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RELATIONSHIP OF TEACHERS TO THE CONTENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN THE 4TH GRADE AT PRIMARY SCHOOL

Z. Hulova, L. Gerova, M. Gasparova

Abstract

Background: The main aim of the research study is to present partial results from comprehensive research focused on: a) finding out teachers' attitudes towards the thematic units and contents of technical education, b) finding out views about the importance of thematic units, c) finding out views about the level of training and competencies achieved in the technical area, d) finding out views about changes in the standard content of technical education, e) finding data about using the technical classrooms, f) finding out the innovative elements in teaching and the need to improve technical education at primary schools in Slovakia. We present the relationship to the content of technical education measured through teachers' attitudes. Research sample consisted of 364 primary school teachers (men 8.2 %, women 91.8 %). The research sample copies the current state of gender composition of teacher staff. The research was carried out from 2014 to 2016. Methods: A set of research methods was used: an original questionnaire for teachers was verified in a pre-research, structured interview, nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and parametric pair T-test. Results: The results of the analysis in all three attitude components (cognitive, affective, skill) showed significant differences in attitudes towards individual topics and content of education. The cognitive component of attitude reached the most positive values in the chosen thematic unit “Construction” which we are presenting there. The significant differences were recorded in all of the five monitored topics (.000 *** / .004 ** / .000 *** / .000 *** / .025 *). The significant differences in affective component of attitude were recorded only in three topics (.000 *** /. 094 / .000 *** / .000 *** / .229) and skill component in the first four topics (.000 *** / .000 *** / .000 *** / .000 *** /. 435). The results of the analysis through the total score of attitude showed that at all of the comparative levels, no statistically significant difference was recorded. Conclusion: The research results have shown that the most important thematic unit “Construction” in the context of the development of scientific and technical competences was not favored in the case of importance assessment, even in the case of attitude monitoring. We note that there is probably a hidden curriculum in this area which is not fully in harmony with the general requirements for enhancing the quality of competences in science and technology in practice. The findings can also be discussed in terms of the persisting strong feminization of Slovak education.

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