(updated 25 March 2003)
At the end of March 2002, the same time as I was starting with this research, the editors of a popular Croatian daily 'Jutarnji list' dedicated their, so-called 'Focus' page to the issue of school-based SE in Croatia. Under the headline 'Experts: Sexuality Education Should be Introduced to Primary Schools', the article focuses on the health education program 'Youth for Youth', developed and implemented in five secondary schools in Zagreb by the Reproductive Health Department of the Children Hospital. This peer-education program on sexual and reproductive health is mostly information-based, and implemented through peer-led lectures on the issues such as STIs, contraception, abortion, and condom use. The newspaper article's main message is that the number of sexually active adolescents in general, and the number of those engaging in risky sexual behaviors (RSB) in particular, is increasing and that there is still no systematic and comprehensive SE program in Croatian schools. In addition to the article's claim, it should be evident that, besides encouraging safer and responsible sexual behavior in response to current negative epidemiological tendencies (the spread of so-called 'new STIs') and inconsistent use of condoms, any upcoming national school-based SE program have to be gender sensitive for both girls and boys, as well as sensitive to different sexual choices in order to develop needed tolerance to sexual minorities, which during 2002 became a significantly more visible part of Croatian society.
The only period when school-based SE was actively practiced in Croatia is now almost exactly 30 years behind us. In the end of the Sixties, an experimental SE program was implemented in ten primary schools in Zagreb; in 1972 SE elements became an obligatory part of the curriculum for primary schools, and the year after a manual for teachers was published (Maleš, 2000). SE contents were integrated in the teaching subject of 'nature and society' (1st and 2nd grade), student community class (3rd-8th grade) and biology (8th grade). However, this intended 'integral approach to human sexuality' resulted in the fragmentation of educational contents, and in the weakening of the conception of comprehensive SE, which was renamed as 'Education for human relations between sexes'. The whole project was soon shut down, mostly due to the lack of a clear concept and program, and the lack of initiative and motivation of class-teachers who were identified as key-educators for this area. Class-teachers were also responsible for the development of particular SE lessons - that needed to be additionally adapted to pupils' developmental stages - based on the teacher's manual (Košicek et al, 1973).
In the current national curricula for primary (compulsory) school education relevant SE contents are fragmentarily included in the 'nature and society' program for the first six grades (age 6(7) - 11(12)) and in the biology curriculum for 8th grade (age 13-14) (***, 1999d). The stated program tasks for the knowledge area of nature and society refer, among others, to the systematic and planned development of pupils' health habits, as well as to the development of their moral values. Related educational themes (e.g. family members, sex difference, body parts, healthy lifestyles) are part of the teaching units 'family and home' and 'our body and health'. Instructions for teachers point that pupils' acquisition of health habits should be put into 'a functional relation' with the educational area of 'human relations between sexes'. The didactical and methodical principles for 'natural science' curriculum for 5th grade additionally emphasize that program themes should provide a frame for health education concerns, especially in the relation to puberty issues, and to the development of pupils' sense of one's own responsibility for one's own health. The biology curriculum for 8th grade includes some SE contents (genital organs, anatomy and reproductive process, STI's (including HIV), family planning) and related learning assignments (to understand biological basis of sex difference, to develop pupils' sense for responsible sexual behavior, to develop a positive attitude to human relations between sexes in relation to gender equality legislation and human rights in general). However, the actual implementation of these teaching tasks usually means one to three 45-minutes lessons (lectures) throughout compulsory education, primarily focused on the transmission of basic factual knowledge about human bodies and the reproductive dimension of human sexuality (***, 2000a; ***, 2001f).
