Students’ Attitudes towards the Inclusion of Migrant and Asylum Seeker Students in the Education System of Serbia

	Teaching (Today for) Tomorrow: Bridging the Gap between the Classroom and Reality 3rd International Scientific and Art Conference Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb in cooperation with the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Marina Ž., Semiz Faculty of Education Užice, University of Kragujevac, Serbia  semizmarina@gmail.com

Section - Education for social and cultural diversity

Paper number: 9

Category: Original scientific paper

Abstract

The inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system of the host country represents an important aspect of the migration and asylum policy of the EU and beyond. Previous research confirms the importance of the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in school since it respects their rights, improves their social status, and provides opportunities for later successful participation in society. By starting from the education policy towards migrant and asylum seeker children in the EU and Serbia as well as the concept of inclusive school, the research was conducted with the aim of investigating students’ attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system of Serbia. A descriptive-non-experimental research method, survey technique, as well as two specifically designed research instruments were used. The sample was drawn from the population of students majoring in education (N=261) from five Serbian universities. The research results show that the majority of the students have moderately positive attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system, and the structure of their attitudes can be perceived through three factors: the importance of inclusion and social participation, support resources for inclusion and barriers to inclusion. The obtained results suggest the need for introducing innovative study programmes into faculties of education and for the increased presence of professional application courses for the purpose of acquiring knowledge and developing competen ces for future work with migrant and asylum seeker students.

Ključne riječi:

factor analysis; faculties of education; inclusive school; migration; students‘ attitudes on inclusion

“Whenever I travel and meet the people whom we care for – be they students, families or children – I invariably witness the transformational power of education. And I see how the rhythms of refugees’ lives, like ours, are also built around the everyday routines – and the predictable safety – of going to school. Of studying for exams. Of being with friends. Of learning” (United Nations, 2024: 6).

 

Filippo Grandi

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Children make up a substantial portion of the global migrant population, with an estimated 14.8 million being school-age refugees, of which about 7.2 million are outside of formal education (United Nations, 2024). In the contemporary social, geopolitical, and cultural context, the inclusion of migrant students and asylum seekers in the educational systems of EU host countries and beyond is considered one of the important aspects of immigration policy, as well as other policies (educational, social, etc.). In recent years, especially after the closure of the Balkan route in 2016, Serbia, as a transit country, has seen a significant increase in the number of migrant children and asylum seekers due to various conflicts in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa (Đorđević, Šantić and Živković, 2018). According to some data, over 5,500 migrant students and asylum seekers have passed through the education system in Serbia (Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, 2023). Migration trends have contributed to the intensification of discussions and research in recent decades on improving the quality of education for migrant children and asylum seekers through further development of legal regulations and direct pedagogical practices. Since laws form the foundation for planning and organizing educational work, the public and educational policy measures supporting the education of migrant children and asylum seekers will first be mapped, followed by an examination of the concept of the inclusive school as a reference theoretical framework for implementing and improving the practice itself.

International and national legal frameworks are designed with the intention of ensuring all children, especially those from vulnerable social groups, the right and access to quality education, as well as equal educational opportunities, alongside their peers, regardless of their origin, language, ethnicity, or legal and other status. Numerous international (Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951; Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989; EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, 2000; Council Directive on the education of children of migrant workers from EU countries, 1977) and national legislative frameworks (Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, 2006; Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, 2018; Law on the Foundations of the Education System, 2017; Professional Instructions on the Inclusion of Refugee/Asylum Seeker Students in the Education System, 2017) support the inclusion of migrant students into educational systems. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948) and Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (United Nations, 1966) emphasize education as a fundamental right of every child, as well as equal access to education, regardless of nationality and migration status. Achieving the right to education is crucial for the development and realization of other rights. Article 22 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (United Nations, 1951) defines refugees' access to education at all levels and support for education. Similarly, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) emphasizes the right of children to education, highlighting free and compulsory primary education, as well as accessible secondary education. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (United Nations, 1966) requires signatory countries to eliminate racial discrimination and ensure equal access to education for all. In addition to international conventions, strategic frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Agenda (United Nations, 2015) underscore the importance of inclusive and equitable quality education for all as one of the sustainable development goals. The UNHCR Strategy for Refugee Inclusion outlines key goals for refugee and displaced children and youth to achieve by 2030, in the areas of access to education, quality of education, and the development of skills and opportunities to build a better future (UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2019) for the implementation of the lessons, as well as measures to improve teaching of the children's mother tongue and culture of their country of origin.

Article 14 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (European Union, 2012) defines that everyone has the right to education (the possibility of free compulsory education), as well as the freedom to establish educational institutions in accordance with democratic principles and their religious, philosophical, and pedagogical beliefs, as well as national laws regulating the exercise of such freedom and rights. Similarly, Article 2 of the Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (Council of Europe, 1952) emphasizes that, in ensuring the child's right to education, the right of parents to provide education and teaching in accordance with their religious and philosophical beliefs must be respected. Furthermore, the Common Framework for Integration: Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy in the European Union (European Commission, 2005) provide guidelines for strengthening integration policies in the EU, emphasizing the importance of education, equal access to services, and non-discrimination in institutions, employment, as well as knowledge of the host country’s language and history.

Similar to international legislative frameworks, the key characteristics of national frameworks supporting the educational inclusion of migrants are reflected in the provision of: a) the right and access to inclusive educational opportunities, i.e., preschool, free primary, and further education for all children; b) protection from all forms of discrimination – based on race, ethnicity, migration status (Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, 2006; Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, 2018; Law on the Foundations of the Education System, 2017), as well as (c) clear procedures and processes for including migrant and asylum-seeking students in schools and other educational institutions (Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, 2017). The Professional Instructions on the Inclusion of Refugee/Asylum Seeker Students in the Education System (Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, 2017) have been in use since 2017 in schools attended by migrant students. These instructions define in more detail the enrollment conditions, methods, and models of support at the school level (for teachers and school staff, regular class students, and their parents), ways of providing language, psychological, and educational support to the student and their parents/guardians, monitoring their progress and development, as well as the process of maintaining pedagogical documentation. The school-level Support Plan focuses on preparing the school community, including homeroom teachers, parents/guardians, and students, for the integration of a new student. The Pupil Support Plan is more individualized, addressing the student's specific needs, and includes an adaptation program to manage stress, intensive language learning in Serbian through supplementary classes, and integration into regular and extracurricular school activities. This plan also emphasizes the individualization of teaching activities, adjusting schedules, didactic materials, and teaching methods to better support the student’s learning process. Since the right to education is linked to ensuring other rights (such as the right to health and social protection, protection of personal data, freedom of thought, etc.), support for migrant students, refugees, and asylum seekers includes provisions and measures for ensuring access to necessary support services in the community. 

The concept of an inclusive school, developed by Booth and Ainscow (2011) and systematically presented in the Index for Inclusion, encompasses three main areas: creating inclusive cultures, creating inclusive policies, and creating inclusive practices. It is a comprehensive tool and a means of support for school staff to critically reflect on their practices, identify areas for improvement, and implement changes that promote inclusion. In addition to self-assessment, this framework can also be useful in developing action plans to improve the inclusivity of the school and ensure dynamism and continuity of the process. The first area – Creating Inclusive Cultures – focuses on building a school culture that values diversity and supports the participation of all students. This includes fostering a sense of belonging, promoting respect for diversity, creating a culture of collaboration among teachers, students, families, and the broader community, as well as building trust and relationships. The second area of an inclusive school focuses on creating inclusive policies to support inclusivity at each level of the school system. Inclusive policies encompass: equal opportunities (e.g., ensuring all students have equal access to quality education), non-discrimination (preventing all forms of discrimination, such as racism, xenophobia, etc.), developing an inclusive curriculum that reflects the diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences of all students, ensuring that learning becomes relevant to everyone. The third area – Creating Inclusive Practices – focuses on the practical actions that schools undertake to implement inclusion in everyday teaching and extracurricular activities. This aspect of developing an inclusive school includes: adapting teaching strategies to meet the diverse needs of all students, providing peer support and collaboration, creating a supportive physical and emotional learning environment, involving families and communities, and addressing barriers (such as language difficulties, cultural differences, or socio-economic challenges) in the learning and participation process of all students. The nurturing of an inclusive school culture is reflected not only in creating inclusive policies and practices but also in the positive attitudes of staff, students, parents, and the community. By focusing on creating inclusive cultures, policies, and practices, schools can ensure that every student has the opportunity to fully participate in their education, i.e., learning and participation in a formal context, to feel accepted and valued, and to achieve their maximum potential and development.

Although there is concern worldwide for the living and educational situation of migrants, attitudes toward their inclusion in regular school classes are often inconsistent and vary significantly, with some expressing resistance and fear, while others show openness, acceptance, and solidarity. The inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the educational system has become particularly relevant in relation to the concept of teacher professional development and other educators (Abacioglu, Fischer & Volman, 2022; Prentice, 2023; Rissanen, Kuusisto & Kuusisto, 2016). The attitudes of teachers, future teachers, and other educators towards the educational inclusion of migrant and asylum-seeking students in regular schools vary depending on a range of factors, including cultural background, personal experiences, broader social and political context, media portrayal, systemic solutions, and the level of support during teacher professional education and development, etc. Understanding the attitudes of students from pedagogical, philological, and philosophical faculties toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in schools is essential for fostering an inclusive, tolerant, and supportive educational environment and overall school climate. This paper examines the perceptions of students who are future educators and explores the implications of their attitudes on the concept of professional education. Systems of professional education for future educators worldwide (Abacioglu, Fischer & Volman, 2022), as well as in the Western Balkans (Pantić, 2008), have traditionally been structured as monocultural. As a result, they cannot sufficiently prepare future teaching candidates for educational work with students from diverse cultural identities and backgrounds, with different migration statuses. Given the importance of educational inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students, on the one hand, and the current concept of professional education for teachers, educators, and pedagogues in national frameworks, the primary problem of this research is highlighted – the attitudes of future educators towards the educational inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the educational system of Serbia.

