The master thesis explores the understanding of the issue of domestic violence against women and children among students of all three faculties of education. It focuses on the knowledge base on violence against women and children in the family among students of the pedagogical study programs and the addressing of the topic of violence against women and children in the family in the curricula of the courses of the individual pedagogical study programs. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with two thematic issues: violence against women and children in the family and the role of educational institutions in this respect.
The empirical part of the study uses mixed methods, combining a quantitative and qualitative research approach. The findings of a quantitative study involving 187 students from all three Slovenian faculties of education are described. I collected data using a questionnaire that tested the student's knowledge of the issue of domestic violence against women and children and how well-equipped they were to respond to it in a pedagogical context. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences in the level of adoption of stereotypes about violence against women and children in the family between study programs and universities. There are also differences between study programs and universities in the level of tolerance towards the issue of violence against women and children in the family. I also found that students of faculties of education on average have a poor assessment of the extent of domestic violence in society and that there is a large disparity between the evaluation of their competence and their self-perception of their competence to respond to violence against women and children in the family in a pedagogical context among certain study programs.
The qualitative part of the thesis analyses 32 curricula of the study programs of the faculties of education. The analysis shows that there is a lack of content on violence against women and children in the family in the faculties of education, with significant differences between universities and study programs. University of Ljubljana offers more content on violence to its students than the universities of Primorska and Maribor. In terms of the presence of the topic of violence against women and children in the family, the social pedagogy programs (first- and second-level) stand out, while it is concerning to note that the topic of violence against women and children in the family is completely or almost completely absent in some other study programs (first- and second-level classroom education and inclusive pedagogy).
The research presents a critical view of higher education of the future teaching staff on the topic of violence against women and children in the family and highlights the importance of knowledge of this issue in the field of education. In this way, it provides useful value for educational policy-makers, by showing which knowledge on violence against women and children in the family is lacking among students and therefore should be better incorporated into the curricula of faculties of education.
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