Arche of Philosophy Teaching in Vojvodina

In this paper, the author tries to identify the level of autonomy of Sremski Karlovci Grammar School in creating its curricula, particularly for philosophical subjects, since its establishment in 1791 until 1921. Although it might be considered that the teaching of philosophical subjects, during the first 130 years of the history of Sremski Karlovci Grammar School, automatically followed the changes of curricula, in reality this was not the case. Moreover, it seems that the teaching of philosophy in Sremski Karlovci Grammar School had a specific evolution, relatively independent of implemented curricula, which is confirmed by the analysis of its “Programmes” and “Reports”. For example, even though that there were two different curricula implemented in the school from 1792 to 1825, the same philosophical subjects were taught: Logics and Ethics (they were also taught within curriculum for 1849/50 school year and 1850/51 school year). From 1825 until 1847/8 school year, Logics was probably the only philosophical subject taught in the Grammar School, even though two curricula were implemented in this period as well. In the school year 1853/54 a new curriculum was introduced in Sremski Karlovci Grammar School, according to which the teaching of philosophy subjects was sublimated into one subject, Philosophical Propedeutics. During the following two school years (1854 and 1855) this school subject comprised the lectures on Logics, Psychology, Metaphysics, and History of Logics. From 1856 school year until the end of the analyzed period, only two courses were held on Philosophical Propedeutics: Logics and Psychology. Within these 65 years there were many changes of the names of these subjects, as well as the scope of their teachings, sequences of lectures and literature; however they rarely coincided with changes of curricula, as well as of adopted laws, regulations, and decrees.

The Applicability of the Socrates Method of Education in Education Today

In the global world, changes that strike our educational system occur daily. In that matter, most of the traditional guidelines have been thrown away in order to strive towards new goals and methods, the external ones, which satisfy the continually changing labor market. The purpose of an individual in that kind of a system is to adapt in order to satisfy its needs while Socrates searches for happiness inside a man itself - a man possesses knowledge and wisdom for himself and his freedom, not others. With his method of dialectic speech, he seeks his truth and that of others and offers lots to think about. His teaching, which emphasizes love and desire for learning and real knowledge that leads to becoming an independent man, has been inspiring people for over twenty-five centuries, and it should be taken into consideration when thinking about youth, younger generations, and their future. In this paper, we are comparing and showing the differences in education today and the one in Socrates’ time. This paper highlights changes brought by the Bologna Declaration, but also the directionality in the labor market today, which makes the universities entrepreneurial centers. What does that mean for the knowledge economy we are striving for? Can we even state that we really are a knowledge society if we only aspire to knowledge that is dictated by the constantly changing labour market? We compare the knowledge to which we aspire with the knowledge which Socrates searches for and show the disadvantages of today’s educational system along the way. Here we offer Socrates’ ideas and opinions, which lead to possible progress towards genuine wisdom.

Živobran

The paper will present the journal/magazine of the Croatian Association for the Protection of Animals Živobran (1894–1904) and explore its contribution to the development of social awareness on natural, cultural and ethical values of animal species with special reference to their educational role in the promotion of animal rights among the Croatian school population at the turn of the 20th century. Namely, by carrying out the cooperation with school institutions, the magazine of the Croatian Association for the Protection of Animals directly affected the formation of students’ thinking, standpoints and relations toward the animal world. The research corpus encompasses texts published in the journal/magazine of the Croatian Association for the Protection of Animals Živobran in the period from 1894 to 1904. The paper is a contribution to the research of Croatian cultural zoology and literary ecology.

The Possibility of Introducing Bioethical Education to High Schools and Faculties in North Macedonia

Bioethics is a very important and complex contemporary field of thinking and activity. Knocking strong on our doors, various problems of health, environmental pollution, violence, conflicts, human indolence, criminal deeds, as well as bad behaviors of all different kinds, come to the core of humankind. All these problems require a serious and rapid human action. That is why it is very important to introduce bioethical education to all people. This paper is dealing with the issue of implementing ethical and bioethical education in the North Macedonian school system. It offers a brief review of the activities in this field so far, and it attempts to contextualize some theoretical approaches for ethical and bioethical education. The main thesis is that at the basic level ethical and bioethical education should be organized as moral education, but at the level of secondary school and faculty teaching the approach should be through critical thinking as the most appropriate for that age.

Children’s Play The Ecological Story in Function of Ecological Education of Preschool Children

Today, the importance of ecological education is often highlighted, although the current National Curriculum for Early and Preschool Education doesn’t even mention it. Although ecological education is not mentioned in this baseline document, various activities in this direction are often carried out in our kindergartens. An example of this is the play The Ecological Story by the author Sanja Seferović-Bosak from her collection of plays Maštarije: Igrokazi za djecu od 3 do 13 godina (eng. Pipe Dreams: Plays for Children of 3-13 years). This paper describes the preparation and performance of this play in 2017 in the kindergarten Radost (eng. Joy) in Novska. The theoretical part of the paper considers the basic settings of ecological education in early and preschool age, with special reference to current practice in Croatian kindergartens. The empirical part of the paper describes the stages of preparation and performance of the play The Ecological Story, with special reference to the compliance of this project with the requirements of the National Curriculum in terms of developing key competences for lifelong learning. The paper also contains an analysis of methodological procedures with particular reference to the preparation of musical numbers in the play.

