Analysis of Knowledge of Children’s Rights among Teachers of Croatian and Bosnia and Herzegovina Secondary Schools and Their Attitudes on the Respect and Application of Students’ Participation Rights in Education

Abstract

The relationship between teachers and students in educational institutions is regulated by various laws and regulations that contribute to a more efficient implementation of educational processes for the active participation of students. The development and affirmation of children's rights also contribute to creating a creative and challenging environment in schools. Thus, a motivating environment is created, in which students are encouraged for further development and learning. This research aimed to establish to what extent the attitudes of teachers regarding the children's rights of students in secondary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have been developed and to examine whether there are different perceptions of children's rights in the countries covered by the research. The sample included 112 teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, of which 72 were from Bosnia and Herzegovina and 40 from Croatia. The instrument that was used in the research is a modified questionnaire from the published research, "Attitudes of teachers and students of the music school on respecting the participatory rights of students in the teaching of playing a musical instrument", author Assoc. Ph.D. prof. advisor, Davor Brđanović. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) computer program. Descriptive and inferential statistical procedures were used in the processing of the obtained results: descriptive indicators of central tendency and dispersion, as well as procedures for determining the connection between variables (depending on the shape of the determining distributions, Pearson's or Spearman's correlation coefficient) and differences between groups (depending on the shape of the determining distributions, t-test, and F-test or Mann-Whitney U-test). The results indicate a dominant homogeneity in the domain of responses of teaching staff from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia regarding the respect of children's rights in class, which may be conditioned by the similar development starting points of the educational systems in the two mentioned countries. Analyzing the results of knowledge of special children's rights and knowledge of documents that protect children's rights, serious deficits were observed that indicate insufficient education of the sample - teaching staff in the schools and countries included in this research.