Renata Raguž, a student of the University of Pula, has chosen Primary School Savremena as the place to gain valuable teaching experience.

We talked to Renata and asked her about her impressions and motivation to briefly join Savremena’s education system. She told us that she already has teaching experience in her country and that she first became aware of the Erasmus programme during a student exchange in Spain.

One should use every good opportunity in life. I was taught to be the change that I want to see. Given that I already have experience from Croatian state schools, I wanted to gain first-hand experience in good private schools.

What attracted me to this school the most is the school’s state-of-the-art technology, approach to children and teaching, and the school clubs. I believe that it’s highly important for children to find their place under the sun from an early age, be it through acting, cooking or sport. It’s particularly good that they have robotics from first grade.

What are your obligations during your internship at Savremena?

I’m working with third-graders with teacher Branka Milićević who is my mentor. This week I had my first maths lesson, where I introduced the children to multiplication with 10 and 100. It was very interesting, as I used the NTC model to prepare a task where they have to think and come up with a solution. The children reacted well and were highly active, which is excellent feedback for me.

The idea is to participate more in lessons and practice new approaches and methods. I spend the afternoon doing extracurricular or club activities with teacher Marija, which is also very interesting.

Renata is planning to stay here three months, with the option to extend the internship. She was somewhat disappointed by the situation in primary schools, which is why she opted for an internship at a private school where she can reap benefits for the future.

I decided to come to a private school. In state schools the teachers’ work is generally not regulated and this is something that’s important for my personal development, i.e. what kind of teacher I will become and whether I will contribute to the education system?

In any case, I will not stop after this experience, but continue to advance and develop my teaching skills.

Erasmus+ is an EU programme that supports traineeships (work placements, internships, etc.) abroad for students currently enrolled in higher education institutions in Programme countries at Bachelor and Master level as well as for doctoral candidates.