Abstract: | The master's thesis deals with the existing nine-year primary education in Slovenia and the implementation of a curricular reform in Croatia. Given the proximity and common history of the countries, we wanted to obtain expert opinions on the matter. Semi-structured interviews with Slovenian and Croatian teachers, gave us their concrete experiences and attitudes towards children's early entry into primary school. Due to the different content of the questionnaires, we analysed the statements of each target group separately, and the remaining text was transcribed. Coding units were established, individual components were linked to similar terms, and finally, axial coding was used to construct linkages between the collected data. Considering that almost twenty years have passed since nine-year primary school has been implemented in our country, we were interested in finding out whether our respondents preferred nine-year primary school or eight-year primary school, only to find out that they preferred the latter. They expressed a positive attitude towards elective subjects and level classes, while half of the respondents were in favour of descriptive assessment. Their opinions were also divided regarding the ideal age for children to start school, but according to statistical data in Slovenia, there are more and more delays in enrolling children in primary school. The vast majority of respondents agreed that a curricular reform was necessary in their country. In Slovenia, the nine-year primary school did not meet their expectations, while in Croatia there is a desire for a more modern curriculum that meets European standards. |
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