We live in the society which is the subject of fast changes. Intensive changes occur in a family life too, which we reflect in the world and in Slovenia. Thus, instead of the accepted concept of the family we often talk about the plural forms of the family or a family life, which mean “the co-existence of different forms and ways of a family life depending on the decisions of individuals.« (Švab, 2001, 80). Plurality in a family life is growing in Slovenia as well, the family is changing both in gender as in age and the role of the family is changing. The process has been changed and become more and more unidentifiable. The transition between the different stages of the family process has changed as well. Here we talk about the individualization of life paths and process or self- determined biographies »… what is or what would be a family, marriage, parenthood, eroticism or love, it’s no longer assumed, obvious or generally applicable, but represents something that is different and is changing from individual to individual, from one relationship to another relationship in respect to individual content, restrictions, exclusions, norms, morality and opportunities « (Beck, Beck – Gernsheim, 2006,12).
In the article we wanted to find out how the mentioned changes reflect in the school environment. We were interested in how the family and the role of the family through the different family types are interpreted in the curriculum, because the family theme is included in the curriculums of schools and kindergartens. The family theme is covered within different school subjects (ex. environmental studies, languages, ethics and citizenship, art, etc.). The family theme at schools can be covered through the curriculum or through other school activities (teacher-parent meetings, discussions, etc.). Both teachers and students can respond differently to the mentioned theme, based on there own experiences, believes and conceptions.
In the lesson planning and lesson performance teachers can follow the given teaching materials or they can search for the additional resources and ideas to adapt to the family changes which they more or less perceive when they cover family themes within the curriculum. Professional training assist improvement their integration of family topics in everyday teaching practice.
As we wanted to find out how this works in practice, we have asked the following research questions: how the teacher perceives family plurality and what conceptions do they hold, what teacher’s sensibility towards the challenges of family themes is, what the teacher’s opinion towards the suitability of the teaching approaches regarding family themes is, how the teacher notices the students’ feedback to the family issues through the different curriculum themes and activities, what teacher’s approach towards the teacher training regarding family themes is. While analyzing the above mentioned questions we wanted to find out if there are any differences regarding gender, age, education, school subjects or grade where the teacher works, work experience and the teacher’s family background.
