Determinants of prospective teachers' attitudes towards children's rights

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati stavove studenata učiteljskih i nastavničkih usmjerenja prema dječjim pravima i ustanoviti odnos tih stavova s nekim njihovim karakteristikama i upoznatosti s temom dječjih prava. Uzorak se sastojao od 265 budućih učitelja, nastavnika i stručnih suradnika, trenutno studenata učiteljskih fakulteta i nastavničkih smjerova na sveučilištima u Hrvatskoj. Podaci su prikupljeni online anketnim upitnikom. Za mjerenje stavova prema različitim vrstama dječjih prava korišten je Upitnik o dječjim pravima, upoznatost s temom dječjih prava mjerena je kao tri njena aspekta: subjektivna procjena upoznatosti, objektivna i prethodna izloženost informacijama te su postavljena pitanja o sociodemografskim obilježjima sudionika. Rezultati pokazuju da studenti više podržavaju prava djece na zaštitu od prava na samoodređenje. Više objektivno informirani o dječjim pravima daju veću podršku pravima na samoodređenje. Studenti društveno-humanističkih smjerova iskazuju nešto pozitivnije stavove prema pravima na samoodređenje od onih s tehničkih i prirodoslovnih, više su izloženi temi dječjih prava, i objektivno bolje upoznati s temom. Kod prava na zaštitu između njih nema razlike. Preostala sociodemografska obilježja te subjektivna procjena i izloženost nisu se pokazali kao značajni prediktori stavova prema pravima no dobivenim rezultatima treba pristupiti oprezno. Nalazi impliciraju da je znanje o pravima povezano sa stavovima o njima te da razlike u tome postoje među studentima različitih usmjerenja iz čega zaključujemo da je potrebno dodatno se posvetiti njihovoj edukaciji o toj temi.The aim of this study was to examine prospective teachers' attitudes towards children's rights and asses the relationship between their certain characteristics and knowledge about children's rights. The sample consisted of 265 future teachers, professors and professional associates who are currently students enrolled in universities in Croatia. The data was collected through an online survey questionnaire. Attitudes toward two types of children's rights were measured by Children's Rights Attitude Scale, knowledge about children's rights was measured as it's three aspects: subjective assessment of familiarity with the subject, objective knowledge and former exposure to information. Questions regarding sociodemographics were also asked. The results showed that students show somewhat greater support for nurturance than self-determination. Objectively knowledgeable students show greater support for self-determination. Field of study significantly predicts self-determination rights attitudes: humanities and social sciences students support them more than those in STEM, while there is no significant difference between them regarding nurturance rights. Remaining sociodemographic characteristics, subjective assesment of knowledge of and former exposure to information about children´s rights did not significantly predict attitudes towards rights. However, the results obtained should be approached with caution.These findings implicate that knowledge about rights is related to attitudes towards them and student´s field of study, what leads to the conclusion that their education about the subject needs further attention