 

Method

               By starting from the education policy towards migrant and asylum seeker children in the EU and Serbia as well as the concept of inclusive school, the research was conducted with the aim of investigating students’ attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system of Serbia. The general aim of the research was specified through two tasks:

(1)   determine the degree of expression and the factor structure of students’ attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system; and

(2)   investigate the differences in students’ attitudes  towards inclusive education in relation to independent variables (university, year of study, study programme, contribution of studies to acquiring knowledge about the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in the education system).

Based on the previous research results (Glock et al., 2019; Đorđević, Šantić and Živković, 2018; McCorkle, 2019; Prentice, 2023; Saglam and Ilksen-Kanbur, 2018), two research hypotheses were formulated:

               Hypothesis 1: The majority of students have positive attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system of Serbia;

               Hypothesis 2: In relation to the independent variables, students’ attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system of Serbia differ.

Research sample. The research was conducted on an appropriate sample of 261 students of undergraduate academic studies (UAS) at the faculties of education, philology and philosophy in Serbia, aged 19-36 (89,7% are females and 10,3% are males). The structure of the students’ sample according to the singled out demographic and education characteristics is shown in Table 1.

 

Table 1

Structure of the research sample in relation to the independent variables 

 

Variables	Modalities	f	%
University	University of Belgrade	51	19,5
	University of Kragujevac	100	38,3
	University of Novi Sad	29	11,1
	University in Priština	13	5,0
	University of Niš	68	26,1
Year of study	First year	105	40,2
	Second year	54	20,7
	Third year	42	16,1
	Fourth year	60	23,0
Study programme	UAS Primary school teacher	119	45,6
	UAS Serbian language and literature	46	17,6
	UAS Pedagogy	96	36,8
Contribution of studies to acquiring knowledge about the educational inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students	Yes	192	73,6
	No	69	26,4

                                                                                                                                                                            

Research methods, techniques and instruments. A descriptive-non-experimental research method, survey technique, as well as two specifically designed research instruments were used: (1) A questionnaire about students’ social and educational characteristics; and (2) A Likert-type assessment scale. In the first instrument, data were collected about the students’ gender, the year of study, university, study programme, contribution of studies to acquiring knowledge about the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in the education system. Within the second instrument including 18 statements representing the operationalization of the three aspects of inclusive education, namely the importance of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in the education system, educational inclusion resources and obstacles to educational inclusion, i.e. the reduction or removal of the obstacles to social participation and learning of migrant/asylum seeker students.  The initial scale meet the theoretical reliability requirements (α= 0.83). The first subscale – The importance of inclusion and social participation – included six items (Item 1: “The inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in education is important due to their right to education.” Item 6: “Inclusion implies migrant/asylum seeker students’ contributions to the development of our society in the future.”). The second subscale – Resources to support inclusion – included seven items (Item 7: “The inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes implies removing various barriers (prejudices, language barriers, institutional barriers, etc.)” Item 10: “One of the most important aspects of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is the promotion of cooperation with their family. The third subscale – Obstacles to inclusion – included five items (Item 15: “In practice, the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students amounts to their being physically placed in regular classes.” Item 17:  “Migrant/asylum seekers should receive education within asylum and reception centers.”). The students expressed their assessment of the consent with the statements on five-point Likert scale (1 – Strongly disagree; 5 – Strongly agree), and the larger total result indicates greater expression of more positive students' attitudes towards the inclusion of migrants and asylum seekers in the educational system.

Data processing and analysis procedures. A group and online survey was conducted during the 2023/2024 academic year. Student participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymous. The following descriptive statistics measures were used in data analysis and interpretation: mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis measures. For investigating statistically significant differences in the students’ attitudes with regard to university, year of study and study programe, we used a one-way analysis of variance for non-repeated measures (ANOVA). T-test was used to test the differences in the students’ attitudes with regard to contribution of studies to acquiring knowledge about the educational inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students. An exploratory factor analysis was applied to determine the factor structure of students' attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system.

 

 

Results

The average response value of students on the scale on the scale for assessing attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system is 68.73 (Table 2), which, in relation to the theoretical range of the scale (18-90), indicates a moderate to high value. This descriptive indicator suggests that, on average, students have moderately positive attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the Serbian educational system.

 

Table 2

Descriptive parameters on the scale of attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in the education system of Serbia

 

	M	SD	Sk.	Ku.	Theoretical range of the scale	Cronbach's Alpha	Number of  items
Scale of attitudes towards inclusion – Total	68.73	7.92	-.680	1.490	18-90	.83	18

 

The standard deviation values (SD = 7.92) indicate some variability in students attitudes toward the educational inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students, but generally, most responses are clustered around the mean value. The distribution of results is slightly skewed to the left, suggesting that most students express positive attitudes. The attitude scale toward inclusion is reliable, and a Cronbachs alpha of 0.83 indicates that the items within the scale are highly correlated and measure the same underlying construct—attitudes toward educational inclusion.

Exploratory factor analysis identified three dimensions of students attitudes toward the inclusion of migrants and asylum seekers in the Serbian educational system, which, when placed in a Promax rotation, explain 51.36% of the variance, i.e., more than half of the variation in students attitudes toward educational inclusion (Table 3).

 

Table 3

Characteristics of the identified factors on the scale of attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students

 

Name of the factor	Characteristic value	Accounted variance (%)	Cumulative variance (%)	Number of items
The importance of inclusion and social participation	5.472	30,40	30,40	7
Resources to support inclusion	2.568	14,27	44,67	6
Obstacles to inclusion	1.204	6,690	51,357	5

 

The characteristic values of the first factor – The importance of inclusion and social participation – show that this factor makes the largest contribution to explaining the overall variance in the data, accounting for nearly a third of the total variation in responses. A significant portion of the items on the scale relates to the importance of inclusion and social participation, as the dominant factor groups 7 items. The characteristic value for the second factor – Resources to support inclusion – indicates a moderate contribution to the overall variance. This factor consists of 6 items, focusing on the necessary resources for successful inclusion (e.g., cooperation with families, intercultural education, and peer acceptance, etc.). The third factor – Obstacles to inclusion – has the smallest characteristic value. This factor explains 6.69% of the total variance, suggesting that obstacles to inclusion have less influence on shaping students overall attitudes compared to the first two factors. This factor groups 5 items, which are focused on barriers to the development of inclusion, such as cultural differences, institutional challenges, and inadequate conditions, etc.

 

Table 4

Descriptive indicators of the first factor structure

 

The items within Factor 1 – The importance of inclusion and social participation	M	SD	Saturation
The inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in education is important due to their right to education.	4.49	.872		.811
Including migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes contributes to developing interculturality in schools.	3.97	1.062		.800
Migrant/asylum seeker students have equal rights to education as other students in our country.	4.27	1.059		.735
Including migrant/asylum seeker students in extracurricular activities is important for the demonstration of their talents and the appreciation of their different interests.	4.28	.993		.725
Including migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes contributes to preserving their tradition and customs.	3.44	1.146		.707
Inclusion implies migrant/asylum seeker students’ contributions to the development of our society in the future.	3.15	1.182		.671
Migrant/asylum seeker students should receive education within regular classes.	3.72	1.239		.549
Characteristic value – 5.472	Accounted variance – 30,40%

 

The factor that predominantly explains the attitudes of future educators relates to the importance of inclusion and social participation (30.40% of the variance). The average values for each statement (Table 4) indicate that students assess the significance of each aspect of educational inclusion for migrant and asylum seeker students: from the right to education, through the expression of talents and interests, the development of interculturality in schools, to their future contribution to society. Most students – future educators – agree that the right to education for migrant and asylum seeker students is a key aspect of their inclusion. This is reflected in the statement with the highest mean value: The inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in education is important due to their right to education (M = 4.49). Students also agree that the importance of educational inclusion for migrant and asylum seeker students is reflected in the opportunity for them to express their talents and different interests (M = 4.28), and the equal right to education as other students (M = 4.27). The lowest level of agreement was expressed regarding the statement (Inclusion implies migrant/asylum seeker students’ contributions to the development of our society in the future) suggesting that students are less confident about the future societal contribution of migrant and asylum seeker students. The standard deviation values indicate the greatest variability in students attitudes regarding the integration of migrant and asylum seeker students into regular school classes (SD = 1.239), on one hand, and general consensus on the importance of their educational rights (SD = 0.872), on the other hand. The results further suggest that students perceive the importance of inclusion for migrant/asylum seeker students, with particular emphasis on their educational rights, but do not have unified views on all aspects of inclusion, such as integration into regular classes and societal contributions.

 

Table 5

Descriptive indicators of the second factor structure

 

The items within Factor 2 – Resources to support inclusion	M	SD	Saturation
The inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes implies removing various barriers (prejudices, language barriers, institutional barriers, etc.).	4.30	.885	.800
One of the most important aspects of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is the promotion of cooperation with their family.	4.12	.893	.765
Successful inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in education is impossible without a united action of the educational, social and health sectors.	4.03	.933	.752
One of the most important aspects of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is peer acceptance.	4.30	.848	.654
Inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is impossible without the development and preservation of intercultural education.	4.11	.933	.631
One of the most important aspects of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is to learn the language of instruction.	3.94	.921	.531
Characteristic value – 2.568	Accounted variance – 14,27%

 

The second factor, Resources to Support Inclusion, includes 6 items related to the resources necessary to ensure the effective inclusion of migrant students in education (Table 5). Students express the greatest agreement with two statements: The inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes implies removing various barriers (prejudices, language barriers, institutional barriers, etc.) (M = 4.30) and One of the most important aspects of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is peer acceptance (M = 4.30). These statements indicate that the most crucial resources for inclusion are overcoming barriers (e.g., prejudices, language barriers, institutional obstacles) and ensuring peer acceptance, suggesting that peer relationships are seen as essential for successful inclusion. Students expressed the least agreement with the statement: One of the most important aspects of inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes is to learn the language of instruction (M = 3.94). The mean value of this item suggests that while language learning is considered important, it is not viewed as the most critical resource compared to other aspects, such as cooperation with families or peer acceptance. On the other hand, the standard deviation values indicate significant variability in students; attitudes regarding the necessity for unified action in the educational, social, and healthcare sectors and the development and nurturing of intercultural education. While some students view this cooperation as essential, others do not see it as a top priority. Similarly, while some students consider the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in regular classes impossible without the development and maintenance of intercultural education, others do not perceive it as crucial. The second factor accounts for a smaller portion of the variance in students responses (14.27%), suggesting that although resources are important, other factors play a more dominant role in shaping their attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students.

