Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.21857/yk3jwhxjw9
The System of Primary Education for National Minorities in the Požega-Slavonia County (Focus Group)
Dragutin Babić
; Institut za migracije i narodnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
Education at all levels exercises major, perhaps even essential influence not only on the family, but also on the transfer and further development of national identity – both in case of the majority national community and of the national/ethnic minorities. In this paper, the author analyses the system of primary education for national minorities in the Požega-Slavonia County. An empirical study has been conducted by using the focus group method on a population sample including various participants – both in the educational system and within the political and social logistic backup thereof (teachers, parents, politicians). E-teaching (C model) in the Požega-Slavonia County has been organized in the Czech, Serbian and Slovak languages. The focus group consequently included members of these national communities. The objective of the empirical study was to perceive the points of view and opinions of the participants in the system of primary education for national minorities, in particular with regard to the communication within the national community and with members of other national communities. Stereotypes, prejudices and stigmas that exist in various periods and localities present a serious problem in communication. The situation becomes intensified in case of the occurrence of turbulent events in the society – such as was the war that took place in the 1990s in the territory of former Yugoslavia, including Croatia. Relationships among members of multinational local communities form a basis and the main social resource of the integration of all the participants both in the community and in the society. Regarding its normative and content-related aspects, the education of national minorities is a significant segment of the preservation, transfer and social construction of the identity of national minorities. The objective of the study was hence to perceive the observations of the participants in the system of primary education for national minorities – the things they regarded as satisfactory, and others they considered in need of improving. In the process of continuous assimilation, and due to the problems related to the integration and the preservation of identity, the participants in the subject process – or rather their points of view and activities – have been of major significance for the existence and perspective of the national minorities they belong to. The objective was to subsume the results of the empirical study and emphasize the fundamental perceptions; this might facilitate finding a solution to this problem topic within the public policies of the Republic of Croatia.
Keywords
national minorities; primary education; the Požega-Slavonia County; the Czechs; the Serbs; the Slovaks.
Hrčak ID:
254561
URI
Publication date:
26.4.2021.
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