Contents

• Volume XXII

  Number 3-4

  2011

  The School Field Guest Editor: Valerija Vendramin

  • Editorial
    »Women in the integrated circuit,« or on the path to updated gender research
    Valerija Vendramin

    pp. 05-18
    abstract ↓
    »Women in the integrated circuit,« or on the path to updated gender research By proceeding from a specifi c epistemological perspective, the author sheds some light on the conditions of learning and delves into the issue of »better « (or perhaps more adequate) gender research in education and beyond. She highlights the position of feminist epistemology that the knowing subject is always »somewhere,« in a certain social »location« that enables his or her view and constrains it at the same time. She problematizes the traditional view of research, which understands it as an »external« action on social reality whereas the research itself is not constructed as being a part of that reality. At the same time, this also represents a discharge of any responsibility for the results or interpretation of data. Th is line of thought leads the author to concretized orientations on specifi c areas or intersections (new media, gender, violence, pornography, the issue of methods and methodologies, multiculturalism, educational research, and more).
    
    Keywords: feminist epistemology, gender, gender research, education, technology

  • Discussions
    Youth on the screen: Digitalization of everyday life and youth computer culture
    Tanja Oblak Črnič

    pp. 19-40
    abstract ↓
    The social phenomena and relationships that are built in the online world refl ect everyday life and the broader social structures we belong to. Nevertheless, the new media off er some innovations in the intimate places of our families. On the one hand, these innovations change our domestic space, but on the other hand the response to these innovations is always determined by existing relations within and outside of family life. In light of this paradox, this paper analyses the issue of technologization of everyday life by addressing the changes that the new media create in the relationships between public and private. Within this discussion, the focus is placed on the new circumstances and demands of the recent »digitally mediated childhood« that especially challenge those generations that experience their own everyday lives through and with the help of digital technologies. Th e last part of the paper presents the fi ndings of a representative survey of Slovenian internet users. First it shows the structural diff erences between technologically equipped households where education and gender seem to have an important impact. Th en specifi c characteristics of online Slovenian culture are presented, whereby the paper seeks to answer three questions: how do internet users themselves perceive internet eff ects in everyday life and how are these changes aff ected by age and gender? Why do users use this technology and what spaces do young users prefer to visit? Finally, to what extent are the internet experiences in younger generations determined by their educational aspirations?
    
    Keywords: mediatization of everyday life, online youth culture, internet, public and private sphere

  • Discussions
    Children's definitions of and attitudes toward internet pornography
    Karmen Erjavec

    pp. 41-62
    abstract ↓
    Because there is no international study on children's defi nition of pornography in the literature, this research seeks to fi ll this gap. Th is study used detailed semi-structured interviews with twenty-two twelve-year-olds to reveal the defi nition of pornography and the impacts on children's views, and then examined the key diff erences between the sexes. Th e research showed that boys' defi nition of pornography is closer to the liberal defi nition of pornography, which emphasizes sexual arousal and an explicit display of sexuality. Th e girls had what seemed to be a feminist defi nition, which emphasizes the objectifi cation and subjugation of women to men. Th is is only seemingly a feminist defi nition because, unlike the feminist authors that were interviewed, the girls accept their subjugation as desired behavior. Th e threshold of perceiving and consuming pornography is unsuitably lower in girls than in boys because they particularly stated that the features of porn chic are pornographic. Boys understand conversation and watching internet pornography as something normal, but they have trouble distinguishing between »real« sexuality and pornographic internet messages. Girls are more critical towards the defi nition of pornography as »real« sexuality. An aesthetic criterion is most important in determining the acceptability of pornographic scenes. Th e diff erence by sex is evident in the acceptability/refusal of pornography because for girls the pornography that is watched by boys is ugly, dirty, and abnormal, but boys defi ne their consumption as »childish.« Th e interviewees used a biological model to explain gender diff erences regarding pornographic consumption: males have a biological need, which forces them to use pornography and be promiscuous. Th e results show that the interviewees have established a distinctive and hierarchical understanding of male and female gender roles.
    
    Keywords: media, internet, children, pornography, media literacy

  • Discussions
    Childhood and growing-up in relations of governmentality: Children as a willing »object« of research and the neglected social subject
    Renata Šribar

    pp. 63-80
    abstract ↓
    Sociological, anthropological, and feminist research from a gender perspective interprets the new media as an integral part of childhood, and this is also the starting point for this study of the role of the new media, with internetworking accentuated. Questioning the social conditions and options for engendering and sexualization reveals that the relation between children and internetworking incorporates instances of governance and oversight by parents, school, international entities and, in the end, also the research itself. Research in its hegemonic form is related to policies that are not immune to the infl uence of funding. Th is study critically and semiotically analyses the last grand qualitative survey of the new ICT relations in EU children with the aim to prove the link among funding, policies, and research; it constitutes norms of the relation between children and ICT (and also of the related role of parents, school, and the state). Consequentially the children's own knowledge as regards ICT remains ignored. Standardized research restricts children's inherent awareness of the partially exploitative character of the internet (economic exploitation included).
    
    Keywords: children, internetworking, engendering/sexualization, parents, the state

  • Discussions
    Each is »its own world, strange, bright and beautiful«: Holding focus groups with children and young people
    Nina Sirk

    pp. 81-104
    abstract ↓
    The focus group as a qualitative research method comes from the domain of marketing, and has been becoming more accepted within social science research since the mid-1980s. Like any other research method, it has its weaknesses and advantages. One of the most important advantages is the chance to observe the interaction between participants on a certain theme. In addition, it has been proven appropriate in doing research with children and young people and in dealing with sensitive topics. Mostly because of these (and other) advantages, I chose the focus group as a primary research method for sex education in Slovenian primary schools. I am doing research on two primary schools in Upper Carniola in order to study and represent the state of sex education and what students, parents, and teachers want from it as comprehensively as possible. Th is article primarily focuses on the methodological aspects of holding focus groups with children and young people, as well as my own fi ndings and experiences that I gained during this process.
    
    Keywords: focus group, methodology, moderator, interaction, participant

  • Discussions
    »Said and done«: Performativity of gender in language and witnessing in school
    Maja Pan,

    pp. 105-130
    abstract ↓
    The analysis of homophobic hate speech in school through the prism of performativity theory, based on Judith Butler's interdisciplinary philosophy of gender, is a critical complement to two analytical assessments of the intersection of minority sexualities and school already discussed elsewhere (Pan, 2009 and 2010). Th ese articles emphasise axiological aspects (values of the dominant environment) and epistemological aspects (Donna Haraway's concept of situated knowledge behind the metaphor of searching for a silver axe on a silver moon) of homophobic and hetero-normative discourses, as evidenced in seven years of non-systematic educational work in the classroom (Pan, 2007). Combined with my own paradigmatic examples of homophobic speech in the school environment, the fundamental strategy of revealing the constitutive elements and forces in Judith Butler's concept of injurious speech opens up a critical perspective on current diffi culties in anti-discriminatory education on gender and minority sexualities. It transmits and executes a specifi c performative of witnessing, as conceptualized by Shoshana Felman, and positions the learning process at a meaningful juncture of crisis and pedagogy that allows LGBT youth in school to fi nd their own voice and discover the possibility of resisting normative and repressive forms of gender and sexual materialities. Th is, in return, redirects the question of responsibility towards school and the family, the self-declared bastions of security in the current culture wars »for children«, and exposes them as co-originators of trauma.
    
    Keywords: performativity, queer, gender, homophobia, queer feminist pedagogy

  • Discussions
    Peer violence from the perspective of dominant constructions of masculinities and femininities and intersections of structural inequalities
    Majda Hrženjak

    pp. 131-148
    abstract ↓
    Engendering as a continuous process of subjectivization and socialization disciplines human beings according to »gender-appropriate« norms. Th e more hegemonic and dominant specifi c constructions of femininities and masculinities are, the stronger is their pressure to shape »gender-appropriate « behaviors, reactions, attitudes, and so on. School-age children are in the process of identity negotiations and confl icts, and they are particularly sensitive and vulnerable to the oppressive infl uences of dominant constructions of femininities and masculinities. Th is article uses the concept of »dominant masculinities and femininities« to argue that gender as a social category can be a basis for developing violent behavior patterns among youth. Th e introduction of the concept of intersectionality demonstrates how structural inequalities based on ethnicity and class can infl uence the violent performance of gender. Empirical evidence illustrating these theoretical points of departure are taken from the Stamina international research project, which included thirty-eight semi-structured interviews with thirteen- to fourteen-year-old children about their experiences and refl ections of school, family, leisure time, intimate relations, constructions of gender, and violence.
    
    Keywords: peer violence, gender, structural inequalities, intersectionali

  • Discussions
    Multiculturalism as a tool for sexual subordination: An analysis of public discourse on veiling
    Ksenija Vidmar Horvat in Tjaša Učakar

    pp. 149-170
    abstract ↓
    This paper studies the ideological appropriation of multiculturalism policies, through which western societies reproduce their cultural superiority and historical »advantage« in the sexual liberation of women. The basic thesis that the authors advocate, using a comparative analysis of various types of multiculturalist speech about women's veiling in Europe, is that the ideologeme of cultural diff erence, which legitimizes the necessity of maintaining boundaries and distance between cultures, is at the same time mobilized as a tool of suppression of the dominant culture's own sexual conflicts and conflicts of gender and sexuality. Th e authors base their thesis on the longitudinal historical perspective of appropriation of the Other and the »alien« for the sexual subordination of women of the First and »familiar,« from the colonial period to the modern globalized society. Through selected case-study readings of veiling in Slovenian and European public space, the paper concludes with a critique of critical multiculturalism. The authors argue that in order to improve its emancipatory potentials multiculturalism needs to undergo an epistemological reconstruction of some of its basic foundations.
    
    Keywords: multiculturalism, women's veiling, Europe, sexual subordination, discourse analysis

  • Discussions
    Diff erences in educational achievements of girls and boys and the contradictions of gender regulation
    Veronika Tašner in Metka Mencin Čeplak

    pp. 171-196
    abstract ↓
    At first glance, statistical data in education appear to paint a more favorable picture for females in comparison to males (an increase in the average education level of women at a faster pace, and girls' performance on fi - nal secondary school examinations as well as on the PISA and TIMSS tests). For the past two decades, these data have been used as an argument in favor of the hypothesis that the Slovenian education system favors girls over boys. Th is article points out the danger of reviving the hypotheses about male and female natures, which are the root of assessments about girls being ascribed a privileged role, and diff erences in school achievement within the categories of males and females, which are the consequence of growing social (and political) inequality. Th e analysis of diff erences in girls' and boys' achievement proceeded from the conceptualization of gender identity as a relation ratio supported by the governing constructs of masculinity and femininity. Within the circumstances of increasing uncertainty and competitiveness, these constructs are not inclined toward treating males and females equally.
    
    Keywords: education, gender diff erences, feminism, boy turn.

• Volume XXII

  Number 1-2

  2011

  The School Field Guest Editor: Eva Klemenčič

  • Pre-school and primary school eductaion
    Development of event memory in early childhood
    Mojca Rožman

    pp. 13-30
    abstract ↓
    This study examined the development of event memory in early childhood. Event memory is related to episodes or events that are personally experienced. Recurrent events that typically occur in familiar contexts are organized into scripts. Scripts schematically describe certain experiences and preserve the order and causality of events as they usually unfold. Forming scripts appears to be a way for children to organize and interpret their experiences, which helps them recall what happened in the past and also enhances predictions about what they can expect on similar occasions in future. Event memory in children was assessed using a story about going to the store. Th e study participants were two groups of children, one of 4-year-olds and one of 6-year-olds. Th e results indicate that older children give more correct answers about the event itself and fewer answers that are related to the script. The study concludes that there are developmental changes in event memory in early childhood. Th e number of correct answers is positively correlated with the number of retrieved logical units of the story, and the number of retrieved logical units of the story is negatively correlated with the number of answers related to a script. Both correlations are unaff ected by the children's ages.
    
    Keywords: event memory, early childhood, memory development

  • Pre-school and primary school eductaion
    Social competence and academic achievement in the first grades of elementary school
    Maša Vidmar

    pp. 31-55
    abstract ↓
    This longitudinal study investigated the relationship of children's social competence to their academic achievement and vice versa in the first (measure 2 [M2]; N = 325) and second (M4; N = 323) grades of elementary school. Children's teachers assessed social competence at the end of first and second grade by completing Th e Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale (LaFreniere et al., 2001). Children's homeroom teachers assessed academic achievement by evaluating children's attainment of performance standards in Slovenian, mathematics, and social studies/science at M2 (Zupančič, 2006) and M4 (Vidmar in Zupančič, 2007). Structural equation modeling showed support for the reciprocal model of the relationship between academic achievement and social competence; more socially competent first-graders had better academic attainment when they became as second graders (in comparison to less socially competent first-graders) and vice versa: children with higher academic achievement in first grade were described as more socially competent in second grade (compared to first-graders with lower academic achievement). The coefficients of the cross-lagged paths were small in size. Social competence and academic achievement demonstrated high temporal stability and also significant within-time correlations (with the correlation at M2 being higher than the correlation at M4). Maternal education level was included in the reciprocal model as a covariate; the paths to academic achievement and social competence were significant, and other coefficients in this model (i.e. loadings, correlations, and autoregressive and cross-lagged coefficients) remained practically the same as in the model without maternal education level. Keywords: social competence, academic achievement, elementary school, structural equation modeling

  • Pre-school and primary school eductaion
    Attitudes of Slovenian teachers towards the integration/inclusion of pupils with various types of special needs in primary school
    Majda Schmidt in Branka Čagran

    pp. 55-72
    abstract ↓
    Numerous studies show that successful implementation of integration/ inclusion of children with special needs largely depends on teachers' positive attitudes towards it. Th e empirical research presented in the main part of this article analyzes attitudes of a representative sample of Slovenian teachers (n = 1,360) regarding four domains of impact (the impact of inclusion on pupils with special needs, on peers, on teachers, and on the classroom environment. In this, we controlled the role of the following two relevant characteristics of the sample: the category of special needs (physical impairments, borderline intellectual abilities, learning difficulties, and behavioral/ emotional disorders) and the category of teachers' professional expertise in working with pupils with special needs. We used the Impact of Inclusion Questionnaire. The results show that teachers' attitudes towards integration/ inclusion are determined by the type of special needs the integrated pupils have. Teachers expressed the highest level of consent in the case of pupils with physical impairments and the lowest in the case of pupils with behavioral and emotional disorders. Our study shows that, in addition to the type of special needs, teachers' professional expertise in working with pupils with special needs is another important factor that determines the level of agree ment with integration/inclusion. It turned out that the teachers that had taken part in various forms of education and training had a more positive attitude towards all domains of impact.
    