Table 6

 Descriptive indicators of the third factor structure

 

The items within Factor 3 – Obstacles to inclusion	M	SD	Saturation
Educational inclusion of migrant/asylum seekers is not possible if there are great cultural differences.	3.25	1.043	.791
In practice, the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students amounts to their being physically placed in regular classes.	3.50	.946	.785
Migrant/asylum seekers should receive education within asylum and reception centers.	3.09	1.321	.636
Migrant/asylum seeker students should receive education in special classes, together with other migrant students.	3.09	1.412	.625
There are no adequate conditions (institutional, staff, material, etc.) for quality education of migrant/asylum seeker students.	3.76	1.156	.477
Characteristic value – 1.204	Accounted variance – 6,690%

 

The third factor encompasses 5 items related to various obstacles on the path to educational inclusion for migrant/asylum seeker students (Table 6). It explains a relatively small portion of the variance in responses, suggesting that obstacles to inclusion have less of an influence on students attitudes compared to the other factors. The mean values indicate that students agree that the lack of adequate resources (institutional, personnel, or material) represents a significant barrier to the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in the educational system (M = 3.76). On the other hand, items with the lowest mean values suggest that students are less supportive of segregating migrant/asylum seeker students into specialized classes or limiting their education to reception centers. However, some students do support the idea of separate education for migrant/asylum seeker students, while others oppose it (SD = 1.412; SD = 1.321). This finding can be interpreted by the fact that students are not sufficiently certain whether segregation in special classes, with students who share similar experiences, would be more beneficial or harmful for these students. In summary, while students recognize the challenges and resource limitations in integrating migrant and asylum seeker students into the educational system, there is significant variation in their views on whether separate education or inclusion in regular classrooms is the best approach. This suggests that students are uncertain about the advantages and disadvantages of segregation and its potential impact on the educational experience of migrant students.

 

Table 7

The significance of the differences in the students’ attitudes towards the inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students in the education system in relation to the independent variables

 

Variables	Modalities	M		SD	F		LSD test
Year of study	First year UAS	69.59		10.38	F=3.978; df=3; p< 0.05		1-3 1-4
	Second year UAS	60.73
	Third year UAS	56.38
	Fourth year UAS	55.19
Study programme	UAS Primary school teacher		66.11	10,13		F= 5.731 df=2; p< 0.01	1-2 1-3
	UAS Serbian language and literature		70.37	8,5
	UAS Pedagogy		70,92	8,94
Contribution of studies to acquiring knowledge...	Yes		67.81	9.99		T=-2.608; df=259; p<0.01
	No		71.30	8.19

 

The results of the one-way analysis of variance for repeated measurements, shown in Table 7, indicate that there are significant differences in students attitudes based on their year of study (F = 3.978; df = 3; p < 0.05) and study program (F = 5.731; df = 2; p < 0.01). The results of the independent samples t-test indicate a significant impact of the contribution of the study program to acquiring knowledge about the educational inclusion of migrants/asylum seekers (T = -2.608; df = 259; p < 0.01) on students attitudes towards the educational inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students.

In terms of study year, subsequent tests revealed significant differences between first- year and third-year students, as well as between first-year and fourth-year students. A trend was observed where first-year students expressed more positive attitudes towards the educational inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students than their older peers. These differences in their attitudes should be considered in relation to the study program itself and the content of both general academic and professionally applied subjects. Students in the Serbian language and literature and Pedagogy programs generally have more positive attitudes towards the educational inclusion of migrant/asylum seeker students compared to students in the Teacher Education program. Contrary to expectations, students who did not evaluate their studies as significantly contributing to their knowledge about the educational inclusion of migrant students expressed more positive attitudes.

 

Discussion

The importance of education and attending school for migrant and refugee children has been documented in numerous studies – in the domain of academic achievements, language learning, health, socio-emotional well-being, and fostering a sense of identity (Burrone, D’Costa & Holmqvist, 2018; Mock-Muñoz de Luna et al., 2020). Exercising the right to education is crucial for their overall development, social participation, and the realization of other rights in the areas of health and social protection. By ensuring the right to education and equal access to quality education, educational inclusion can improve attitudes among students and school staff, mutual interaction and communication, as well as educational outcomes for all students. Educational policies, including laws and strategies, aim to enhance the integration of migrant and asylum seeker students into education and find solutions to the problems and barriers migrants face. However, these policies often fail to consider significant practical realities that play a key role in the integration process (Taylor et al., 2023).

Taking these insights into account, it is necessary to place the results of this research within the broader context of related studies in the field of educational inclusion and migration, with a focus on the attitudes of future educators and teachers, as well as the specifics of the educational system in the context of migration and the concept of teacher professional development.

Teacher professional development that includes training on intercultural competencies and teaching strategies for inclusion in a multicultural classroom can improve educators attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant students (Rissanen, Kuusisto & Kuusisto, 2016). Migration trends, as well as the demands of modern pedagogical practice, increase the need for educator training and professional development, as "teaching now requires knowledge and understanding of students’ diverse backgrounds" (Taylor et al., 2023, p. 1). Furthermore, even highly internationally recognized teacher education programs are not sufficiently designed to help future teachers develop the skills and competencies needed to work in multicultural environments (Biasutti et al., 2021; Taylor et al., 2023), and opportunities for professional development and further training related to working with immigrant students are often lacking (Alisaari et al., 2019; Sinkkonen & Kyttälä, 2014). 

In the small number of studies conducted to examine teachers attitudes toward the inclusion of migrants and refugees, mostly positive attitudes have been found (Prentice, 2023), which is also confirmed by the results of this research. One study (Prentice, 2023) discovered that educators have relatively positive attitudes toward refugee students, and their previous experiences were associated with positive attitudes. Other authors reached similar conclusions, i.e., teachers with experience teaching refugee students express more positive attitudes regarding interactions with them (Sağlam and Kanbur, 2017). Rissanen, Kuusisto, and Tirri (2015) discovered that primary education teachers in Finland who had more interactions with diverse cultures had more positive attitudes toward Muslim students. Additionally, Glock, Kovacs and Pit-Ten Cate (2019) found that  preservice teachers have more negative implicit biases toward students from ethnic minorities than in-service teachers with experience in different schools. A positive correlation was also found between teachers inclusive beliefs about migration and their attitudes toward the educational rights of immigrant students (McCorkle, 2019). Despite the positive attitudes of current and future educators toward the educational inclusion of migrant, refugee, and asylum seeker students, the results of the study by Sağlam and Kanbur (2017) indicate that teachers do not feel sufficiently competent to teach refugee students and that the curriculum and the created educational environment are not adapted to the needs of these children.

A more comprehensive understanding of the intensity and structure of students  attitudes toward the inclusion of immigrant and asylum seeker students in the educational system requires considering the specifics of the educational system in Serbia in the context of educational policy measures for students with different migration statuses, as well as the direct practice. Educational policy measures (Law on the Foundations of the Education System, 2017; Professional Instructions, 2017; Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja Republike Srbije, 2017) foresee teacher training, support programs at the institutional level, and language support for students, as the language of instruction and education is crucial for their academic success, well-being, and overall development. To improve the integration of migrant and asylum-seeking students into current educational practice, it is essential to focus on addressing language and institutional barriers, providing training for teachers and students in cultural sensitivity, and creating more opportunities for intercultural interactions. This practice-based approach can lead to the development of a more inclusive and cohesive educational system that is socially relevant for both immigrant and local students.

 

Conclusions

The results show that most future educators have moderately positive attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the education system of Serbia. The structure of their attitudes can be examined through three factors: the importance of inclusion and social participation, resources for supporting inclusion, and barriers to inclusion. The importance of inclusion and social participation is the most significant factor in shaping students’ attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students, followed by resources for supporting inclusion, and finally, barriers to inclusion. Together, these factors contribute to understanding students’ attitudes toward educational inclusion, with the first two factors having the greatest impact.

The dominant factor focuses on the value of inclusion and social participation, reflecting the attitudes of future educators that inclusion is important for ensuring equal rights for all, talents and interests, social development, cultural understanding, etc. The second factor emphasizes the importance of various resources, such as peer acceptance, systemic support, cooperation with the families of migrant/asylum-seeker students, institutional readiness, and similar factors. The last factor focuses on various barriers and obstacles to the development of inclusion in schools (e.g., cultural differences, inadequate resources, and institutional barriers) that should be prevented or, at least, whose impact should be reduced. Although students perceive the lack of support (e.g., staff-related, material and institutional conditions) as a significant challenge in implementing educational inclusion for migrant and asylum seeker students, they are less uniform when it comes to different models of their education, i.e., integration into regular classrooms, special classrooms within schools, or reception centers. The lower variance explained by the factor related to barriers in the development of inclusion suggests that students attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students are multi-component, and that barriers represent only a smaller part of their combination. Additionally, one of the key conclusions is that students attitudes toward the inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students in the Serbian educational system vary depending on the year of study, study program, and how they assess the contribution of their studies to acquiring the necessary knowledge for the inclusion of migrants. Students attitudes toward this important educational issue are largely shaped by various combinations of personal and social factors, with pedagogical characteristics of the respondents occupying a particularly important place.

Based on the results obtained, certain recommendations can be made for both teaching practice and future research. Regarding immediate practice, there is a recognized need to innovate study programs at pedagogical and teacher education faculties, with a greater emphasis on professional and applied courses aimed at acquiring knowledge and developing competencies for future work with migrant and asylum seeker students. A better understanding of future educators attitudes toward the educational inclusion of migrant and asylum seeker students, as well as the specific factors that determine their attitudes, can help more carefully design study programs for teacher, educator, and guidance counselor training, aiming to improve not only the goals and outcomes of study programs and course content but also the practical experiences of future educators. By developing curricula that focus on intercultural teaching competencies (Biasutti et al., 2021) and practical training for future educators, students gain a deeper understanding of the importance of inclusion and their professional role in the educational system, especially in the context of contemporary migration trends.

