Anali za povijest odgoja, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2003.
Stručni rad
Teachers’ Continuing Professional Education in Slovenia
Tatjana Hojan
; Slovenski šolski muzej, Ljubljana, Slovenija
Sažetak
Until 1918, teachers’ on–the–job professional education was regulated by the Austrian Primary School Act adopted in 1869. The Act prescribed that teachers should receive further education through various school newspapers, teachers’ booklets, conferences and further courses. Supplementary courses on the methodology of specifi c school subjects were organised by all teachers’ colleges of that time during school holidays. Supplementary agricultural and housekeeping courses were organised by agricultural and housekeeping schools in Grm, Maribor and Šentjur pri Celju. Apart from agricultural and housekeeping courses, teachers were also offered courses in drawing, foreign languages, health education, music, handwork and specific areas of education. Slovenian teachers travelled to educational courses to Vienna, Graz,
Wolfsberg, Jena, Giessen and Prague. Funds for these courses were contributed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, land school boards and school councils. The teachers also organised their own courses. During 1906 and 1914, teachers’ clubs were organised throughout the country, holding various lectures. Professional associations were just as important for teachers’ education. After 1918, teachers’ continuing education was even more diverse. Immediately after WW I, courses were organised for teachers who had received their school leaving certificates earlier due to mobilisation in the military. During 1918 and 1920 courses in the Serbo–Croatian language and literature were obligatory. Subsequently, teachers’ courses were organised on boys’ handiwork, singing, gymnastics, puppets, radio courses, and courses on activity in associations. In 1927, 1928 and 1929, three self–instructional courses were organised on out–of–school activities. Four courses on agricultural co–operatives and accounting between 1929 and 1933 were very well attended. The speciality of this period were courses for unemployed graduates from teachers’ colleges organised between 1933 and 1938. These teachers came from various fi elds of the profession. For women teachers, classes in hygiene were held. Individual teachers’ associations provided training through various lectures and shorter courses. In this period, foreign courses were attended less frequently than during the period of Austria–Hungary. The National School Act of 1929 defi ned teachers’ obligations in Article 78. That Article prescribed that teachers should attend instructional and practical teachers’ courses and lectures organised by the government and the Banovina, and that they should also be active in the national cultural activities. Article 162 provided the possibility of the Ministry of Education organising, if required, special professional courses for teachers. In the first years of the post–War period, agricultural and housekeeping education did not change. Agricultural schools organised three– to four–year courses. In 1927, these courses were reorganised, i.e. split into two courses. The first, introductory course took 14 days, and was designed as an introduction to farmers’ ways of thinking and living, how to harmonise with them and how to hold classes at advanced levels of agricultural schools. The second course was professional in nature; split into three parts it lasted eight weeks altogether in the months of April, June and October. It provided theoretical and practical contents on specific agricultural subjects. After 1933, another course was organised in addition to the other two, namely a conceptual course. Such courses were run in 1934, 1937 and 1938, and were designed to educate teachers lecturing in preparatory courses for vocational training of farming youth. Housekeeping courses for women teachers were both introductory and practical, lasting for three weeks each. During the Second World War, educational courses prepared teachers to lecture at schools in territories liberated by the Slovenian partisans. Supplementary courses and one–day seminars also took place, with lectures and teaching instructions on the agenda. After the Second World War, teachers’ education included the training of new teachers – course participants, and their further education up until taking the final examination. This situation lasted until 1956. In addition to the professional education offered to teachers who were already employed, special attention was up until the 1980s devoted to political education. At the beginning courses for new teachers took from two to three months, and even nine months in 1949. As early as 1946, supplemental and in–depth courses for those who finished the first course were organised. From 1947, when the Higher Teachers’ Training School was established in Ljubljana, talented teachers up to 30 years of age could attend special studies. Gymnastics teachers received education at the then Institute of Physical Education, which lasted one year; the Institute later evolved into the Faculty of Sports. In the field of political education, trade unions organised study circles and teachers’ conferences. This activity was taken over by the Educational Association of Slovenia in 1949. In 1955, the Centre of Education was established and assumed responsibility for teachers’ education with general courses and courses devoted to specific subjects. After the school reform of 1958, there was a lack of teachers for specific subjects. As a result, rules on employing secondary school graduates and secondary technical school graduates were adopted. For these profi les, special courses were organised by the Centre of Education up until 1963. In 1968, supplements to the Primary School Act were published. They required that teachers should pass state competency examinations within five years, and those lacking the appropriate education should acquire it by 1972. This deadline was later extended to 1975, and teachers with at least 25 years of service could keep their jobs. The Centre of Education existed until 1961, after which its work was transferred to the Institute for the Development of Education, that in 1965 was renamed the Board of Education. In 1988, the Board produced a study on the continuing professional education of teachers. Every five years, each teacher should participate in a longer form of additional training. In 1989, education institutions published a joint programme of permanent education. In the 1990–1991 school year, a large number of institutions took part in this programme. In 1964, a seminar was organised for secondary and primary school teachers teaching at schools in the Trieste region with Slovenian as the language of instruction. These took place alternately in Slovenia and Italy. The trade union, together with the Communist Party and the Socialist Association of Working People prepared extensive programmes for teachers’ further education. Professional associations organising courses and seminars became increasingly active. The Faculty of Arts organised extraordinary studies for teachers with regular employment. At the beginning twice and later on three times a year, one–week seminars were organised. From 1976, lectures for such students were organised on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year. In the same year, teachers’ courses finally became part of University study programmes, while another novelty introduced in this year was the so–called School for Principals. Since 1954, teachers have also attended language courses in foreign countries. They were first organised by the Federal Commission of the Association of Educators for International Relations, from 1966 by the Slovenian Committee for Education and Training, and from 1977 by the Board of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia for International Education, Scientific, Technical, Educational and Cultural Co–operation. Teachers’ training was, among others, taken care of by organisations such as the People’s Education, the People’s Technology, the Institute for Esperanto, the Slovenian Association of Physical Education, the Institute of Educational and Instructional Films, the Automobile Association, the Association of Cultural and Educational Organisations, centres for Marxism, Pioneers’ Clubs, Ljubljanska banka and others.
Ključne riječi
the education of teachers; continuing education; courses; the history of schooling and education; Slovenia
Hrčak ID:
334765
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.12.2003.
Posjeta: 389 *