    Keywords: integration/inclusion, teachers' attitudes, pupils with special needs, various types of special needs, teachers' professional expertise

  • Pre-school and primary school eductaion
    Detection of aggressive behaviors in children and adolescents in schools: Data analysis of large-scale student assessments
    Tina Vršnik Perše, Ana Kozina in Tina Rutar Leban

    pp. 73-90
    abstract ↓
    The paper presents the results of a secondary analysis of international comparative studies. The goal is to provide the empirical basis for discussions on the frequency and severity of aggressive behavior in schools. The data used come from the TIMSS (Trends in International Math and Science Study) and the CRISP (Children's Rights International Study Project). The TIMSS, in addition to assessing knowledge, gathers a rich array of background information. In the students' background questionnaires there are also items measuring various types of aggressive behavior that students experienced in the last month prior to testing. Physical aggression, verbal aggressi on, and indirect aggression (e.g., stealing, exclusion from groups, and coercion) are included. These are the types of aggressive behavior most commonly found in schools and the research literature reveals that they are also related to children's and adolescents' achievement. The trends in answering these aggressive behavior items from 1995 to 2007 are analyzed separately for different age and gender groups. In addition to the perceptions of various aggressive behaviors, we also analyzed children's and adolescents' feelings of safety at school and on the way to school as measured by the CRISP. Aggressive behavior is one of the crucial issues in modern schooling and should therefore continue to be part of our research focus in the future.
    
    Keywords: aggressive behavior, feeling of safety, children, adolescents, school

  • Students
    Dissatisfied procrastinators: Procrastination among undergraduates in connection with academic achievement and satisfaction
    Asja Videčnik

    pp. 93-114
    abstract ↓
    This study investigated procrastination in the academic context among students at the University of Ljubljana. According to recent studies, procrastination on tasks such as studying for an exam, writing a term paper, and registering for exams has been linked to various personality traits, motivation, success rates, and so on. This study examined procrastination in relation to academic achievement and satisfaction (with life and with one's degree program). Participants included 181 students, who reported some of their past grades, completed the Procrastination Assessment Scale–Students (PASS; Solomon and Rothblum, 1984), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985) and a Scale of Academic Satisfaction (Videčnik, 2009). Our findings are in broad agreement with previous studies. Th ey show a mixed picture concerning the relationship between procrastination and grades: to some extent procrastination is weakly negatively correlated with some measures of school and academic success (e.g., procrastination on studying for exams is negatively associated with the grade point average), but elsewhere there are no significant correlations. The findings also indicate that life satisfaction is weakly negatively correlated with procrastination on writing, studying, and the total PASS score. Academic satisfaction was moderately negatively associated with procrastination in all areas measured. The results of multiple regression analysis predicting grade point average and academic satisfaction show that past grades and procrastination can explain 41.7% of the variance of the grade point average and 52.3% of the variance of academic satisfaction. These findings give us insight into procrastination in the school and academic contexts, and help us better understand academic satisfaction.
    
    Keywords: procrastination, students, grades, satisfaction with life, academic satisfaction

  • Students
    Full-time and part-time students' motivation
    Oliver Buček in Branka Čagran

    pp. 115-128
    abstract ↓
    Students enroll at a university with varying levels of motivation to learn. Th is study examined the diff erences in motivation between full-time and part-time students. Our research included both full-time and part-time students from Slovenian universities. Th e findings indicate that part-time students deal better with editing and designing tables and computer presentations. Students assessed themselves with the lowest scores in knowledge of computer equipment and multimedia. Part-time students are generally older and spend more time studying at home. Th ey make the decision to attend classes out of personal interest and the desire to learn more about areas that interest them. It can be claimed that they are more intrinsically motivated and more eager to learn because of the pleasure and satisfaction they experience while studying, doing research, or trying to understand something new. Full-time students take classes due to feelings of success and importance. Th is study showed that full-time students are partly extrinsically motivated; they tend toward introjection. Th ey consciously place value on the goals of their behavior and regulation in order to perceive the activity as personally important.
    
    Keywords: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation

  • Citizenship education
    (Post-)sovereign discourses of citizenship education: From national to global
    Simona Bezjak

    pp. 131-152
    abstract ↓
    This article presents a conceptual and theoretical framework for analyzing the discourses that currently construct the meanings of citizenship, citizenship education, and citizenship education curricula in today's globalized world. Diff erent meanings of these discourses are described within the system of modern sovereign states and seek to develop an understanding of the new discourses that are emerging within the dynamic between globalization and education. It is argued that the most recent developments in discourses of citizenship education have shift ed from national to global or post-sovereign conceptions. New discourses involve the idea that citizenship education should be conceptualized within a global context and that a new understanding of the citizenship education curriculum is needed that responds to the social, political, and economic realities of the time. This article analyzes how the contentious new and old discourses are used in the contemporary citizenship education curriculum, particularly in Slovenia. The article concludes by off ering some conceptual, theoretical, and pedagogical suggestions for global or post-sovereign citizenship education curriculum development.
    
    Keywords: theory of discourses, citizenship, citizenship education, citizenship education curriculum, globalization

  • Citizenship education
    European multiculturalism and educational policies: Governing fl exible and entrepreneurial European citizens
    Jernej Pikalo in Marinko Banjac

    pp. 153-174
    abstract ↓
    This paper analyzes how the multiculturalism that is integrated into European educational policies constitutes individuals that are inherent to modern governmental configurations and modes of governance, who perceive and conduct themselves as European multicultural citizens that not only tolerate and respect cultural diversity but also understand it as an advantage in a world that demands flexibility, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Th rough European education policies, multiculturalism as a governing technology stimulates standardization and homogenization of particular knowledge through which continuous (re)creation of job skills is (re)affirmed. Job skills are essential to the individual in order to adapt to the labor market in a changing and culturally diverse European economy. The diversity of cultures within the European space is a cornerstone of the common European identity and is prevailingly understood as comparative advantage on the global market.
    
    Keywords: multiculturalism, European Union, education policies, European citizenship, entrepreneurship

  • Citizenship education
    Patriotism in the Slovenian school system
    Vladimir Prebilič in Andreja Barle Lakota

    pp. 175-186
    abstract ↓
    In Slovenia, discussions of patriotism face strong challenges. In view of the various standpoints, they may be organized into two reciprocally diff erent and conceptually distant groups. Th e first rather liberal group consists of individuals that deem an emphasis on the concept of patriotism unnecessary because a new, substantially broader European framework is supposed to progressively replace it. In this respect, fostering patriotic sentiments may be seen as inhibiting (at least in part) the further strengthening of European identity, for which new associations among world economic and military superpowers will most likely be instituted at the global level. Th e second less liberal and perhaps somewhat more conservative position on patriotism signifies an antipode to the premises above. Furthermore, the question arises: What is or will the role of government, public authorities, and systems be in the development and implementation of patriotism as a concept, and how will these contribute to resolving many open issues that pertain to patriotism in Slovenia? Th is article highlights the understanding of aspects related to the origin of an independent and self-governing Slovenia that may be considered significant patriotic ideas. Keywords: patriotism, national identity, history, Slovenian education system

  • Epistemology and the issues of higher education
    Knowing the difference: Gender research in education
    Valerija Vendramin

    pp. 189-200
    abstract ↓
    This article highlights some problems inherent in gender research in education. It takes feminist epistemology as a starting point and theoretical framework and develops the argument along the lines of hegemonic "theories"— that is, theories that are not recognized as theories because they are seen as common sense or a necessity. First the author presents some basic tenets of feminist epistemology; she then proceeds to gender research. She identifies several problems that render gender research in its present state insufficient and possibly cause it to work against equality in education. Th e argument is backed up with examples of some recent research (global quantitative researches, Eurydice project–initiated research, etc.). The research findings turn out not to be a homogenous mass of knowledge, but ones that always need to be interpreted (according to various agendas).
    
    Keywords: gender, feminist epistemology, research, objectivity vs. subjectivity

  • Epistemology and the issues of higher education
    Augustine on the foundation and community of knowledge
    Janez Justin

    pp. 201-226
    abstract ↓
    The modern understanding of the human being is connected with Augustine's work in several ways. Basically it is still tied to Augustinian conceptual metaphors: The mind is man's interiority, learning is internalizing, memorizing is storing, remembering is recalling, understanding is becoming enlightened or having an insight, communication is transmission, and so on. Contemporary theories of learning contain many sediments of Augustine's theory of learning developed in his work On the Teacher. That treatise was able to be written only aft er Augustine had refuted the basic argument put forward by the skeptic philosophers of Antiquity; namely, that no certain knowledge can be acquired. He did this in his early work Against the Academics. There he defined the kind of knowledge that presumably cannot be falsified. Indexical thoughts and expressions have a central role in that knowledge. A fragmented germ of what is now considered the community of knowledge can also be found in this work by Augustine.
    
    Keywords: knowledge, skepticism, indexicality, logic, semantics, Platonism, truth, epistemology, community of knowledge

  • Epistemology and the issues of higher education
    Considerations regarding the 2011–2020 National Higher Education Program
    Franci Pivec

    pp. 227-256
    abstract ↓
    Higher education is distancing itself from the idea of knowledge as a common good and is turning into a market-based knowledge industry. This is facilitated by omnipresent transnational regulation, which is tailored to suit the most developed countries and is also part of the Bologna Process. New development strategies for higher education extending up to 2030 are emerging and they rely heavily on the qualifications framework. In Slovenia as well, there should be more thorough examination of the current understanding of the higher education system and its autonomy, the role of the private sector, and its institutional and program structures, as well as the higher education qualifications framework. Internationalization should be looked upon critically because a war for knowledge is imminent. Comprehensive use of ICT should be incorporated into quality assurance. Because of its position among the world's top countries in terms of intergenerational persistence in attaining educational levels, Slovenia is faced with a serious problem. Keywords: knowledge as a common good, transnational regulation of higher education, higher education planning, qualifications framework, higher education system, internationalization, university ranking

  • Knjižne recenzije
    Zdenka Zalokar Divjak, Ivan Rojnik – Pedagoški in didaktični vidiki vzgoje (Bogomir Novak)
    Bogomir Novak

    Na voljo samo v tiskani izdaji.

• Volume XXI

  Number 1-2

  2010

  THE SCHOOL FIELD Guest Editor: Darko Štrajn, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • Children's Characteristics and Their Parents' Academic Involvement as Predictors of School Achievement in the First Grade
    Martina Horvat, Maja Zupančič, Maša Vidmar

    pp. 11-34
    abstract ↓
    This study explored the role of children's characteristics (gender and general non-verbal intelligence) and their parents' academic involvement (parents' cooperation with the school, mothers' education and stimulation of their child's cognitive development) in predicting the fi rst graders' school achievement. Data was collected from Slovene first graders and their mothers (N = 328). The children's teachers (N = 87) reported on their school achievement in Slovene, Mathematics, and Environmental Education (EE), and on their parents' cooperation with the school. The mothers provided data regarding their own level of education and the stimulation of their child's cognitive development. The children were assessed individually regarding their non-verbal ability. Th e two blocks of factors (child characteristics and parental academic involvement) explained 23%, 9%, 7% and 17% of the variance in the children's scores (Slovene, Mathematics, EE, and aggregated achievement respectively). The combined child and parental factors showed a significantly higher predictive value than the variance predicted by either of the two factors alone. Non-verbal ability and maternal education were significant single predictors across the academic achievement scores. According to the teachers' ratings of achievement, girls attained higher Slovene scores than boys. The parents' level of cooperation with the school was also predictive of the first graders' Slovene scores.
    
    Key words: firstgraders, academic achievement, non-verbal ability, parental academic involvement, mothers' education

  • Some aspects of pre-school children's magazine evaluation
    Maja Hmelak, Jurka Lepičnik Vodopivec

    pp. 35-52
    abstract ↓
    Numerous of pre-school children's magazines being present on our market justifies questioning their adequacy. Therefore a need for evaluation of these magazines is appearing. Based on pre-school children developmental characteristics knowledge, the authors carry out analyse on chosen sample of Slovenian pre-school children's magazines, using preliminary defined evaluation criteria that were determined by themselves. Thereby three main criteria are focused on: content, which is being analysed further on, font size and type, and visual appearance of the magazine.
    
    Key words: evaluation, criteria, magazine, printed media, pre-school child.

  • Reading Literacy among Eight- and Nine-Year Primary School Pupils: Cautious Use of Scores in International Knowledge-Assessment Studies
    Slavko Gaber, Ljubica Marjanovič Umek

    pp. 55-72
    abstract ↓
    In the study that strives to contextualize the findings of several international comparative knowledge-assessment studies within the broader context of educational systems and critically analyzes certain shifts in the interpretation of the results, we have carried out a separate comparative analysis of reading literacy (i.e., scores in the international comparative study PIRLS 2006) for children in eight- and nine-year primary schools in Slovenia. We demostrated that the differences between the two groups are not statistically significant on any of the measures of reading literacy; however, score differences are significant with regard to sex, parental education, and preschool attendance for both groups. We separately examined whether possible diff erences in the samples of children from eight- and nine-year primary school programs (differences in sex ratio, or subgroups with regard to parental education or preschool attendance) could have been the reason for nearly the same scores in both groups. While these hypotheses were not confirmed too, we went on to consider possible systemic and substantive reasons for the relatively small (and, in our view, insufficient) effect of an additional year of schooling in the nine-year program in comparison to the eight-year program, which among other things may also be reflected in major or excessive pressure on teaching and learning in the upper grades of primary school.
    
    Key words: reading literacy, international comparative knowledge-assessment studies, interpretation of the results.

  • Paraphrase and its use in foreign language teaching
    Tanja Škerlavaj

    pp. 73-92
    abstract ↓
    The paraphrase, which in linguistics expresses synonymous relations between sentences, appears on all language levels and enables us understanding in our every-day life, however, we can also find it in specialist texts, in literature and in other fields.
    
    The article combines the paraphrase with the teaching methodology and tries to find out how the paraphrase can be used in foreign language classes. It consists of a text to which exercises are added that can be used by professors and teachers of German language. The text can be paraphrased in different ways: on the text level a summary, a simplification and a translation are possible. The text can be divided into essential information and there is also a possibility of drawing a picture that tells the story of the text. On the sentence level it is possible to transform active into passive, the sentences can be paraphrased by changing the order of the sentence elements or direct speech can be changed into indirect speech. One can paraphrase some sentences by changing the verbal style into the nominal style and vice versa. A translation of the sentences is also possible. On the lexical level it is possible to find paraphrases of certain words in the text itself, other (unknown) words can be paraphrased by giving explanations out of dictionaries, some words can be explained by giving their hyponyms and some of them can be translated into Slovene.
    
