Page 19 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 19
i. elezović ■ civic and citizenship education in croatia ...
At the tertiary level (ISCED 5 to 8) Croatia, along with 48 European
countries, implemented a set of changes known under the title of the Bo-
logna process which reformed higher education across Europe. Since 2005,
following major innovations, were introduced in HE with the purpose of
joining European Education Area and recognisability, three educational
levels in tertiary education, new academic titles (aligned with the qualifi-
cation frames2) and ECTS points.
Teacher training and continuous professional development
Despite the above-mentioned processes in the national education system,
teacher preparation programs did not go through the same substantial re-
form(s) in a systematic way. In many surveys, teachers stressed that they
do not feel sufficiently prepared to efficiently function according to re-
cent developments in the educational system, in particular that they did
not receive enough methodological, but also subject matter, knowledge to
deliver new forms and contents of teaching. One example of this discrep-
ancy in teacher preparation in Croatia is in the area of seven cross-curric-
ular themes. These themes are: Personal and Social Development, Learn
how to learn, Civic and Citizenship Education, Health, Entrepreneurship,
Using Information and Communication Technology and Sustainable De-
velopment3. The general idea is that each and every teacher can teach be-
side their primary area in which they specialized during the study, any
cross-curricular and interdisciplinary content when needed and that
short-term training (few hour courses) would be enough to prepare them
for these tasks. But results from the ICCS 2016 showed that in Croatia
(and Norway), for example, almost half of the teachers reported not hav-
ing received training relevant to any of the 12 offered CCE topics. On the
other hand, more than half of the teachers in Latvia and Peru indicated
that they had participated in professional development for all of the top-
ics included in this question4 (Schulz et al., 2018).
2 European Qualification Framework (EQF) available at: https://europass.cedefop.eu-
ropa.eu/europass-support-centre/other-questions/what-european-qualification-frame-
work-eqf and national qualification frameworks – Croatian Qualification Framework
(CROQF), available at: https://www.azvo.hr/en/enic-naric-office/the-croatian-qualifica-
tions-framework-croqf .
3 Proscribed under these titles by new curriculums and implemented since school year
2019/2020, but present in general documents since publication of National Framework Cur-
riculum for Preschool, Elementary and Secondary Education (Ministry of Science, Educa-
tion and Sports, 2010).
4 CCE topics researched in ICCS 2016 in which teachers could have teacher training were:
Human rights, Voting and elections, Global community and international organizations,
Environment and environmental sustainability, Emigration and immigration, Equal op-
portunities for men and women, Citizens’ rights and responsibilities, Constitution and
17
At the tertiary level (ISCED 5 to 8) Croatia, along with 48 European
countries, implemented a set of changes known under the title of the Bo-
logna process which reformed higher education across Europe. Since 2005,
following major innovations, were introduced in HE with the purpose of
joining European Education Area and recognisability, three educational
levels in tertiary education, new academic titles (aligned with the qualifi-
cation frames2) and ECTS points.
Teacher training and continuous professional development
Despite the above-mentioned processes in the national education system,
teacher preparation programs did not go through the same substantial re-
form(s) in a systematic way. In many surveys, teachers stressed that they
do not feel sufficiently prepared to efficiently function according to re-
cent developments in the educational system, in particular that they did
not receive enough methodological, but also subject matter, knowledge to
deliver new forms and contents of teaching. One example of this discrep-
ancy in teacher preparation in Croatia is in the area of seven cross-curric-
ular themes. These themes are: Personal and Social Development, Learn
how to learn, Civic and Citizenship Education, Health, Entrepreneurship,
Using Information and Communication Technology and Sustainable De-
velopment3. The general idea is that each and every teacher can teach be-
side their primary area in which they specialized during the study, any
cross-curricular and interdisciplinary content when needed and that
short-term training (few hour courses) would be enough to prepare them
for these tasks. But results from the ICCS 2016 showed that in Croatia
(and Norway), for example, almost half of the teachers reported not hav-
ing received training relevant to any of the 12 offered CCE topics. On the
other hand, more than half of the teachers in Latvia and Peru indicated
that they had participated in professional development for all of the top-
ics included in this question4 (Schulz et al., 2018).
2 European Qualification Framework (EQF) available at: https://europass.cedefop.eu-
ropa.eu/europass-support-centre/other-questions/what-european-qualification-frame-
work-eqf and national qualification frameworks – Croatian Qualification Framework
(CROQF), available at: https://www.azvo.hr/en/enic-naric-office/the-croatian-qualifica-
tions-framework-croqf .
3 Proscribed under these titles by new curriculums and implemented since school year
2019/2020, but present in general documents since publication of National Framework Cur-
riculum for Preschool, Elementary and Secondary Education (Ministry of Science, Educa-
tion and Sports, 2010).
4 CCE topics researched in ICCS 2016 in which teachers could have teacher training were:
Human rights, Voting and elections, Global community and international organizations,
Environment and environmental sustainability, Emigration and immigration, Equal op-
portunities for men and women, Citizens’ rights and responsibilities, Constitution and
17
