SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

EXERCISE 1: Talking about belonging through story

Without belonging, there is no us. Belonging is the threads that hold us upright, the veins through which the fluid of life flows to us, the solid ground on which we stand. Without belonging, we are lost in space, in weightless and airless space. 

Target group: Children 6+

Purpose: Through different stories, children learn about some of the elements of the value of belonging and relate these individual elements to their own challenges of living in different communities.

Belonging from the perspective of connectedness

"Chain of connectedness": in the classroom, students wanted to strengthen connectedness. The teacher invited them to share stories about times when they felt accepted. Eva told how a classmate helped her with maths, which gave her a sense of belonging. Jan described how they danced together at a picnic, which made him proud of his class. The pupils wrote their stories on paper ribbons and linked them into a chain which decorated the classroom. The chain symbolised their togetherness and made the class more united. If left alone, sadness and fragmentation would prevail. Unity brought joy and self-confidence.

Questions for discussion: 

• Why did Eva and Jan feel accepted during the activity?
• When do you feel accepted in your family, among your friends and in the classroom?
• How can we create a sense of connectedness in the classroom?

VALUE: BELONGING, in terms of connectedness, gives an individual a feeling of being accepted, understood or valued within a group.

Belonging from the perspective of the exclusion trap

"Intolerance in an inter-school tournament": the Sun and Moon Primary Schools competed in a football tournament. Both schools were proud of their teams, but after the games the fans became impatient. Sun accused Moon of cheating and Moon accused Sun of bias. Students shunned each other and friends from opposing schools were labelled "traitors". Luke from the Sun fell in love with Maya from the Moon, which led to ridicule: "How can you go out with her, she's from the Moon!" The sports days were marked by divisions and the atmosphere was tense. Teachers organised a day of socialising with mixed teams, where Luka and Maja shared their story. The pupils found they had common interests and started to make friends. Cooperation brought unity, while intolerance would have caused divisions.

Questions for discussion: 

• What all contributed to the development of intolerance between the pupils of Luna and Sonce Primary Schools? 
• Give examples of when intolerance has developed between your school and another, between your class and another, between your family and your neighbours... How has this intolerance manifested itself and what have you done to reduce or eliminate it?

Aspect: The pitfalls of exclusionary belonging and the value of inclusive belonging. 

Belonging in terms of identification and loyalty

"School garden of diversity": the Zvezda Primary School wanted to create a school garden to share the produce with a retirement home. The pupils, called Star Gardeners, identified with the idea: "We are a Star that helps!" Each contributed a unique virtue: Anna knew the plants, Marko organised the work, Sara decorated the garden, Luka dug the beds. At first, some abandoned their allegiance, saying, "Let others do the work!" The garden was falling into disrepair, which disappointed everyone. The next year they pledged their loyalty: Anna taught about plants, Marko divided up the tasks, and new members added ideas such as compost making. Their different virtues created synergy, the garden was a success and the produce made the pensioners happy. Lack of loyalty would have led to failure, but loyalty brought pride and general good.

Questions for discussion: 

• What did it take to make the school garden thrive? What brought the Star Gardeners together the most?
• Think of a project you were involved in that failed. What were the main reasons for the failure? 
• Which projects are you currently working on? It could be family, local, class, school, association projects. Suggest some guidelines and activities that will ensure the success of the project.

Aspect: Identification and loyalty, combining different roles for a better result.

EXERCISE 2: Family coat of arms

"Family is the key to happiness." Azerbaijani proverb

The fundamental sense of belonging is acquired and developed in the family. Values, rituals, celebrations are formed in the family. People come to the family to bring gifts. The family lives in a building, in an environment and engages in certain activities. All this shapes the identity of the family members.

Target group: Children 8+

The teacher should be alert to whether there is a situation in the family of any of the children that might arouse very unpleasant feelings (recent death in the family, absence of important members, major family dysfunction, foster care, etc.). In such a case, the teacher will talk to the individual child or not do the activity at all. 

Purpose: Children become aware of some of the elements that define their family and express this graphically.

Flow:

1. The teacher invites the pupils to think at home and discuss with their parents what is typical of their family, what family customs and celebrations they have, what they do together, whether there is a special activity in the family (craft, business, farm, etc.), has a person from the past made a special mark on the family, etc.
2. The teacher prepares sheets of paper with an outline of the coat of arms and the words 'MY FAMILY' at the top.
3. Introduce the concept of the coat of arms and discuss what they know and what it represents. Introduce the Slovenian and municipal coats of arms and explain what they represent.
4. Invite pupils to create a family coat of arms. They have a variety of pens and crayons available. They are asked to divide the coat of arms into several parts or to create a single image representing some of these elements:
   1. what their family likes to do,
   2. what is it that unites them most,
   3. a family tradition,
   4. place or location of residence,
   5. important ancestors,
   6. what the family does.
5. Each child briefly introduces his or her family's coat of arms.

EXERCISE 3: Our country

Belonging is strengthened by inclusion, by knowing, by working together. If we know nothing about a thing (a place, a community, an association, etc.), we cannot belong to it. But when we become part of a cause, we are willing to do more, to learn about its history and achievements. Without belonging, there is no commitment, and without belonging, there is no belonging. So you have to start somewhere, and step by step you build belonging and commitment.

