SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

I still remember how hard I tried, because I never really had a talent for artistic expression. But the drawing was very illustrative and showed very well what was on it. The teacher read us books, which I loved, but she didn't tell me about all my Knowledge I couldn't tell you, because there were a lot of children in the wards at that time. She sat on a little stool, and we sat on the floor, and every time we asked her a question, she would stretch out her arms to look at our glowing little eyes.

Then I got a birthday or New Year's (I don't remember) present which, due to long, frequent and intensive use (mainly wiping, read; wet sponging), met a sad end and fell apart. I got a children's blackboard, but a real school blackboard. Both on a composite stand, which disassembled to a triangular position; on one was a rotating blackboard - a plate with lines drawn on one side and no lines on the other. Of course, it was green, as it should be, with a wooden shelf for the chalk, an abacus calculator on one side and a cardboard round clock with hands on the other. Lessons were given daily to all plush and dolls, but most of all some neighbours, friends from the tower block, who attended it in the corridor in front of the flat. When I received a box of coloured chalks as my next present, my pride and sense of importance were indescribable. I was among friends and dolls Dear.

In 1980 I went to first grade. It was a chaotic day for me because I was called to D class, which was the last letter in the line, and I was afraid I would be forgotten. But they didn't. I got the best teacher at the Toneta Čufar Jesenice Primary School. Comrade Moriceva was able to bring everything out of us, out of me, and more. She still remembers me and asks my sister, when they meet, how I am and what I am doing, since I no longer live in my hometown. When I was transferred to the Prežihovega Voranca Jesenice Primary School in the fourth grade because of overcrowded classes, I was shocked. And again it was year of fate and I got a new guide - a wonderful teacher. Comrade Rojnikova told us stories about her German Shepherd, Ron, as a reward every time we completed our schoolwork and assignments. With her warm voice and enthusiasm, she always made me excited about the world. Teaching. In sixth grade maths, the fun was provided by Comrade Krajnc. No, maths wasn't my favourite subject, but he was still able to get me to do my best. By the way, we were one of the few classes in those days that had a black and white TV under the ceiling. Sometimes, while we were solving mathematical problems, we would casually watch a ski race with Bojan Križaje. Today I can give it away, but back then it was among us a closely guarded secret. And we have respected that trust. But still... Hahaha.

Family tradition dictated that I had to be involved in music and play an instrument. It wasn't really my idea that it should be the violin, as I was only five when I started to learn it. But I found it interesting and fun to carry the little suitcase with the violin home from music school for the first time.

In the meantime I had almost given up playing the latter, but I persevered to the end, and then I took up the piano. So at home I decided, "My sister already goes to high school in Ljubljana, so you're going to do it." Then I continued my studies at the Academy of Music. In the meantime, I wanted to become a historian - an archaeologist, but also a journalist, a correspondent from crisis hotspots, a mountaineer... Grounded. I was told to finish my studies as soon as possible and then get a job (those were really different times); if possible in an orchestra. I didn't feel very comfortable in the orchestra at the academy. Maybe because the conductor plays the main role in it and has to be taken into account in everything. But I preferred to do things my own way. But one of the subjects at the Academy of Music was orchestral playing, and one day - while going through the sheet music - Prof. Zimšek asked us violin students sitting in a row what we wanted to do when we finished our studies. Quite a few of them identified themselves as future great soloists, and a few found their way into orchestras. What about me? "I'd rather teach." The only one. And yet all my classmates at that time are now actually playing in orchestras or teaching, while none of them became soloists.

In primary school, I had a classmate whose family lived in a sublet in a house near the school, where two elderly single ladies lived. One of them was Comrade Teacher and all the children who went to visit Vesna before or after school called her that. I never found out her name. We respected and appreciated her because she simply loved us children. She inspired me.

And I followed my inspiration. All of the above. Because I respected and appreciated them. They didn't exactly receive it with visible enthusiasm at home. Teacher I was already a student. Even then, there was sometimes a shortage of suitable teachers, but we jumped in. I also gained a lot of great experience from the unfortunately deceased Prof. Karuzi. I also learnt something about Discussions in chambers. But that didn't deter me. And right after my studies I got a regular job in a music school. Of course I decided to teach violin. I put together a class, a department and a school string orchestra. Of course, I also idealistically got involved in organising various performances, concerts, the union and the principal's retirement event... Well, now I'm a good two decades into my principalship and I'm happy to be teaching in the classroom again. I call it working on the ground with children, where there are no computer boards, no statistics, no reports, no instructions, no plans, no meetings, and no frantic phone-to-computer and then, if possible, municipality-to-ministry ...

There I felt again what I had already felt as a little girl, as a student, as a beginner teacher. That it was my (calling) to work with children, to pass on to them the knowledge and joy of music, of the instrument, to train their fingers and their brains. I don't just teach them to play an instrument, I love to talk to them, to create, to express, to tell them stories, and they to me. Children are still the same as we were, but much else has changed.

Now for the harsher side of this (post)call and education. Today, it is one of the least respected professions. Yet each of us grew up and matured alongside many educators, teachers, professors and lecturers. Because everyone knows how to teach, because everyone knows how to teach and how not to teach, and knows what should be taught and what should not be taught, who can and who cannot, how knowledge is acquired and why not. And in school, grades are the only criterion. Most of the time, the stories that appear in the newspapers and in the public arena cast an even worse light on the reputation of the school, the teachers and the head teachers.

But the stories that give teachers, educators and professors the respect, prestige and importance we held for them decades ago are not getting out to the public to the same extent. No praise, no thanks, no respect. Because anyone can be a teacher. But is that really so? To become a teacher, it is not enough to have a degree, a diploma, a professional exam and all the additional training; to be a teacher, one must have a vocation. One must feel this mission within oneself and one must want to do it. Children sense this, but adults have somewhat forgotten it.

If only one story, which is familiar to every teacher at the end of every school year. A pupil brings you a token gift; a handwritten card, a thank you note, a drawing, flowers or chocolate, which I, at least, am happy to distribute among the children. That child, that pupil who will one day become a scientist, a politician, a miner, a doctor, a nurse, a world-class artist, an astronaut or something else, gives you a hug and you give him a hug. 

Children's drawings and handwritten messages adorn the walls and doors of the classroom. I proudly display them and then see the pupils' beaming eyes. It is my hope and wish - and this will give my (call) the greatest meaning and value - that I too will one day be an inspiration to a future teacher. And I will hug you even tighter.

To all my former teachers, and to all the proud and unwavering Slovenian teachers of Slovenia, I say thank you for all the years of school, for another successful school year, and during the holidays, just TAKE CARE OF YOU. That is the only way you can be the best teachers you can be in the next school year.Thank you for all the years of school, for another successful school year, and during the holidays, just TAKE CARE OF YOU.

Katja Mikula, 5. 6. 2025