engleski

Reaching Horizons in Contemporary Education

The constant engagement with smartphones and computers is often seen as a threat due to its potential to alienate the minds of younger generations. Despite all the attention-grabbing content provided by the Web, it is important for teachers to realize that the world’s knowledge is now available online for those who are eager to find it. Rather than trying to avoid using technology, modern educators should be keen on approaching it, not only to learn how to use it as a tool to teach, but also to teach pupils how to use it as a tool to learn, as it will be shown is Section III. Indeed, the educational materials found online can often be presented in ways that are much easier for some pupils to understand in comparison to the way their teacher presents them. This also allows pupils to better learn and also go beyond the standardized content presented in class. Rather than feeling intimidated by the perspective of not being able to compete with this sea of knowledge, the teacher should not only teach how to properly sail it, but also motivate pupils to do it. To become such guides, educators have to imitate technology in its rate of evolution by constantly learning new teaching skills. Indeed, to find the best ways to teach, a good teacher must be able to see the world with the eyes of the pupils. So what better way to do so than being one? Giving more practical examples, and discussing the importance and usefulness of furthering an educator’s professional development is the focus of the first Section. Encompassing education from kindergarten to university, apart from focusing on the teachers and the pupils’ personal characteristics, the empirical studies and review articles collected bring a broader perspective on the educational system. This is first achieved in Section I by considering the role of the parents and the importance of their synergy with teachers, and then in Section II by examining the broader socio-political context. To this regard, a focus is put onto the educational system of modern Croatia as part of the European Union. An effort to cross and thin down the existing national borders is also made by doing an examination of the Croatian schooling system and comparing it to the neighbouring countries like Slovenia. Finally, an additional factor contributing to the complexity of the schooling system is given by the presence of pupils who are part of linguistic minorities. The resulting call for a multilingual approach to education suggests a potential to enrich pupils in extending their cultural horizons by at the same time allowing minorities to practise their mother tongue. In a period of political turmoil where citizens of several countries question the idea of being part of a broader European community, the multiculturality of modern classes can be seen as a scaled representation of Europe in itself. As the reader will be able to see, it is the same pupils who despise any form of national segregation, like for example separating Croatian and Serbian pupils in towns particularly damaged in past times of war. This does not suggest pupils should forget about their ethnic heritage, but rather that the highly desirable ethnic heterogeneity should be accompanied by a climate of mutual respect which promotes the diversity of identities, personalities, and ideas.

teachers and preschool teachers' competences ; pupils and children competences ; ICT and learning

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