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Using montessori resources in mathematics at primary level in a public primary school
Get PDFTeacher’s autonomy enables him to choose teaching methods, forms and didactic tools for planning the educational process. For additional motivation and better understanding of the student’s knowledge, the teacher should also use various concrete illustrations and didactic tools that give mathematical content a certain meaning (Elementary School Mathematics Program. Curriculum, 2011). One of the supporters of the use of various materials in the past was Maria Montessori. According to her successful learning cannot be achieved simply by listening to words, but a child’s experience is needed. That is why it is so important that the teacher knows how to prepare an appropriate environment for students, which encourages them to educate or to carry out activities (Montessori, 2011). In the master’s thesis, we focused on the use of didactic tools, more specifically on the use of montessori material in mathematics lessons from 1st to 5th grade of public primary school. We presented the basic features of montessori pedagogy, the way of teaching in Montessori schools and the inclusion of various montessori materials in the learning process. In the empirical par, we used a questionnaire to investigate the knowledge of montessori materials among primary teachers who teach mathematics and compared the use of montessori materials and other teaching aids in mathematics teaching in public primary school with their use in Montessori schools. We focused on teachers’ opinions on montessori pedagogy and the possibilities of using montessori materials in mathematics lessons in public primary schools, and identifies factors that affect the frequency of use of teaching aids. We were also interested in the connection between the use of montessori elements and the working life of primary teachers.
We came to the conclusion that teachers in public primary schools are in favour of montessori pedagogy and they use some montessori elements in their class. Teachers also use so-called montessori material which helps pupils understand new contents. We found out that the use of teaching aids in primary school and montessori materials in montessori school differ from each other. The biggest difference is that montessori material are the main foundation of teaching and learning in montessori school in contradiction with teaching aids in public primary school that are only helping to achieve the aims. Because of this montessori material in public primary schools and teaching aids have different meaning in mathematical classes. We noticed the difference between teachers with shorter and longer length of service in the working life of primary teacher about knowingness of montessori pedagogy and the use of montessori elements. Teachers with shorter length of service are better introduced to montessori pedagogy as well as in use of montessori elements at class compared to the teachers with longer length of service
Bovec dialect at literature classes in the 5th grade of the Bovec elementary school
Get PDFModern times and technology allow us quick access to either the information we need or to variou sources of amusement. They are just a click away. In the past, while sitting at a collective task, people often used to make the long winter evenings shorter by telling all kinds of stories and memories or by discussing current events. The language of communication was their dialect.
During such gatherings, folk fairy tales, songs, stories and memorial narratives were passed down from generation to generation, and new ones were made. Professional terminology calls this material ‘slovstvena folklora’ (verbal folklore), thus replacing with it the terminology confusion which, by the use of various denominations, has been created over time. Several authors prefer using phrases like folk or oral literature, folk treasures, traditional literature, etc. (Stanonik, 1999, 2001). Nowadays, traditional units of verbal folklore rarely circulates live among people, as it once used to. Fortunately, however, this precious heritage, left to us by our ancestors, has been recorded and can be found in archives and some publications.
In my action research I wanted to learn if the fifth-graders of the Bovec Elementary School know the local narrative folklore. I collected the knowledge data of folklore stories, in my opinion the best known ones, based on a survey. Basing on the results, I designed a set of lessons in which students learned about the characteristics of literary folkloristics and met with the intangible heritage of their hometown in various ways. 19 fifth-graders from the Bovec Elementary school were included in the study. The analysis of the conducted action research showed that the knowledge of local literary folkloristics among the students is modest. During the lessons, the students showed a lot of interest in this kind of topic, which was also reflected in their active participation and creativity. With such an approach, knowledge of the local narrative tradition has increased
Importance and creation of a vision in kindergarten: views of preschool teachers and management
Get PDFEvery institution has its mission and goals, taking into account the curriculum, which is the foundation for the expert basis in kindergartens. In the modern world, a clear vision is one of the key components of a successful organization.