    The article shows that several possibilities exist if one wants to use paraphrase in foreign language classes. Such exercises with paraphrases highly strengthen the language competence of the students.
    
    Key words: text cohesion, paraphrasing, levels of the language (lexical, sentenceand text paraphrase), language teaching methodology, foreign language classes, language competence.

  • Treatment of the antiquity in recent Slovenian rhetorical reference books
    Klaudija Sedar

    pp. 93-114
    abstract ↓
    The contribution at hand consists of five chapters from the field of rhetoric and is based on the method of classification and compilation. With help of reference books that have been written by Slovenian authors in the past 30 years, as well as theses from the same field, the paper aims to define and present rhetorical skills, which the orator should concentrate on at his theoretical and subsequent practical performance. Additionally, it also attempts to state similarities and differences in conveying and connecting cognitions, viewpoints and resolutions of different authors. Chapter one presents the findings of authors of reference books and theses concerning definitions of rhetoric, given that we cannot be content with the general definition of rhetoric as being "the science of eloquence". The second chapter deals with rhetorical genres as they are defined by particular authors. Chapter three is answering the following question: Which parts of the speech are recommended by authors in order to achieve a successful structure of speech and in what manner they should be used. Chapter four treats the resources and means of persuasion in reference books and theses, as these resources are the constituents of the essence of rhetoric. The fifth chapter deals with the question how authors defi ne the tasks of an orator in delivering a successful speech preparation and what signifi cance these have.
    
    Keywords: rhetoric, rhetorical reference books of Slovenian authors written in the past 30 years, speech

  • Artistic and ecological
    Božidar Flajšman

    pp. 117-126
    abstract ↓
    The main purpose of this article is to explain and establish the connection between two activities or professions; classic visual arts and ecology; to show how this findings can be used in education or in the learning process, and to explain the influence of ecology on the artistic creation and vice-versa.
    
    Main junction between these two professions - the classic visual arts and ecology, is in their attitude towards the space - environment. Visual art is acting in a parallel, symbolic space. It is about human communication (mediation) between the natural (real) and artistic (cultural) space. As such it is in natural connection with non-artistic mediations between the human and his natural and cultural environment. Ecology, on the other hand, is acting in real space. Ecological problems can thus be defined as a misunderstanding in communication. Therefore the art and ecological awareness can mutually support and enrich each-other. The advantage of artistic translation of ecological messages is clarity, persuasiveness and attractiveness. Visualisation is an instrument that forms the attitude towards the space - environment. Initiator and creator of a quality relationship with the space is visualisation of an artistic and not a commercial type, which we can witness in everyday flood of visual communications.
    
    Key words: art, ecology, visual, experience; ecological awareness

  • Learning habits of students with special needs in short-term vocational education program
    Majda Schmidt, Helena Čreslovnik

    pp. 127-146
    abstract ↓
    The basic findings of empirical research emphasize that statistically significant differences between students with special needs and students without special needs exist in four areas of learning habits: motivational area, area of learning and learning techniques, affective area, and the social area.
    
    Among the troublesome fi dings in connection with learning habits we especially expose the fact that students with special needs are perceived as less effective and less competent for coping with learning and work tasks in short-term vocational education programs. These students are not familiar with effective ways and strategies for successfull learning, which leads to the fellings of frustration and helplessness in case of failure.
    
    For short-term vocational schools to enable quality, effective and supportive educational environment for students with special needs (especially for those with cognitive disabilies), they should develop learning/teaching models which provide a potencially powerful alternative to a traditionally directed teaching approaches.
    
    Key words: Short-term vocational education programs, integration, students with special needs, students without special needs, learning habits

  • Advantages and disadvantages of the case method use for business and economics
    Mateja Dostal

    pp. 147-154
    abstract ↓
    As experiential learning negates summative learning and declares that the knowledge is a transformation process, being constantly created and recreated by which learning transforms experience in both its objective and subjective forms, it should by definition be used mostly in the teaching of: complex career; communication; social and leadership skills; individual advice and project planning. The main principle of the experiential learning cycle is a proactive adaptation to the world and the continual transaction between social and personal knowledge. Although business schools seem to be avid users of the case method, they surprisingly remain more explicit about their use of values towards the case teaching and its advantages and disadvantages, than they are about the evidence of use of any experiential learning model.
    
    The efficacy of the case method is the result of the efficacious functioning of all learning modes and both dimensions of comprehension. The article reviews the business schools' discussion on the matter summarises the main advantages and disadvantages of the use of the method and concludes with the findings on research into students' perspective on the advantages and disadvantages of case method use for business and economics.
    
    Key words: case method, case study, business case study, experiential learning, business and economics.

  • Beyond positivism or the perspectives od the »new« gender equality
    Valerija Vendramin, Renata Šribar

    pp. 157-170
    abstract ↓
    In this contribution the authors focus on two interconnected issues. On the one side we are interested in methodological problems in gender research in education (but wider as well). In this area the contemporary researches – large international statistical data collection – actualize the opposition between qualitative and quantitative approaches, the opposition which is not value-neutral. We determine that speaking about gender equality or about the advantage of girls masks numerous subtle discriminations. On the other side we explore the concrete consequences of overlooking or not taking into account the modern conceptions of gender and multiple discriminations in education. Our work is based on the feminist reconceptualizations of epistemology and on the concept of situated knowledges which means a critical stance toward "universal" truths and a refl ection on the situatedness of the researcher in the research project.
    
    Key words: gender, feminist theory, discrimination, methodological issues, studies of intersectionality

  • St. Augustine, On the Teacher
    Janez Justin

    pp. 171-202
    abstract ↓
    In his paper the author scrutinizes Augustine's theory of mind, learning and knowledge as exposed in the text On the Teacher. He deals with the question of how much Augustine's theory of learning is aff ected by some of his central concepts, distinctions and metaphors (picture of solitary mind, man's interiority, extrinsic/intrinsic distinction, process of internalisation, mental word and language, memory as receptacle in which we store information, understanding as illumination, communication as transport of mental content, discourse as testimony etc.). Augustine's early text is shown to be the origin of certain concepts of intelligence and understanding that today are still in circulation. Augustine is found to picture the educational process as consisting of two separate activities with no strong link between them. Two isolated minds – the teacher's and the student's one – are supposed to be involved. Th e only contact they established is in teacher's admonishing the pupil to learn. There is supposed to be no common, extrinsic and public object of knowledge. The teacher and the student can deal only with discrete objects in the privacy of their isolated minds. When writing On the Teacher Augustine was influenced by Plato's Meno. There the Greek philosopher sets up a scene where two persons jointly investigate the structure of an geometrical object. They jointly attend to an extrinsic, public and common object. In Augustine's theory of learning there is no room for such a scene and object. The Roman writer was mainly concerned with how an external, perceptual object enters the mind, becoming an object of the internal eye's scrutiny. This is the starting point for Augustine's later radically internalist theory of learning and knowledge.
    
    Key words: learning, knowledge, teaching, discourse, memory, communication, internalisation

• Volume XX

  Number 5-6

  2009

  THE SCHOOL FIELD Guest Editor: Igor Ž. Žagar, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • What CDA is about - a summary of its history, important concepts and its developments
    Ruth Wodak

    pp. 07-24
    abstract ↓
    The article presents an overview of development of critical discourse analysis and critical linguistics and explains how they are related to the tradition of critical theories and Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics. Basic theoretical principles and concepts of CDA and CL are presented as well as the prominent schools and scholars, who emerged from both theoretical paradigms.
    
    Key words: critical discourse analysis, critical linguistics, critique, ideology, power

  • Discourse: Foucault, Laclau and understanding the dichotomy between the discursive and the extra-discursive
    Andreja Vezovnik

    pp. 25-46
    abstract ↓
    The contribution raises the issue of the dichotomy between the discursive and the extradiscursive and deals with it in the Heideggerian perspective of the division between the ontic and the ontological level. It deals with Foucault's understanding of discourse in his archaeological period. It focuses on the paradoxic idea of the regularity of dispersion of the statements within a discursive formation and brings up the problem of how to individualize different discourse on the empirical level. As an alternative to the foucaultian 'solution' the contribution offers Laclau's theory of discourse which abolishes the dichotomy mentioned above. Laclau's notion of discourse is perceived as an ubiquitous social phenomenon while the logic of discursive fields is interpreted through the totalizing instance of the empty signifier. The central problem of Foucault's thesis is that, unlike Laclau, he does not think the relations between discourses as differential relations. This in fact makes for Foucault impossible to think the system of discourses on the ontic level.
    
    Keywords: discourse, discursive, discursive formation, statement, empty signifier

  • Topoi in critical discourse analysis (article in English)
    Igor Ž. Žagar

    pp. 47-74
    abstract ↓
    Topos (topoi in pl.) is one of the most widely used concepts from classical argumentation theory (Aristotle, Cicero). It found its way not only in philosophy, sociology, anthropology and linguistics, it found its way in everyday life and everyday conversation as well. In this article, I will examine the role that topoi play in Critical Discourse Analysis. Starting with definitions from Aristotle and Cicero, contrasting them with new conceptualisations by Perelman and Toulmin, and examining the superficial use of topoi in everyday conversation, I will try to show that Critical Discourse Analysis (especially Ruth Wodak's Discourse-Historical Approach) relies mostly on simplified, unreflected use of topoi (as found in everyday use), thus neglecting much more productive, theoretical elaborations of the concept.
    
    Key words: topoi, warrant, rhetoric, argumentation, Critical Discourse Analysis

  • Journalistic (Re)production of History: Televized Coverage of Radovan Karadžić's Arrest in Serbia (article in English)
    Karmen Erjavec, Zala Volčič

    pp. 75-100
    abstract ↓
    The arrest of former Bosnian Serb political and military leader Radovan Karadžić in July 2008 triggered a wide-spread interest within international community and provided the opportunity for the Serbian public and its media to reflect upon the role of Serbia during the 1990s Yugoslav wars. Karadžić was as a president of the self-proclaimed Serbian republic within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was accused for genocide and crimes against humanity in 1995. On the basis of critical discourse analysis (the analysis of recontextualization and the analysis of representation of social actors), we argue that Television Serbia's journalists, while covering Karadžić's arrest, reproduced a nationalistic discourse by invoking nostalgia for Greater Serbia in ways that concealed any connection between Karadžić specifically, the Serbs in general, and especially the current government with war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time this discourse celebrated Serbia as a superior nation as it progressed toward inclusion in the European Union.
    
    Keywords: history, nationalism, journalism, Television Serbia, critical discourse analysis

  • The voice of an agenda-setting authority-content characteristics of the discourse of the office of the high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (article in English)
    Danijela Majstorović

    pp. 100-132
    abstract ↓
    This paper presents an effort to show some characteristics of the Office of the High Representative's rhetoric in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1996-2005. The study provides a model for a possible triangulated critical discourse analysis of the selected corpus (press releases) by combining contextualization from an international relations perspective, postcolonial theory, content analysis, corpus linguistics and textual analysis critically reflecting the nature of the discourse under analysis, and main methodological issues and concerns. It describes the background in which such a paternalistic and authoritarian discourse was possible but also points out at the salient ideologies located in the texts.
    
    Key words: critical discourse analysis, content analysis, Office of the High Representative, Bosnia and Herzegovina, theme, discourse, political communication

  • '68 as parrallel crisis of both European West and East
    Primož Krašovec

    pp. 133-156
    abstract ↓
    Europe has, within its territory, become a dominant political concept only with the emergence of discourses that propagated its unification into EU at the beginning of the nineties. Before that, in times when Europe was still divided, the role of the dominant political concept, which determined the understanding and imagining of the European political space, belonged to the division between (with a few errors) democratic West and socialist East. During the development of the concept of Europe after the reunification of Germany and other processes of European integration - which also included the integration of previously disparate European political discourses into a united discourse of the new, unified Europe by the way of termination of revolutionary discourses, which have before divided this space into two – year '68 has a special role, since massive insurrections occuring at that time problematised both Western and Eastern type of socio-political ordering of the then Europe. During this crisis Europe emerged as a heiress of the common antifascist struggle and as a potential space for the development of democratic socialism as a society of the future. Today, in times of the unified Europe, the political history of the post-war Europe is often represented as a struggle and a final triumph of the free world over socialist "totalitarianism". The aim of our analysis is to show that political dynamic of that era was much more complex.
    
    Keywords: Europe, West, East, socialism, democracy

• Volume XX

  Number 3-4

  2009

  ARE SLOVENIAN STUDENTS READY FOR THE FUTURE? Competencies of Slovenian students through the prism of OECD PISA research Guest Editor: Mojca Štraus, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • COMPETENCES OF SLOVENIAN FIFTEEN YEAR OLD PUPILS RELATED TO EXPERIMENTAL WORK IN SCIENCE CLASSES - THE CASE OF PHYSICS
    Gorazd Planinšič

    pp. 09-20
    abstract ↓
    Experiment is one of the key elements of problem solving in science. Abilities to plan and conduct the experiment and interpret experimental results are among the essential competences that also affect the level of scientific literacy of the population. The results of PISA 2006 show that the level of scientific literacy of Slovenian pupils at the age of fifteen is relatively high on the international scale. However, detailed analysis of solving particular science units and comparison with the answers from Student questionnaire indicate some deficiencies of competences and knowledge related to the use of experimental approach in solving problems in science for Slovenian pupils and thus shows the possibilities how to improve achievement of Slovenian pupils in future. Recently modernized secondary school physics curriculum offers opportunities for improvement of deficient competences and knowledge.

  • PRIMARY TEACHERS' COMPETENCIES IN THE LIGHT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE STUDY PISA 2006
    Darja Skribe - Dimec

    pp. 21-34
    abstract ↓
    This article brings the comparison between competencies presently being developed by the primary teacher' study program, and competencies, which should be developed according to the Bologna process. The comparison between acquired and desired competencies of primary teachers, and competencies that were used in the international comparative study PISA 2006, was made. On the basis of these comparisons the estimation was made, whether the study program gives (or will give) the proper qualifications to primary teachers in order to help their pupils attain competencies measured in the PISA 2006 study. At the end the basic distinctive features of the PISA 2006 study are summarized.

  • PISA 2006 ITEM ACID RAIN IN FOCUS
    Andreja Bačnik

    pp. 35-50
    abstract ↓
    In the paper the PISA 2006 unit ACID RAIN is analyzed as a case study of the components of the PISA science literacy. Thus the characteristics of PISA assessment units are presented while at the same time the achievements of Slovene students on the items within this unit are compared internationally. The PISA unit Acid Rain perfectly reflects most of the components of PISA science literacy and at the same time the characteristics of the PISA items: closed format questions, open format questions and attitude questions. The analysis of the student achievement on the items in this unit reveal the "problems" Slovene 15-year-olds and their counterparts in other countries had in responding to questions. Furthermore, the paper presents inductive workshop approach to teacher training in self-evaluation of their teaching practices using student achievements on the Acid Rain unit and PISA study overall as an example.