Further research could focus on qualitative analysis to examine students attitudes at different levels of study and how study programs can enhance their competencies, motivation, and readiness to work with migrant and refugee students. Since students’ attitudes in this study were understood to include only the cognitive component—i.e., their knowledge and beliefs about educational inclusion—it is also important to investigate the affective and conative aspects of their attitudes, as well as the influence of other potential variables (e.g., previous experience interacting with migrants, type and status of the course, etc.). Given that the sample of respondents was not representative, it is necessary to expand the research to include other students from related faculties across the country, as well as current educators (class teachers, Serbian language teachers, pedagogues) in schools with and without experience working with migrant and asylum seeker students.

 

 

 

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	Odgoj danas za sutra:  Premošćivanje jaza između učionice i realnosti  3. međunarodna znanstvena i umjetnička konferencija Učiteljskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu Suvremene teme u odgoju i obrazovanju – STOO4 u suradnji s Hrvatskom akademijom znanosti i umjetnosti
Monika Pažur, Katarina Aladrović Slovaček Učiteljski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska  monika.pazur@ufzg.hr

SekcijaStavovi -studenata Odgojprema inkluziji učenika migranata i obrazovanjetražitelja zaazila socijalnuu iobrazovni kulturnusistem raznolikostSrbije

Broj rada: 8

Kategorija članka: Izvorni znanstveni rad

Sažetak

RazvojVažan demokratskihaspekt kulturamigracijske odgojno-obrazovnihi institucijauseljeničke temelji se na razvoju građanske kompetencije onih kojipolitike u njemu sudjeluju, a koja se očituje u vrednovanju ljudskog dostojanstvaEU i ljudskihizvan pravanjezinih te njegovanju kulturne raznolikosti i demokracije. Istogranica je moguće isključivo kada osoba razumije što demokracija jest, koji su njezini temeljni elementi i što oni podrazumijevaju, kako za građane, tako i za društvo u cijelosti. Ciljevi ovog istraživanja bili su (1) opisati kako odgojiteljice i učiteljice razumiju ključne koncepte demokracije, te (2) sumirati ključne riječi koje odgojiteljice i učiteljice koriste u opisivanju koncepata demokracije, kao i naznake odnosa među njima. Na temelju analize aktualne literature detektirano je 10 temeljnih elemenata demokracije. U istraživanju su sudjelovale 52 odgojiteljice i učiteljice, različitog radnog iskustva, koje su ispunjavajući upitnik opisale i definirale unaprijed izdvojene konstrukte demokracije. Provedena je tematska analiza sadržaja u odnosu na 3 komponente odgovora: sadržajna, leksička (vrste riječi, broj riječi, leksička gustoća i raznolikost) i sintaktičku (struktura i tipovi rečenica). Rezultati pokazuju kako odgojiteljice i učiteljice imaju uglavnom nisku i srednju razinu razumijevanja koncepata, kako na sadržajnoj, jednako tako na leksičkoj i sintaktičkoj razini. Dodatno, prepoznat je nizak varijabilitet u korištenju riječi za definiranje pojma, odnosno sudionice često koriste iste riječi za opisivanje različitih koncepata. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na potrebne promjene u inicijalnom obrazovanju učitelja i odgojitelja kako bi bili spremni odgovoriti na suvremene izazove i promjene u društvu, za što je ključno razumijevanje svih elemenata demokracije.

Ključne riječi:

analiza sadržaja, koncepti demokracije, odgojiteljice, razumijevanje, učiteljice

Uvod

Demokracija ne postoji bez aktivnih i odgovornih građana i građanki svjesnih vlastitih prava i odgovornosti u zajednicama u kojima djeluju. Kako bi isto postalo moguće, potrebno je povezati demokraciju i obrazovanje, te škole učiniti mjestima gdje svi imaju priliku sudjelovati u demokratskim procesima te inicirati i poticati promjene (Dewey, 1916). Jedna od temeljnih uloga odgojno-obrazovnih institucija današnjice jest pripremiti učenike[1] za kompetentno sudjelovanje u demokratskom društvu (Gudjons, 1992). Dokumenti, zakoni, strategije i preporuke globalne (UNESCO, 1995; UN, 1998), europske (Europska unija, 1998; Vijeće Europe, 2000) i hrvatske (MZO, 2011; Hrvatski Sabor, 2014) odgojno-obrazovne politike, kao temelj razvoja demokratskih društva, zahtijevaju od školskog sustava da kod svojih učenika razvijaju građansku kompetenciju koja će ih učiniti aktivnim građanima svjesnih svojih prava i odgovornosti u zajednicama u kojima djeluju, primarno uvođenjem sadržaja za odgoj i obrazovanje za ljudska prava i demokratsko građanstvo u odgojno-obrazovne institucije.

Osnaživanje pojedinaca za život u demokraciji podrazumijeva osnaživanje individualnog identiteta te njegova priprema za stalno traganje za ravnotežom između individualne slobode i pripadnosti zajednici (Perotti, 1995). Kako bi netko bio pripremljen za to treba raspolagati temeljnim pojmovima koji mu omogućuju da živi s drugima, poštuje njihove slobode te održava i zagovara ravnotežu moći između pojedinca, skupina i institucija. Prava demokracija ne može zaživjeti van kulture ljudskih prava, u kojoj postoji načelo zaštite svačijeg dostojanstva i osiguranja temeljnih sloboda svima. Na tom tragu temeljni elementi demokracije su individualni i društveni identitet. Njihov suodnos i ravnoteža između ova dva koncepta, primarno je odgovornost svakog građanina, koji teži uspostavi kulture ljudskih prava te aktivno reagira kada dolazi do kršenja vlastitih ili tuđih prava (Gollob i Krapf, 2008). Pojedinac postaje aktivnim građaninom osnaživanjem kroz odgoj i obrazovanje koje se može ostvariti isključivo u onim okruženjima gdje isti ima priliku učiti o ljudskim pravima, ali i kroz njih (Spajić-Vrkaš i sur., 2004), odnosno gdje postoji temelj za isto kroz holistički proces učenja u zajednici ravnopravnih u kojoj se uči reflektirajući i promišljajući. Razvoj vrijednosti koje nekog čine građaninom demokracije, koji shvaća različitosti kao bogatstvo i teži za ravnopravnom distribucijom moći, moguće je samo kada se znanje ne stječe statično, već dinamično. Apple (1998) govori kako je znanje energija koja boravi u pojedincima i grupama, a njezino iskreno razumijevanje može izaći tek iskrenim dijalogom, kojim se učitelj i učenik susretne, te koji dovodi ne samo razmjeni stavova, već i transformaciji ponašanja i odnosa (Woods i sur., 2023). Jedan od glavnih elementa koji ukazuju na dinamičnost pojma demokracije jest osjećaj bespomoćnosti, koji podrazumijeva da oni koji imaju otežan pristup određenim pravima, nisu u mogućnosti se sami izboriti za njih. Upravo zato, važno je kao građanin kontinuirano doprinositi razvoju kulture mire i sigurnom okruženju, te kroz borbu za prava drugih težiti ostvarivanju socijalne pravde za sve (Miller, 1978).

Odgoj i obrazovanje trebali bi odgovoriti ovim zahtjevima demokratskih društava, i omogućiti razvoj pojedinaca koji održavaju ravnotežu između individualnih i kolektivnih identieta, pritom razumijevajući dinamičnost demokracije i vlastitu odgovornost u njenom razvoju i očuvanju. Na tragu ovog, UN Općom deklaracijom o ljudskim pravima (1948) definira da “obrazovanje mora biti usmjereno punom razvoju ljudske osobe i jačati poštivanje ljudskih prava i temeljnih sloboda. Ono mora promicati razumijevanje, snošljivost i prijateljstvo među svim narodima i rasnim ili vjerskim grupama te podupirati nastojanja Ujedinjenih naroda na održanju mira”.  U Konvenciji o pravima djeteta (1989) također je utvrđeno da je jedno od temeljnih prava djeteta da zna svoja prava. U čl. 29. u tom se smislu obvezuje države stranke na promicanje obrazovanja koje ne samo da razvija osobnost, talente te duševne i tjelesne sposobnosti djeteta, nego unaprjeđuje poštivanje ljudskih prava i temeljnih sloboda te načela sadržanih u Povelji Ujedinjenih naroda. Na ovim temeljima, od sredine 20. stoljeća, pojavljuju se razni vodiči za učitelje o tome kako poučavati o ljudskim pravima i temeljnim slobodama, a posljedično se razvijaju i obrazovni programi kojima se odgoj i obrazovanje za ljudska prava i demokratsko građanstvo uključuje u formalni odgojno-obrazovni sustav. Međutim, razvoj takvog tipa obrazovanja nije bio jednostavan. Prema Spajić-Vrkaš i sur. (2004) smetnje su se pojavile na tri razine: nedostatak jasnih smjernica i programa kojima se u području obrazovanja promiču međunarodni ciljevi; prevlast kognitivističkog pristupa u stjecanju znanja i pasivnih metoda učenja, što je bilo nespojivo s novim međunarodnim potrebama u području obrazovanja; te odsustvo učinkovitih mehanizama nadzora nad primjenom međunarodno prihvaćenih standarda, smjernica i programa u obrazovanju što je, uz raznolikost političkog ustroja zemalja članica i prihvaćanje obrazovanja kao područja koje se nalazi pod isključivom nadležnošću država, u stvarnosti moglo značiti da će međunarodna nastojanja ostati samo na deklarativnom izjašnjavanju. Razvoj demokratskih kompetencija učenika ne može se odvijati neovisno o demokratizaciji čitavog odgojno-obrazovnog sustava, odnosno drugim riječima, nužno je elemente demokracije integrirati i u oblik obrazovnih aktivnosti (strukture školskog vođenja, metode poučavanja, obrazovne aktivnosti učitelja i učenika), i u sadržaje obrazovanja (objektivna, demokratska, slobodna, kompletna refleksija na sve predmetne kurikulume, uzimajući u obzir svakodnevna iskustva i individualne potrebe), te u izvannastavne aktivnosti učenika, uključujući promociju javnoga obrazovanja i suradnju s lokalnom zajednicom i ostalim sferama socijalnog života (ekonomija, znanost, kultura, mediji, donosioci odluka…) (Bondarenko i Kozulin, 2006). Imajući na umu sve ove elemente, te istovremeno djelovanje na sadržajnoj, metodičkoj i odgojnoj razini, jasno je da je jedan od temelja kvalitetnog uvođenja ovog tipa obrazovanja, da oni koji rade s djecom i učenicima i sami imaju razvijenu građansku kompetenciju.

