Steering Documents and Types of Activities

The complete educational work in Croatian kindergartens is based on the “Programme Orientation of Education and Care of Preschool Children” and the “Concept of Development of Early Childhood Education and Care”, the two documents which emphasize the basic principles of working with children of preschool age.

With the adoption of the Strategy for the Creation and Development of the National Curriculum for Preschool, General Compulsory and Secondary Education and with the adoption of National Curriculum Frameworkfor Preschool, General Compulsory and Secondary Education (2011), structured through educational levels and educational cycles, the platform was created for deeper interventions in the education system. This is complemented by the Strategy on Education, Science and Technology (Official Gazette No. 124/2014), which provides a holistic approach to education and is focussed on several main goals which pervade the strategy: a quality, efficient and relevant education available to all under equal conditions. The strategy appreciates earlier strategic and developmental documents and foresees the flexibility and adaptability of the education system, as well as its disposition to continuous re-evaluation and periodic revision. The Strategy aims toward an education that actively stimulates a comprehensive individual development of each student. It promotes social equality and democratic values and strongly contributes to socio-economic development.

In its chapter on Early Childhood Education and Care, Primary and Secondary Education, the Strategy defines eight developmental areas and defines a key strategic goal for each one of them. The key strategic goal of the second developmental area is the implementation of a comprehensive curricular reform which includes, among other issues, the creation of curricular documents such as, for example, the National Curriculum Framework, as well as the Amendments to the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care. Namely, following the Act on Amendments to the Act on Preschool Education (Official Gazette No. 94/2013), the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care was adopted in December 2014 (Official Gazette No 5/2015). It builds on the existing documents, examples of good educational practice in Croatia and worldwide, and on the scientific studies on the achievements of global and, particularly, Croatian theory and practice in the field of institutional early childhood education and care. Furthermore, it builds on the early education curricula and on the achievements in the field of initial education and training of educators and other expert kindergarten staff published in the last 20 years.

The principles forming the backbone of the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care are part of an important component which ensures the internal harmonisation of all the components of the curriculum and a partnership action of the participants in the creation and implementation of the curriculum. The principles are as follows:

1. Flexibility of the educational process in the kindergarten;
2. Partnership of the kindergarten with the parents and the broader community;
3. Ensuring continuity in education
4. Openness for continuous learning and readiness to improve practices

The values of the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care stem from the finest humanist heritage of the society and civilisation, at individual and social level. They represent a permanent landmark for the realisation of educational goals and the basis of educational system from the child’s early and preschool age to his/her completion of education. The values direct the educational activity towards ensuring individual and social welfare, in line with the desired outcome of the development of children and the society. The core values of the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care originate from the orientation of the Croatian education towards a comprehensive development of the child, towards preservation and development of the national, spiritual, material and natural heritage of the Republic of Croatia, towards a European co-existence and creation of a knowledge-based society and the values that will enable progress and sustainable development. National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care promotes planning and education activity based on the values that would, from a perspective of history, culture, contemporary events and future projections, have to improve intellectual, social, moral, spiritual and motoric development of children. These are:

1. knowledge,
2. identity,
3. humanism and tolerance
4. responsibility
5. autonomy
6. creativity

The starting points of the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care are the principles of freedom, openness and diversity, which should reflect upon the whole organisation and implementation of educational work in all kindergartens in Croatia. It affirms the ideas of pluralism and freedom in the implementation of pedagogical ideas and concepts, differences in types and forms of programme implementation and democratisation of the society towards programme carriers, which sets the basis for the development of various educational concepts in kindergartens. The National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care is directed towards achieving specific goals (ensuring children’s wellbeing, stimulating children’s comprehensive growth, education, learning and developing competencies, right to equal opportunities, i.e. equal rights for all), based on specific starting points (exiting documents and modern understanding of a child and of kindergarten organisation) and reflects the specific principles (flexibility of the educational process, partnership of the kindergarten with the parents and the broader community, ensuring continuity in education and openness for continuous learning and readiness to improve practices). These aims, starting points ans principles represent the foundation for the shaping of kindergarten and pre-primary education curricula.