  • ENSURING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDRENS ACCADEMIC SUCCESS THROUGH ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING READING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
    Sonja Rutar

    pp. 51-70
    abstract ↓
    Developmental research center of pedagogical Initiatives Step by Step at the Pedagogical Institute in Ljubljana was from October 2005, till June 2007 partner in the developmental research project, named by:"Academic Success for Roma Children". The purpose of the project was developing pre-reading, emergent literacy and reading skills assessment instruments, to use them in kindergartens and in the first grades of primary schools. Instruments were developed with the aim to recognize educational needs and for planning teaching strategies that are related to the diagnostic information revealed by assessments. Schools and kindergartens, included in the project in Slovenia were: Primary School Frana Metelka Škocjan, Primary school Belokranjskega odreda Semic and Primary School Leskovec pri Krškem. Project were financed by Roma Educational Found, based and build on"child centered/ child oriented" philosophy of education, expertise and investments made in previous years of educational project implementation: Open Society Institute, New York, and Critical Thinking International, Inc.

  • REFLECTIONS AND RESERVATIONS AROUND PISA: SCIENTIFIC LITERACY, CURRICULUM AND SEX (NON)DIFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT
    Valerija Vendramin

    pp. 71-86
    abstract ↓
    The author takes as a starting point international research (such as PISA) and starts the reflection on some gender-related constructs. Parallel to the presentation of the results of Slovenian students on PISA 2006 the author introduces some considerations about the image of science, scientific literacy and sheds some light on the cultural contexts, power relationships and value systems as the factors that are not taken into account in this context. At the same time the article also presents some critiques/reservations around PISA and the emphases that are today emerging in the educational thought in the West in general: the importance given to the rankings on the tests as a guarantee for successful national economies; the selection of subject areas � some are given lower status and lower rankings cause no public concern whatsoever; the tendency to the (supposed) universality of situations presented in tasks � it seems that specific cultural identity is no longer important. The reflection on the concept of achievement or differences in achievement between boys and girls follows. The achievement is today extraordinarily narrowly conceived as exclusively reflected by credentials from performance in tests; some other, broader views of educational aims are hereby marginalized.

  • ELEMENTS OF PARENT'S PARENTING STILE AND THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ADOLESCENTS
    Tina Rutar Leban, Tina Vršnik Perše, Ana Kozina, Zoran Pavlovič

    pp. 87-104
    abstract ↓
    The article describes procedures included in the Programme for International Student Assessment PISA on the national level. The procedures are defined by the Consortium and include the review of international documents, review of the item pool, translation and printing of instruments, sampling of schools and students, field trial and main study, coding of open-ended items and entering of data, sending the data to the Consortium, organisation and realization of seminars for test administrators, coders, school coordinators and school principals, reporting of results, translation and publishing of the OECD publications and participation at the international meetings.

  • TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE CARRYING OUT OF PISA 2006 IN SLOVENIA
    Maša Repež, Mojca Štraus

    pp. 105-116
    abstract ↓
    V prispevku so opisani postopki izvedbe Programa mednarodne primerjave dosežkov učencev PISA na nacionalni ravni. Postopke izvedbe določa Mednarodno združenje, mednje pa spadajo pregled mednarodnih dokumentov, pregled izbranih nalog, prevod in tisk instrumentov, vzorčenje šol in učencev, izvedba predraziskave in glavne raziskave, kodiranje vprašanj odprtega tipa in vnos podatkov, pošiljanje baze podatkov v mednarodni center, organizacija in izvedba seminarjev za izvajalce na šolah, koder je, koordinatorje na šolah in ravnatelje šol, poročanje o rezultatih, prevajanje in objava publikacij OECD in udeležba na mednarodnih sestankih.

  • PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE SLOVENIAN VERSION OF PISA 2006 TESTS
    Helga Brigita Kočevar

    pp. 117-139
    no abstract
    

• Volume XX

  Number 1-2

  2009

  SMO LAHKO ZADOVOLJNI? Slovenski vzgojno izobraževalni sistem skozi raziskavo OECD PISA Guest Editor: Mojca Štraus, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE SLOVENIAN VERSION OF PISA 2006 TESTS
    Gregor Sočank

    pp. 9-40
    abstract ↓
    A psychometric analysis according to the classical test theory and the Rasch model, respectively, was performed on the Slovenian students� scores on mathematics, reading literacy and science, obtained in the PISA 2006 study. In general, the tests fulfilled the criteria of dimensionality, reliability, item discrimination and difficulty distribution very well. However, regarding the huge size of the available data matrices and a large variability of discrimination indices, the optimality of the Rasch model as the basis for scaling the PISA scores is disputed.

  • WITHIN AND BETWEEN SCHOOL VARIANCE AMONG SLOVENIAN STUDENTS� ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE, READING AND MATHEMATICS ON PISA 2006
    Gašper Cankar

    pp. 41-54
    abstract ↓
    The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides invaluable database that enables important comparisons by country. Since most steps of PISA preparation and implementation are thoroughly prescibed and standardized most comparisons of results bear high validity. Due to specific differences between countrys' school systems and in smaller part specific sampling decisions in slovenian sample indicator of equity in distribution of learning opportunities for Slovenia, as published in international report (OECD, 2007a), can not be compared to other countries and validity of inferences from such comparisons are threatened. Based on results from national assessment that each year includes whole population of students in Slovenia approximately one year younger than in the population assessed in PISA author argues that interpretation of equity indicator for Slovenia is inherently flawed.

  • WHAT CAN THE INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL STUDENT ASSESMENTS TELL US?
    Neja Markelj, Matej Majerič

    pp. 55-82
    abstract ↓
    The authors discuss the role of national and international student assessments in the evaluation process of schools and educational system. Different assessments produce different results, usually due to methodological differences, for instance: sample design, type of test application and the content assessed. The research design is shaped in accordance to survey's aim and in a way to achieve the goals at low costs and with still acceptable validity and reliability. Therefore it is necessary to read and interpret the surveys' results carefully with methodological constraints in mind. The evaluation of educational system on the basis of one such assessment is not sensible neither fair. Nevertheless, the comparison of a number of such surveys gives us a wider perspective of factors that influence students' academic achievements. The aim of this article is to point out the common features and differences between existing international and national surveys. On that basis we will discuss the meaning of their results for understanding the quality of schools and educational system.

  • ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENCES IN STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EFFECTS OF SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
    Slavko Gaber, Veronika Tašner, Ljubica Marjanovič Umek, Anja Podlesek, Gregor Sočan

    pp. 83-126
    abstract ↓
    This secondary study analyses Slovenian students' science performance in the international comparative study PISA 2006 within the context of social reproduction. We were especially interested in comparisons with selected countries (Finland, Estonia, and Norway), and also, in places, comparisons with other countries included in PISA 2006, especially student performance at the OECD average. An analysis of between-school and within-school differences in student performance indicates that the large differences in performance of Slovenian students must be attributed to the various secondary-school programs that Slovenian 15-year-olds were enrolled in when tested. All of the additional calculations that we used to help explain the performance of Slovenian students versus their peers from the countries compared (with predictors included) indicate that the calculations and interpretation of between-school and within-school differences in student performance presented in the PISA 2006 report are not precise enough because they overlook certain important differences between the school systems in different countries. Taking into account the findings presented in the PISA 2006 report, our own calculations, and various concepts of educational system fairness and effectiveness, we determined that the economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) of students' parents has an important effect on student performance at the primary level. Findings from the analysis of primary and secondary effects of social inequality (student inclusion in various educational programs, student aspirations and motivations in various educational programs, the grades that they "bring" with themselves, and the role of ESCS in inclusion in various programs despite having identical grades in school) indicate that mechanisms and measures must be created in the Slovenian school system to reduce the effects of social inequality.

  • RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SLOVENE STUDENTS AND THEIR PISA 2006 ACHIEVEMENT: MATHEMATICAL AND READING LITERACY
    Maja Zupančič, Anja Podlesek

    pp. 127-144
    abstract ↓
    In this contribution, we present results of a secondary analysis of PISA 2006 data focused on mathematical and reading literacy in 15-year-old Slovene secondary school students. The students' achievement in each of the two domains of literacy was predicted from a set of selected variables which represent some of the students' individual and social characteristics of their home environment. Considering null models, the differences among four secondary school programmes explained 45% and 50% of variance in students' mathematical and reading literacy, respectively. The differences among schools within the same educational programme accounted for additional 14% and 16% of variance in math and reading literacy achievement, respectively. On average, the students of vocational secondary schools scored the lowest and the students attending general and classical gymnasia obtained the highest scores. Concerning the two-level models, the selected predictors accounted for 57% of variance in students' performance in the math domain and for 58% of variance in students' reading literacy. Higher performance in the two domains of literacy, and at both the school and the student level of analysis, was predicted by longer learning time the students spent in corresponding class (math, Slovene), more books in students' home, speaking Slovene at home, shorter time spent on organized learning for the relevant course outside the school class, and less material resources (not directly tied to academic work) in students' home. In math, boys performed somewhat better than girls. Girls, in turn, slightly outperformed boys in the reading literacy domain.

  • RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SLOVENE STUDENTS AND THEIR PISA 2006 ACHIEVEMENT: MATHEMATICAL AND READING LITERACY
    Maja Zupančič, Anja Podlesek

    pp. 145-154
    abstract ↓
    In this contribution, we present results of a secondary analysis of PISA 2006 data focused on mathematical and reading literacy in 15-year-old Slovene secondary school students. The students' achievement in each of the two domains of literacy was predicted from a set of selected variables which represent some of the students' individual and social characteristics of their home environment. Considering null models, the differences among four secondary school programmes explained 45% and 50% of variance in students' mathematical and reading literacy, respectively. The differences among schools within the same educational programme accounted for additional 14% and 16% of variance in math and reading literacy achievement, respectively. On average, the students of vocational secondary schools scored the lowest and the students attending general and classical gymnasia obtained the highest scores. Concerning the two-level models, the selected predictors accounted for 57% of variance in students' performance in the math domain and for 58% of variance in students' reading literacy. Higher performance in the two domains of literacy, and at both the school and the student level of analysis, was predicted by longer learning time the students spent in corresponding class (math, Slovene), more books in students' home, speaking Slovene at home, shorter time spent on organized learning for the relevant course outside the school class, and less material resources (not directly tied to academic work) in students' home. In math, boys performed somewhat better than girls. Girls, in turn, slightly outperformed boys in the reading literacy domain.

• Volume XIX

  Number 5-6

  2008

  IZZIVI MULTIKULTURNOSTI Guest Editor: Darko Štrajn, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • INDUCTIVE APPROACH TO THE TEACHING OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION, BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF INTERCULTURALITY
    Robi Kroflič

    pp. 7-24
    abstract ↓
    Theoretical discussion in the conceptual field of citizenship education today reflects the abundance of theoretical currents which try to explain what is within man that constitutes the basis for socially responsible action and which educational approaches in schools can contribute to the development of active and responsible citizenship. The discussions on citizenship education and on how to provide fair conditions to guarantee a successful development of individuals and groups of pupils (who have been often disadvantaged in the history of education) in a heterogeneous school environment also led to the theoretical joining of ideas, to the search for the new concepts of citizenship education and to the search for the models which attempt to strengthen intercultural dialogue. In addition new registers of inter-subjective conditions, as well as the conditions for a dialogue between culturally different individuals or social groups, which could be reinforced with new pedagogical approaches, are being looked for. In the text, therefore, I want to check to what extent we can use the principles of inductive-disciplinary educational development, which were developed from the late sixties of the twentieth century onward by M. Hoffman, in the process of the development of intercultural methodology of civic education.

  • DIALOGUE AND SCHOOL
    Janez Juhant

    pp. 25-38
    abstract ↓
    The paper deals with a (trivial) standpoint, i. e. that the dialogue is a basic demand, a precondition and a frame for successful pedagogical work. Despite of this self-evidence it is difficult for dialogue to win through because competition and rivalry prevail in society. In the post-communist societies the ideas of class enemy are still at work and the extreme liberalism excludes the weaker from the society and blocks them. Regardless of this the psychological, pedagogical and other thinkers acknowledge that a man as a being with genes strives to conduct dialogue. When a man comes to this world, he can survive only if he is accepted by his milieu (his parents and others) and in this way included in the societal processes. The family and school are the workshops for a child's dialogue. The pedagogical work stimulates the dialogue of the pupils and gives ground to the dialogical solving of the conflicts in society. A successful society works on dialogue, cooperation and the consideration of all its members. At the same time, this is a question of social justice. The dialogical pedagogical frames and mechanisms can stimulate this process.

  • SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTEXTS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
    Mirjana Ule

    pp. 39-52
    abstract ↓
    This text speaks about the social and psychological contexts of intercultural communication. It draws from the thesis that intercultural communication is a form of the cultural and social placement of individuals in their social world. The basic problem of intercultural communication is a lack of knowledge about who are the "others". That is why a common characteristic of intercultural communication is the stereotypical attribution of characteristics to people on the basis of which group or culture they belong to. Typically, stereotyping means emphasising intracultural similarities and intercultural differences. One of the biggest obstacles to rational intercultural communication involves inter-group prejudices. Prejudices are a means of positioning groups or cultures in the context of intergroup and intercultural comparisons, that is a positioning which »allocates« a more favourable position to the group to which the communicating person belongs, compared to other groups, also influencing their own more positive image. Dominant social stereotypes and prejudices play a relatively clear role of justifying the world, namely specific power relations, privileges and discriminations.

  • POLITICAL SCIENCE CONTENTS OF CIVIC EDUCATION: APPROACHES, CONTENTS AND POSSIBILITIES
    Jernej Pikalo, Simona Bezjak, Marinko Banjac in Blaž Ilc

    pp. 53-72
    abstract ↓
    The paper analyses themes and topics of political science in the civic education curricula. The purpose of the paper is the identification and critical assessment of good practices and deficiencies of teaching political contents within the curriculum of civic education in Slovenia. The study shows how these contents are thought in one-dimensional way, i.e. through technicisitic perspective and prevailing juristic understanding of the politics and the political. The paper identifies, through comparative analysis of the selected member states of the European Union (i.e. Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, France and the Czech Republic), good practices and deficiencies of diverse approaches. Thus, diverse possible solutions are presented that offer, if appropriately adapted, potential solutions within the Slovenian context. Only a holistic approach, which is adapted to the conditions of the Slovenian civic education, can empower individual to understand global socio-political processes and make him/her aware of possibilities of political participation, which are key to functioning democracy on all structural levels.

