Linden School in 1965 and left in 1992 when the new principal Mr. Zámečník became principal, having won the competition in 1991. According to her and her colleagues, she was a superior chemistry teacher, she liked the work and was glad to take over the position of principal. She ruled with a firm hand, but was also able to put herself in the shoes of her subordinates, and that included political matters. For instance, in the latter half of the 1980s, the so-called Znojmo Call was announced, according to which all schools in Czechoslovakia were to bind themselves by signature to supply a sufficient number of applicants for military schools. Mrs. Zemánková discussed this action with others at Linden. Two of their colleagues said that she respected that the teachers were against the call and the very principle. The Linden School was one of few schools in Czechoslovakia at that time which refused to sign the call. Mrs. Zemánková apparently said that there would be no repercussions for the decision except that she herself would get in trouble and not get a bonus.
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Everyone agrees that she repeatedly stood up for her subordinates when they had some problems of a political nature with parents or with inspectors. For instance, Mrs. Slavíčková said that a parent once came to complain that she wasn’t keeping to the syllabus in history, which everyone said was quite often the case. Mrs. Slavíčková, as she herself admitted, would “tell” the students history, and these were generally things that weren’t fully in line with the official interpretation of history. Mrs. Zemánková stood up for her and calmed the miffed parent down by explaining that the child probably misunderstood. After 1989, Mrs. Zemánková remained the principal at Linden until competitions were announced. Unlike the situation at Chestnut, the teachers stood behind her and did not request that she step down. She therefore decided to enter the competition, but said that it was evident in advance that she wouldn’t be re-elected due to her communist past, and she was right. After the new principal took over, she left to teach at Chestnut and then retired.
Events of 1989 at Linden School As is apparent from the recollections of one of the main protagonists of the events at Linden School, the principal Mrs. Zemánková, 1989 in itself did not bring any great changes to the school. In contrast to the situation at the nearby school, the discussion of political events in Linden’s staffroom was not taboo. The teachers spoke openly with each other about anything. Those who were in the communist party used words such as “changes had to come, it was unavoidable” to describe the revolutionary events. Mrs. Zemánková commented on the events at that time: Well, you know, that wasn’t coming from a teacher, but from the principal of the school. I never prevented anyone from going anywhere. If they wanted to take part in a demonstration or assembly, I never prevented them from doing that. But you know, it was a strange kind of feeling because suddenly I saw those people in a slightly different light. Besides being good teachers, they’re also good fighters. Now was the time to fight, now was the time to fight. I can still see that teacher making the hand gestures. They were enthusiastic for it. (Zemánková, former principal at the Linden School; qualified to teach physics, chemistry and shop; ca. 69 years)
Those who weren’t in the party anticipated a more open society. Yet this early thrill in no way impacted relations or what happened
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