Almost the same topics are indicated in the biology curriculum for secondary grammar schools. The other subjects' curricula for grammar schools, which involve educational contents that can be recognized as parts of some prospective cross-curricular SE and/or gender equality education, are sociology (social roles and institutions, family, marriage, socialization) psychology (emotions, adolescence, stereotypes, prejudices, love, parenthood), history, and 'politics and economy' (human rights). Likewise, some other educational themes that can be linked to the topic of this study are present in the syllabi for the elective subject of ethics, and include the issues of identity, responsibility, love, gender relations, parenthood, family, friendship, human rights, new reproductive technologies, and abortion (***, 2002h). However, for many Croatian adolescents, the only school-based provision of education on sexual matters - not taking into account those curriculum-scattered segments without unifying conception - is a sporadic (medical) expert lecture, usually about 'teenage pregnancies', HIV/AIDS, and contraception, given once or twice during the whole schooling. Nevertheless, there are also young people who do not receive a single school lesson on the issues concerning human sexuality.
School-based SE was again in the media 'focus' five months later, at the end of August 2002. In the same newspaper, this time the article's headline states that 'Instead of Sexuality Education, Health Education Should be Introduced to Schools'. This claim for 'refocusing' of educational priorities (and consequently contents) is based upon, and reflects the new National Program of Activities for the Young (***, 2002a). One of the 26 principle objectives of this comprehensive national youth policy is 'to provide adequate support to young persons in the areas of family planning, family life, sexual and reproductive health, and the prevention of STIs and risk behavior'. The measures specified to achieve this goal is 'the planning and conducting of a pilot study on the topic of Health Education in elementary and secondary schools, in which the required modules would be as follows: sexual and reproductive health, risk behavior, harmful habits and the prevention of addiction'. The implementers of this activity are the Ministry of Education and Sport (MoES) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) as coordinating bodies, in co-operation with the Bureau for the Advancement of Education (BAE), and the Croatian Bureau for Public Health (CBPH). Besides the suggested health education pilot program, other recommended actions in the area of 'Healthcare and Reproductive Health' include establishing of counseling centers within the healthcare system at the county level. Apart from providing information and professional advice, these units should also ensure the availability of contraceptive devices. In addition, the counseling centers, with the support of the educational system and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), should implement 'quality programs in connection with venereal diseases, addiction, assistance in crisis situations, risk behavior, sexual problems, sexuality and reproductive health'. The Action Plan regulates that in the next five-year period (2003-2008) entitled governmental bodies should implement the recommended actions according to operative plans that need to be confirmed by the coordinating implementers within a period of 6 months from the adoption of the National Program. The BAE started with the preparation of educational materials for the proposed health education pilot program. The materials are to be presented, additionally elaborated and distributed through a series of seminars with biology and natural sciences teachers from primary schools. Moreover, the BAE's 'meeting of experts' (Zagreb, October 2002), targeting biology teachers from five regional counties, included the discussion about 'the concept, the implementation principles, and the structure of health education in schools'. In summary, biology teachers are willing to participate in health education, provided that additional training in the area of psychology skills and knowledge is assured. The identified obstacles to the quality implementation of health education in school programs include overloaded timetable and the lack of trained (qualified) educators.
With regards to the already existing in-service teacher training programs in the educational fields of gender equality and sexual and reproductive health, the Center for Education and Counseling of Women (CESI) and the Forum for Freedom in Education (FFE) present the examples of 'best practices' coming from the non-governmental sector.