  • FROM RADICAL INTERPRETETION TO THE ETHNICS OF CAPABILITY: A PHILOSOPHICAL DISCUSSION ON THEPOSSIBILITIES AND CONDITIONS OF (INTERCULTURAL) DIALOGUE
    Bojan Žalec

    pp. 73-90
    abstract ↓
    The article deals with conditions and possibilities of inter-cultural dialogue. It consists of four parts. For the first two a negative argumentation is characteristic for the author repudiates some claims or scruples about the possibility of such a dialogue and discussion. First part rejects the claim that affirmation of such impossibility could be justified by referring to incommensurabilty of cultural conceptual schemata or languages. In the second part the author tries to show that meta-ethical relativism is not well grounded. The third part lists also some others conditions for a dialogue. In the fourth part the Aristotelian universalistic ethics developed by Martha Nussbaum is presented as a positive and concrete example of a good ground for rational ethical debate at global or inter-cultural level. Some objections against it are reflected.

  • THE HUMAN COEXISTSNCE – UNDERPINNED BY LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
    Lucija Čok

    pp. 91-106
    abstract ↓
    The values of civilisation, the spirit of humanism and general human norms are part of the efforts aimed at a harmonious coexistence of languages, cultures and nations, mainly to preserve the achieved level of the general cultural experience of Europe as a whole. Language communication is not only about mastering the language code and the culture of communication at a given moment, but it is also about applying the contents and the meaning of these contents, as well as the relations and relationships between speakers which manifest in the confrontation of their cultures and languages. Language communication is also a confrontation of different realities that surround us. Communication and exchange of information are therefore key issues that help to improve understanding of various economic, social and cultural areas, which, in turn, form the most important platform for development of common strategies of the countries that have decided to follow a common route. By acquiring relevant linguistic and intercultural communication skills and competencies, individuals as well as social groups will be able to establish communication links needed for efficient cooperation. Moreover, intercultural communication must promote strong values at the level of state/ nation and European identification, since the multicultural nature of modern societies is underpinned by cultural identification. Namely, the different national groups can coexist peacefully and interact to mutual benefit only when led by mutual understanding and empathy. Cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experiences, mobility of people and ideas are the key factors in promoting knowledge, achievements, common creative inspiration and cooperation in the process of forming a common European area of harmonious coexistence.

  • INTERCULTURALITY IN SPACE OF MULTICULTURALISM: FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES
    Darko Štrajn

    pp. 107-120
    abstract ↓
    Multiculturalism is still a "problem" when we find ourselves in the area of "interculturality", where many interactions are in a play in the area of social and cultural diversity. Identity, traditions, customs, symbols, religion and ... not least the different languages are defining the space of encounters, that is the social space of multiculturalism. Theoretically conceived coexistence of cultures and projections of policies of diversity collide with the question of transmission of the above mentioned concepts in the realm of the everyday lives of people. Education and training are of course crucial, as demonstrated in a series of documents of such international organizations as the Council of Europe, UNESCO and several non-governmental organizations. The study LACE (Languages and Cultures in Europe), which was carried out in 2007 for the European Commission's Directorate for multilingualism, started from the perception that education can fulfil at least a part of the expectations, if it focuses concretely on the development of abilities, skills and, above all, intercultural competences of pupils. It probably does not need to be argued extensively that teaching a foreign language is one of the most important levers for the creation of these skills. In a survey of the first foreign language teaching in 13 European countries at the level of compulsory education (ISCED levels 1 and 2) we found that all possibilities are in general not enough exploited, and that a developing of intercultural skills in curriculum and in intercurricular links is surprisingly only embryonic.

  • ROMA TEACHING ASSISTANTS IN SLOVENIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF AUXILIARY TEACHING HELP TO ROMA PUPILS
    Irena Bačlija

    pp. 121-142
    abstract ↓
    After the enlargement of the European Union, Roma became the largest European minority. This puts special emphasis to the public policies addressing this marginalized population. Implementation of »positive discrimination« policies is the most used tool when addressing main issues Roma encounter with. According to many authors, the first step for improving Roma status is to grant Roma with auxiliary rights and benefits. International studies imply that the starting point should be educational policy. When Roma community is granted with special support in educational process, consequently the unemployment rate drops, their value in the labour market increases and that enables them better access to financial resources. Gaining sustainable financial status has a positive influence on welfare support (reducing it) as well as on housing accommodation. In this paper we will elaborate on some forms of positive discrimination of Roma minority in educational systems in Europe as well as on mechanisms that are being used in Slovenian educational system. According to good praxis from abroad a great success rate has a Roma teacher (an auxiliary help to Roma pupils in teaching process). The goal of this paper is to present an evaluation of implementation of Roma teachers in Slovenia. Empirical study reveals experiences, status and potential of Roma teachers through the eyes of principals, teachers and Roma teachers themselves.

  • ASSESSMENT OF RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION: ETHICAL DILEMMAS AND METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
    Zdenko Kodelja

    pp. 143-154
    abstract ↓
    The article deals with some ethical dilemmas and methodological problems that were closely connected to the qualitative (panel) and to a certain degree also to the quantitative assessment of the research programs in the field of education, which took place in Slovenia this summer.

• Volume XIX

  Number 3-4

  2008

  VLOGA IN POMEN JEZIKA V VZGOJI IN IZOBRAŽEVANJU IV: MEDKULTURNA KOMUNIKACIJA Guest Editor: Igor Ž. Žagar, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • FIVE MINUTES FOR INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION? NO, THANKS!
    Igor Ž. Žagar

    pp. 05-14
    abstract ↓
    The paper is a critical analysis of an approach to intercultural communication that has become especially symptomatic in the "year of intercultural dialogue". The paper questions the absence of any kind of methodology and theorethical approach in such writings, the lack of definitions and conceptualizations of the notions used, and, as a consequence, the implicit ethnocentrism as a by-product of such an unreflected theorethical position in relation to the problems of intercultural communication.
    
    Keywords: ethics, ethnic, discourse, (in)tolerance, youth

  • RHETORIC – A TOOL OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME
    Janja Žmavc

    pp. 15-34
    abstract ↓
    In the paper we will try to show rhetoric as one of the most important or perhaps even one of the key elements in the intercultural encounters between Greeks and Romans. Rhetoric as the art of public persuasion is closely linked with the development of formal speech in both civilizations. On the other hand, however, rhetoric's own evolution into a theoretical discipline, which has become the foundation of classical education, provided conditions for successful intercultural communication between Greek and Roman culture as well. This circumstance can be seen especially in the period of early Roman republic, where the traits of Greek and Roman rhetoric already closely interweave, but at the same time they still show considerable amount of their own characteristics. At this point we could speak of the beginning of the formation of rhetoric as a joint communication means that originated with the two separate cultures but later evolved into a complex and coherent system of rules, and as a cultural phenomenon, which mastered all antiquity.
    
    Keywords: rhetorical theory and practice, Greek rhetoric, Roman rhetoric, rhetorical lessons, intercultural communication

  • WESTERN STRUCTURALISM AND ANALOGOUS APPROACHES IN THE CHINESE TRADITION OF THOUGHT
    Jana S. Rošker

    pp. 35-56
    abstract ↓
    The theoretical production of the European and American structuralism has created a number of important elements, which caused – especially in regard to certain new, fundamental approaches in semantics and semiotics - essential shifts in the modes of thinking in the fields of humanities, cultural and social sciences. In spite of that, Western discourses did not produce any integral, consistent structural model of epistemology. The present article draws attention to the fact, that such a model can be found in the panstructural epistemology of the modern Chinese philosopher Zhang Dongsun (1886 – 1973), and that the crucial theoretical grounds of such models have been developed much earlier in the history of Chinese thought, since the foundations of a structural approach to comprehension were established already in ancient Chinese philosophy. These paradigmatic foundations (the concept li) were further developed and elaborated by different Chinese philosophers during the following centuries as a crucial part of classical Chinese logic of binary analogies. The article also points out that the central binary concept of the Neo-Confucian tradition (i.e. the concept of structure and creativeness; li and qi) has mostly been interpreted as a dualism of idea and matter by Euro-American sinologists during the last centuries. Such interpretations have overlooked an important feature of traditional, structural determined Chinese onto-epistemology.
    
    Keywords: Chinese structuralism, structure, binary concepts, the notion li

  • 'PROGRESSIVE' VERSUS 'BUREAUCRATIC' SOCIALISM: HOW THE MYTH OF SOCIALISM WAS SPLIT INTO TWO IN THE YUGOSLAV PRESS COVERAGE OF THE WARSAW PACT'S OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1968
    Primož Krašovec, Igor Ž. Žagar

    pp. 57-76
    abstract ↓
    This paper is a critical discourse analysis of the Yugoslav press coverage of Warsaw Pact's occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. We have analyzed the contents of 6 Yugoslav newspapers (two Slovenian, two Croatian and two Serbian). The article is divided into four parts. First part is an analysis of the distribution of newspaper space, typography and layout. Yugoslav newspapers have, once the occupation begun, changed their ordinary layout and space distribution to make place for intensive coverage of the occupation. This is how the event was made important on the level of newspaper form. Second part investigates the discursive construction of two opposing sets of values (one belonging to Yugoslav – humanist, democratic, progressive – version of socialism and the other to the opposing – authoritarian, bureaucratic – Soviet version of socialism). This was achieved by direct quotes and reprints of articles from the Soviet press, which were juxtaposed to Yugoslav interpretations and coverage of the event. Both sets of values established themselves as reaction to one another. In the third part we explained how this conflict of opposing sets of values represented a crisis of socialism, with occupation of Czechoslovakia being an example of both sets of values put into political action. In the last part we examined the discursive structure of this crisis of socialism and found out that it had a structure of Lacanian vel ('your money or your life!') – a forced alternative, which includes sacrificing one option to maintain the other. Two (Yugoslav and Soviet) versions of this alternative were inverse: in the Yugoslav version of the myth of socialism the correct choices in this vel were freedom and democracy (the choice of the people of Czechoslovakia), while in the Soviet version the correct choice was to maintain the Stalinist socio-political order in Czechoslovakia. The right choice would, according to both versions, save socialism, while the wrong one would destroy it.
    
    Keywords: Czechoslovakia, 1968, socialism, myth, ideology, values, discourse, press

  • INTERCULTURAL SENSITIVITY AS CRITERIA FOR DIALOGISM
    Boris Vezjak

    pp. 77-94
    abstract ↓
    If anthropologists and social psychologist recognize certaing rules of behaviour as indications for more or less evidence of intercultural empathy, then such description may serve us as a good basis for treating attitudes of people as more or less interculturally dialogic. In this manner we can also »extrapolate« such views into the discourse of European union, since in 2008 the »European year of intercultural dialogue« was designed to help raise awareness of the population in the EU, especially young people, of the importance of engaging in cross-cultural dialogue in their daily lives. The article tries to follow the model of the intercultural sensitivity, developed by Milton J. Bennett, who sees it as a key to the intercultural communication, and associates it with the discussion on Turkey's entry into EU on Slovene television program, held by some prominent Slovene intellectuals during the Slovenian EU presidency in the first half of 2008. The conclusion is that in order to accept seriously the political (or educational) vision of intercultural dialogue, we have to agree on the question of cultural relativity of ethical principles. The best way to do this is by equating intercultural sensitivity with moral relativity.
    
    Keywords: intercultural dialogue, intercultural sensitivity, multiculturalism, globalism, Milton J. Bennett

  • MULTICULTURAL EUROPE: LANGUAGE POLICY AND LANGUAGE REALITY
    Simona Bergoč

    pp. 95-110
    abstract ↓
    The paper presents some chosen case studies of national language policies on the one hand and on the other demonstrates some main points of overnational european language policy and some problems they are faced with. They both manoeuvre between simbolic and practical view of communication; with excessive orientation in successful communication they face the danger of discriminating language rights of minority groups. Some lines of more effective management of public communication between the citizens of Europe are therefore proposed.
    
    Keywords: European Union, language policy, language planning, Slovenian language

  • FOR A DIFFERENT VISION AND PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD: LANGUAGES, CULTURES, AND INTERCULTURALISM
    Nives Zudič Antonič

    pp. 111-134
    abstract ↓
    Teachers of Italian as a second or foreign language often tackle the concept of culture when addressing literary topics; cultural issues, however, tend to be dealt with in a superficial, insufficient and predictable way. The importance of culture is indeed emphasised but often only in principle, while an in-depth and gradual approach is neglected. We therefore believe that students, being part of the global community, should be encouraged to develop cultural awareness, which is an important factor in observation and reception of reality in its variety. Several didactic models can be introduced and developed, depending on the level of intercultural awareness; yet a common pattern can be discerned in the learner's response to all of these models, i.e. rejection or disinterest at first, followed by a gradual understanding and acceptance of diversity, and finally, an active involvement with an intercultural environment. The paper draws on a theoretical analysis, supported by suitable practical examples, and aims at showing teachers how they can systematically integrate language knowledge into the cultural context, which is a component of the curriculum.
    
    Keywords: culture, interculturalism, development of intercultural skills, strategies of language and interculturalism learning, intercultural communication

  • FRENCH TV-DEBATES – MODES OF ORAL ARGUMENTATION COMPARED TO CLASSICAL WRITTEN SCHEMES
    Mojca Schlamberger Brezar

    pp. 131-156
    abstract ↓
    The paper discusses argumentation processes in modern spoken French. Argumentation plays a crucial role in French culture – it is present during the whole educational process in typical argumentation schemes. The schemes of written and oral argumentation are similar at the first sight but they differ in some details as a result of differences between spoken and oral discourse. In order to be able of stating similarities and differences between written and oral argumentation we analysed two different corpora: one consisting of 100 French newspaper articles ant the other consisting of 8 hours of spoken discourse including the transcriptions of French TV-debates. Two theories were relevant for our research, namely the theory of typical argumentation sequences of J. M. Adam ant the theory of argumentation in the language of J. C. Anscombre and O. Ducrot. It came out that typical argumentative schemes consisting of concession, opposition and justifying look much alike in written and spoken discourse. But less the speaker is prepared to argument, less of the scheme is visible. The part of the arguments is taken over by connectives that at the same time assure the coherence in discourse. Connectives are sometimes stressed by epistemic modality markers that represent the speaker's commitment for what he is saying. Thus connectives combined with modality markers express the speaker's attitude about what he is saying instead of the whole argumentation scheme. At this point, we can join Ducrot's theory according to which argumenting in conversation is more important than informing. We can even say that in spoken discourse the use of connectives is more important than well-stated arguments.
    
