Who Is to Be Taught in Today’s Classroom

Key words: motivation, IT, teaching methodology, creativity in class ABSTRACT Nature of communication of young people requires new communication roles of teachers and pupils/students in today’s classroom. New technologies, social networks and speech communities that shape ways of communication of the youth force teachers to rethink their roles and “update their status” in the classroom. Having in mind that teaching foreign languages means teaching communicative competence and social knowledge, teachers have to learn about new identities of their students, shaped in a new, IT – supported society and virtual world of the internet. Such a world brings new learning habits and techniques of students, which forces teachers to adjust their own identities in the classroom, in order to establish good communication, teaching and finally learning channels with their students. Teachers also need to rethink their own role and competences when it comes to the most challenging aspects in the new inclusion school system in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton: teacher training, IT support and especially the element of creativity, which is necessary for final implementation of educational reform in the existing context in this Canton. The authors conducted a poll with forty seven elementary and high-school English teachers from HN Canton. This paper presents detailed results and conclusions gained through this combination of scientific research and practical exchange of experience with English teachers from HN Canton. It will bring a new light on the current situation in the English classroom in HN Canton, namely: IT competences of teachers, motivation of both teachers and students, teaching methodology and techniques used in the classroom, lifelong learning aspect, (non)existence of infrastructural and material support in their schools etc., with a specific view of teachers’ perception of all these aspects of their work.