What is the Role of Science in Post-Socialist Education and Society? Insights from a Survey of Preschool Teachers from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia

Oct 15, 2026

Survey results from preschool teachers in Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia examine how natural science is understood in education and society within a post-socialist setting. The study investigates whether educational reforms aligned with scientific literacy have triggered a value shift among educators, applying Inglehart’s modernisation theory of materialist and postmaterialist values. Findings indicate a postmaterialist orientation overall, while differentiating two value frameworks: “post-materialism” and “the materialist image of the child,” with intergenerational differences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The role of education in development paradigms

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1554](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1554) What is the Role of Science in Post-Socialist Education and Society? Insights from a Survey of Preschool Teachers from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia Željka Ivković Hodžić*1, Lidija Vujičić2 and Željko Boneta2 • The paper presents the results of a survey conducted among preschool teachers in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, the aim of which was to inves tigate the attitudes ofthe participants towards the role of science in education and society. Recent global trends in economic development have introduced new educational concepts in national curricula worldwide, one of which is scientific literacy. Preschool teachers have been encouraged to introduce scientific activities with children into their practice and adopt a new outlook on the role of the natural sciences in education. Social change within the post-socialist context implied that adopting the new outlook required a value shift for all members of the education community. We therefore wanted to explore whether this process was actually taking place, and whether it was impacting the perception of science amongst preschool teachers. We applied Inglehart’s modernisation theory of materialist and postmaterialist values. The results showed that preschool teachers in all three countries were inclined to a postmaterialist view of science, but that it was possible to distinguish between two value-orientations, which we named “post-materialism” and the“materialist image of the child”. Older teachers accepted the “materialist image of the child” more than younger teachers, confirming a certain intergenerational value change, which we have interpreted as a shift from a collectivist to an individualistic approach to education. Keywords: natural sciences, post-socialist education, preschool teachers, social development 1 *Corresponding Author. Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia; [zeljka.ivkovic1@gmail.com](zeljka.ivkovic1@gmail.com). 2 Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia. 172 what is the role of science in post-socialist education and society? ... Kakšna je vloga znanosti v postsocialističnemizobraževanju in družbi? Spoznanja iz raziskave med vzgojitelji predšolskih otrok iz Hrvaške, Srbije in iz Slovenije Željka Ivković Hodžić, Lidija Vujičić in Željko Boneta • V prispevku so predstavljeni izsledki ankete, izvedene med vzgojiteljipredšolskih otrok na Hrvaškem, v Srbiji in Sloveniji, katere namen jebil raziskati odnos sodelujočih do vloge znanosti v izobraževanju indružbi. Nedavne globalne smernice gospodarskega razvoja so v nacionalne učne načrte po vsem svetu uvedle nove izobraževalne koncepte, med katerimi je tudi znanstvena pismenost. Vzgojitelje se spodbuja, dav svojo prakso uvedejo znanstvene dejavnosti z otroki in sprejmejo nov pogled na vlogo naravoslovja v izobraževanju. Družbene spremembe v postsocialističnem kontekstu so pomenile, da je sprejetje novega pogleda zahtevalo spremembo vrednot vseh članov izobraževalne skupnosti. Tako smo želeli raziskati, ali ta proces dejansko poteka in ali vpliva na dojemanje znanosti med vzgojitelji. Uporabili smo Inglehartovo teorijo modernizacije materialističnih in postmaterialističnih vrednot. Izsledkiso pokazali, da so se vzgojitelji v vseh treh državah nagibali k postmaterialističnemu pogledu na znanost, vendar je bilo mogoče razlikovatimed dvema vrednostnima usmeritvama, ki smo ju poimenovali »postmaterializem« in »materialistična podoba otroka« . Starejši učitelji so bolj kot mlajši sprejemali »materialistično podobo otroka«, kar potrjujedoločeno medgeneracijsko spremembo vrednot, ki smo jo interpretirali kot premik od kolektivističnega k individualističnemu pristopu kizobraževanju. Ključne besede: naravoslovje, postsocialistično izobraževanje, vzgojitelji predšolskih otrok, socialni razvoj Introduction Educational concepts such as scientific literacy or STEM (science

FAQs

What does the survey study about preschool teachers?

It explores participants’ attitudes toward the role of science in education and society across Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia.

How does the paper analyze value change among teachers?

It applies Inglehart’s modernisation theory of materialist and postmaterialist values to interpret educators’ orientations.

What key value patterns are reported in the results?

Teachers generally lean toward a postmaterialist view of science, with two distinguishable orientations: “post-materialism” and “the materialist image of the child.”

How do results differ between older and younger teachers?

Older teachers accept the “materialist image of the child” more than younger teachers, suggesting an intergenerational shift toward a more individualistic approach to education.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by A glass of water