    Keywords: oral and written discourse, argumentation, argumentation in language, argumentative sequence, connectives

• Volume XIX

  Number 1-2

  2008

  THE SCHOOL FIELD Guest Editor: Mitja Sardoč, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • 'BLOOM'S' TAXONOMY HALF A CENTURY LATER: AN ERROR OF LONG DURATION
    Janez Justin

    pp. 5-32
    abstract ↓
    Those who still use 'Bloom's' taxonomy of educational goals as means of conceptualization of educational process often misrepresent it. The most common misrepresentation is the one that is bound to the idea of 'lower' and 'higher' levels of knowledge. There is no such idea in the original version of the taxonomy which only speaks of classes of mental behaviour that emerge early or late in the cognitive process. Some misrepresentations of 'Bloom's' taxonomy also express the idea that 'higher-level' cognitive activities (synthesis, evaluation) automatically invest the educational process with more value than 'lower-level' activities do. This conflicts with the fact that the original description of taxonomy warned against the tendency in students' towards making evaluative judgments too early and on too narrow knowledge base. However, the original version of taxonomy is no less problematic than its misrepresentations. It is based on criteria that had long ago been rejected by classification theories. Student is supposed to be autonomous in the psychological dimension of learning. However, his intervention in the epistemic dimension of learning has not been anticipated by the authors of the taxonomy. The knowledge the student receives is seen as tools for his problem solving activity; however, his disagreeing with the standpoints and perspectives built into such tools has not been foreseen. It can easily be demonstrated that 'Bloom's' taxonomy is highly problematic in many other respects, too.

  • AIMS OF EDUCATION AND CLASSROOM OBJECTIVES
    Marjan Šimenc

    pp. 33-50
    abstract ↓
    The author deals with the contemporary history of curriculum planning in Slovenia, particularly the development from content-based through objectives-based planning and finally to process planning. According to the author's analysis, the historic development shows that didactic theories have not only been used as a tool for analysing, planning and changing the learning process. Whenever they were used to change the reality in class by establishing simple oppositions between concepts that were not enhanced with a broader picture, i.e. when the oppositions were not overcome or no alternative approaches were given, didactic theories have gradually become obstacles for understanding the reality in the classroom.

  • ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, CHILDRENS' SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN (PRE)SCHOOL AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIRST GRADE
    Maja Zupančič in Tina Kavčič

    pp. 51-80
    abstract ↓
    The paper presents contributions of children's social behaviour in (pre)school, their home environment and attendance of pre-school to academic achievement in the first grade. A sample of children attending pre-schools from age 1 to 3 was followed-up over the pre-school years. When they started primary schooling the sample was extended by a group of first graders not attending pre-school prior to school entry. The children's social behaviour at ages 3, 4, 5 and 6 was rated by their (pre)school teachers. Mothers and fathers provided reports on their parental practices when the children were 3 and 6 years old. At the end of the first grade teachers evaluated first graders' attainment of performance standards in Slovene, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the predictors under investigation explain from 15% to 28% of the variance in students' academic achievement. The academic attainment in each of the three school courses was predicted best by the children's social competence in (pre)school. Mothers' self-reports on stimulation of their child's cognitive development predicted the students' academic achievement in Slovene. In addition, the course specific accomplishments were positively linked to the children's prior attendance of pre-school and their age of entry to pre-school, while they were negatively related to maternal inefficient control.

  • LEARNING INTERACTIONS AND SOCIOCOGNITIVE FACTORS OF SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT IN THE LAST THREE GRADES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
    Alenka Gril

    pp. 81-118
    abstract ↓
    Teacher's conceptions about teaching have an important impact on the structure of learning interactions, from the point of view of the instruction practice as well as the interpersonal relations in the class. The hypothesis was that the learning interactions effect the formation of students' learning approaches and their achievement in the school. The focus of study was the learning environment (its structure and the class climate) and the sociocognitive factors of teachers and students which could influence the learning process in the class and their impact on the student's achievement in the last three grades of the elementary school. The classes were followed for the two school years in which the data was collected three times. The regression analysis revealed which factors of learning approaches effected the student achievement. The characteristics of learning environment related to the students' learning approaches and their achievements was analyzed by linear regression as well. The results show that the attributions of the success in learning, the achievement learning goals, the curiosity as the school goal and the educational aspirations are the most powerful predictors of school achievement and are stable through the two school years. The learning environment explained less variance in the students' achievements as in their learning approaches. The most important factors of the learning environment which affected the students' learning approaches and the achievements were related to the peer interactions in the class, the cooperativeness and the competitiveness among students and the peer popularity. Teachers' didactic conceptions and instructions, student gender and the parental level of education were also important predictors of students' learning approaches.

  • REQUIREMENTS OF GYMNASIUM TEACHERS WHEN ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE
    Milena Ivanuš Grmek, Marija Javornik Krečič, Tina Vršnik Perše, Tina Rutar Leban

    pp. 119-130
    abstract ↓
    In the paper the results of empirical research are presented. They describe the implementation of the gymnasium programme in 29 out of 56 Slovenian general gymnasiums. The research was done within the evaluation study Evaluation study of the gymnasium education regarding the comprehension of the curriculum, the interaction of knowledge and the representation of objectives, carried out at the Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana. There were 420 gymnasium teachers and 3104 students participating in the study. The principal research question was how the instruction is being carried out during different phases: preparing for the lessons, discussing the new contents and knowledge assessment. This paper focuses on the phase of knowledge assessment and the content requirements of teachers when assessing the knowledge. Regarding the content requirements of teachers when assessing the knowledge the results have demonstrated differences in estimating individual requirements of a teachers between teachers of different subject fields, teachers who teach the first years' students and those who teach last years' students and differences between teachers' and students' estimation of certain content requirements when assessing the knowledge.

  • PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS A FACTOR IN THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF CHILDREN
    Joca Zurc

    pp. 131-156
    abstract ↓
    The aim of the presented study was to examine the effect of physical and sports activities on the academic performance of children. The hypothesis that physical activity is one of the internal factors that determine the boundaries of a child's school attainment was set. The hypothesis was tested on existing theories of child development and through empirical research. The findings indicate that integrated child development, significantly influenced by physical activity, is reflected in academic performance as one of the most important aspects of late childhood. The empirical study was conducted on a sample of 2,023 ten-year-olds. The analysis of differences, performed using contingency tables and Pearson's chi-square test, confirmed the significant relationship between a higher frequency of leisure time physical activities and higher academic performance (p=0.000). Most students with excellent cumulative grade point averages can be found among children that are physically active every day. In addition, statistically significant better school performance can be recorded among students that participate in organized activities (p=0.010). In terms of the content of these activities two groups can be discerned. In their free time, students with excellent, very good, and good cumulative grade point averages select similar sports activities (mountaineering, badminton, swimming, and athletics). On the other hand, in ball games students with both sufficient and insufficient cumulative grade point averages participate. The results of the empirical study have confirmed the theoretical premises that physical activity does exert an influence on integrated child development and thus on school performance.

  • ANALYSIS OF SHORTER INSTITUTIONALIZED PRESCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
    Jurka Lepičnik Vodopivec in Jožica Novak

    pp. 157-176
    abstract ↓
    In the paper we present the results of the research conducted in spring 2006 on a sample of kindergartens in Slovenia, which offer shorter institutionalized preschool education programmes. We were interested in the selection of shorter programmes, how many hours they each take, what is the age structure of children in those programmes and whether there are any statistically relevant differences between the shorter programmes in regard to whether they are being offered by a public or a private (independent) kindergarten or in a kindergarten at an elementary school. We also tried to establish to what extent the goals and the fields of activity of the kindergarten curricula are being realized and implemented. The results of the research work show that a half of urban kindergartens has been offering shorter programmes for at least 16 years, while there are 43% such kindergartens in the rural areas; most independent kindergartens offer shorter programmes that last 3-4 hours per week, while most kindergartens at schools offer programmes with 1-2 weekly hours. The majority of children enter shorter programmes when they are 4 years old. In the evaluation of the curriculum implementation the kindergartens stayed real, as they admitted that the curriculum goals for kindergartens, i. e. the national document, are not being implemented fully.

  • CASE STUDY TEACHING MODEL FOR BUSINESS ENGLISH
    Mateja Dostal

    pp. 177-190
    abstract ↓
    The use and experience of the case study method is one of the more demanding tests for a teacher. While the communication spontaneously emerging during the presentation, analysis and discussion phases of a case study may to some extent be planned and manageable, each case study represents a new challenge every time. It is of key importance that a teacher be equipped with the necessary fund of experience, skills and knowledge to be able to function as a capable facilitator i.e. moderator among groups and individuals. The model for efficient teaching and learning Business English is based on the assumption, that the use of the case study method permits a complete learning context for foreign language learning and makes the use of the authentic language context in heterogeneous classes possible. It provides the richness of the language input and high motivational context where language is created. The users are facilitated to create their own texts and contexts resulting from an activity and are motivated for social interaction and learning from others. The success at a cognitive and language level is smoothed by motivating the users to take risk in various language uses and find ways to express what they need to express.

• Volume XVIII

  Number 7-8

  2007

  THE SCHOOL FIELD Slovenian / Polish Edition Guest Editor: Valerija Vendramin, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • Uvod: "Z jezikom v šolsko polje" / Wstęp: "Z językiem na teren szkolny"
    Valerija Vendramin

    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • O pedagoški vedi / O nauce pedagogicznej
    Jezikovni relativizem v pedagoških vedah / Relatywizm języika w naukach pedagogicznych
    Tadeusz Jałmużna

    pp.11-14
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • O pedagoški vedi / O nauce pedagogicznej
    Kratek oris pedagoške komunikologije / Krótki zarys pedagogicznej komunikologii
    Bogomir Novak

    pp. 15-35
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • O pedagoški vedi / O nauce pedagogicznej
    Razlaga pojma "evalvacija" v pedagogiki / Rozumienie pojęcia "ewaluacja" w pedagogice
    Anna Tyl

    pp. 37-47
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Pedagoški diskurz in pedagoška praksa / Dyskurs pedagogiczny i praktyka pedagogiczna
    Uvod v Reboulovo analizo retorike pedagoškega diskurza / Wstęp do analizy retoryki dyskursu pedagogicznego Reboula
    Zdenko Kodelja

    pp. 49-57
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Pedagoški diskurz in pedagoška praksa / Dyskurs pedagogiczny i praktyka pedagogiczna
    Dve pripombi na temo sestavljanja besedil v pedagoški praksi / Dwie uwagi na temat tworzenia wypowiedzi w praktyce pedagogicznej
    Jacek Piekarski

    pp. 59-72
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Pedagoški diskurz in pedagoška praksa / Dyskurs pedagogiczny i praktyka pedagogiczna
    Topoi: črna skrinjica argumentacije? / Toposy: czarna skrzynka argumentacji?
    Igor Ž. Žagar

    pp. 73-98
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Argumentacija / Argumentacja
    Faktografsko znanje / Wiedza faktograficzna
    Janez Justin

    pp.99-119
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Znanje in proces učenja / Wiedza i proces uczenia
    Pedagoški pojmi v ustvarjalnosti Jeana Piageta / Pojęcia pedagogiczne w twórczości Jeana Piageta
    Sylwia Waszczykowska

    pp. 121-132
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Znanje in proces učenja / Wiedza i proces uczenia
    Onstran "nedolžnega", onstran "nevtralnega": koncepti otroštva in koncepti pismenosti / Z drugiej strony "niewinnego" i "neutralnego": koncepty dzieciństwa i koncepty piśmiennistwa
    Valerija Vendramin

    pp. 133-139
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Znanje in proces učenja / Wiedza i proces uczenia
    Terminologija v strukturah in procesu predšolske vzgoje / Terminologia w strukturach i procesie wychowania przedszkolnego
    Wiesława Leżańska

    pp. 141-152
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Znanje in proces učenja / Wiedza i proces uczenia
    Sociolingvistično pogojevanje besednega zaklada otroka v predšolskem obdobju / Socjolingwistyczne uwarunkowania zasobu słownictwa dziecka w wieku przedszkolnym
    Bożena Ostromęcka-Frączak

    pp. 153-163
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Izobraževanje v muzejih in galerijah / Wykształcenie w muzeach i galeriach
    Izobraževanje v muzejih in galerijah: diskurz kot sredstvo za razumevanje zbirke in kataloga umetnin / Edukacja w muzeach i galeriach: dyskurs jako środek zrozumienia zbiorów i katalogów dzieł sztuki
    Lidija Tavčar

    pp. 165-174
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Izobraževanje učiteljev / Wykształcenie nauczycieli
    Oblikovanje psiholoških pojmov pri izobraževanju učiteljev / Kształtowanie pojęć psychologicznych w kształceniu nauczycieli
    Marian Wojciech Wojtowicz

    pp. 165-174
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Primer: Poljska / Przykład: Polska
    Diskusija o imenu ustanove za izobraževanje majhnih otrok v II. poljski republiki (1918-1939) / Dyskusja nad nazwą instytucji edukacji małego dziecka w II rzeczypospolitej polskiej (1918-1939)
    Dorota Jałmużna, Beata Szczepańska

    pp. 165-174
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Primer: Poljska / Przykład: Polska
    "Poučnost" in "artizem" kot kategoriji ocenjevanja pedagoške otroške književnosti na Poljskem v času med vojnama / "Dydaktyzm" i "artyzm" jako kategorie oceny pedagogicznej literatury dla dzieci w Polsce w okresie między wojnami
    Iwonna Michalska

    pp. 189-197
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

  • Primer: Poljska / Przykład: Polska
    Pedagoška dejavnost Zenona Klemensiewicza za kulturo poljskega jezika / Działalność pedagogiczna Zenona Klemensiewicza na rzecz kultury języka polskiego
    Kinga Szymczak

    pp. 199-205
    Slovenian / Polish edition only.

• Volume XVIII

  Number 5-6

  2007

  THE SCHOOL FIELD Guest Editor: Mitja Sardoč, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • INSTRUMENTALISM OF THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION POLICIES
    Andreja Barle Lakota

    pp. 3-15
    abstract ↓
    Some things seem so obvious that they are taken as read. The sphere of education is often one of these things. It appears that even in expert discussions these spheres are losing their social and historical dimension, their integration. Perhaps it is this that impedes us, so that we constantly talk about the same thing, in the same way, and always seek solutions in the sphere of the known. Perhaps the difficulty lies in the fact that there is no clear distance between the shaping of visions and utopias and their transference into practice. Or perhaps the problem is that instrumentalism, even in the sphere of education policy design, has paralysed the recognition and transcending of the existing.