In the theoretical part of the master’s thesis, we define professional development, models of professional development, and their advantages as well as limitations. We describe the concept of a learning organization and the factors that influence it, including the climate, the culture, and their comparison. We also define the concept of vision, its meaning, and its creation along with the review of the kindergarten documentation on the topic of vision.
In the empirical part, a quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 140 preschool teachers, and a qualitative survey was conducted with five principals. Through the survey, we determined the importance preschool teachers and principals attribute to the professional development, the learning organization, and the culture of the kindergarten. We were also interested in whether the preschool teacher’s assessment of professional development, learning organization, and organizational culture differ according to the period of employment and the title of the preschool teacher. We present how preschool teachers and principals perceive the kindergarten vision and how much importance they attribute to it. We were interested in the presence of the vision in the kindergarten together with the process of its definition. Lastly, we determined the involvement of employees in setting goals and realizing kindergarten tasks. For the purpose of the survey, we designed data collection tools.
We found that preschool teachers attribute great importance to professional development; moreover, even greater importance is attributed to it on average by those with a university degree. Most of the preschool teachers participating in the survey rated the characteristics of the learning organization as medium present to quite present in the kindergartens where they are employed. There were no statistically significant differences in the groups. The greatest dispersion of answers was observed in the common vision, in some places, it is quite or very present (57 %), and in others only partially or not at all (43 %).
As many as 95 % of respondents agree or strongly agree, that it is important that parents who enrol their children in kindergarten know the vision and mission of the kindergarten. The survey shows that 24 % of respondents actively participated in the process of defining the kindergarten vision. It is very encouraging that as many as 81 % of respondents would like to take part in it. We observed statistically significant differences between the vision of the kindergarten and the size and type of kindergarten. The proportion of those who claim to have a vision is higher in public and larger kindergartens in comparison to private and smaller kindergartens. It has been recognised that there are no statistically significant differences in the average value of the importance of professional development in relation to the vision of the kindergarten.The survey also showed that only 28 % of preschool teachers estimate that their proposals and engagement have a strong or major influence on kindergarten vision defining. No statistically significant differences were found. All interviewed principals agreed that the active participation of employees in defining the vision is extremely important, especially because of their involvement, participation, and consequently, the quality of its implementation. Based on the obtained results, we can recapitulate that the process of vision defining in kindergartens is an under-researched topic. An environment where employees have the opportunity for professional development and where there is room for strategic planning would encourage more in-depth common visions, which would motivate employees’ development through quality work
Perspectives of social pedagogy on prison
Get PDFThis master's thesis deals with the question of the perspectives that social pedagogy takes when it is situated in the field of imprisonment. It draws on theoretical premises related to the understanding of social pedagogy as a difficult-to-define discipline whose key tasks are related to both individual work and social critique, i.e. addressing the social structures that generate deviance. I see the second task in particular, that of preventing the reproduction of existing discriminatory and oppressive structures and the importance of an emancipatory approach, as the foundation on which the social pedagogical profession must be based. In doing so, I assume that the theoretical knowledge that the social pedagogue brings and uses to understand both the concrete situation and the broader social critique is crucial for the work in practice. In the area of situating social pedagogy in prisons, I start from an understanding of the prison as a disciplining social apparatus, as Foucault calls it, which in its primary function has little possibility of enacting the emancipatory role of social pedagogy.
