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Croatia - our values

  • ACTIVITIES THAT ARE RELATED TO VALUES IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL OTON IVEKOVIĆ

    When reflecting on the values that we had decided to pay special attention to within the framework of this project,

    we chose our student cooperative Oton as the main focus.

    ABOUT STUDENT COOPERATIVES IN CROATIA

    CROATIAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL COOPERATIVES

    Dalmatinska 12

    10000 Zagreb

    Croatia

    Tel/fax: ++38591 48 46 251

    e-mail: ucenicko.zadrugarstvo@huuz.hr

    www.huuz.hr

    President: mr.sc. Marica Berdik

    Secretary: Blanka Horvat, Beng

    Associate: Đurđa Tesla

    The Croatian Association of School Cooperatives was established in June 2006. It is a non-profit organization and a member of the Croatian Association of Technical Culture (HZTK). Current membership of the Croatian Association of School Cooperatives consists of 491 school cooperatives from all over Croatia. School cooperatives are active in elementary and secondary schools and in special education institutions as the only production extracurricular activities.

    The Croatian Association of School Cooperatives:

    • Works on the development and promotion of Croatian school cooperatives and fosters a long and rich school cooperatives tradition in Croatia
    • Is a co-organizer of National School Cooperatives Fetes of the Republic of Croatia
    • Is a co-organizer of county (regional) and inter-county school cooperatives fetes
    • Organizes and conducts education and training programmes for school cooperatives instructors and assistants
    • Organizes publishing activities dealing with school cooperatives
    • Establishes and fosters the connections between school cooperatives and encourages cooperation and networking of school cooperatives on the local and regional level
    • Cooperates with the competent state authorities and local and regional self-government units, for the purpose of advocating and promoting school cooperatives’ interests

    Croatian Association of School Cooperatives conducts all the mentioned activities with the aim of creating a positive attitude to work with students and contributing to the positive entrepreneurial atmosphere in schools.

     

    SCHOOL COOPERATIVES

    • School cooperatives engage in agricultural production, in the making of usable and decorative objects, they foster folk art, handicrafts and old crafts;
    • School cooperatives are places of specific production work, where products which have use value as well as market value are created.

     

    Working in school cooperatives:

    • Develops and fosters work ethics and aptitudes as well as entrepreneurial skills, responsibility, innovation, creativity, independence, and in addition a need for cooperation which is an essential component of a creative attitude to work
    • Enables students to transfer the knowledge they gained in school into practical activities in cooperatives and vice versa, knowledge gained through working in cooperatives can be transferred to school classes
    • Encourages independence and exploration as means of learning
    • Develops the love of students for nature and the values that mankind has created through its work and increases awareness about the necessity of preserving the balance in nature and environmental protection
    • Enables students to achieve highest possible skill development and get to know their aptitudes
    • Students are prepared for selecting school programmes and future occupations
    • It is an effective method of prevention of socially unacceptable behaviours

    Schools which have school cooperatives projects are good practice examples for the development of entrepreneurship.

    School cooperatives facilitate the adoption of basic entrepreneurial skills – hard work, responsibility, common sense in risk taking, determination in decision making necessary for team work, development of interpersonal relationships. Through cooperatives’ book keeping young cooperative members can get acquainted with the world of accounting. They develop the ability to predict and plan which enables them to boldly make important business decisions.

    A great positive significance of school cooperatives lies in the fact that the participation in high quality programmes and tasks is voluntary. By voluntary joining the cooperative, a student accepts an obligation to work in it and contribute to it in the best possible way thereby taking over the co-responsibility for its work and consequently its success or failure. In this way, students develop their personality and gain confidence to successfully face life challenges.

    Present day school cooperatives in Croatia are a continuation of a long and rich tradition. They are a proven means of preserving the identity of our biological and cultural heritage; they acknowledge the spirit of tradition and cultural heritage of local areas and foster traditional values in their work. Therefore, many school cooperatives have become important members of their local communities which they make more recognizable by being an integral part of their offer. This especially pertains to the cooperatives which foster the ethnic heritage of their local area and make local souvenirs. They are keeping the traditions alive, particularly those connected with holidays and festivities, home crafts and old crafts.

    School cooperatives regularly participate at county (regional) and national fetes and different local events, with their works which represent the richness, beauty and traditions of their local areas. The sheer beauty and diversity of the students’ products will find a way to every heart.

    THE STUDENT COOPERATIVE OTON

    The student cooperative Oton was founded in 2007 with the idea of bringing our students together through creativity and cultivating and nurturing a positive attitude towards cultural heritage. That same year our student cooperative became a member of the Croatian Association of Student Cooperatives.

    THE CERAMIC SECTION produces functional and decorative objects, including ceramic jewellery and jewellery made from other natural materials.

     

    THE ART SECTION mainly does painting on silk.

    Our scarves have found a place in the collection of gifts to the Japanese royal family. The triptych created on the occasion of royal visit of the Prince and Princes Akishino to our school in 2013 is the result of team work, and the drawings are original work by Ante Erceg, fourth grade student.

     

    THE MEDIA SECTION was founded in 2014.

    It makes films and collaborates with the school’s journalistic section in activities connected with the school library and the publication of the school yearly magazine Oton. The animated film “The Apprentice Dragon’s mysterious fire” has been shown and has won awards in a number of children’s film festivals.

    https://youtu.be/kdESoLYogjo

     

    Our school cooperative takes part in the school cooperative reviews on the city and national levels. We also attend fairs and charity and other events.

       

      

    ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE VALUES

    https://youtu.be/EvA_LWjW8lU

     

    • CREATIVITY – the defining quality of human nature and human behaviour, which sadly gets lost as we grow up.

    All the products of the school cooperative Oton are made based on the children’s ideas and the students work on them together.

     

    • TOLERANCE AND RESPECT – tolerance for all differences (nations, languages, religions, personalities, special needs etc.), respect for others and for oneself.

    In performing the school cooperative activities the students develop the skills of cooperation and team work, and when taking part in reviews they meet students from other schools in Croatia. The cooperatives also join in international events, and this year in November we will be participating in workshops in Tavankut, Serbia.

     

    • RESPONSIBILITY – developing personal responsibility is the groundwork for becoming an active citizen.

    One of the main goals of student cooperatives is the development of entrepreneurship. On the school level, senior students are in charge of some workshops and are responsible for educating younger students. There is a well established distribution of responsibilities in production (team work, each member of the team is responsible for his/her part of the work and the quality of the product) as well as when attending fairs and reviews.

     

    • PARTICIPATION AND SHARING – creating the bonds from which tolerance, respect and responsibility grow.

    The student cooperative collaborates with the school volunteer club and helps in accomplishing activities for charity and for the public good. For example, maintenance of the school playground, celebration of the International Tolerance Day, making of the Christmas decoration for the senior citizens’ home in Sv. Filip i Jakov.

     

    • CULTURE AND TRADITION – developing the sensibility and positive attitude towards one’s own culture and tradition.

    Since the very beginning we chose clay as the traditional material in our region. Not far from our school there is an old, abandoned tilery. When creating our products we look for inspiration in our tradition, studying the folk decorative motives and objects. For example, the soap dish designed by our student has the motive of folk lace imprinted on its surface.