FFE is a NGO, a member of European Forum for Freedom in Education, Germany, founded in Croatia in 1992 with the principal objective of learning about, introducing, and encouraging the implementation of the EU educational standards in Croatian educational system. In 2001 FFE has started again with the implementation of the educational program for teachers - 'Through Education to Health' - that addresses five integrated health aspects: healthy nutrition, smoking prevention, prevention of misusage of alcohol and other drugs, SE and AIDS prevention. The program is founded on the premise of one's own responsibility for one's own health, and primarily targets 10-18 years old children. FFE's approach to health is a positive one, and based on the holistic concept of health. Moreover, it promotes interactive teaching methods and is directed to the development of self-esteem, tolerance and sensitivity for others, as well as to the strengthening of individual decision-making skills. The program is implemented through two 2-day educational seminars for teachers, accompanied with five educational manuals, including 'Human Sexuality' and 'AIDS Education'. The 'AIDS Education' (Flaherty-Zonis, 2001a) manual is pragmatic and positive in its approach: it promotes responsible sexual behavior as 'the prerequisite for a successful sexual life' and focuses on strengthening young people's self-esteem, integrity, and decision-making skills. It includes a section with basic facts about HIV/AIDS, a short knowledge test, and a series of HIV/AIDS related educational units presented together with methodical instructions and concrete guidelines for starting and leading discussions. Finding answers through talks with young people is recommended working method, and the educator's role is described in terms of providing the essential information and facilitating students' discussions. The 'Human Sexuality' (Flaherty-Zonis, 2001b) manual is a more comprehensive one, and besides the fundamental facts on human sexuality (anatomy and reproduction, STIs and contraception) also addresses the issues of self-esteem, individual integrity, responsibility, love and sex, gender roles, and sexual harassment and violence. It incorporates all three aspects that characterize effective SE programs: providing reliable information, developing social skills (communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills), and clarifying attitudes and values. Clear methodical directions give support to active pupils' participation in the educational process that approaches sexuality as a positive and integrated aspect of human life.
The other organization active in the field of in-service teacher training is CESI, a women's NGO, established in 1997, with the objective to actively promote the values of gender equality and tolerance, and contribute to the advancement of women's status and to the building of civil society in Croatia. CESI's 'Building Gender Awareness' program, started in 1999, primarily focuses on young people and in its approach successfully integrates research, education, publishing, and public policy advocacy. One of the program's current projects (2003-2004) is 'GenderNet', the European Commission funded educational, capacity-building and media project with the overall objective to integrate the values of gender equality, tolerance, and respect for diversities in schoolwork. The project's main activity is development, implementation and evaluation of the 'Gender Awareness' pilot program, an educational intervention for secondary school students, comprising 10 one-class period lessons focusing on gender equality issues. The program's contents include: sex and gender; gender roles and identities; gender, society and culture (with a special emphasis on media influence); and gender (in)equality. In addressing topics such as gender stereotypes and prejudices, sexism, and gender-based violence, this training curriculum combines various interactive teaching methods, and employs adolescent perspective and experiences. A teaching manual is also provided (Hodžic, Bijelic & Cesar, 2000). Besides raising students' gender awareness, the program's objectives are also directed to the development and strengthening of young people's communication and negotiation skills (active listening, assertiveness). The cross-curricular integration of the program's themes is indicated for following school subjects: Croatian language and literature, history, ethics, sociology and psychology. The implementation procedure entails an advanced capacity-building and program-development seminar for 20 teachers who have already participated in CESI's previous trainings in gender awareness and interactive teaching methodology (2001-2002), and who will be putting this educational program to practice with 600 young people in 10 secondary schools in Croatia. A systematic evaluation and monitoring will be conducted in a co-operation with the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD) using a questionnaire survey ('pre-test, post-test, control group design') to research the impact of the educational program on students' knowledge, attitudes and behavior in relation to gender equality (identities, roles, relations), while the quality of the implementation procedure will be assessed through interviews with principle teachers and students, and a follow-up evaluation seminar for teachers. The planned outcomes of this comprehensive project include a booklet providing a blueprint and recommendations for implementation procedure, educational videotape, as well as the second edition of the educational manual.