 

Građanska kompetencija učitelja u Hrvatskoj

U Zaključcima Vijeća EU-a iz 2014. o učinkovitom obrazovanju nastavnika[2] navodi se kako su jedan od ključnih čimbenika u razvoju aktivnih i odgovornih učenika, upravo znanje, vještine i stavovi učitelja. Građanska kompetencija je skup znanja, vještina, stavova i vrijednosti koje omogućuju pojedincima aktivno sudjelovanje u društvenim, političkim i kulturnim životima (Kovačić i Horvat, 2016). U kontekstu obrazovanja građanska kompetencija učitelja predstavlja ključnu komponentu profesionalnog razvoja jer učitelji ne samo da prenose akademska znanja, već i modeliraju društvene i etičke norme koje oblikuju mlade ljude u odgovorne građane. Lonto (2019) opisuje građansku komepetenciju učitelja kao skup građanskog znanja i razumijevanja, građanskih vještina i sposobnosti te građanske naravi, a jednako tako podrazumijeva da učitelj ima razvijene građanske sposobnosti, građansko samopouzdanje i građansku predanost. Građanska kompetencija obuhvaća razne aspekte osobnog i društvenog angažmana, uključujući razumijevanje političkih i društvenih institucija, sposobnost kritičkog mišljenja, razvijanje socijalnih vještina te aktivnu participaciju u društvenim procesima. Prema europskim smjernicama (EU, 2018) građanska kompetencija uključuje: znanje o društvu (razumijevanje osnovnih principa i funkcija demokracije, ljudskih prava, zakona, te društvenih normi; kritičko mišljenje (razvijanje sposobnosti analize i vrednovanja informacija, te prepoznavanja manipulacija i dezinformacija); sociokulturalnu odgovornost (razvijanje svijesti o kulturnoj raznolikosti, socijalnoj pravdi i održivom razvoju, te aktivnu participaciju (poticanje učenika na sudjelovanje u demokratskim procesima i društvenim akcijama). Učitelji imaju ključnu ulogu u oblikovanju građanske kompetencije budući da su oni prvi nositelji društvenih vrijednosti s kojima se djeca susreću.

Kako bi učitelji razvili građansku kompetenciju, potrebno je na sve fakultete iz kojih izlaze budući djelatnici u praksi odgoja i obrazovanja uvesti ishode koji će osigurati razvijanje građanskih znanja, vještina i stavova, kako bi sami učitelji postali primjer aktivnog i odgovornog građanstva (Huddleston, 2005). Svakako je prva dimenzija ove kompetencije učiteljevo znanje i razumijevanje, što podrazumijeva razumijevanje temeljnih načela i vrijednosti demokracije i ljudskih prava (Brett i sur., 2009). Nadalje, učitelji trebaju promicati aktivno učenje i uključivanje učenika u aktivnosti koje su suradničkemigranata i poticajnetražitelja (Huddlestonazila u obrazovni sustav zemalja domaćina. Dosadašnja istraživanja potvrđuju važnost uključivanja učenika migranata i sur., 2007).  Potom, važno je da učitelji imaju razvijene određene društvene kompetencije, uz pomoć kojih kvalitetno facilitiraju rasprave o političkim predstavnicima, medijima, organizacijama civilnog društva i raznim društvenim događajima (Audigier, 2000). Završna dimenzija građanske kompetencije učtražitelja jeazila njegovau sposobnostškole dajer promišlja,se vrednujetime ipoštuju njihova prava, poboljšava vlastitinjihov rad (Birzea, 2000).

U komparativnom istraživanju građanskog odgoja i obrazovanja u Europi (2017) vidljivo je kako dio europskih država uvodi vrhovne propise ili preporuke kako bi svi na učiteljskim studijima razvili specifične kompetencije vezane uz građanski odgoj i obrazovanje (npr. Danska, Španjolska, Francuska, Austrija), što je u skladu s preporukama Alata za izobrazbu nastavnika za demokratsko građanstvo i ljudska prava (Huddelston, 2005). U Republici Hrvatskoj ne postoji takav sustavan pristup obrazovanju učitelja, a razvoj građanske kompetencije učitelja ovisi najčešće o njihovoj motiviranosti i zainteresiranosti za ove sadržaje (Pažur, 2023). U prethodno provedenim istraživanjima (Pažur, 2016; Schultz i sur., 2016) učitelji se izjašnjavaju kako se ne osjećaju dovoljno kompetentno za provođenje građanskog odgoja i obrazovanja, posebice za ostvarivanje odgojno-obrazovnih ishoda učenika u području ljudsko-pravne dimenzije i političkog obrazovanja (Spajić-Vrkaš i sur., 2016). Neinformirani ili slabo informirani građani ne razumiju u dovoljnoj mjeri rasprave o društvenim pitanjima i rijetko sudjeluju u procesima odlučivanja (Popkin i Dimock, 1999) te je stoga teško očekivati od nedovoljno pripremljenih učitelja da kompetentno pripremaju učenike za demokratske procese.

S obzirom da je prva stepenica pripremljenosti razvijenosti građanske kompetencije građanska znanja i razumijevanja, ovo istraživanje ispituje u kojoj mjeri odgojiteljice i učiteljice razumiju pojmove vezane uz demokraciju i ljudska prava.

 

Metodologija

Ciljevi

1) Opisati kako odgojiteljice i učiteljice razumiju ključne koncepte demokracije.

2) Sumirati ključne riječi koje odgojiteljice i učiteljice koriste u opisivanju koncepata demokracije, kao i naznake odnosa među njima.

 

Uzorak

U istraživanju su sudjelovale 52 sudionice, od čega odgojiteljice (N = 34) i učiteljice razredne nastave (N = 18).

 

 

Metoda i instrument

Istraživanje je provedeno kvalitativnom metodologijom, metodom tematske analize sadržaja. Ispitanici su popunjavali upitnik s deset koncepata: društveni identitet; socijalna pravda; odgovornost; bespomoćnost; osnaživanje; prihvaćanje različitosti; transformacijski dijalog; dijeljenje moći; proces učenja; te zajednica.

Na instrumentu se nalazila sljedeća uputa: „Ukratko objasnite sljedeće pojmove. Spomenite sve što smatrate važnim da bi opisali dobiveni pojam, ukratko ga definirajte i istaknite njegove najvažnije elemente.“.

 

Način prikupljanja i obrade podataka

Podatci su se prikupljali uživo u veljači 2024. godine.

Obrada podataka odvijala se u nekoliko faza. Svi podatci uneseni su u NVIVO program te u program Sketch Engine – program za računalnu analizu teksta. Analiza je provedena deduktivno, odnosno teme relevantne za područje demokracije i ljudskih prava bile su unaprijed određene (deset koncepata), a po pet kodova je unutar svake teme detektirano na temelju analize relevantne literature. Odabrani kodovi su se tražili u svakom odgovoru.

 

Rezultati

Rezultati ukazuju na vrlo nisku razinu razumijevanja temeljnih pojmova demokracije. Najviša razina razumijevanja postoji kod pojmova društveni identitet, bespomoćnost i proces učenja. Društveni identitet sudionice povezuju primarno s kodom individualnog identiteta te osjećaja pripadnosti nekoj skupini. Kada opisuju bespomoćnost, prva asocijacija sudionica jest da je ona vezana uz postavljenu hijerarhiju, dok proces učenja nužno sagledavaju kao proces stjecanja znanja. Sudionice istraživanja su ponajmanje razumjele konstrukte prihvaćanje različitosti te transformacijski dijalog. Prihvaćanje različitosti su sudionice razumjele kao statično stanje u kojem postoje u suživotu različiti ljudi, dok su transformacijski dijalog vidjele isključivo kao proces promjene stavova. Prilikom opisivanja transformacijskoga dijaloga nijedna sudionica nije promišljala o utjecaju istog na društvo, koje u tom slučaju dobiva instrument očuvanja mira. Slično je i s pojmom socijalne pravde, koju sudionice opisuju kao nešto što podrazumijeva da bi svi trebali imati jednake minimalne socijalne uvjete, međutim pritom ne promišljaju o tome da isto vodi k ostvarivanju sigurnog okruženja za život, kako za druge, tako i za njih.

