THE CURRICULUM CONTENT OF INFORMATICS AS A TEACHING SUBJECT AT BASIC SCHOOLS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC BETWEEN 1996 AND 2005

Although informatics is a discipline that emerged not long ago and has been increasingly developing, and it is only for a relatively short period of time that we have been able to witness its integration into the curriculum at the level of basic schools (ISCED 1 and ISCED 2), it has gradually acquired a strong presence in curricula. It has either been incorporated in them in the form of a separate school subject or integrated into wider theme and subject based units (e.g. STEM). In a number of developed countries, such emphasis is placed on informatics that it has gradually become a compulsory part of their respective curricula, which is also reflected in the current situation in the Czech Republic.

In this paper, on the basis of an analysis and comparison of the curricular documents valid in 1996 – 2005, we present the course of the gradual integration of informatics into the curriculum prescribed at the national level. We have thus followed on from publications by authors who dealt with a similar topic in other countries. Through our comparative research, we have come to an ascertainment that although Informatics already existed as an optional subject in 1991, further developments were not unambiguous, in particular because there were three various curricular documents (national programmes of education) that were then in effect in the Czech Republic. As is detailed in the paper, all three programmes included the teaching content on information, informatics, computer science, and information and communication technologies. Where they had the form of separate teaching subjects, they were always optional (voluntary). However, it was also possible to come across the version where the aforementioned teaching content was incorporated into other teaching subjects as their part. In some cases, they were even compulsory teaching subjects, for example mathematics or practical activities.

Because informatics has been a part of the curriculum for a relatively short time, many terms have not yet been definitively set. Therefore, this study also includes definitions of core terms, which is substantive for their unambiguous interpretation. Divergences are also caused by translation to foreign languages.