The education of preschool children is based on a humanistic and developmental concept, consisting of the following:

• the idea of humanism;
• knowledge of the specific characteristics and principles of development of preschool children, and knowledge of human development as a whole;
• knowledge of the characteristics of out-of-family education of preschool children.

The starting points of the humanistic and developmental concept of education of preschool children are the following notions and commitments:

• the child is a value by himself/herself, that should be accepted in all its uniqueness, and also as the member of the family with its characteristics and the system of values;
• the child has special rights expressed in the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, i.e. the right to live in a healthy environment; the right, without exception or discrimination, to have the society provide them with the best possible conditions for growth, development and learning, in order to develop harmoniously in physical, reasonable, moral and social terms, in conditions of freedom, dignity, acceptance, love and understanding, and as much as possible under the umbrella of parental love, care and responsibility; and the right to have all children with disabilities get educated in accordance with their particular needs;
• to respect the child's dignity in the process of care and education, and constantly develop their positive identity (self-esteem).

The humanistic and developmental concept requires the application of democratic principles in the education and care of preschool children, since it starts from the idea of the value of democratic relations among the people with whom the child is encountered in their environment.

The application of such principles is supported by the notions of the active and creative nature of the child, and the fact that their development is decisively influenced by the quality of relations with the educators. A child in a non-authoritarian democratic environment and relationships has better conditions and incentives for their own activities and the overall development, especially for the development of creative attributes and capabilities. Democratic relations between the educators and children and other adults in the child's environment allow early perceiving of the value of such relationships and early learning of the appropriate behavior.

The humanistic and developmental concept opens up possibilities of improving the quality of a child's life as a whole, including the expression, realization and maximum development of individual capacities of the child.

In the education of a preschool child it is essential to know that the child is a qualitatively different being from an adult, and that preschool age is a fundamental stage of human development in which the basic characteristics and the physical and mental capabilities are manifested and developed in a specific way. At that age, the development determines the range of overall development in adulthood, and given that it depends much on the environmental conditions and influences, and the activities of the child, it emphasizes the importance of the specific tasks of early childhood education and care, when compared to education at a later age.

Among the prevailing characteristics of preschoolers, one can single out the following important human, and especially creative, potentials of the child:

• curious, active creative attitude towards the environment;
• comprehensive (complex) forms of perception (through all sensory modalities) and imagination (fancying, inventing, imagination);
• development of speech, basic forms of human communication;
• development of sociability, compassion (empathy), and self-control, which, among other effects and characteristics of the child, enables the child to adopt behaviors in accordance with some of the basic requirements of life in the community (socialization);
• sensibility for music, poetic words, different forms of expression, etc.

The main role of the early childhood education is to contribute to the favorable overall development of the child's personality and the quality of their life.
Early childhood education guidance contributes to the favorable overall development of the child, it requires, among other things, stronger connections of family and out-of-family education of the child, a certain similarity between out-of-family and good family education as well as greater cooperation, broadly defined, general, open and flexible out-of-family program of child's education providing, in general, every child, already after the first year of life, with the following favorable conditions for the development:

1. meeting the basic physical needs and protecting the child's life and health;
2. satisfying the need for safety, tenderness and love of parents and other persons with whom the child meets;
3. meeting the needs for diverse stimulation provided by the changing environment and the environment rich in experiences and objects;
4. meeting the needs for communication reciprocity (provided by sensitivity and active adult attitude towards the child).

Out-of-family education of preschool children should have as many characteristics of good family education as possible, generate and develop rapport, positive emotional climate, free communication, durable bonds with adults and other children, active participation of children in a variety of important life activities with adults, etc.

Therefore, it is important that a child in kindergarten and other forms of out-of-family life has possibilities to successfully establish and expand emotional and social bonds, high-quality relationships with adults and children in the immediate stimulating environment. In this interaction the child can develop different kinds of activities.

In this regard, there is a number of educational programs for preschool children in kindergartens made with respect to the type and duration. Programs are made by kindergartens and approved by the ministry responsible for education.

Teaching Methods and Materials

Modern, high-quality educator is successful in direct educational work with children, in the professional pedagogical work and is committed to continuing professional development.