The co-operation between CESI and CERD can help that in-service teacher trainings provided by NGOs achieve wider recognition, which was also one of the points raised in the Final Conclusions to the International Conference on Education held in Zagreb in May 2002 (Sahlberg, 2002). CERD is an autonomous, policy-orientated expert institution created in 2000, as the result of the agreement between the Government of Croatia and OSI Croatia, in line with the support of OSI to the Croatia's reform mechanism 'Strategy for the 21st Century' in general, and in the sphere of education in particular. The mission of the CERD is 'to initiate, facilitate, and inform on, policy analysis, development, planning, assessment, evaluation and implementation for educational reform in Croatia'. One of the CERD's current projects, supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the MoES and OSI Croatia, is 'Evaluation of Syllabi and Development of Curriculum Model for Compulsory Education in Croatia' (2002-2004). The project's overall objective is to develop an analytical basis for the curricular changes, and its results are expected to serve policy makers (MoES) in decision-making on the implementation of the national curriculum reform.
However, at the moment (March 2003) it is not decided what should be the model
of compulsory school education to coordinate with the development of curriculum
structure, as well as what additional changes would be involved in the whole
educational reform. The current developments in relation to the educational
reform indicate that 'the emerging needs' were not sufficiently addressed during
the drafting procedures, as it was suggested in the above-mentioned conference
conclusions (Sahlberg, 2002). The existing proposal for the reform of educational
system (***, 2002i), after being accepted by the Croatian Government in November
2002, was rejected by the Parliament in February 2003. This debatable document
is the result of two years work of the MoES's Council of Experts and the Education
Working Group of the Government's Central Project Council of the Strategy for
Croatia in the 21st Century. Both expert bodies produced their own drafts that
were harmonized into the final proposal in October 2002. However, it should
be noted that the principal researcher on the Government's project declined
further participation, after findings from a preliminary comparative analysis
(***, 2002j) showed a groundlessness and doubtfulness of the MoES's proposal,
which in its foundations entails prolonging of compulsory education to nine
years, and replacing the present '4+4' model with the new '3+3+3' standard.
This was the most criticized part of the proposed reform during an intensive
public debate that followed the adoption of the MoES's final draft by the Government.
In all critical assessments - from school union's reactions and the initiative
of academics, to the rejection by the Parliamentary Committee for Education
and the final parliamentary decision - the Government's proposal was reviewed
as unacceptable on the basis of its primary focus on structural and organizational
changes of the educational system rather than on the quality of education itself.
In addition, it was pointed out that there are no adequate school's capacities
for such large structural interventions, which would also require additional
financial investments. The suggested alternatives include minimizing organizational
changes - keeping the existing model of eight years (4+4) of primary school,
but extending the compulsory education to include the first year of the present
secondary education - and directing the financial and human resource potentials
towards teachers in order to increase the quality of education, and to develop,
both teachers' and students', creative capacities. Although the consensus about
the need for changes was achieved, it is still not clear how radical and how
prompt these modifications would be. Moreover, it should be taken into account
that the current Minister of Education and Sport will probably not extend his
mandate after the upcoming elections (probably in (late) autumn 2003) due to
a series of recent turbulences in Croatian educational system, including the
case of a HIV-positive girl who was two months isolated from her peers in the
first grade, the case of Roma children segregation, as well as the (unsuccessful)
strike organized by the Union of Croatian Teachers.
Nevertheless, CERD is continuing with the project to develop a curriculum model for compulsory education based on the adequate needs assessment and the comparative content analysis of existing Croatian curricula and syllabi, and selected European cases, including the analysis of their national framework curricula. As the project's final output should also incorporate the appropriate model for school-based SE, the findings from this research (IPF) will be included in its drafting process. The additional, informal support to this part of the CERD's project is provided by the group of 15 experts (sociologists, psychologists, medical doctors, educators) joined around the 'Initiative for the implementation of school-based sexuality education' started in May 2002. The Initiative resulted in broadening of the network of governmental institutions and NGOs, scholars, educators and policy makers dealing with gender equality, sexuality and curriculum development in Croatia, as well as articulating and setting up a preliminary agenda for the implementation procedure for the integration of SE program in both primary and secondary school curricula. My intention is to employ the Initiative's network and its expert resources for the dissemination and discussion of IPF research findings and policy recommendations.