Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.61.2.4
Satisfaction of Preschool and Primary School Teachers with the Support of the Educational System in Providing Equal Educational Opportunities
Dejana Bouillet
orcid.org/0000-0002-0486-3378
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Pedagogy, Croatia
Sanja Brajković
orcid.org/0009-0004-0437-7312
; Network of Education Policy Centers, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Equitable and inclusive education requires that the environment is prepared to meet the needs
of all children and that cooperation and communication helps to ensure that every child feels
a sense of belonging and inclusion in education. As inclusion and equity are apostrophised in
the Croatian educational and social policy, their implementation is expected in all areas and
aspects of educational institutions. The aim of this research is to analyse the level of satisfaction
of preschool and primary school teachers with officially provided forms of support for children
and their assessment of the contribution of educational policy components to equality of
educational opportunities for all children. An explanatory sequential research design was used.
Quantitative data were collected from a representative sample of 3% of educators and primary
school teachers (n = 1,288) and qualitative data from a random sample of educators and primary
school teachers from 6 Croatian regions (n = 15). Participants completed an online questionnaire
on ways to prevent educational inequality among preschool and primary school-aged
children and took part in a structured interview. It was found that the majority of preschool
and primary school teachers are dissatisfied or indifferent to officially defined forms of support
for disadvantaged children and that only a small number of educational professionals recognise
the contribution of educational policy to equalising educational opportunities for all children.
The findings point to differences between pre-school and primary education (classroom and
subject teaching) and the possibility of ensuring equal opportunities and inclusive education.
This problematises the possibilities of adequately supporting the learning and development
of disadvantaged children. Pedagogical discontinuity at different levels of education and the
mechanistic view of educational policy makers on the introduction of change, which ignores
the possibilities of its implementation in individual educational institutions, are important
obstacles to the realisation of inclusive and equitable education.
Keywords
equal educational opportunities; preschool teachers; primary school teachers; middle school teachers; disadvantaged children; education system
Hrčak ID:
308951
URI
Publication date:
18.10.2023.
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