From obsolete to contemporary preschool education (experiences in Serbia)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to contribute to research on the history of early childhood education in Serbia and to advance understanding of neoliberal influences in this region. The article covers the key events that have changed educational practices in Serbia over a period of 150 years. This article offers an overview of the history of preschool education in Serbia and an analysis of the processes of democratization and of the change in the system of preschool education in Serbia that occurred in phases at the turn of this century. The article emphasizes that the qualitative base for the ongoing reform was the good legacy of the previous system, including the existence of the concept and practice of integrated care for children, planned introduction of models for curriculum development and the tradition of exchanging information and organizing professional gatherings of staff. The article identifies possibilities for further development of the quality of preschool education based on a new concept of diversified programs of preschool education, which takes into account contemporary theories about childhood and early childhood education and relevant international and national documents, as well as traditional Serbian concepts of preschool education.

Keywords:

• Preschool education
• quality
• reform
• Serbia

Notes

1. ‘The Kaleidoscope’ is a tool for implementing the goals and principles of the Law on Preschool Education (Ministry of Education 2010) through the prism of acknowledging early childhood values and images of the child and understanding how children learn and how learning can be supported in the educational program (Krnjaja and Pavlovic-Breneselovic 2017). It is also a platform for developing diversified programs in early childhood beyond what is offered in preschool education (Vandekerckhove et al. 2013). ‘The Kaleidoscope’ symbolizes the essence of diversified programs – that from a shared set of common principles (how we see children and learning and what our role is in it), different images can be made depending on the specific direction and context in which the program develops. Like a kaleidoscope, this approach provides opportunities for children and adults to actively experiment and explore different ‘patterns’, which stimulate research and discovery by their diversity, beauty, originality and unpredictability (Pavlovic Breneselovic and Krnjaja 2017).