A Comparative Analysis of the Hungarian and Slovakian Primary School Curricula

This study analyses the school curriculum documents in Hungary and Slovakia. The comparative analysis covered the Slovakian National programme for Development of Education, and the Hungarian National Core Curriculum and the framework curricula. Development tasks and content requirements for grades 1-2 were analysed. The research question focused on whether there is a difference in the manifestation of DIFER (Diagnostic System for Assessing Development) skills in the national curricula of the two countries. Earlier studies show that these DIFER skills are very important for school learning. The analysis of the curricula was carried out on the basis of general criteria and also a special set of criteria which related to the DIFER skills. It was found that these two countries have both state and local curricula, however, there are substantial differences in the documents. The most striking difference was found in the content of the educational requirements of the school subjects. In the Slovakian curriculum, educational standards define school subject objectives as well as performance and content requirements. In
addition to school subject goals, Hungary also determines the development of specific
competences within the given school subject. Special aspects related to DIFER skills were found
in the Hungarian documents, in the overall goals and development requirements. In the Slovakain
curriculum, the development of DIFER skills is embedded in the content of the school subjects,
in the form of requirements. Although the improvement of DIFER skills is of prime importance,
neither country's curricula devote sufficient emphasis to it.

• Teljes könyv, DOI: https://doi.org/10.54597/mate.0103