Abstract:

Computational thinking is recognized as a transversal competence in modern education. In this paper, we examine the relationship between computational thinking and mother-tongue education through a document-based analysis of the Slovenian primary curriculum for Slovene in the first educational period (Grades 1–3). We adopt an interpretative qualitative approach to analyze curriculum objectives in the domains of language and literature. Our analysis shows that numerous objectives implicitly involve cognitive strategies closely aligned with computational thinking practices, including abstraction, decomposition, sequencing, pattern recognition, and evaluation. We identify these practices in activities related to organizing spoken and written expression, analyzing linguistic structures, revising texts, reconstructing narrative sequences, and interpreting literary characters and events. Building on these findings, we outline selected didactic implications that demonstrate how teachers can make computational thinking practices more visible in mother-tongue teaching without altering the subject’s core communicative and aesthetic aims. Through this analysis, we contribute to ongoing discussions on integrating computational thinking into language education in the early years.

Keywords:

Computational thinking, mother-tongue education, curriculum analysis, interdisciplinary approach, primary school.