Implementation of a Croatian Teaching Abroad Programme in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The first comprehensive programme in the Croatian language in the Republic of Serbia started in 2002, and the status of the Croatian community as a national minority was recognized, but teaching took place in very challenging circumstances, considering the numerous obstacles in hiring teachers, difficulties with textbooks, the decreasing number of Croats and the perception of the typologically related Serbian language as the mother tongue among Croats. The aim of this research is to get an insight into the experiences of teachers who work within the Croatian Teaching Abroad (CTA) programme in the Republic of Serbia. Only teachers from the Republic of Croatia selected by the Ministry of Science and Education participated in the research. The research was conducted through an anonymous survey that examined: 1) teacher education for work through the analysis of specific and general competencies and the suitability of available textbooks in the Croatian language, 2) the teachers’ ability to deliver content related to the cultural and historical heritage of Croatia and 3) the teachers’ qualifications for teaching Croatian as a heritage language. The results show that: 1) the teachers need additional intercultural competencies that they did not acquire during formal education, 2) the existing textbooks are not fully suitable for teaching language and literature, 3) the teachers need further training and practice in teaching the Croatian language before teaching Croatian abroad, especially in the area of acquiring Croatian as a heritage language, which is primarily due to the lack of programmes for the education of teachers of Croatian as a foreign or heritage language at the formal level. Moreover, the teachers note the problem of students’ prior knowledge and motivation, as well as that of differentiating between the Croatian and Serbian languages, as great challenges.