The basic starting points for working with preschool children, as outlined in the Programme Orientation of Education, are, in the first place, appreciation and respect for the child's needs and developmental abilities, their satisfaction, encouragement and development in the spirit of humanistic values. Apart from knowing the child and his needs, other factors important for work with children are the motivation of educators, their knowledge and meeting of personal needs in mutual interactions.

Another important backbone of the Programme Orientation is the establishment of conditions to improve the quality of life and meeting of the child's needs.

In this context, we refer to the organization of space, the creation of complex stimulating environment, flexible organization of time, and activities. The characteristics of a contemporary educator in the immediate educational work are as follows: he is methodically creative; applies modern working forms and methods, uses contemporary sources of knowledge to stimulate the child's overall mental and physical development; achieves results in the educational work with children; promotes human rights, especially the rights of the child and takes care of the healthy environment; cooperates with educators, i.e. professional associates, parents and representatives of the kindergarten social environment. During all activities the conditions are provided for children's active establishment of interaction with the material and social environment, whose result is the acquiring of immediate experiences.

There are spontaneous and planned activities. In both the educator manages the current needs of the child, his development opportunities, in order to achieve integrative effects on the overall development. These settings require from educators particular knowledge of the child development and the needs of preschool children, individual differences and characteristics of each individual child, ways of observing the child's behaviour, such as: skills to recognize a favourable moment for the establishment of trust and friendship with a child, creating a sense of safety, recognizing the time of child's readiness to adopt something new, helping the child in creating a positive image of themselves. The educator affects the children with his personality: warmth, acceptance of others, caring for others. The aim is primarily to satisfy the child's physical needs for food, rest, movement, as a prerequisite to satisfy the socio-emotional, cognitive, and other needs. The educator must have professional education, the access to training, resource materials, literature, seminars, etc.

In carrying out the educational duties, the teamwork, in which educators share information, strategies and support, is of great help. In this sense, the partnership of educators and professional associates in kindergarten (psychologists, pedagogues, speech therapists, director) is very important. The modern educator is an animator (knows how to draw child's attention), a commentator, i.e. explains ambiguities, a therapist, an evaluator, a teacher, an observer, a good organizer and also needs to have a good knowledge of psychological and physical characteristics and capacities of children of this age. He is also a reflective practitioner, observing children, has insight into their work, constantly trying out and finding out new possibilities for educational activities, identifies and creates new educational situations. A successful educator is aware of the differences in thinking of children, carefully listens to what children say or do not say, responds to it. He enables children to acquire knowledge at their own personal pace without imposing his personal style of learning. He raises questions that motivate children, questions are open to the children's opinions, encourages them to talk, expressing ideas and raising new questions. He creates an environment that offers numerous opportunities for experimenting with objects, ideas and active construction of their knowledge. The educator is reasonable, well-mannered with decorum, optimistic, with a positive attitude toward the world, seeing other people as remarkable, friendly and worth the effort. He needs a broad ethical, educational and moral maturity, strong character to govern his actions, to have developed a sense of responsibility and dignity, and to respect the personality of the young people.

Aids for working with children, i.e. for programme implementation, among others, may include the following: audio-visual aids: cd-radio, television and DVD, display panels etc., means of artistic expression, and speech and theatrical expression: picture books, spelling books, occasional prose texts and lyrics, encyclopedias, books with reproductions of the masters of fine art, Croatian and important world historical and cultural monuments, images of living communities, means of musical expression and creation: some musical instruments, rattles, percussion, drum, triangles, audio recordings of songs, musical fragments, means of research: disposed and waste materials, microscopes, magnifiers, scales, meter, thermometer, barometer, magnets, etc., and various other materials.

References:

• Act on Preschool Education and Care, Official Gazette No. 10/1997, 107/2007 and 94/2013
• Family Act, Official Gazette No. 103/2015
• Strategy for Education, Science and Technology, Official Gazette No. 124/2014
• National Framework Curriculum for Preschool Education, General Compulsory and Secondary Education, MSES 2011
• National Pedagogical Standards for Preschool Education and Care, Official Gazette No. 63/2008. and 90/2010
• National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care, Official Gazette No. 5/2015
• Programme Orientation of Education and Care for Preschool Children, Official Gazette of the Ministry of Culture, No. 7-8/91