Relying on the premise that intercultural education through the diversity of programmes spurs dialogue between different cultures, boosts changes in the educational policy and educational and teaching practice, positive interaction and cultural integration as well as acceptance, knowledge, assessment, respect and understanding of different cultures, this paper examines teachers’ role and competence in such processes. In the first part the role of the teacher is being explained with regard to the teaching forms and strategies used in the classroom. In the second part the emphasis is being put on the different definitions of the term intercultural competence in the contexts of teachers’ professional and personal development.

Since no empirical research regarding cultural intelligence has yet been done in Croatia, the objective of this paper is to determine the basic metric characteristics of the Cultural Intelligence Scale – CQS by Van Dyne et al. (2008), as well as the applicability in research on a sample of N=144 subjects, namely, students attending schools of foreign languages from three different countries: Croatia, Ireland and Serbia. The reliability of the scale was verified using the Cronbach alpha coefficient, while the validity was assessed by factor analysis. The results of the study show the cultural intelligence of the subjects through four factor dimensions, like in the original instrument, but with different factor loadings. Thus, the Cultural Intelligence Scale is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring cultural intelligence with the possibility of practical application on different subject samples.

The aim of the empirical research, conducted in the primary schools in the city of Pula and decribed in the current paper, was to examine (1) whether or not the teachers were interculturally sensitive and, if yes, to what extent, and (2) whether or not the teachers' intercultural sensitivity was affected by the factors, such as: their professional qualifications (class teaching – subject teaching), gender (male - female), school location (central or branch school) and years of service (up to 10 years, 11-20 years, and more than 20 years). The Intercultural Sensitivity Scale – ISS by Chen and Starosta (2000) was used as a measuring instrument here. This scale measures the intercultural sensitivity by focusing on 24 dependent items (variables/statements) linked to 4 independent variables and, thus, defining examinees. The results, obtained through the frequency analysis and the Chi-square test, as well as through the analysis of some statistically relevant figures (significance level 5%), suggest that – in terms of intercultural sensitivity – no statistically relevant difference subsists between the teachers. The participants proved to be interculturally sensitive; their professional qualifications, gender, school location and years of service did not affect their intercultural sensitivity level. Moreover, the research was also used to check the validity and reliability of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale within the context of the Croatian educational system. Key words: interaction between culturally diverse individuals; intercultural competence; student; teacher.---Cilj empirijskog istraživanja u ovom radu bio je, na primjeru osnovnih škola grada Pule,ispitati: jesu li i u kojoj mjeri nastavnici interkulturalno osjetljivi te postoje li razlike u interkulturalnoj osjetljivosti između nastavnika s obzirom na stručnu spremu (razredna nastava – predmetna nastava), spol (muški – ženski), položaj škole (centralna škola – područna škola) i godine staža provedene u nastavi (do 10 godina, od 11 do 20 godina i više od 20 godina). U istraživanju smo se koristili instrumentom Intercultural Sensitivity Scale – ISS autora Chen i Starosta. Skala mjeri interkulturalnu osjetljivost putem 24 zavisne varijable/tvrdnje kojima su pridružene 4 nezavisne varijable koje definiraju ispitanike. Na temelju rezultata istraživanja dobivenih frekvencijskom analizom i hi-kvadrat testom, zatim pregledom statistički značajnih rezultata (na razini signifikantnosti 5 %) možemo zaključitida ne postoji statistički značajna razlika u interkulturalnoj osjetljivosti među nastavnicima. Ispitali smo i utvrdili da su nastavnici  interkulturalno osjetljivi, nije utvrđena razlika s obzirom na stručnu spremu, spol, status škole i godine staža provedene u nastavi. Naše istraživanje je, nadalje, poslužilo i za provjeru valjanosti i pouzdanosti Skale interkulturalne osjetljivosti u kontekstu hrvatskog odgojno-obrazovnog sustava. Ključne riječi: interakcija kulturno različitih; interkulturalna kompetencija; nastavnik; učenik.

