Abstract:

In an ever-changing society, changes or transformations of school and curriculum are almost constant. In recent years, the term curriculum reform has been mentioned many times in Slovak education. The results of Slovak pupils in comparison with pupils in primary education in OECD countries have long lagged behind. Their acquired skills and knowledge reflect the problematic level of educational content in Slovakia. In 2023, the Ministry of Education approved a school reform aimed at meeting the needs of 21st century education. The present study highlights changes affecting primary schools not only from an organisational point of view - a new division of education - but also in terms of the content of education, the way of assessment and other important areas for pupils' learning. In her paper, the author analyses the curricular reform of education in the context of the transformation of education in primary schools. She also points out important differences in the legislative documents that are currently in force (state documents in force before and after the curricular reform of primary education). Around 40 primary schools have been actively involved in the pilot phase of the validation of the reform. Individual teachers, school principals and other experts are gradually assessing the actual progress of the changes being introduced. The present study provides an insight into the implementation of the curriculum reform and, last but not least, highlights first experiences from practice.

Keywords:

Curriculum reform, transformation, implementation, curriculum, learning cycles, literacy.