 

 

 

 

 

Tablica 1. Teme, kodovi i primjeri kodova, te frekvencije njihova pojavljivanja u odgovorima sudionica istraživanja

Teme	Kodovi	Primjer koda	Broj sudionica koje u čijim odgovorima postoji ovaj kod (N = 52)
DRUŠTVENI IDENTITET	Individualni identitet	Osobni osjećpoložaj pojedinca gdje je njegovo mjesto u društvu.	23
	Osjećaj pripadnosti	Identitet društvene zajednice kojoj pojedinac pripada.	16
	Različiti identiteti	Sve ono što nas čini dio društva – uloga u društvu, spol, dob, podrijetlo, obrazovanje, obiteljski status, kultura.	6
	Pripadnost kulturnim elementima	Važan za svako društvo ili kulturu, sastoji se od svih pojedinaca zajedno članova tog društva: etnicitet, jezik, dijelovi duhovne kulture.	9
	Interakcija s drugima	Može biti postignut rođenje, ali se stječe i vlastitim djelovanjem i življenjem u društvu.	5
SOCIJALNA PRAVDA	Gospodarska pravda	Socijalna jednakost za sve, isti kriteriji za sve.	3
	Osiguranje jednakih uvjeta	Jednaka socijalna pravda za sve sudionike, žitelje nekog društva, svi slojevi društva bi trebali imati jednake minimalne socijalne uvjete.	20
	Smanjivanje siromaštva	Ispravno djelovanje sustava prema pojedincu iz grupe ljudi koji nisu u mogućnosti brinuti o sebi.	8
	Dostojanstven život	Iz perspektive društva, dakle višeg uređenja, države, a to je onda da se ne stvaraju prevelike razlike, omogućiti rad svima i da svi mogu pristojno živjeti.	5
	Sigurno okruženje	Jednakost unutar raznih socijalnih skupina društva, mogućnost izbora, izražavanja mišljenja, odlučivanja, te dobivanja zaštite u nepovoljnim situacijama.	1
ODGOVORNOST	Ljudska prava	Svako pravo koje želimo ostvariti zahtjeva odgovornost.	12
	Borba protiv nepravde	Osjećaj da pojedinac ima moć i dužnost održavati demokratske vrijednosti u društvu, kao i suprotstaviti se njihovu ugrožavanju.	3
	Aktivno sudjelovanje	Aktivno sudjelovanje u građanskom društvu, osjećaj za druge, poštivanje drugih i pomaganje – znati koja je važnost pojedinca unutar društva ujedno znači i biti odgovoran, brinuti za druge/društvo.	9
	Briga za buduće generacije	N/A	0
	Izjednačavanje prilika	Spremnost za promjenu, proaktivno djelovanje ka ravnopravnosti.	3
BESPOMOĆNOST	Odsustvo kontrole	Osjećaj oduzete moći u donošenju odluka i izboru.	18
	Nesudjelovanje	Nema volje za borbom za svoja prava, pasivnost.	8
	Strah	Strah, odustajanje, nesigurnost. Sve što radim nema rezultata, sumnja u sebe.	4
	Osobna nespremnost	Bespomoćni smo kada nemamo dostupne alate i načine sagledati kontekst iz druge perspektive.	6
	Osjećaj neprihvaćenosti	Osjećaj/stanje do kojeg dolazi kada se pojedinac osjeća samo/izolirano/kao da ne pripada društvu/zajednici/nema podršku drugih / društva / zajednice.	8
OSNAŽIVANJE	Osobna vrijednost	Poticanje, podržavanje, bodrenje, omogućavanje osobnog i profesionalnog rasta i razvoja.	19
	Borba za prava	N/A	0
	Stjecanje moći	Osjećaj da možeš nešto promijeniti, da imaš tu moć, da imaš nekome se i obratiti za pomoć, osjećaj da si vrijedan.	5
	Otvaranje mogućnosti	Pronalazak puteva, mogućnosti za promjenom perspektive.	4
	Promjena	Osjećaj koji se javlja unutar nas i koji nas vodi prema boljim verzijama sebe.	6
PRIHVAĆANJE RAZLIČITOSTI	Različitost kao stanje	Prihvaćanje da smo svi jednaki, vrijedni, važni bez obzira na naša obilježja.	16
	Upoznavanje drugih perspektiva	Slušanje, uvažavanje, potraga za razumijevanjem drugoga.	2
	Suzbijanje diskriminacije	Naučiti prihvatiti druge i drugačije putem rušenja stereotipa, obrazovanjem i širenjem vidika.	2
	Briga o pravima drugih	Inkluzija.	4
	„Drugi i ja“	N/A	0
TRANSFORMACIJSKI DIJALOG	Promjena stavova	Dijalog koji vodi do spoznaje, širenja vidika, transformacija stavova ili uvjerenja.	13
	Promjena ponašanja	N/A	0
	Promjena odnosa	Dijalog u kojem su obje (ili više) strana doživjele neku preobrazbu mišljenja, stavova, prihvaćanja sebe i drugih.	1
	Poticanje kritičkog mišljenja	Razgovor koji potiče na kritičko promišljanje u smjeru promjene.	1
	Održavanje mira	N/A	0
DIJELJENJE MOĆI	Davanje autonomije	Dijeljenje odgovornosti, autonomije, demokracije…	6
	Dopuštanje inicijative	Dati nekomu jednaku vrijednost koju i sami imamo. Prepustiti drugome donošenje ideja i vođenje.	3
	Kretanje ka promjeni	Dopušta drugima (suradnicima, djeci) da vode svoje aktivnosti ne namatanjem svojih stavova – usmjeravanje ali dijeljenje moći donosi svoje odluke i idu putem kojim žele.	1
	Podjela odgovornosti	Podjela odgovornosti među pojedincima.	11
	Zajedničko učenje	N/A	0
PROCES UČENJA	Stjecanje znanja	Usvajanje znanja, vještina, vrijednosti, sposobnosti.	16
	Učenje putem iskustva	Proces učenja je proces spoznaje, osvješćivanja, iskustava gdje se treba stavljati naglasak na sam proces, a ne na rezultat.	9
	Promjena ponašanja	Traje cijeli život, kompleksan proces (psihički proces), važno je znati učiti kako učiti. Promjena ponašanja na osnovi usvojenog znanja i iskustava.	5
	Individualne karakteristike	Učenje je cjeloviti i cjeloživotni proces koji svaki pojedinac treba usvojiti za sebe te učiti tempom koje mu odgovara.	11
	Motivacija za učenje	Individualizirani holistički proces, ugodna i sigurna atmosfera, intrinzična motivacija, usmjerenost na proces (a ne nužno na ishod)	3
ZAJEDNICA KOJA UČI	Dijalog i suradnja	Skupina ljudi koji se međusobno poštuju, uvažavaju, razumiju, podržavaju i djeluju timski.	6
	Zajedničke vrijednosti	Skupina ljudi koja uvažava različitosti i promiče slične vrijednosti.	6
	Zajednički identitet	Skupina ljudi koji dijele prostor (grad, kvart, neki prostor) pravila, vrijednosti, običaje ili identitet.	5
	Poticanje zajedništva	Pripadnost, osjećaj sigurnosti, primanje-davanje, nitko nije otok.	4
	Refleksija	Otvorena za spoznaje, za rast, za cjeloživotno učenje.	4

 

Koncept odgovornosti sudionice razumiju kroz nešto što ide uz pojam ljudskih prava, a dio njih spominje i nešto što ih potiče na aktivno sudjelovanje. Niti jedna sudionica nije pojam odgovornosti povezala uz ideju brige za buduće generacije, putem očuvanja okoliša ili odabira dobre vladavine. Kod objašnjavanja pojma osnaživanja, sudionice govore o rastu osobne vrijednosti, kao što i proces učenja primarno povezuju uz stjecanje znanja i vještina. U oba pojma zanemaruju da ovi procesi posljedično dovode do promjena određenih ponašanja, usporedno s čime se događa i promjena stavova, kao i utjecaj na društvo u cijelosti. Naposljetku, vrlo je nizak stupanj razumijevanja koncepta zajednica koja uči, koju su sudionice uglavnom opisivale kao skupinu ljudi koji imaju isti cilj, u potpunosti zanemarivši potencijal suradnje, razgovora, refleksije i podrške koju bi zajednica trebala imati.

 

Tablica 2. Broj kodova unutar teme detektiranih u odgovorima sudionica istraživanja

Tema	Najmanji broj detektiranih kodova unutar jednog odgovora	Najveći broj detektiranih kodova unutar jednog odgovora	Aritmetička sredina ukupnog broja kodova unutar odgovora (N=52)
Društveni identitet	0	3	1.32
Socijalna pravda	0	3	0.73
Odgovornost	0	3	0.59
Bespomoćnost	0	3	0.89
Osnaživanje	0	3	0.72
Prihvaćanje različitosti	0	3	0.49
Transformacijski dijalog	0	2	0.32
Dijeljenje moći	0	2	0.45
Proces učenja	0	4	0.94
Zajednica koja uči	0	3	0.64

 

Iz Tablice 2. vidljivo je kako postoje odgovori sudionica istraživanja, unutar svake teme, koji su u potpunosti bili netočni, odnosno, nisu sadržavali niti jedan od detektiranih kodova, dok s druge strane, najveći broj kodova detektiran je u okviru teme proces učenja gdje je jedna sudionica isti definirala koristeći se s četiri različita koda unutar ovog elementa. Ukupno gledajući, rezultati ukazuju kako u velikom broju tema sudionice istraživanja nisu uopće prepoznale niti jedan relevantan element ili je dio njih prepoznao maksimalno jedan. Najveću razinu razumijevanja, iako i dalje vrlo nisku, pronalazimo kod tema društveni identitet (M = 1.32 koda spomenuto) te proces učenja (M = 0.94 koda spomenuto). Najmanji stupanj razumijevanja pronalazimo unutar tema transformacijski dijalog i dijeljenje moći, gdje je više od polovice sudionica bilo potpuno neuspješno u definiranju.

               Drugi je cilj istraživanja bio sumirati ključne riječi koje odgojiteljice i učiteljice koriste u opisivanju koncepata demokracije, kao i naznake odnosa među njima. Da bi se odnosi među riječima uspostavili, ponajprije su analizirani iskazi učiteljica i odgojiteljica na lingvističkoj razini tako što je za opisivanje svakoga pojma izračunat broj riječi kojima su ispitanice taj pojam opisivale te broj rečenica koji su pritom upotrijebile. Na temelju broj riječi i rečenica izračunata je prosječna dužina rečenice za opis svakog pojma. U Tablici 3. prikazani su rezultati za svaki pojam.

Tablica 3.