Target group: all students and teachers

Purpose: We discover and showcase the history, achievements and beauty of our place to build belonging.

Flow: We will organise an exhibition about our home town at school. All classes will be involved in the preparation. 

• Choose a group to prepare the exhibition. It consists of 2-3 teachers and 2-3 students from the third form. We need someone who knows the place well, someone who is a good organiser, someone who has an eye for the aesthetic layout of the exhibition, and someone who is technically competent to set up the exhibition.
• The group agrees on the areas to be covered by the exhibition: business, culture, sport, art, important local people in history, natural beauty, cultural monuments. The selection depends on the situation in each place.
• In each class, they prepare an introduction to the activity, introducing the preparation of the exhibition and the areas it will cover. The children briefly tell what people, sights, events and institutions they know in their local area. The teacher directs them to ask their grandparents and others at home. They also check if they might have any photographs, objects, books, documents. 
• We also include parents in the message, inviting them to provide the children with information and any objects and documents.
• Children bring information, objects and documents to school. All objects and documents are labelled and recorded as to who they belong to.
• In each class, we spend some time for students to present what they have brought and describe the possibilities they have not yet been able to bring to school.
• The exhibition team collects data from all classes and develops a concept for the exhibition.
• Students and teachers who are willing to take part are invited to take part in the exhibition.
• It is important that the exhibition is of good quality, that there are good photographs, at least some concrete objects, maybe a video. The idea is to really present the place in a way that appeals to children and adults.
• The group designated to prepare the exhibition can also organise guided tours of the exhibition and train a few guides.
• We also organise an exhibition opening, inviting talented students and well-known local artists to take part.

We collect:

• books about the place or written by local people.
• old and newly taken photographs of the place, natural and cultural landmarks, important events, institutions, businesses, etc,
• old postcards of the town,
• ...

EXERCISE 4: Celebrating

Slovenia has a number of national holidays that are linked to Slovenia and Slovene identity:

• 8 February: Prešeren Day, Slovenian cultural holiday;
• 27 April: the Day of Resistance against the Occupier;
• 8 June: Primož Trubar Day;
• 25 June: national day;
• 17 August: reunification of the Prekmurje Slovenians with the mother nation;
• 15 September: the return of Primorska to its homeland;
• 23 September: Slovenian Sport Day;
• 25 October: sovereignty day;
• 23 November: Rudolf Maister Day;
• 26 December: Independence and Unity Day.

Many people, especially children, do not know the meaning of most of these holidays. But each holiday tells us something about our history and achievements.

Target group: Children 6+

Purpose: We briefly celebrate every national holiday associated with Slovenia.

Flow: At school level, we designate a person who will be in charge of all the celebrations during the school year. This person will link up existing or traditional activities for each holiday and, if there are persons responsible for this. This person shall coordinate the implementation of all commemorations. Commemorations may be carried out in different ways:

• A short explanation is read out on the school radio.
• We prepare an activity of 10-45 minutes (adapted to the age of the children). It is carried out by teachers who are in a classroom on a specific day and time.
• All students and staff gather in the school lobby. The anthem is played. The head teacher gives a short speech and they perform one item of the artistic programme (music item, recitation or dance item).

The coordinator, in agreement with the teachers, sets the timing. 

A few days before the event, it provides all teachers with possible assignments and materials, and reminds them the day before the event.

EXERCISE 5: Class Constitution

The community in which students spend a lot of time actively engaged is the classroom. When they arrive on the first day of first grade, they are strangers with almost nothing to connect them. What happens in the months and years that follow depends a little on the children and their characters, and a lot on the teachers and especially the class teacher. 

Target group: Children 6+

We dedicate some time to the activity each school year. 

Purpose: Through regular, targeted activities, we discover and build class belonging, which is physically defined in the class constitution.

Flow: We are discovering who we are as a class.

We review the Constitution every year and update it if necessary. 

Positive attributes of individuals: for each student, classmates and the teacher identify one or two key good attributes. 

How would you describe our class? Prepare cards with an illustration and a caption (we can use AI to help):

• sporty,
• playful,
• Singing,
• Curious,
• eloquent,
• Cheerful,
• creative,
• ready to help,
• friendly,
• curious,
• ...bad-tempered.

The cards are arranged on the floor of the classroom and the students look at them and decide on the two that best define their class. Each pupil is given two coloured stickers and sticks one on the chosen card. The two or three descriptions that get the most stickers are the ones that go into the class constitution.

What do you want to be as a class? We are looking for class values. Prepare a set of values to offer to students if they cannot remember them themselves:

• friendly,
• ready to help,
• resourceful,
• open and welcoming to new people,
• trustworthy,
• respectful,
• fun,
• knowledgeable,
• persistent,
• hard-working.

In class, we agree on and choose up to 5 values to follow for the school year.

We create a poster with positive attributes of each student, up to three descriptions of our class and up to 5 values we will follow.

Pupils think of a class coat of arms based on all the definitions. One or two of the more artistically talented pupils create one on a poster.

The poster hangs in the classroom. We pause when something goes wrong in the classroom and remember the values or definition of the class to guide us. And when we need to do something, a set of positive student qualities can help. 

Content by Danilo Kozoderc