Jezik in slovstvo

Kodni sistem
Slovenska književnost
Avtorji
Uredništvo <-> bralci

Jezik in slovstvo
Povzetki

Mirjana Benjak

Pouk književnosti v hrvaški gimnaziji
Teaching Literature in the Croatian Grammar-School (Curriculum and Textbooks)

Slovenski sinopsis
English synopsis
English summary

Slovenski sinopsis

Zadnje desetletje je na Hrvaškem zaznamovala vrsta sprememb (političnih, demokratičnih, gospodarskih ipd.), ki so se odrazile tudi v (srednje)šolskem sistemu. Opaziti je, da današnje hrvaško srednje šolstvo teži k ciljem, ki so usmerjeni k humanistični ter demokratično- pluralistični vzgoji in izobraževanju mladega človeka. Narejeno je tudi nekaj (praktičnih) korakov: od sprememb v šolski zakonodaji do razbremenitve učnih načrtov. Še vedno pa ne obstaja teoretično domišljen model nove hrvaške šole, s katerim bi se vključila v evropski šolski sistem. Obstajajo samo deklarativne opredelitve za nacionalno hrvaško šolo evropske usmeritve. Zato je nemogoče govoriti o kakšnih pomembnejših sistemskih določilih hrvaške srednješolske vzgoje in izobraževanja ter s tem tudi pouka književnosti; zato se bomo ustavili pri tistih dejavnikih, ki so del praktičnega udejanjanja koncepta novega šolstva, torej pri učnih načrtih in berilih/učbenikih (za gimnazije).

English synopsis

In the last ten years, Croatia has seen a number of major changes (political, democratic, economic, etc.), which have been reflected also in (secondary) education. Today, Croatia's secondary educational system pursues aims directed towards humanistic and democratically pluralized education. Several (practical) measures have been introduced, from changes in school legislation to less loaded curricula. However, there is still no theoretically coherent model of a new Croatian school, with which the country could join the European educational system. Commitment to a national school of European orientation has not gone beyond the stage of verbal declarations. It is therefore impossible to talk about any significant systemic provisions in documents related to secondary schools, including teaching literature in them. Thus the article focuses on those factors that make part of practical implementation of the concept of new education, viz. (grammar-school) curricula and readers/ textbooks.

English summary

Examination and analysis of the Croatian grammar-school curricula and readers/ textbooks for the field of literature reveals the following:

Authors of the curricula should not have rejected numerous good solutions proposed by earlier curricula. Thus they needn't have discarded correlation between literature and other arts and related subjects, which had existed in the 1980s, but was subsequently dropped without any good reason, contrary to the design of most European literature curricula. A similar fate befell contemporary literature --- in the 1970s, it was present in all four grammar-school forms, while in the new curricula it is largely neglected. As a result, it is now more difficult to arouse students' interest for literature.
An open curriculum would trust the teacher more, allowing him/her to be more than a mere executor who is forced to closely follow in awe prescribed teaching units in the fully-packed time-table of the excessively vast curriculum. Teaching literature could be more efficient in pursuing its aim (which may be defined as shaping the student's critical thinking and increasing independence in exploring literary phenomena) if the teacher, who knows best the environment in which he works and the situation in his/ her school (what is available in the school library, what are students' interests and literary tastes, etc.), were allowed to be creative and exploratory in classroom. A modern curriculum as the fundamental document in the educational process assigns a new role in the educational process also to the student, who is made an active participant in the literary communication and reception of a literary work adapted to his/ her mental and cognitive abilities. The Croatian curriculum does not meet these demands.
The curriculum, which determines the content of the reader/ textbook, should contain, besides the program areas, also explanations regarding fundamental didactic concepts. These should serve as the starting point in organising, interpreting and didactic exploration of those areas in a textbook. However, the analysis of the readers/ textbooks used in Croatia at present reveals that such guidance is lacking in the curriculum. A verified curriculum and syllabus dictate the content of textbooks; therefore it is expected that the entire content of a textbook follow the curriculum. In the case of the Croatian fourth form grammar-school literature textbook this is not true.
As a professional and didactic text, a literature textbook should provide a didactic inventory which will allow the student to establish creative communication with literary contents. A successful didactic design of a textbook, based on learning principles and student cognitive abilities, uses a diversified didactic inventory: from didactic means and methods facilitating reception of a literary text, and those related to understanding, analysis and explanation of content, to the inventory intended for students' independent, exploratory and creative activities. A textbook that observes contemporary didactic principles will be primarily organised around its self-study function.

It may be concluded that the grammar-school textbooks used in Croatia today are generally acceptable. However, as regards the literary curriculum, a lot of responsible work will still have to be done to design a curriculum that will meet the demands of the contemporary curricular theory.