More than ten years ago the amendments to the Elementary School Act were implemented
which made the educational plan mandatory by law in each elementary school. The purpose
of an educational plan is higher quality of educational activities in elementary schools. Some
schools had already been using their versions of educational plans while others faced an
unknown challenge. In order to offer support and guidance as well as for the purpose of
unifying educational plans in elementary schools, the Ministry of Education issued the
Guidelines on the creation and implementation of the educational plan in elementary schools.
In that manner, the schools were offered guidelines on the contents of their educational plans.
The schools reacted differently. Some of them saw the educational plan as just another
mandatory document while others were able to make it very concrete and adjust it to their
needs. The latter have found the educational plan a useful document which contributes to the
improved quality of educational activities in public elementary schools.
The thesis analyses an actual educational plan from one of the Slovenian elementary schools
by means of quantitative-qualitative research. Based on the criteria, the author defines
whether the educational plan of the selected school includes only the topics required by the
law or additional topics that enable higher quality of educational activities performed by
teachers and other school professionals. Beside the analysis of the document, the author
conducted interviews with various school professionals: the headmaster, the school counsellor
and three teachers. Based on the research findings and the reflexion, the author suggested
relevant general guidelines for complementing the selected elementary school educational
plan.
|
