Experience of Slovenian teachers in vociational education with students of immigrant background

Abstract

The article summarizes the results of a pilot research that examined experience of teachers involved in teaching students of immigrant background in the field of vocational education. The area has been largely neglected in Slovenia although data shows that an increasing number of students who enter this educational segment is of immigrant origin. The results indicate that there are certain deficits in the area of statistical data. A particular problem is treatment of students with immigrant background as students with special needs. On the other hand, the overall considerable sensibility of teachers, as well as their inventiveness in finding ways to include these students into the educational process is encouraging. The overall impression is that while the teachers and schools are doing their best to help these students, numerous other options of implementing the principle of interculturalism are still available. The article concludes by outlining the potential for further research.