Attitudes of primary school teachers towards teaching assistants

U Republici Hrvatskoj još nije zakonski uređen model obrazovanja i stjecanja kompetencija za obavljanje posla pomoćnika u nastavi. Zbog različitih programa osposobljavanja koji se provode ovisno o županiji, odnosno gradu u kojem se škole nalaze, kao i zbog nedovoljno jasno definirane uloge pomoćnika u nastavi, njihovi se pristupi razlikuju, kao i očekivanja nastavnika i roditelja učenika s teškoćama u razvoju od njih. Sve to utječe na uspjeh učenika s teškoćama u razvoju u svladavanju obrazovnih ishoda. Zbog toga je važno istražiti stavove nastavnika osnovnih škola u čijim su razredima pomoćnici u nastavi prema pomoćnicima u nastavi. Opći cilj ovog istraživanja bio je istražiti stavove nastavnika prema pomoćnicima u nastavi u osnovnim školama na području Brodsko – posavske županije. Uz opći cilj istraživanja, postavljeni su i sljedeći specifični ciljevi: 1. Istražiti razlikuju li se stavovi nastavnika i nastavnica prema pomoćnicima u nastavi. 2. Istražiti postoji li statistički značajna razlika među stavovima nastavnika/ca prema pomoćnicima u nastavi u odnosu na njihovo prethodno iskustvo u radu s pomoćnicima u nastavi i ako da, u kojem su smjeru te razlike. 3. Istražiti postoji li statistički značajna razlika među stavovima nastavnika/ca prema pomoćnicima u nastavi u odnosu na seosko ili gradsko područje u kojem je škola u kojoj rade. Stavovi nastavnika prema pomoćnicima u nastavi u redovnim osnovnim školama su pozitivni, nastavnici shvaćaju važnosti pomoćnika u nastavi te ih smatraju potrebnima i bitnima u nastavnom procesu.Educational model for learning how to be competente as teaching assistant is still not legally arranged in the Republic of Croatia. Because of different qualification programs, depending of the county or town the school is in, and also the fact that role of teaching assistant is not distinct enough, approaches of teaching assistants are very different, such as and the teachers and parents expectations of teaching asisstants. All that affects on the students with dissabilities success achieveing educational outcomes. It is therefore important to investigate the attitudes of elementary school teachers whose classes are assistants in teaching assistants in the classroom. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards assistive teachers in elementary schools in the Brodsko - Posavska County area. In addition to the general objective of the research, the following specific objectives have been set: 1. Investigate the attitudes of teachers and teachers towards teaching assistants. 2. Investigate whether there is a statistically significant difference between teachers' attitudes towards teaching assistants in relation to their previous experience with assistants in teaching and, if so, in which direction they differ. 3. Investigate whether there is a statistically significant difference between teachers' attitudes towards teaching assistants in relation to the rural or urban area in which the school they are working in is. Teacher attitudes towards teaching assistants in regular primary schools are positive, teachers understand the importance of assistants in teaching and consider them necessary and relevant in the teaching process