Cocreation is a process in which the teacher takes the strengths and weaknesses of a student into account in his teaching, gives students a safe space in which they can share their opinion and allows them to actively participate in the planning of the lessons (Čačinovič Vogrinčič, 2008; 2020). The relationship between a teacher and a student is a relationship between two people, each worthy of recognition, who are cooperating towards a common goal – acquiring and understanding new knowledge (Kroflič, 2010). Both parties contribute their share in the creation of a solution, which is created in an environment safe enough that the student feels comfortable enough to be prepared to willingly share his/her opinion and give feedback to the teacher regarding the lessons, which the teacher then considers in planning his future lessons (Bovill, 2020; Farias, et al. 2010; Felton, 2014).
In the empirical part, I researched the opinion of Slovene high school students regarding the adherence to and use of the principles of co-creation and how that is related to their well-being, motivation for active participation and learning of the material in class. I gathered the data through group interviews, which I performed in seven groups of first year high school students. In each group, there were between three and 15 students from different secondary education programmes. The research showed that the students had some contact in their pasts with teachers whom they considered to have at least partially adhered to the principles of co-creation. The students have positively rated this way of working, and it is clear from their answers that they appreciate teachers with whom they have a fair and slightly relaxed relationship, who took their opinions into account and who cooperated with them. The students have expressed some positive effects of learning with teachers who have at least partially adhered to the principles of co-creation, some of these positive effects being a better mood before and during classes and a greater desire to actively participate in class, though there weren’t many reports of a better understanding of the subject matter. It has also been expressed that there should be more teachers who would act in accordance with the principles of co-creation. Using the findings from the literature and from the research, I have created a set of recommendations for teachers that could help them to better follow the principles of co-creation in their classroom management, in the hopes that it encourages some teachers towards this way of working with students.
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