POJMOVI	LEKSIČKA RAZNOLIKOST
DRUŠTVENI IDENTITET	broj riječi:  732                    r = 0,53 broj rečenica: 40 dužina rečenice: 18,30
SOCIJALNA PRAVDA	broj riječi:  670                     r = 0,54 broj rečenica: 52 dužina rečenice: 12,88
ODGOVORNOST	broj riječi: 735                    r = 0,47 broj rečenica: 51 dužina rečenice: 14,41
BESPOMOĆNOST	broj riječi:  133                     r = 0,84 broj rečenica: 16 dužina rečenice: 8,31
OSNAŽIVANJE	broj riječi:  586                     r = 0,63 broj rečenica: 41 dužina rečenice: 14,29
TRANSFORMACIJSKI DIJALOG	broj riječi:  479                     r = 0,57 broj rečenica: 35 dužina rečenice: 13,68
DIJELJENJE MOĆI	broj riječi: 467                      r = 0,65 broj rečenica: 33 dužina rečenice: 14,15
PROCES UČENJA	broj riječi:  577                     r = 0,60 broj rečenica: 39 dužina rečenice: 14,79
ZAJEDNICA	broj riječi:  483                     r = 0,61 broj rečenica: 37 dužina rečenice: 13,05

 

Kako se može vidjeti, ispitanice s najdužom rečenicom, koja u prosjeku sadrži 18,30 riječi, opisuju pojam „društveni identitet“ i za taj pojam najčešće koriste riječ društvo koja se pojavljuje 39 puta u njihovim iskazima, potom pojam pojedinac koji se pojavljuje 18 puta, imenica identitet koja se pojavljuje 11 puta, imenica skupina koja se pojavljuje 8 puta, zajednica koja se pojavljuje 7 puta, imenice osoba i pripadnost koje se pojavljuju 6 puta te imenice stav koja se pojavljuje 5 puta. Već iz ključnih imenica koje se najčešće pojavljuju može se iščitati kako ispitanice pojam društvenoga identiteta opisuju riječima koje su povezane s pojedincem, ali i sa zajednicom kojoj pojedinac pripada. Od glagola najčešće se pojavljuje glagol biti i to u trećoj osobi jednine (je) – 17 puta, glagol pripadati 7 puta te glagoli vidjeti i imati 6 puta. Od pridjeva pojavljuje se pridjev društven 8 puta, određen 5 puta, zajednički 4 puta i osoban 2 puta. S obzirom na upotrijebljene glagole, ispitanice najčešće koriste glagol biti u trećoj osobi jednine što znači da nešto definiraju, odnosno potvrđuju značenje ili pripadanje, dok glagoli vidjeti i imati sugeriraju neka određenja društvenoga identiteta koji se u pridjevima, poput društven, zajednički i osoban povezuju s upotrijebljenim imenicama, kao što su identitet, pojedinac, pripadnost ili zajednica. S druge strane, s najkraćom rečenicom, koja u prosjeku sadrži 8,31 riječ, opisuju pojam „bespomoćnost“. U definiranju toga pojma najčešće koriste imenicu osjećaj koja se pojavljuje 4 puta, imenice nemogućnost i pojedinac koje se pojavljuju 3 puta te imenice gubitak, posljedica, situacija, izražavanje, život koje se pojavljuju dva puta. Navedene imenice sugeriraju povezanost pojma bespomoćnost s osjećajem pojedinca u situaciji koja je za njega izrazito negativna. Ispitanici koriste čak 49 različitih imenica kojima definiraju ovaj pojam, 15 različitih glagola, od kojih su najčešći glagoli biti, osjećati i negativan oblik glagola imati koji se ponavljaju samo dva puta u iskazima. Također, ispitanici koriste čak 10 različitih pridjeva, od kojih najčešće pridjev neadekvatan koji se ponavlja u tri iskaza. Zbog velikoga broja niskofrekventnih riječi u opisivanju pojma „bespomoćnost“ visoka je leksička raznolikost[3] kao omjer broja različnica[4] i ukupnoga broja pojavnica[5] te iznosi 0,84. Zanimljivo je promatrati ovaj pojam u kontekstu ostalih pojmova baš zato što se osobito u posljednje vrijeme i u medijima često govori o bespomoćnosti učitelja i odgojitelja u situacijama koje se u vrtićima i školama događaju zbog sve većeg broja učenika s poteškoćama u ponašanju ili roditelja koji su nesuradljivi. S najvećim brojem riječi - 735, ali najmanjim brojem različitih riječi ispitanici su definirali pojam „odgovornost“. Omjer broja različnica i broja pojavnica, odnosno izračunata leksička raznolikost – r = 0,47 pokazuje nam da su ispitanici u definiranju ovoga pojma koristili manji broj različitih riječi, odnosno da su često ponavljali iste riječi. Tako se u definiranju pojma odgovornosti najčešće pojavljuju imenice društvo (N = 26), pojedinac (N = 12), postupak i pravo (N = 9) te ponašanje (N = 9). Ostale imenice su nešto nižih frekvencija, a upotrijebljene sugeriraju da se odgovornost veže uz ponašanje pojedinca u društvu, odnosno uz njegove postupke i prava koja koristi u tim postupcima. Od glagola najčešće upotrebljavaju glagol biti u trećoj osobi jednine (je), i to 23 puta, potom glagol imati 8 puta, glagole trebati i utjecati 5 puta te glagol znati 4 puta. Od pridjeva najčešće upotrebljavaju pridjev odgovoran (N = 10), pridjev demokratski (N = 5), te pridjeve loš i drugačiji (N = 2). Navedeni glagoli sugeriraju kako se odgovornost ima, odnosno nema prema nečemu te često podrazumijeva kondicionalne formulacije da bi nešto trebali ili bi se na nešto moglo utjecati. Odgovornost ispitanici povezuju s demokratskim društvom, ali je zanimljivo kako ističu da odgovornost može učiniti promjenu, ali jednako tako može biti i negativna, odnosno kako pojedinci mogu biti i neodgovorni. U definiranju svih drugih pojmova koji su obuhvaćeni ovim istraživanjem u iskazima se pronalaze riječi koje u jednostavnim iskazima upućuju na širinu pojma, najčešće u kontekstu posla kojim se ispitanice bave, odnosa prema nadređenima, kolegama te podređenima, odnosno učenicima i odgajanicima. Tako se, primjerice, u definiranju pojma „socijalna pravda“ najčešće pojavljuju sljedeće imenice: društvo (N = 29), pravo (N = 14), pravda i jednakost (N = 11), čovjek i pojedinac (N = 3) koje sugeriraju jednostavno definiranje navedenoga pojma, a ta definicija podrazumijeva odnos pojedinca prema društvu i obrnuto, te prava pojedinaca u društvu, kao i pravdu, odnosno jednakost u pozitivnom i negativnom kontekstu (nejednakost) među pojedincima. Od glagola najčešće se pojavljuje glagol biti (N = 14), potom glagoli trebati, vidjeti i imati (N = 6), zasluživati (N = 4), a od pridjeva jednak i socijalan (N = 6), te materijalan (N = 3). Navedeni glagoli i pridjevi sugeriraju kako se pojam „socijalna pravda“ najčešće definira statično, uz pomoć glagola biti, odnosno imati, ali zanimljivo je da se uz ovaj pojam javlja i trajni glagol „zasluživati“ koji upućuje na neku vrstu privilegije koja može biti povezana s pridjevom „materijalno“ koji se također pojavljuje u definicijama ovoga pojma iako pridjevi „jednak“ i „socijalan“ imaju nešto veći broj pojavljivanja. S obzirom na broj riječi koje se ponavljaju u iskazima, za svaki je pojam napravljena analiza leksičke raznolikosti, odnosno omjera broja različnica i broja pojavnica. Kada se usporede pojmovi, onda pojam „bespomoćnost“ ispitanici opisuju s najviše različitih riječi, dok pojmove zajednica, proces učenja, dijeljenje moći, osnaživanje te prihvaćanje različitosti opisuju na sličan način, odnosno sa sličnim brojem različitih riječi. S najmanje različitih riječi opisuju pojam odgovornost, ali niti kod opisa pojmova društveni identitet, socijalna pravda te transformacijski dijalog ne koriste velik broj različitih riječi, odnosno koriste sličan broj različitih riječi, što pokazuje mjera leksičke raznolikosti (grafikon 1).

 

Grafikon 1. Prikaz leksičke raznolikosti za svaki pojam uključen u istraživanje

Sve navedeno upućuje na to da kako postoje ustaljeni izrazi, sveze riječi i rečenice koje ispitanice oblikuju u skladu sa svojim iskustvom te obrazovanjem, a ne toliko vodeći se znanjima u svojim objašnjenjima. Budući da je, kako mjere leksičke raznolikosti i pokazuju, riječ o frazama koje se često ponavljaju i sastoje se od sličnih riječi, postoji puno razloga da se o ovim temama više govori i poučava osobito učitelje i odgojitelje kao nosioce promjena u društvu i onihmogućnost kojikasnijeg svakodnevnouspješnog posredujusudjelovanja znanjeu društvu. Polazeći od obrazovne politike prema djeci migrantima i vrijednostitražiteljima budućimazila generacijama.u  

 

