In Slovenia, teachers providing help to students with learning difficulties rely on a five-stage assistance model, which is adapted to Slovenian school practice and current material and professional resources. This model was developed on the basis of a three-stage world-dominant model of assistance, the so-called Response-to-Intervention model (RTI). The Slovenian model consists of five stages. In the first three stages, the primary school teacher plays a particularly important role. Therefore, primary school teachers are faced with the great challenge of how to adapt their teaching to students with learning difficulties. To this end, teachers in the first stage of the model use strategies of good teaching practice, which also require them to know the basic principles of helping students with learning difficulties. In some cases, strategies of good teaching practice alone are not enough, so it is important to work with other professionals in or out of school in the later stages of this model. Even though the five-stage model is legally binding, in practice there are many problems regarding its adherence and application.
The main aim of this thesis was to explore primary school teachers' attitudes towards the five-stage assistance model, how well teachers know the model and how they apply it in practice. We examined the differences between teachers' attitudes, taking into account their age and number of years of professional experience. We also examined the differences in the level of knowledge about the model and how the model is used in practice depending on their age and years of service. Based on the literature studied and the research questions posed, a 12-question survey was used for this study. This study included 228 primary school teachers from different primary schools in Slovenia who taught in one of the first five grades of a nine-year primary school in the school year 2019/2020.
The results presented in the empirical part show that primary school teachers have a positive attitude towards the five-stage assistance model, while emphasizing the importance of cooperation with other professionals and parents of students with learning difficulties. There is no difference in the attitudes of primary school teachers according to their age and years of service, which means that both younger and older teachers who participated in the survey have equally positive attitudes towards the implementation of the model. Problems perceived by teachers when it comes to implementing the five-stage model of assistance in practice are inadequate professional competences of school professionals and poor collaboration between teachers and other staff, between teachers and school management, and between teachers and external professional institutions. Primary school teachers believe that they did not acquire enough knowledge to implement the model during their studies and that they still do not receive enough in-service training to increase their knowledge. Teachers' inadequate professional competencies were also evident in the results of the study, as many teachers incorrectly answered the questions we used to test knowledge about the model, and errors were also made in describing the actions teachers would take at each stage of the model. Teachers are aware of their lack of professional skills to implement the model and would like to see this change in the future.
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