The present article examines the changes in Slovene preschools subsequent
to Slovenia’s independence in 1991. In the socialist period, the national
education programme for preschools was highly structured, goaland
content-oriented and subject to schoolization. The Curriculum
for Preschools (1999) brought conceptual changes towards education
“based on the child” and the process approach, as well as giving more
autonomy to preschool teachers and their assistants. In the empirical
study, we examine changes in planning and evaluating educational work
compared to the past. The results show that the majority of professional
workers have reduced the high level of structure and rigidity in planning,
and that there is better cooperation between preschool teachers
and teachers’ assistants. Unlike in the past, most professional workers
regularly evaluate their educational work. As the data was gathered in
two phases, before and after the training of professional workers in the
Reggio Emilia concept, we also search for the (probably indirect) influences
of this training. We conclude that after the training the participation
of children in planning and evaluating educational work is higher.
|
