Second international conference CALT: "Creative Approaches to Learning and Teaching"

A Primer for Minority Croatian Schooling in the Hungarian Part of the Danube Region (Visual and Textual Foundations for Initial Literacy in the First Decades of the 20th Century 

The publication of school textbooks in the Croatian language in the Hungarian part of the Danube region from the mid-19th century to the first decades of the 20th century confirms the involvement of cross-border (Croatian) authors in the production of Croatian-language educational materials. In this way, the Croatian language is affirmed both as a language of instruction and as a textbook language not only within Croatian lands under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, but also beyond the territory defined by Croatian national borders.

The subject of analysis is Početnica i pèrva štanka za katoličanske hervatske škole šopronske, mošonske i železanske krajine for grades I and II, published in 1920. Using a descriptive-analytical method, the paper examines the model of teaching and learning letter writing in early reading and writing instruction. The analysis focuses on visual supports for initial literacy (typography, graphic design elements, letter-writing techniques, and the graphic-artistic design of the primer) as well as textual models for teaching and learning initial reading skills.

The underlying assumption is that the commission to write the Primer was given to teachers working in Croatian schools in Western Hungary, whose engagement contributed to the preservation of Croatian (minority) education in the Hungarian part of the Danube region in the first decades of the 20th century. This scientific paper is co-financed from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRF; source 581 – institutional research project “From Reinterpretation to Retrodigitization of Croatian Educational Handbooks from the Mid-19th to the Early Decades of the 20th Century – ReDiP, project number 581-UNIOS-51”) within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Croatia, financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

Keywords: Croatian language in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; initial literacy; school textbooks; typography