  • WHEN A TEACHER BECOMES A HEAD TEACHER: RESEARCH ON NEWLY APPOINTED HEAD TEACHERS
    Andrej Koren, Vinko Logaj

    pp. 17-36
    abstract ↓
    This paper looks at the issue of the training of new head teachers. It begins by presenting the theory of head teacher replacement and the issues of succession and stability in the running of a school when a new head teacher is appointed. The paper goes on to describe a project designed to train new head teachers and provides an account of research into how schools are run in the first year following the appointment of a new head. The research took in 47 newly appointed head teachers of nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools in Slovenia. On the basis of a questionnaire, answers are provided to questions concerning the challenges faced by head teachers on taking up their first appointment, the changes in the running of the school introduced by newly appointed head teachers, the extent to which newly appointed head teachers achieve continuity or discontinuity of succession, and the relationship between challenges and the changes introduced. The conclusion offers findings and suggests questions that will have to be answered by future research.

  • REPRODUCTION OF PERSONNEL IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
    Janez Kolenc

    pp. 37-61
    abstract ↓
    Principle of progresiveness by introduction of dual organization is derived only by possibility, that certain branch e.g. individual companies are taking over co-responsability in vocational education in sense of personnel reproduction. We may allow no way, that should this solution understood by private sector of employers as a favour to state which carried out programmes of vocational education. This would guide dual system to classical model of apprenticeship. In this case we could not speak any more about personnel reproduction from the site of economic sphare, what is the excellency of a dual system of vocational education. The legitimacy of criticism of strategy of introduction of dual education as ingredient of system regulation of vocational education goes by also from one-sided deducing of renovated programmes on the middle stage of vocational education. Programmes of dual system of lower vocational education still didn't begin to live in practice . Strategy of development must introduce basic starting point of further preparing of new programmes. It is pointless to develop numerous of a new programmes and to file high means to their producing, if they stay still uncovered. It is more important to assure the quality of education circumstances for their execution and for the rise of the quality of education in a whole. In this way will social capital, that affords dual system of vocational education, compounded and reproduced competitive professions on the segmental Slovene labor market.

  • RENOVATING THE CURRICULUM IN THE GENERAL GYMNASIUMS
    Milena Ivanuš Grmek, Marija Javornik Krečič, Tina Vršnik Perše

    pp. 63-76
    abstract ↓
    This paper discusses some data gathered during the Evaluation study of the gymnasium education regarding the comprehension of the curriculum, the interaction of knowledge and the representation of objectives, carried out at the Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana. This paper discusses the research problem whether the curriculum reformation in 1996 led to changing the gymnasium education regarding the comprehension of the curriculum, the interaction of the knowledge and the cognitive vs. non-cognitive objectives. It was determined that regarding the formation of the curriculum for the gymnasiums some changes have emerged. Nevertheless we believe that when modernizing gymnasium it is essential to focus also on teachers and their didactical-methodical qualifications for qualitative implementation of lessons.

  • FILM CONCEPTS IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
    Zoran Pavlović, Tina Rutar Leban

    pp. 79-99
    abstract ↓
    The concept of educating the eye, in the hypothesis of a pedagogical interaction whose effect can be to produce reflectiveness, is proving to be one of the key instruments with which it is possible to approach the treatment of the art of film in the educational process. At the same time it represents a welcome educational resource via which it is possible to dedicate oneself to the complexity of the dilemma of how to educate and at the same time develop a critical power of judgement on the basis of specific film concepts. In this paper, through the starting-point of educating the eye, we consider the concept of new realism as the contemporary creative initiative in film that most strongly reflects the transformation we have been witnessing as part of the unique process of self-renewal of contemporary cinema from the mid-1990s on. On the basis of the cinematic taxonomy in Gilles Deleuze's work Cinema 2: The Time-Image we detect the key historical factors that, given the changes in the relationship between the fiction principle and the documentary principle in cinema, influenced the "model of truth" in the specific crisis situation that seized the world following the cataclysm of the Second World War and spread into the universal sociocultural sphere. In our examination of the modifications of the cinematic relationship between man and the world in the areas of new world cinema, which in the research of Jean-Luc Nancy focuses on the imperative of mobilisation du regard, we come to the conclusion that at the turn of the millennium we are witnessing a unique self-affirmation of cinema in which possibilities of a restoration of the sundered connection between man and the world can also be perceived.

  • FILM CONCEPTS IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
    Andrej Šprah

    pp. 101-129
    abstract ↓
    The concept of educating the eye, in the hypothesis of a pedagogical interaction whose effect can be to produce reflectiveness, is proving to be one of the key instruments with which it is possible to approach the treatment of the art of film in the educational process. At the same time it represents a welcome educational resource via which it is possible to dedicate oneself to the complexity of the dilemma of how to educate and at the same time develop a critical power of judgement on the basis of specific film concepts. In this paper, through the starting-point of educating the eye, we consider the concept of new realism as the contemporary creative initiative in film that most strongly reflects the transformation we have been witnessing as part of the unique process of self-renewal of contemporary cinema from the mid-1990s on. On the basis of the cinematic taxonomy in Gilles Deleuze's work Cinema 2: The Time-Image we detect the key historical factors that, given the changes in the relationship between the fiction principle and the documentary principle in cinema, influenced the "model of truth" in the specific crisis situation that seized the world following the cataclysm of the Second World War and spread into the universal sociocultural sphere. In our examination of the modifications of the cinematic relationship between man and the world in the areas of new world cinema, which in the research of Jean-Luc Nancy focuses on the imperative of mobilisation du regard, we come to the conclusion that at the turn of the millennium we are witnessing a unique self-affirmation of cinema in which possibilities of a restoration of the sundered connection between man and the world can also be perceived.

  • THE QUESTION OF FEMINIST THEORY IN THE SCHOOL FIELD: CRITICAL POSITIONING, EXPERIENCE, OFFICIAL KNOWLEDGE
    Valerija Vendramin

    pp. 131-139
    abstract ↓
    The article introduces the following questions: how to consider the influence of feminist theory in the school field? Which are those components where the reflection seems to be most urgent and most productive? Which aspects of education can feminist theory bring to the forefront and which are the difficulties, contradictions or even deficiencies of the so called feminist pedagogy? The author further deals with some concepts that are fundamental to education (e.g. experience, official knowledge) and tries to evaluate them critically. The key potential of such reflection is to be seen in the destabilization or, at least, an attempt at destabilization of meanings (this is one of the most important aspects of feminist theory), in the struggle for public knowledge, for what is going to count as rational descriptions of the world.

  • LONGITUDINAL AND CONCURRENT PREDICTION OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIRST GRADE
    Maja Zupančič, Tina Kavčič

    pp. 141-170
    abstract ↓
    A study was performed to investigate the role of personality, non-verbal cognitive ability, home environment and attendance of pre-school as contemporaneous and longitudinal predictors of academic achievement in first graders. A sample of children attending preschools from age 1 to 3 was followed-up over the pre-school years. When they started primary schooling the sample was extended by a group of children not attending pre-school prior to school entry. The children's personality characteristics at ages 3, 4, 5 and 6 were rated by mothers, fathers and teachers. Except at age 3, the children's non-verbal ability was assessed and the parents provided self-report on their parental practices when the children were 3 and 6 years old. At the end of the first grade teachers evaluated children's attainment of performance standards in Slovene, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. Results from stepwise regression analyses revealed that the attainment of performance standards in the three school subjects was contemporaneously and longitudinally best predicted by children's non-verbal ability and conscientiousness-openness as perceived by the teachers. Parenting practices, parental education and pre-school attendance did not add significantly to the prediction of performance standards, over and above the contribution of child ability and teacher-rated child personality.

• Volume XVIII

  Number 3-4

  2007

  IZOBRAŽEVANJE OSEB S POSEBNIMI POTREBAMI MED TEORIJO IN PRAKSO Guest Editors: Mitja Sardoč in Tina Vršnik Perše, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN MILDLY MENTALLY DISABLED STUDENTS
    Blanka Colnerič, Maja zupančič

    pp. 07-33
    abstract ↓
    This contribution presents the results of a study employing the Social Competence and Behaviour Evaluation Scale (LaFreniere et al., 2001) to investigate social behaviour of tudents (N = 84) with mild mental disability (MMD). Their social behaviour in school with adjusted curricula was reported by teachers. The data collected were compared to the characteristics of social behaviour in the Slovenian standardization sample of younger normative children. In comparison to the latter, the MMD students were assessed to exhibit poorly adjusted behaviours more frequently across all of the domains under investigation. Accordingly, significantly more MMD students expressed problems in the development of social competence and general adaptation as well as more internalizing and externalizing problems. At a level of marginal significance, socially adaptive behaviour slightly increased with the age of the MMD students, while gender differences were larger than those obtained in normative children. However, the differences with both samples appeared in the same direction. The female students were mainly perceived to be considerably more prosocial, socially competent and generally adjusted in comparison to their male counterparts. The male MMD students also exhibited problems in each of the domains of social behaviour at least twice as frequently than the younger normative boys and the MMD female students. The implications of these findings for both future research and practices of developmental intervention with MMD children and adolescents are discussed.

  • FROM APPREHENDING TO THE INCLUSIVENESS PARADIGM
    Božidar Opara

    pp. 35-61
    abstract ↓
    The article looks into the development of the education of children with special needs from its beginnings, when there was a need to put into force the belief that also children with developmental problems could be taught, through the period of the intensive development of special schooling until the present days, when a new inclusive paradigm is being formed and implemented. Postmodern philosophy and ethics are used as the starting point and are both based on human rights, antidiscrimination, justice and equal opportunities. From this perspective, those theories and beliefs are relevant that emphasise the educational process as the most important aspect in the child's development. Therefore, children with special needs should be educated with their peers as such environment is the most adequate. There should be a common school for all children, where everyone is treated as a unique individual. Alternative programmes and restrictive environments can weaken the conditions for their development. Different discourses on the common education of all children are similar in their philosophies and principles. The problems lie in the implementation of inclusion. The article presents different concepts and methods of realizing inclusive education along with doubts, criticisms and warnings that indicate a number of uncertainties and indeterminacies as to its implementation. Nevertheless, the inclusive paradigm is the vision of the future, and we all walk in its direction.

  • TEACHING CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN MAINSTREAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES
    Tina Vršnik Perše

    pp. 63-74
    abstract ↓
    Following the efforts of numerous individuals and movements for the implementation of human rights (and therefore changes of social mentality) and also following the changes of the legislation the field of education of children with special needs has altered significantly. For reasons of educating children with special needs in mainstream facilities further needs forpedagogical teaching and organization alternations have emerged. The presented findings suggest that teachers are adequately acquainted with various innovations. However they lack the knowledge, skills and experience of working with children with special needs. Further training for professional staff working with children with special needs is therefore a necessity for enabling adequate planning and implementation of their job as school professionals.

  • IS THE SCHOOL GOOD ENOUGH FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS? REALIZATION OF INCLUSION IN SCHOOL PRACTICE
    Marija Kavkler

    pp. 77-93
    abstract ↓
    Approximately 20 percent of children with special needs achieve lower educational results and have therefore smaller employment and often also social integration possibilities in their adult age. Inclusive education which is an inalienable right of children with special needs for an adequate and effective education in regular educational institutions is representing best practice for all children. Inclusion should not be developed in isolation as a speciality. It must be one of accessions to abolish exclusiveness of all children, especially children with special needs, in the school system. Consequently it represents an important change of school policy in the practice. The article presents parameters and numerous concrete strategies that enable development of inclusive education for children with special needs in school and especially in class. Searching for a solution we must consider influences on the whole system. The development of inclusive education, which enables adaptation of Slovene schools to children with special needs, can be attained with a public presentation of inclusive vision, public awareness, consensus of all participants and systematic introduction of systemic model.

  • TOWARD INCLUSIVE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
    Janez Kolenc, Nada Lebarič

    pp. 95-108
    abstract ↓
    The inclusive concept of the treatment of children with special needs is based on the acceptance and understanding of differences and on the prevention of social exclusion because of or on the ground of deficiency, hindrance or mental disturbance. Integration of children with special needs in schools is however possible to understand from two aspects, from aspect of educational achievement and from aspect of upbringing. To say more precisely, the integration of children with special needs is, on the one side, referring to motivation of their developmental and learning capabilities in the society of their peers, on the other hand but, on the self-activity of particular child and on his/her's embedment in social relationships in the school. In this article we are presented some results of the research about that, how have schools and kindergartens prepared pupils on the inclusion of children's with special needs. We were interested in, if the groups of peers with higher degree of social integration have also the better acceptance of children with special needs in their environment whether this is better accomplished by groups which show lower degree of social integration. On the basis of sociometric analysis, we have performed on the small sample of children's with special needs, three models have been revealed, which are the most frequent in the praxis of our schools and kindergartens. The fist one is passive or separate, the second one is active or inclusive and the third one is common-sensitive or assimilative.

  • INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS INTO HIGHER EDUCATION
    Mojca Vrhovski

    pp. 109-131
    abstract ↓
    Within the concern for a more equal, harmonious, effective and more just social organization there is also the concern regarding the integration of persons with special needs into the school and broader social environment. Consequently, in recent decades, an increase in the number and presence of persons with special needs in educational institutions and in the entire society can be observed in most of the European Union states and also elsewhere, where foundations and conditions of integration are well established. According to the individual data, it is similar also with the number of students with special needs in institutions of higher education, but the increase is noticeable in more developed European states, where the provision of necessary adjustments in studies are well taken care of by a series of measures (with legislation, system solutions, strategic financing and suitable innovative and flexible strategies for the formation of an appropriate approach). In the paper, we compare some of the developed and developing higher education systems in various countries (Slovenia, Ireland, Germany, Slovakia, Great Britain, USA) according to law, regulations, rules, entrance procedures, adjustments and forms of counseling and support during studies. We find that especially those with long-term and good practice are developing numerous effective measures and strategies for the arrangement of accessible study to students with special needs, who should of course be given more emphasis and attention in our system of higher education as well. For students with special needs, unlimited entrance to study is provided in Slovenia, but they are less provided with special adjustments, help and counseling, and are therefore left to their own ingenuity, will and the help of those close to them. Practice and experience from abroad dictate it is good to develop the system integrally, proactively, innovatively and collaboratively and perhaps a step further that that, which is determined and enabled by the legislation.

  • INTEGRATION/INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENTS: WHAT DO RESEARCH RESULTS SHOW?
    Majda Schmidt

    pp. 133-149
    abstract ↓
    The article presents some characteristics of integration/inclusion of children with hearing impairments, conditions for its implementation, learning opportunities and different approaches toward organizational support in our educational system. International research results on academic and social-emotional achievements of students with hearing impairments have shown positive and negative outcomes of inclusion. Since integration /inclusion has already been implemented in our country for a few years, it is a high time we directed basic research attention to the investigation of direct practice, as well as to the existing obstacles and barriers which hinder participation and learning of students within the school system.

