Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to present the results of a survey conducted among students of teaching programmes focused on their attitudes and experience with the world of work. The respondents of this survey were students of vocational subjects teaching for secondary schools who are already university graduates with a particular specialization (mostly agriculture, forestry, horticulture economics, or international relations) and now, they are increasing their qualification in a bachelor's degree program in teaching, which will enable them to work mainly at the secondary schools. In addition to university studies, these people already have various work-life experience. The survey was conducted through a pen and paper interview, with the subsequent analysis of the responses. The number of respondents was 24.

The area of the "world of work" is a new part of the secondary vocational education curriculum in the Czech Republic and it is essential mainly because it aims to form and develop the key competencies of students. Man and the world of work is one of the so-called cross-curricular topics, which are the educational contents that today's society emphasizes. Therefore, they should permeate the entire school curriculum because they are not only socially important but also important for the students. They aim to prepare them for life in the 21st century.

In this sense, it is the teacher, who is the carrier of fundamental ideas in teaching and who should lead students to a positive attitude to work and responsibility for the quality of their own and joint work results. At the same time, thanks to the teacher, students should acquire basic work skills and habits, perseverance and consistency in performing tasks, be creative and develop their own ideas. It is also crucial to develop the right attitudes in students towards the value of work or the environment. Last but not least, a teacher in vocational education should be able to bring students to see work as an opportunity for self-realization and to develop entrepreneurial thinking in them.

The survey, therefore, aimed to find out what specific opinions, attitudes and experience future teachers of vocational subjects for secondary schools have with the world of work and how these attitudes could influence them in their future practice.

Keywords:

Teachers of vocational subjects, secondary schools, curriculum, world of work.