Comparison of the new Slovenian and Croatian curriculum for literature lessons

The Primary School Slovene Programme Curriculum (2018) and the Croatian Language Curriculum for Primary Schools and Gymnasiums in the Republic of Croatia (2019) contain guidelines and objectives that teachers must adhere to when creating learning contents. Despite being neighbouring countries, Slovenia and Croatia have very different education systems. Teachers in Slovenia follow the curriculum, whereas teachers in Croatia follow both the national framework and subject curriculum. In the theoretical section, I introduced basic concepts such as curriculum and national framework curriculum. I discussed the educational systems of both Slovenia and Croatia, as well as the key elements of each country's educational system at the grade level. As a research approach, I employed qualitative empirical research and a descriptive pedagogical research method, which I divided into two parts. In the empirical part, I first conducted a document analysis, comparing curricula and analysing differences and similarities. I compared the curricula based on their structure, goals, and contents; language and literature; knowledge standards; and didactic recommendations. I also looked for differences and similarities in the field of literature: folk literature-author's literature, classics, contemporary classics, contemporaries, obligatory/canonical authors, recommended authors/texts, world literature-Slovenian and/or Croatian literature, authors-authors. As part of the following research, I conducted interviews with primary school teachers in Slovenia and Croatia. Based on the responses, I learned how teachers use the curriculum in their lessons and whether the use of curricula is similar or different in both countries. I concluded with a joint analysis of both parts of the research