  • THE AGEING POPULATION: A CHALLENGE FOR EUROPEAN SOCIETY â�� INTERGENERATIONAL PEDAGOGY
    Alenka Šverc

    pp. 151-163
    abstract ↓
    The complexity and dynamism of modern society are casting in increasingly sharp light the question, what are the fundamental factors and processes which have a decisive impact on the image of society today and in the future. Various studies stress that the most important things for the future of modern society are changes in the understanding and role of knowledge and the relationship between the individual and society. This article presents the fundamental challenges and problems faced by European society, with particular focus on the issue of the aging population and the diminishing active population. The central part of the article deals with changes on the public policy level in the area of the changing demographic picture of Europe's population, while at the same time it offers a prediction of future demographic trends in Slovenia. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of the social-integration role of schools and especially social education, which will include effective strategies, methods and forms of educational work, which may serve to ensure the complementary coexistence of young generations with the generation of the third age, while at the same time promoting the acquisition of experience and the transfer of knowledge between generations.

  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF HEADMASTERS IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
    Milena Ivanuš Grmek

    pp. 165-173
    abstract ↓
    The first part of this article is about the importance of headmaster's professional development for school leadership. For a school development it is essential rule of a headmaster who influences other teachers. In the second part of the article experiences with professional biography in leadership teaching and professional development of headmasters are shown. In the article are presented two important expects of headmaster's work - a collaboration with social environment and a preparation of school work.

  • PLATO'S DISCOVERY OF THE INDEXICAL NATURE OF LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE
    Janez Justin

    pp. 175-191
    abstract ↓
    In public debates on education, increasing attention is paid to the social dimension of the school curriculum. This is reflected in the growing influence of of social constructivism theories on curriculum planning. While these theories shed light on the social aspect of the points of view, perspectives and classifications built into curricula, they are however blind to the fact that actors in education are nevertheless guided by spontaneous realism. The cognitive act, which is the unit of learning, is automatically tied to the notion of the cognitive object, which is independent of thought, is constant and has a stable identity. The spontaneous realism of learner and teacher can only be illuminated with the help of the concepts that have formed in realistic cognitive theories. The author of the paper approaches the task by exploring Plato's realistic cognitive theory and some of its consequences for the theory of education.

  • UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE AND THE ORGANISATION OF EDUCATION ARE NOT TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
    Andrej Fištravec

    pp. 193-202
    abstract ↓
    Modern society is frequently labelled a society of knowledge, where it should be emphasised that this label can have different connotations. Key importance in supporting this is held by the understanding of knowledge and the organisation of education. This article discusses the various strategies of organising the curriculum within the public education system. The first part of this article offers an overview of the main principles of organising the curriculum and various possibilities for designing the education curriculum. The second part provides a critical review of the various effects of organisational principles which are characteristic of the democratisation of organisational principles in education, and a comparative review of various models of including diversity and difference and the associated designing of adequate systems for management and administration. In the conclusion to this article, the author identifies the main challenges faced by the field of education in a modern democratic society.

• Volume XVIII

  Number 1-2

  2007

  VZGOJA IN POMEN JEZIKA V VZGOJI IN IZOBRAŽEVANJU III Retorika debata in kritično mišljenje pri pouku Urednika tematske številke: Igor Ž. Žagar in Janja Žmavc, Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana, Slovenija

  • DEBATE ARGUMENTATION
    Jerneja Domajnko

    pp. 07-32
    abstract ↓
    The paper presents debate taught in debate clubs from the perspectives of rhetoric and dialectics and from the perspective of the modern theoretical approach which is a combination of the two formerly mentioned ancient disciplines. This is pragma-dialectics founded by Frans H. van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst. The paper also sees debate in terms of persuasion discourse where we argue that debate clubs and tournaments influence a person's ability of persuasion, foremost logos, which is a rational part of persuasion. Types of argumentation, schemes of argument and methods of reasoning are emphasized since we would like to point out the connection between these theoretical constructs and arguments used by Slovenian debaters. We do this by analyzing arguments in broadcasts for young people called Tekma, debatna oddaja za mlade which were a shortened version of the Karl Popper debate format.

  • DEBATE AS A PRACTICE THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE DISCURSIVE APPROACH (article in English)
    Anja Šerc (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana)

    pp. 33-50
    abstract ↓
    The core idea of the paper originates from the theoretical inspiration of Charland's article "Rehabilitating Rhetoric; Confronting Blindspots in Discourse and Social Theory" and a genuine personal interest in the emancipatory potential of formal debate in social life. Theoretical challenge of this paper is in summation of literature and the main ideas which propose interrogation of rhetorical theory and discourse theory. Both theoretical communities challenge the connection of text and power but through different methods and differing fundamental questions regarding the source of the power deriving from its connection with the text. Rhetorical theory seeks answers in arguments whose power does not derive strictly from reason (logos) but is also partially based in authority (ethos) and emotion (pathos). The interest of the theory is primarily in the praxis which closes interpretative options for the examination of social power through more than this lens. The text remains the sole barer of interpretative options. On the other hand critical theory opens up a new avenue for exploring potential possibilities not only of deconstruction but also of forming and legitimizing new approaches to argumentative options in formal debating. Examples will follow from experience acquired in years of debating and will provide for application of the 'theoretical challenge'.

  • VALUING VALUE DEBATE (article in English)
    Steven G. Woods, Korry Harvey (Western Washington University, USA)

    pp. 51-66
    abstract ↓
    Given the increased polarization of societies, the need to be able to discuss the core values of those societies is a priority. In order for academic debate to serve as a training ground for discussion in the public sphere the ability to engage in discourse and discussion of values coherently and effectively is called for. The paper will provide a primer for effective value debate, focusing on identifying values, criteria construction, and dealing with the clash of competing values. Examples of topics will be explored, and a discussion of how the transition beyond academic debate to debating values in the public sphere can be achieved will also be presented

  • METACOGNITION AND CRITICAL THINKING (article in English)
    Tanja Rupnik Vec (The National Education Institue, Ljubljana, Slovenia)

    pp. 67-84
    abstract ↓
    The purpose of this article is to answer the following questions: (a) What is metacognition?, (b) How are metacognition and critical thinking related?, (c) How can teachers stimulate, direct and support the development of metacognitive and – indirectly – critical thinking in their students? The first question is in the heart of many contemporary studies of cognitive and developmental psychology. In the search for an answer to this question we are not satisfied with the general definition of the concept, such as 'metacognition is the thinking about thinking'; rather we investigate in detail how some authors conceptualize it. In the second part of the article we investigate the relationship between metacognition and critical thinking, as conceptualized from the perspective of some authors from the field of education. On this basis, we make the conclusion about metacognition as an important element of critical thought. In the third section we are pragmatic and suggest concrete strategies for enhancing metacognition that teachers could use as they teach various contents and apply different methods (debate, role play, problem solving, case studies etc.).

  • LEARNING OF COMPLEX AND CRITICAL THINKING: A MATTER OF DIDACTICS OR SOMETHING ELSE? (article in English)
    Zora Rutar Ilc (The National Education Institue, Ljubljana, Slovenia)

    pp. 85-100
    abstract ↓
    All advanced school systems and didactic approaches stress the importance of active learning, problem approach, communication and collaboration skills development, partnership and dialogue, research, organizing, critical and creative thinking. In the present paper we will think about three levels of assuring such a learning environment that will help to develop complex and critical thinking. The first level refers to the classroom practise: how a teacher can add to complex and critical thinking development with different approaches to planning and doing. The second level refers to the level of individual schools: how can schools in the context of their vision and developmental planning assure such a climate which will enable development of complex and critical thinking. The third level refers to school policy, the prevailing pedagogical discourse or paradigm conflict and also wider social conditions as a broadest frame which prescribes the limits of possibility and the ability to reflect and exceed them. None of these levels can be omitted to ensure complex and critical thinking otherwise the whole "enterprise" will fail.

  • DE BONO'S LESSONS FOR IMPROVING THINKING EFFECTIVENESS IN THE CONTEXT OF SLOVENIA'S SCHOOLS
    Tamara Malešević (OŠ Šmarje pri Jelšah, Slovenia)

    pp. 101-109
    abstract ↓
    Edward de Bono says there are two facts about intelligence: one good and one bad. The bad one is that intelligence is mostly inherited and this is the reason it cannot be substantially increased. The good one is that thinking effectiveness is more important for living than (mostly) inherited intelligence. De Bono claims that thinking skills can be developed. Helping students to become THINKERS is one of the aims of De Bono's CoRT program. People think only because they do not have complete information. It is therefore sensible to improve thinking skills in order to compensate for the lack of information. We are going to use one of de Bono's techniques for focusing attention – PMI (plus, minus, interesting) – to introduce the effects of implementing De Bono's CoRT thinking lessons into our education system.

  • CRITICAL THINKING FOR A PLURALISTIC UNIVERSITY (article in English)
    Maria Wolrath Söderberg, Henrik Bohlin, Anders Ullholm (Södertörns högskola, Sweden)

    pp. 111-118
    abstract ↓
    Fostering critical thinking is usually seen as one of the most important responsibilities of university education. Surveys of the Swedish Board of Education show this to be a complicated task. Our own investigations indicate that the dominant view of critical thinking is logical-deductive. We are convinced that this narrow understanding of critical thinking is insufficient for our contemporary pluralistic university, requiring interdisciplinary co-operations and gradually including more heterogeneous, perhaps multicultural student groups. Within the framework of the project "Critical Thinking for a Pluralistic University" we want to develop alternative conceptions of critical thinking. Particularly we conceive of critical thinking as a way of handling many concurring perspectives. In this paper we would like to discuss if and how traditions like classical sophistry, rhetorical renaissance pedagogy, modern hermeneutical theories and critical theory can contribute to a more comprehensive pedagogy of critical thinking adapted to modern requirements.

  • RHETORIC IN ENGLISH LESSONS IN A THREE-YEAR VOCATIONAL PROGRAMME IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: EXPERIENCES FROM TEACHING PRACTISE (article in English)
    Nataša Makovecki (Gimnazija Celje-Center)

    str. 119-132
    abstract ↓
    The paper presents experiences of including rhetorical topics in English lessons in two three-year vocational programmes at the School Centre in Velenje over the period of five years. Teaching English in these programmes faces specific problems which need to be considered in lesson plans. The most critical ones are: lack of motivation and self-reliance, poor self-image, problems with discipline and a very limited linguistic competence and poor speaking skills in a foreign language (and the mother tongue). The methodological approach was based upon tree principles: usefulness (applicability), concreteness (inductive approach) and shortness (less is more). The paper presents some of the used methods: presenting theory with illustrative examples, execution of oral exercises in the form of discussion groups and preparation of a two-minute oral presentation on a chosen topic by the students. This approach increased the students' motivation and put them into a more active role in the learning process. They learned how to use arguments to channel criticism and emotions into language. It encouraged the students' awareness of taking the responsibility for themselves and others.

  • USE OF DEBATE TECHIQUES IN HISTORY LESSONS IN 2ND AND 3RD YEAR OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL
    Miha Gartner (Gimnazija Celje-Center, Slovenia)

    pp. 133-146
    abstract ↓
    Education debate in Slovenia is gaining importance in recent years and its role in achieving higher levels of knowledge with pupils is indisputable. It is a very useful method in history lessons since it stimulates lessons and motivates pupils to achieve higher goals than merely reproducing stated facts. Some of the characteristics of the education debate, ways of preparation for the debate, debate formats, meaning and form of argumentation, role of the teacher in leading and evaluating debate and the findings of the pupils' success in the time of one year practical use of debate in history lessons will be presented in the paper. The author gained his experience in the time of his mentorship over the debate club and with practising debate in history lessons in 2nd and 3rd year of Gimnazija Celje-Center grammar school.v

  • REVISING VOCABULARY AND TEACHING ESSAY WRITING THROUGH DEBATE (article in English)
    Mateja Glušič Lenarčič (Gimnazija Celje-Center, Slovenia)

    pp. 147-158
    abstract ↓
    Debate is not simply a form of expression; it is, rather, a form of persuasion. Debaters hope to change minds. They hope that their listeners will come to see things their way. Debate is not about the conflict of good and evil; neither it is about the conflict between the truth and falsehood or between facts and opinions. Debate is, rather, about the conflict of values and principles. Taken independently, each value has worth and validity, and deserves support. But when two valid principles conflict, a decision must be made as to which one is more important.

  • FROM THE STORY TO THE CONVERSATION AND FROM PHILOSOPHY WITH CHILDREN TO CRITICAL THINKING(article in English)
    Lidija Šket (OŠ Šmarje pri Jelšah, Slovenia)

    pp. 159-169
    abstract ↓
    A child is amazed when standing in front of something and wondering: "Why is it raining? Why is there something and nothing?" Bloch (1995) thinks that all small children are philosophers because they ask questions about the world and are amazed by it. Unfortunately this philosophic mind is disappearing year after year. When children get used to the world they stop wondering and asking themselves. How to keep this philosophic curiosity? How to stimulate critical opinion? I want to expose the meaning of early encounters with philosophy. I will introduce an example of children's philosophy in the 4th grade (9), based on listening to stories from the collection of H. Doskočilova: Diogen in a cask. At the end of the school year, with the help of these stories, the children spontaneously knew how to create a dialogue that claimed arguments for and against and new statements that demanded new discussions. According to M. Lipman the results can later on become a creative field for dealing with children's philosophy that in an indirect but systematic manner deals with critical thinking and logical inference.

  • TRANSCRIBING CHILDREN'S ARGUMENTATION
    Pavel Koltaj (Fakulteta za humanistične študije, Univerza na Primorskem), Igor Ž. Žagar (Pedagoški Inštitut, Ljubljana)

    pp. 171-184
    abstract ↓
    The paper deals with practical and theoretical aspects of transcribing children's argumentation in the context of Education and critical literacy constructions: perception, argumentation and interpretation, a current research under the direction of Dr. Igor Ž. Žagar from the Educational Research Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section presents a data gathering technique; transcription material was gathered by audio-visual recordings of two kindergarten groups (3-4 and 5-6 years of age). The second part of the paper describes data processing and transcribing argumentation relevant fragments using abbreviated and modified CHAT Transcription System (http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/). The final section presents a preliminary analysis of the transcriptions along with the suggestions for solving problems as to the quality of recordings and the quantity of the gathered data as well as some general observations concerning the research approach, its methods and results.

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