Bioethics in High School Classes

We are witnesses of an attempt to enforce the curriculum reform in Croatia, as well as a proposal of a school for life.2 While the intent of this presentation is not to analyse the curriculum reform, it is important to mention that the curriculum reform, within the framework of the general educational group of subjects, kept the subjects like Ethics and Religion. Unfortunately, some subjects, such as History, Biology or Chemistry could lose their hours in the long run. The reason for bringing this up is simple. It could happen, and this would in no way be good, that within the corpus of teachers a devaluation of certain subjects occurs, as well as animosity among colleagues. When we take a look at the statements of certain politicians3 on some subjects (their importance and unimportance), the status of professors etc. we see just how much Croatia needs the constant repetition of the fact that a wholesome, well-rounded, mature individual is not made by brilliance in the STEM area nor excellence in natural sciences, but that very same individual also must strive for excellence and well-roundedness in the cultural, ethical, moral, and any other sense which makes up one of the wheels in the wholesomeness of a person. Any curriculum process, school for life or something of the sort, which would exclude some of the segments in the process of education in terms of the wholesomeness of a human being could only damage society on all levels in the long run.

Bioethical Themes in University Teaching of Future Educators and Teachers Original scientific article

Bioethics, as a newer scientific discipline answers questions about the life of the contemporary man in an interdisciplinary way, and we use education to express what kind of a society and what kind of a man we want. Values on which the educational system in the Republic of Croatia is based are viewed as a new possibility to develop the Croatian national, cultural, and spiritual identity within complex globalization processes. In the era of globalization, informational and technological improvement, one of the hardest efforts of the modern age is the upbringing of children in the changed circumstances, which consequently reflects on the style of education and the conditions in which education is conducted. The aims of the upbringing focus the educational practice and the pedagogical action, while the responsibility and the complex task is bestowed upon educators/teachers. The importance of initial education of educators/teachers is irrefutable today. To be an educator is a vocation/profession with specific professional standards and ethical rules of the teaching profession, inspired by the values of social inclusion and the needs of the child/pupil. This paper deals with a comparative analysis of study programmes and learning outcomes in the Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Teacher Study, as well as University Study of Early and Preschool Education at the Faculty of Education in Osijek, focused on the (bio)ethics, education and ethics of the teacher’s calling. Students, future preschool/primary school teachers during the study need to be made aware of the sensitivity in ethical decision-making in the future profession, as well as solving the problems which influence on building the character, because ethics and bioethics need to fulfil important social and individual aspects of education.

Privatization of Science – A Silent Phenomenon

Privatization is one of the most significant phenomena and characteristics of contemporary science, but also probably its greatest deviation. Through the growing funding of research by private companies, science has been increasingly used to create profit. It is instrumentalized by being reduced to a marketing tool. In medicine today, most of the applied research is sponsored by the producers of agents and equipment for diagnostics and treatment. Through the manipulation by the methodology of research, result presentation and selective publication, they produce findings which are invalid and biased. The topic of research is less and less relevant for the health and well-being of the population. With the medical science being privatized, the prospects of significant discoveries and progress in disease treatment and prevention are slim. A rise of costs is inevitable, as well as the decrease in the availability. Along with the privatized medical science, the chances for more significant findings and progress in treatment and illness prevention are not good. The growth in expenses is apparent, as well as the downturn in the availability of healthcare services and the erosion of trust in science and scientists. Privatization of science is a phenomenon which is rarely discussed. It deserves greater attention because it can have significant consequences on the nature and the excellence of scientific findings and is relevant in the social and cultural context.

What Does Ceta Bring to Organic Production?

Even though eco-production is based on principles brought by IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements), the standards which were brought in by the national and supranational governments may differentiate in parts of regulation. The mutual recognition/equivalence of eco-standards of the EU (»EU-eco« label, based on regulation of the European Commission EZ 834/2007: 139-and EZ 889/2008: 173-256, and other regulations derived from them) and Canada (»Canada organic« label, based on valid Canadian eco-standards, regulation CAN/CGSB-32.310-2015: 53 and CAN/CGSB-32.311-2015: 75) has been present for multiple years and has been re-evaluated and confirmed in 2015 as a successful practice in the increase of access to an expanded market for producers, increase of selection for consumers and lightening the regulatory cooperation. Before mutual recognition exported eco-product from Canada to the EU (and vice-versa) had to go through recertification, which created additional expenses for exporting eco-producers (10 thousand dollars per year, on average). This process mostly resulted in an increased price of eco-products for the end consumer. In some areas the Canadian eco-regulation is stricter than the EU one, while in other it is vice versa. Some markings can mislead the consumer, especially the one who does not read the product declaration where such misgivings are clearly visible and marked. The greatest challenge for eco-production in the EU is the increase in demand for eco-products with such a speed that EU farmers cannot satisfy it, which inevitably leads to an increase of import from non-EU countries. Therefore, the help of EU governments is essential in the form of support for farmers who decide to transition into eco-production. Certain estimates say that the CETA could mean a loss of a great number of producers (estimating that it could be several thousand workplaces in agriculture across the EU). A similar agreement between the US and Mexico already led to a loss of workplace for 2 million people in Mexico in the midst of inability to compete with the industrial production of the US. The greatest fear present in eco-production is that the international agricultural businesses can force national and supranational governments to lower standards by using lawsuits, which can consequentially result in lower standards in eco-production on both sides of the Atlantic and influence the environment. It is not based on the scientific/expert arguments which governs the ecological agriculture, but a pure race for profit. Therefore, it can be expected that, once again, »greed overcomes reason«. Nevertheless, the high set »bar« of eco-production »from both sides of the pond« is the best »defence« against the fear that CETA will bring any novelties into the life of eco-producers.