Teacher education students' attitudes and reflections on the Covid-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pojavio se u prosincu 2019. u Wuhanu, u Kini. Nakon nekog vremena proširila se vijest o novom virusu koji je zaprijetio čitavom svijetu. Krajem veljače 2020. godine pojavio se prvi zabilježen slučaj u Hrvatskoj, a sredinom ožujka nastupio je i prvi lockdown u Hrvatskoj, ali i u drugim zemljama diljem svijeta. U početku, virus je shvaćen bezazleno, međutim nakon nekog su se vremena pojavili teži slučajevi, a sve mlađi ljudi bez komorbiditeta teško su obolijevali. S vremenom su se otkrivali novi simptomi koji su bili različiti gotovo za svaku osobu. COVID-19 uzdrmao je svijet i promijenio ritam života svakome na svoj način. Krajem prosinca 2020. godine počelo je cijepljenje protiv COVIDA-19 u Hrvatskoj, a do 24. kolovoza 2021. godine potpuno je cijepljeno 38,9 % stanovništva ili približno polovina odraslog stanovništva (Koronavirus.hr, 2021). Rezultati istraživanja provedenog među studentima svih 5 godina Učiteljskoga studija u Splitu u akademskoj godini 2020./2021. pokazali su da ne postoji statistički značajna razlika u stavovima i promišljanjima o COVIDU-19 između studenata viših i nižih godina te između onih koji su preboljeli COVID-19 i onih koji nisu. Također, ne postoji statistički značajna razlika u stavovima i promišljanjima o cijepljenju protiv COVIDA-19 između studenata viših i nižih godina Učiteljskoga studija. Studenti su u drugom dijelu upitnika pokazali znanje o znanstvenim činjenicama o COVIDU-19. Nesigurni su u pitanjima zadržavanja virusa SARS-CoV-2 na površinama, utjecaju virusa na organe i organske sustave te nisu u potpunosti upoznati s činjenicom da ovaj virus nije prvi otkriveni koronavirus. Nadalje, izrazili su nepovjerenje prema Nacionalnom stožeru civilne zaštite, medijima, cijepljenju te učinkovitosti epidemioloških mjera. Većini studenata društveni je život ostao nepromijenjen, a stavovi su podijeljeni kada je riječ o utjecaju pandemije na njihov život i načinu nošenja s pandemijom. Većina ih se želi vratiti na nastavu na fakultetu i smatraju da je nastava na fakultetu kvalitetnija od nastave na daljinu. Ono što iznenađuje je i razina procijepljenosti među studentima koja iznosi samo 10 %, a tu razinu kasnije potvrđuju i njihovi stavovi prema cijepljenju protiv COVIDA-19. Kako bismo donosili odluke koje su najbolje za nas i zajednicu u kojoj živimo te formirali ispravne stavove, važno je da budemo dobro informirani i da ne podliježemo raznim teorijama zavjere. Samo na taj način možemo biti odgovorni prema sebi i prema drugima.COVID-19 appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. After some time, the news spread about a new virus that threatened the whole world. At the end of February 2020, the first recorded case appeared in Croatia and in mid-March the first lockdown occurred in Croatia, but also in other countries around the world. Initially, the virus was understood harmlessly, but after a while, more severe cases appeared and increasingly younger people without comorbidities became seriously ill. Over time, new symptoms were discovered, different for almost every person. COVID-19 shook the world and changed the pace of everyone's life in other way. At the end of December 2020, vaccination against COVID-19 began in Croatia, and by August 24, 2021, 38.9 % of the population or approximately half of the adult population had been fully vaccinated (Koronavirus.hr, 2021). The results of the research conducted among students of all 5 years of Primary Education in Split, in the academic year 2020/2021., showed that there was no statistically significant difference in attitudes and reflections about COVID-19 between senior and junior students and between those who had COVID-19 and those who did not. Also, there is no statistically significant difference in attitudes and reflections about vaccination against COVID-19 between senior and junior students of Primary Education. In the second part of the questionnaire, students demonstrated knowledge of the scientific facts about COVID-19. They are insecure about the retention of SARS-CoV-2 virus on surfaces, the impact of the virus on organs and organ systems, and they are not fully aware of the fact that this virus is not the first coronavirus to be detected. Furthermore, they expressed distrust towards the National Civil Protection Headquarters, the media, vaccination and the effectiveness of epidemiological measures. For most of the students, social life has remained unchanged, and attitudes are divided when it comes to the impact of a pandemic on their lives and how to deal with a pandemic. Most of them want to return to teaching at the faculty and they believe that teaching at the faculty is better than distance teaching. What is surprising is the level of vaccination among students, which is only 10 %, and this level is later confirmed by their attitudes towards vaccination against COVID-19. In order to make decisions that are the best for us and the community we live in and to form the right attitudes, it is important that we are well informed and do not believe in various conspiracy theories. Only this way we can be responsible to ourselves and to others