Regarding the fact that the research has indicated that the correlation of playing violent video games and violent behaviour could be explained by introducing a “third variable”, the aim of this paper was to determine if there were differences in the factors of students' family resilience when they played video games with violent or non-violent contents. For the purposes of this paper, we used the Family Resilience Assessment Questionnaire (Ferić, Maurović and Žižak, 2016), which was developed according to the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS) (Sixbey, 2005), and which was standardized for use in research in the Republic of Croatia. The questionnaire consisted of 45 items that measured the family resilience factors. Results have shown that when students play video games with non-violent contents, the family resilience factors are linked to the sense of community and trust between members, and their cohesion with family and friends is stronger. A scientific contribution of this paper is the achievement of specific results linked to the family resilience and playing video games with (non)violent contents. The significance of these results also lies in the fact that they give guidelines for the recognition of problems and interventions on various levels.

Due to the multicultural environment in Istria which also gave grounds to the need to protect and foster the rights of the Italian minority in this region, there are numerous educational institutions that offer a programme in Italian language for preschool and elementary school children. Our research has shown that those programmes are not attended only by children of the Italian minority but also by children of Croatian origin, who are not native speakers of Italian. The purpose of our research was to establish the reasons why parents choose an education in Italian for their children, and to find out if there is a correlation between the choice to continue the education in Italian language and the native language that the children speak.Our research has included preschool teachers and teachers in primary education that work in kindergarten and elementary schools in Italian language in Istria. The research has shown that according to the perceptions of preschool and primary school teachers, as well as taking into consideration the opinions of parents, it is possible to conclude that parents often enrol their children in preschools and elementary schools mostly because they want them to continue their education in the Italian language, because they want their children to learn how to better use the second language (SL), or to help them create their ethnical identity and to promote the conservation of Italian culture, traditions, customs and values. Data collected in this research will be used to analyze the influences of multicultural surroundings with regards to learning Italian as a SL by children, native speakers of Croatian, as well as to promote the development of intercultural interaction and respect for diversity between children.Key words: communicability; Croatian-speaking children; interaction; Italian language; multiculturalism. ...  SažetakS obzirom na multikulturno okruženje i u cilju njegovanja prava talijanske nacionalne manjine, u Istarskoj županiji djeluje velik broj odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova na talijanskom jeziku. Međutim, istraživanje je pokazalo da se u vrtiće i škole na talijanskom jeziku upisuju ne samo djeca pripadnici talijanske nacionalne manjine već i djeca kojima talijanski jezik nije materinski. U skladu s temeljnim ciljem našeg istraživanja namjera nam je bila utvrditi koji su razlozi zbog kojih se roditelji odlučuju na školovanje djece na talijanskom jeziku, zatim postoji li povezanost nastavka školovanja na talijanskom jeziku i materinskog jezika djece koja su pohađala talijanski vrtić. Istraživanje je provedeno među odgajateljima i učiteljima primarnog obrazovanja koji rade u vrtićima i školama na talijanskom jeziku u Istarskoj županiji. Istraživanje je pokazalo da prema percepcijama odgajatelja i učitelja, a s obzirom na kontakte s roditeljima, možemo zaključiti da roditelji najčešće upisuju djecu u vrtić i školu na talijanskom jeziku zbog nastavka vertikale obrazovanja na talijanskom jeziku, jer žele da djeca bolje nauče drugi jezik (jezik sredine), radi stvaranja etničkog identiteta te da bi pridonijeli održavanju talijanske kulture, tradicije, običaja i vrijednosti. Podaci dobiveni istraživanjem poslužit će za analizu utjecaja višejezične okoline na učenje talijanskog jezika kao drugog jezika (L2) djece govornika hrvatskog jezika, te za razvijanje međukulturne interakcije i poštivanja različitosti među djecom.Ključne riječi: djeca govornici hrvatskog jezika; multikulturalnost; interakcija; otvorenost; talijanski jezik.