OSOBNE IMPLICITNE TEORIJE ODGOJITELJA U HRVATSKOJ

Personal implicit theories are based on personal experiences, value systems, beliefs, and attitudes that an individual deeply believes in. In relation to a child, it represents a system of values about the child's character, his/her abilities, needs and appropriate educational procedures. The teachers’ implicit theories represent a complex set of knowledges, attitudes, skills, family life and institutional schooling from the level of preschool education all the way to college education and educational practice. Teachers’ implicit theories which are thought to emerge in the early stages of life differ from scientific theories containing a value system nurtured in the educational collective and educational group rather than in the official curriculum as scientifically based theories. We distinguish the traditional (teacher has a dominant and child a passive role) and modern oriented teacher (democratic environment and emphasis on the child's activities), and thus the two basic types of personal implicit theories. The aim of the research was to determine the types of teachers’ implicit theories, i.e. whether their beliefs and attitudes towards vocation are oriented traditionally or progressively in regard to the type of institution in which they are work (private kindergarten / public kindergarten). A questionnaire was constructed, in order to measure agreement / disagreement on the Likert-type scale with statements/items related to: the purpose of preschool education, development of educational work, curriculum construction, and contacts with parents, learning from children and through planned activities, offering help to solve problems and problem situations. There were 323 teachers of private and public kindergartens in the Republic of Croatia who participated in this research. Conclusions related to the results of the analysis of the collected data indicate the structure and differences of Teachers’ personal implicit theories in preschool education.