TEACHERS' AND LEARNERS' PERSPECTIVES ON FACTORS INFLUENCING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CITIZENSHIP AND HOMELAND EDUCATION AND ETHICS SUBJECT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

In this article, the authors discuss teachers' and pupils' perspectives on civic education in Slovenian public schools. More specifically, the authors discuss various factors influencing the implementation of the subject, which since 200812009 has been referred to as 'Citizenship and Homeland Education and Ethics, previously referred to as 'Civic Education and Ethics'.(1) In Slovenian public schools, the subject is taught in the last triad, more specifically, in the seventh and eighth grades, but not in the ninth grade. In primary schools, the objectives of the subject are value-oriented, drawing on human rights, and originating from learners' pre-existing knowledge, abilities, and interests. Teachers derive their leaching practice from didactical principles and criteria based on the developmental period of the child, the child experiences, personal experiences, ideas, pre-existing knowledge, interests and their fundamental needs when choosing content, individual motivation, case studies, actively including each pupil and achieving social, emotional, motivational, aesthetic, and moral ethical goals. The results of the research show that factors such as the curriculum, teaching and learning methods, teaching aids, the organisation of school life and work, the number of hours per subject, and the teacher professionalism have an important influence on teachers' and pupils' view points regarding the success of the course. Thus, this article examines the view of pedagogical practice and highlights the views of teachers and students on the implementation of this subject.