In the last decade many countries have improved the quality of their education system and specifically the achievements of students by paying attention to investing in improving the education of pupils who have lower educational achievements than their peers (PISA 2000-2009).At the same time these students generally originate from so-called vulnerable groups, i.e. groups with lower socio-economic status, from disadvantaged geographical regions of the country, immigrants, non-speakers of the language taught, etc. For more successful inclusion of students from vulnerable groups in the education system it is reasonable to strongly adjust the lessons and teaching methods to their needs. These adjustments can be effectively implemented only through greater individualization of teaching and learning personalization.All this requires a sovereign and competent European teacher. So it is necessary to train teachers for modern teaching in the 21st century, that they will be able to select some applications out of the plurality (millions) and by using mobile devices use them in the classroom.Above all, we stem from the needs of both institutions, because with SWOT analysis we found that this is our weak point. But at this time it is extremely important for modern, student-friendly teaching.It is important to support the introduction of new forms and methods of work with meaningful and systematic use of modern information and communication technologies, advanced e-services, multimedia and interactive e-contents. However, it is very important to note that only the introduction and use of modern technology itself cannot guarantee a better efficiency of teaching and learning as well, and therefore the achievements; especially as pupils from vulnerable groups are concerned. Quite the contrary, among these particular pupils and their peers the differences in achievements might increase, as with inadequate adjustments of lessons the factors that already constitute a serious obstacle to the achievement would increase for these students. With the introduction of technology it is necessary to put at least equal investments into developing implement curricula, forms and methods of teaching based on modern pedagogical paradigms and methods, as these will support and encourage innovative teaching methods and enhance personalized and individualized lessons, which is crucial when working with vulnerable groups. OECD report Against the Odds (2010) on pupils who, despite belonging to vulnerable groups achieve higher standards (so-called rezilient pupils), notes that these students are, compared to the less prosperous peers, more motivated and engaged in learning. Personalization of learning and individualization of lessons can help to improve motivation and engagement in learning and thereby to improvement of achievements.With the implementation of our project activities we intend to enhance professional growth and competence of the professional profile of teachers in order to cope with teaching in the 21st century.
The project "Challenge 21st Century Competences" lasted three years (from 2016 to 2019). The school coordinator was Primary school Bistrica ob Sotli from Slovenia. First primary school Varaždin from Croatia participated in the project as a partner school. Within this three-year project teams of teachers have developed their ICT competences and became familiar with the theory and practice of using ICT in education. The main objective of this project was to enable as many teachers as possible for quality integration of ICT into lessons to become competent teachers of 21st century. Our target group were Slovenian and Croatian teachers. Teachers who actively participated in the project further motivated all interested teachers and taught them about the use of new technologies in working with students. The results of the project were presented at CARNet and MIPRO conferences. Practical presentations in the form of workshops were carried out for neighbouring schools. All of these activities can be found on the project website http://slo-erasmus-osbos.splet.arnes.si/, as well as on the eTwinning platform, which allows all interested teachers to view materials, photos and examples of good practice. The project has also attracted a lot of media interest, so we think it is well known in both countries. The indirect participants in this project were also students, who have been using new technologies for their work. Following the evaluation, it has emerged that modern technology contributes greatly to the quality of educational work. During the implementation of the project activities, students showed greater interest in ICT-supported lessons and were more motivated to learn. In order to make it easier for all teachers to use ICT and to benefit from the results of this project at each school in the long term, we have prepared a manual in Slovenian and Croatian, which contains all three training modules with very detailed instructions. This guide was also published by Profil Klett for Croatia and Rokus Klett for Slovenia because they recognized its potential. The mentioned manuals and the results of all project activities were presented at the final international conference in Varaždin, which was attended by school principals, teachers and representatives of local authorities in addition to project groups. The project coordinator monitored all team members, recording each activity in their work with students and making sure that the documentation, requested by CMEPIUS, was kept. Communication and collaboration with partners were smooth and new friendships developed among teachers, parents and students. As a result of this project, our school was highlighted at the CMEPIUS consultation in Laško in September 2019 as a positive example of good practice where teachers themselves are trying to achieve changes in education, which is just another indicator of successful implementation of this project.