Igor Saksida
Nekaj misli o strukturi ucniskih besedil --- slovenscina
Some Thoughts on the Structure of Curricular Texts: Slovene
Slovenski sinopsis
English synopsis
English summary
Slovenski sinopsis
Kaksen naj bo ucnik za slovenscino? Na to aktualno vprasanje odgovarja clanek na podlagi priporocil NKS ter jih dopolnjuje s prikazom strukture nekaterih slovenskih in tujih ucniskih dokumentov. Besedila niso enovita, vecinoma pa pokrivajo tri osrednje plasti ucnega nacrtovanja: cilj (cemu), vsebino (kaj) in metodicna priporocila (kako); te tri prvine naj bi vseboval tudi nastajajoci ucnik za slovenscino.
English synopsis
What should a Slovene language curriculum look like? The article attempts to provide an answer based on the recommendations of the Slovene National Curricular Council, substantiating it with the analysis of the structure of some Slovene and foreign curricular texts. The texts are not uniform, but most of them cover three central layers of curriculum design: aim (why), content (what) and methodological recommendations (how). These three elements should be contained also in the forthcoming Slovene language curriculum.
English summary
The article first defines curriculum as a group project being developed through professional consensus. This text is verified in its professional field, through views of teachers and of the general public. In part one recommendations of the Slovene National Curricular Council are discussed, in particular two versions of the structuring of curricular documents. The one-document version seems preferable. It envisages a single document subsuming all the others and consisting of four parts: (1) subject, (2) content (i.e. subject catalogue with a detailed description of each year and interconnections), (3) advancement (exam catalogue) and (4) bibliography. On closer examination, the complexity of the draft and comparability with foreign curricula become obvious, but it would be recommendable to include also didactic guidelines, which should help teachers in developing their approach to a topic. These guidelines should not be compulsory, but rather a kind of advice; a survey among teachers has shown that two thirds of them expect e.g. to be told how to approach a literary text, though not with an obligatory model to follow but rather as a possible strategy. It would also be useful to have a uniform curriculum for Slovene language in primary school, as well as a comparable curriculum for Slovene language in grammar school, and a curriculum for Slovene language in vocational schools.
Part two of the article discusses the structure of some sample Slovene and foreign curricular documents, summing up the main elements of these texts, those basic for the development of the new curriculum. Recent curricular texts have not been uniform in their structure, but most of them do cover three central layers of curriculum design: aim (why), content (what) and methodological recommendations (how). A similar structural versatility can be found in foreign curricula: Swedish, Dutch, Italian, Austrian, French, Norwegian and Scottish documents have been analysed, either general (referring to compulsory education) or specialised (referring to the mother tongue). The article focuses on certain aspects of these texts which are of relevance for the current renovation of Slovene language teaching programmes, viz. the role of grammar in the development of linguistic ability, distinction between reception and production of pragmatic and literary texts, and definition of activities in mother tongue teaching (listening, speaking, reading, writing).
The the final part of the article, a structure for the Slovene language curriculum is suggested: a network structure (aim, level/ year, interconnections, approach), a taxonomy of objectives (educational, functional, instructional - and within that, a suggested list of canonical texts), with derived operational aims as the most significant part of the curriculum network structure. Besides these aims, interconnections and approaches should also be part of the curriculum. The interconnections are important in particular as a correlation between language education and other subjects, and the approaches should show the principles underlying treatment of individual elements in class or possibilities for achieving partial objectives.
