The criteria for assessing swimming competence represent an important component of monitoring swimming literacy and ensuring the quality and effectiveness of swimming education programmes. Changes to these criteria may influence not only the evaluation of swimming competence but also the implementation of swimming instruction. The aim of this master's thesis was to evaluate the changes to the swimming assessment criteria introduced in 2017 from the perspective of physical education teachers and swimming instructors as the key providers of swimming education programmes. The study was conducted on a sample of 142 physical education teachers employed at primary schools across Slovenia. Data were collected using an online questionnaire developed specifically for this research. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods, complemented by a qualitative analysis of open-ended responses.
The results indicate that physical education teachers are well acquainted with both the previous and the current swimming assessment criteria; however, they express a desire for their simplification. They particularly emphasise the subjectivity of assessment and the inconsistent interpretation of the criteria in practice. Furthermore, they disagree with the abolition of certificates awarded for each achieved level of swimming competence and with the current reward system based on Let's Learn to Swim stickers in programme booklets, which they consider to be of limited practical value. The respondents attribute considerable motivational and symbolic value to certificates and other forms of recognition for pupils. Despite their disagreement with the introduced changes, most participants do not perceive these changes as having a significant impact on their work or on the quality of pupils' swimming competence. The greatest challenge identified was the lack of time available to implement the extensive content of the Let's Learn to Swim programme, particularly the Whale and Shark sticker levels and the clothed swimming exercise, which in practice results in the selective implementation of programme content.
Based on the findings, there is a need to simplify the swimming assessment criteria, particularly in organisational terms, including the reward system (certificates) and the wording of the assessment criteria. It would also be advisable to simplify and harmonise the descriptions of swimming content across the Golden Sun, Krpan, and Let's Learn to Swim programmes and align them with the curriculum objectives and learning standards, as the study found inconsistencies in the wording of the swimming assessment criteria across different sources, particularly regarding the terminology and descriptions of assessment tasks. The findings also indicate a need to upgrade the Sport of Youth (Šport mladih) application to enable simpler and more efficient monitoring of swimming competence at the national level, thereby contributing to higher-quality data collection and the further development of swimming literac.
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