EXAMPLE OF PROJECT LEARNING AS AN EXAMPLE OF INNOVATIVE TEACHING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL IN SLOVENIA

Abstract

After the Corona virus pandemic, the school year finally started, and teachers and students could breathe freely and start to cooperate in a more relaxed way, both at the level of the class and at the level of the school. However, we have all noticed that changes in the world and changes in students lead us to a time that requires us to be innovative in the field of teaching materials and leading students in the classroom. But these do not always mean introducing the latest and greatest technology into the classroom. Instead, innovative teaching is the process of proactively introducing new learning strategies and methods into the classroom. The rollout aims to improve academic outcomes and address real-world issues to promote learning.

In the desire to create more innovative ways of delivering learning material, with the help of which students will develop the skills they need in the 21st century, I decided to embark on the path of project-based learning together with the students. In doing so, I considered the standards of knowledge given to us by the Ministry of Education and Sports, but at the same time I wanted to find out how many skills that students will need for successful work in the 21st century we will encourage and develop with this way of work.

In the first part of the article, I will present lessons for the 21st century and what goals I set for myself before starting project-based learning in the classroom. I will then proceed with a presentation of a brief history of project-based learning and the expected skills students should acquire through this method of teaching and management. Then I will describe the steps through which we embarked on this journey from the idea to the result of the work. In the evaluation of project-based learning, I wanted to find out whether project-based learning would encourage students to develop competencies in the skills that need to be developed for successful work in the 21st century. I was interested in which skills we promoted through project learning, where the students worked together without problems, and in which areas the biggest challenges arose.