DiskusijaEU i zaključakSrbiji

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Stabilnostkoncepta demokracijeinkluzivne ovisiškole, o političkom znanju, informiranosti, stavovima i ponašanju koje građani uče na različite načine, u različitim razdobljima života (Spajić-Vrkaš i Horvat, 2016). Obrazovano građanstvo ostvaruje samu bit uspostavljanja demokratske vlasti općim pravom glasa jerprovedeno je temelj istog da građani razumiju što vlast mora činiti da bi njima bilo dobro, a pritom i biti spremna uskladiti vlastito ponašanje uzimajući u obzir druge (Dewey, 1916). Na ovim temeljima aktivno građanstvo postaje pedagoška kategorija, odnosno biti građanin ne znači samo imati prava, već i raspolagati korisnim znanjima, vještinama i stavovima na temelju kojih se ta prava uživaju pojedinačno i u zajedniciistraživanje s drugimaciljem (Spajić-Vrkašispitivanja istavova Horvat,studenta 2016).prema Veliki broj međunarodnih istraživanja ispituje razumijevanje temeljnih demokratskih vrijednosti i načelainkluziji učenika (Torney-Purtamigranata i sur.,tražitelja 2011; Print, Ornstrom i Skovgaaredm, 2002), međutim manji broj njih ispitujeazila u kojojobrazovni mjerisustav učitelji,Srbije. kojiPrimijenjena radeje sdeskriptivno-neeksperimentalna djecommetoda, natehnika njihovojanketiranja, građanskoja kompetenciji, razumiju te iste pojmove. Rezultati ovog istraživanja ukazuju kako odgojiteljice i učiteljice razredne nastave, koje bi trebale svojim ponašanjem i stavovima i vrijednostima razvijati građansku kompetenciju kod djece, u vrlo maloj mjeri razumiju pojmove, poput odgovornosti, društvenog identiteta, poštovanja različitosti, ali i onih koji omogućuju temeljne demokratske procese u sustavu odgoja i obrazovanja, kao štoposebno su proceskonstruirana učenjadva iliistraživačka zajednicainstrumenta. koja uči. Njihovo definiranje ovih konstrukataUzorak je najčešćeobuhvatio gledano iz individualne i osobne perspektive, a riječi koje koriste u njihovu opisivanju više su vezane uz njihova mišljenja nego uz teoriju i znanje. Često objašnjavaju pojam kroz vlastito iskustvo, povezano uz vlastite stavove, te u najvećoj mjeri uspijevaju detektirati samo jedan od niza elementa koji sačinjavaju neki konstrukt. Tako ideju društvenog identiteta opisuju isključivo kao osjećaj pripadnosti, a bespomoćnost kao osobno odsustvo moći. Osnaživanje povezuju s idejom rasta osobne vrijednosti, a proces učenja s mehaničkim stjecanjem znanja. Ovakvo jednostavno opisivanje demokratskih pojmova i procesa ukazuje na jednodimenzionalnost kojom odgojiteljice i učiteljice razumiju složene i kompleksne temelje ljudskih prava i demokratskog društva. Nadalje, studente ono što često izostaje iz njihovih definicija jest povezivanje vlastite građanske uloge s odgovornostifakulteta za druge građane i zajednicu u cijelosti. Kao što tvrdi Dahl (1989), demokracija bi građanima trebala osigurati maksimalne uvjete za cjelovit razvoj, slobodno odlučivanje, ali i moralnu odgovornost. U odgovorima sudionica istraživanja jasno je da one promišljaju o demokraciji kao nečem što im treba osigurati vlastiti cjeloviti razvoj te slobodno odlučivanje, međutim rijetko kada promišljaju o moralnoj odgovornosti koju one imaju u okviru tih elemenata prema drugim građanima, ali i prema razvoju i očuvanju same demokracije. Tako, na primjer, pod konceptom prihvaćanja različitosti, nijedna sudionica nije detektirala element brige za prava drugih ili je pod konceptom odgovornosti svega nekoliko sudionica istaknulo ideju vlastite odgovornosti za izjednačavanje prilika svih u društvu. Ovakvo doživljavanje demokracije kod građana budi želju da bira vlast koja je isključivo usklađena s njihovim osobnim interesima, a ne sa zajedničkim interesima napretka društva, što se smatra „slabom demokracijom“ (Barber, 1984). Upravo obnova ideje autonomnog građanstva osnaživanjem građanskog aktivizma, kroz brigu za druge i zajednicu, vodila bi Hrvatsku u smjeru razvoja „jake demokracije“. Bit kvalitetnog interkulturalnog društva je stvaranje ravnoteže između individualne slobode i pripadnosti zajednici, koja se očituje kroz kvalitetan odnos između individualnog i kolektivnog identiteta (Perotti, 1995). Isto je moguće potaknuti razvojem sposobnosti zajedničkog življenja, poštivanja sloboda drugih, te uspostavljanja ravnoteže između pojedinaca, skupina i institucija. Sadržaji i aktivnosti koje potiču sposobnost zajedničkog življenja trebale bi postati sastavni dio, kako odgojno-obrazovnih ishoda učenika u školama, tako i dio inicijalnog obrazovanja budućih odgojitelja, učitelja i nastavnika. Nedovoljno razumijevanje osobne odgovornosti za dobrobit drugih posljedično ukazuje i na slabo razumijevanje pojedinačnih radnji za društvo u cijelosti. Tako gotovo nijedna sudionica istraživanja nije ni s jednim od predloženih pojmova povezala ciljeve demokratskog društva, a to je stvaranje sigurnog okruženja kao posljedica implementiranja socijalne pravde, održavanje mira kao rezultata transformacijskoga dijaloga ili kretanje k pozitivnoj društvenoj promjeni nakon osnaživanja pojedinaca. Upravo suprotno, glagoli i pridjevi koje koriste ukazuju da sudionice demokraciju i njene temelje doživljavaju vrlo statično, a ne kao nešto što je u stalnom kretanju.

Važna dimenzija građanske kompetencije svih, pa tako iobrazovanje učitelja, jestnastavnika sposobnosti pojedincapedagoga (N=261) sa pet sveučilišta u Srbiji. Rezultati pokazuju da promišlja,većina vrednujestudenata ima umjereno pozitivne stavove prema inkluziji studenata migranata i poboljšavatražitelja rad, pritom razumijevajući da je demokracija dinamičan proces koji je povezan s političkim i gospodarskim kretanjima (Birzea, 2000). Sudionice istraživanja, definirajući temeljene koncepte demokracije, vrlo su se rijetko, ako i ikada, kod pojedinih koncepata dotakle međusobnih odnosa i interakcija s drugim pojedincima oko sebe. Elementi, kao što su: zajedničko učenje, refleksija, interakcija s drugima, kritičko promišljanje ili unaprjeđenje odnosa, spomenuti su svega jednom ili dva puta po konceptu. Imajući na umu cilj demokracije da slobodni i ravnopravni građani procese donošenja odlukaazila u demokratskimobrazovni zajednicamasustav, shvaćajua kaostrukturu kontinuiranunjihovih debatu tijekom koje se odluke kritički propituju i unaprjeđuju (Gutmann i Thompson, 2002),stavova možemo zaključitisagledati kakokroz odgojiteljicetri ičimbenika: učiteljice,važnost koje u potpunosti izostavljaju značaj odnosa s drugima opisujući temelje demokracije, nisu pripremljene za pomaganje učenicima da razvijaju vlastite moralneinkluzije i društvene prosudbeparticipacije, resurse za podršku inkluziji i prepreke za inkluziji. S obzirom na dobivene rezultate, prepoznaje se potreba za inoviranjem studijskih programa na pedagoškim i nastavničkim fakultetima te daza ihvećom potičzastupljenošću dastručno-aplikativnih kritičkipredmeta u funkciji stjecanja znanja i slobodnorazvijanja govore,kompetencija osobitoza kadbudući jerad riječsa oučenicima kontroverznimmigrantima i osjetljivimtražiteljima temama (Huddleston i dr., 2007).azila.

Demokracija se kontinuirano razvija, zajedno s njezinim građanima koji su nositelji promjene. U Hrvatskoj niska razina razumijevanja temeljnih demokratskih pojmova pokazuje kako i dalje postoji veliki broj neosviještenih i obeshrabrenih pojedinaca, te samo snažnim odgojno-obrazovnim alatima možemo krenuti prema stvarnoj participativnoj demokraciji, u kojoj pojedinci jasno artikuliraju svoje zahtjeve i motivirani su individualno i kolektivno sudjelovati u njihovu ostvarenju. Međutim, demokracija će teško pronaći utemeljenje u odgojno-obrazovnim ustanovama ako oni koji tamo svakodnevno rade i djeluju i sami ne znaju što bi ona trebala biti. Učenje o demokraciji i ljudskim pravima mora postati sastavni dio inicijalnog obrazovanja odgojitelja i učitelja jer ih se samo tako može pripremiti za zahtjevnu ulogu implementacije dinamičnog procesa učenja i poučavanja koji posljedično dovodi do razvijanja građanske kompetencije kod djece i učenika.

 

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[1] Svi izrazi koji se koriste, a imaju rodno značenje, obuhvaćaju na jednak način i muški i ženski rod. 

[2] Dostupno na: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/HR/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52014XG0614(05)&from=LV, pregledano 20. siječanj 2025. 

[3] Leksička raznolikost – omjer broja različnica i broja pojavnica 

[4] Različnica - pojedinačna riječ koja je jedinstveni oblik pojavnice iz korpusa

[5] Pojavnica – svaka pojava jezične jedinice u korpusu

Teaching (Today for) Tomorrow: Bridging the Gap between the Classroom and Reality 3rd International Scientific and Art Conference Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb in cooperation with the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

How preschool and primary education teachers understand the elements of democracy?

Abstract

The development of democratic culture of educational institutions is based on the development of the civic competence of those who participate in it, which is manifested in valuing human dignity and human rights and nurturing cultural diversity and democracy. The same is possible only when a person understands what democracy is, what its basic elements are and what they mean for both citizens and society. The goals of this research were: (1) to describe how preschool and primary education teachers understand the key concepts of democracy, and (2) to summarize the key words used by preschool and primary school teachers in describing the concepts of democracy as well as relationship between them. Based on the analysis of current literature, 10 fundamental elements of democracy were detected. 35 preschool and primary school teachers with different work experience participated in the research, who, filling the questionnaire, described and defined the previously selected constructs. A simple content analysis was performed in relation to 3 response components: content, lexical (types of words, number of words, lexical density and variety) and syntactic (structure and types of sentences). In relation to each component, codes are recognized: low, medium and high level of understanding. The results show that research participants have mostly a low and medium level of understanding of the concepts both at the content level, as well as at the lexical and syntactic level. Additionally, they use a low variability in  use of words in order to define a concept, that is, participants often use the same words to describe different concepts. The obtained results point to the necessary changes in the initial education of educators in order to be ready to respond to contemporary challenges and changes in society, for which an understanding of all elements of democracy is key.

KeyKljučne words:riječi:

contentfaktorska analysis,analiza; conceptsnastavnički ofi democracy,pedagoški primaryfakulteti; educationinkluzivna teachers,škola; preschoolmigracije; teachers,stavovi understandingstudenata prema inkluziji