The aim of this thesis was to gain insight into the perspectives taken by social pedagogy in relation to prison work at the level of theoretical reflection or written social pedagogical thought. I used a qualitative research method in this study. I carried out a qualitative content analysis of the data, based on a sample of articles addressing the topics of prison and work with convicted people, published in the journal Social Pedagogy from the beginning of its publication to the present day. In this thesis I find that the perspectives of social pedagogy in the field of prison are very different from each other, sometimes even contradictory. Most of the articles mainly deal with the situation in prison, both from the point of view of the prison staff and the prisoners, and the content is mostly based on rehabilitative goals. The socially critical orientation of the articles is only exceptionally evident in a few articles, which are mostly contradictory in their content and objectives to the rest of the articles in the sample. The findings represent the first attempt to reflect on social pedagogical articles in this field in the Slovenian context and a possibility for future analysis of social pedagogy and the professional positioning of social pedagogy in the field of imprisonment in Slovenia
Intensity of the experience of emotions and their regulation in primary school teachers
Get PDFIn our master’s thesis we discuss the intensity of emotion experience and emotion regulation of primary teachers who deal with children from the first two three-year cycles. Our main goal was to examine how intense these teachers experience individual emotions (happiness, love, pride, anger, exhaustion and hopelessness), the frequency of using emotion regulation strategies in everyday situations and whether there are any connections between the frequency of using individual emotion regulation strategies and different levels of intensity of unpleasant emotions experience (anger, exhaustion and hopelessness) for the above-mentioned primary school teachers. The theoretical part first summarizes definition, terminology, classification, functions and characteristics of individual emotions we discuss in our thesis. Secondly, it defines emotion regulation strategies as they were described by Gross and Thompson (2007), the efficiency of emotion regulation and emotional maturity. In the following chapter we outline the characteristics of teaching as a profession. The theoretical part concludes with the description of teachers’ emotions and their regulation of unpleasant emotions. The empirical part describes our study which included 114 elementary teachers from different Slovenian primary schools. Teachers completed an online questionnaire about their emotion experience and emotion regulation. Results show that teachers experience very intense happiness, intense pride and love, exhaustion of moderate intensity and less intensive hopelessness and anger during work. All in all, teachers experience pleasant emotion of higher intensity than unpleasant emotions. They often regulate their emotions with attention deployment, cognitive change of meaning and physiological response modulation. Occasionally, they regulate emotions with physical activation, social support seeking, situation modification, situation selection, suppression and cognitive change of importance. They rarely regulate emotions with comfort eating and hardly ever use substances to regulate emotions (e.g., pills). There is a significant positive correlation between the intensity of teachers’ anger experience and the frequency of using the following emotion regulation strategies: comfort eating, social support seeking, cognitive change of importance, suppression, substance use and experiential change and significant negative connection between the intensity of anger experience and attention deployment strategy.
The intensity of teachers’ hopelessness experience is significantly positively correlated with the frequency of following emotion regulation strategies: comfort eating, social support seeking, cognitive change of importance, suppression and experiential change. It is also significantly negatively correlated to the frequency of strategies attention deployment and cognitive change of meaning. Teachers’ exhaustion experience intensity is significantly positively correlated with following strategies: comfort eating, substance use and experiential change. Our findings provide improved understanding of teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation. They can assist teachers and other staff to regulate their emotions more efficiently, which may improve their work quality with pupils
Family motif and problem themes in selected children's picture books
Get PDFThis diploma thesis deals with the motif of family and problem-oriented topics in six picture books. Three of them are by Babette Cole and three by Patricija Peršolja, and each book by one author is compared to one by the other author. The books discussed are Prince Cinders (1987), Mummy never told me (2003) and Vsega po dvoje (2003) by Babette Cole and Oglas za eno mamo (2009), Tata zmaj (2014) and Samo še pet minut (2021) by Patricija Peršolja. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the definition of Slovenian youth literature as presented and explained by Milena Mileva Blažić, and on models of realistic prose appearing in contemporary youth literature as described by Marjana Kobe. Because the thesis discusses the motif of families with children, it also presents the image of children in Slovenian literature through time, as described by Milena Mileva Blažić. The theoretical part also presents the importance of picture books for children and the difficulty levels of picture books according to Marjana Kobe. The thesis also touches upon the description of the short contemporary fairy tale and the model of the short contemporary fairy tale, which was developed by Svetlana Makarovič, who also describes the relationship between subversive youth literature and the short contemporary fairy tale. The contemporary fairy tale or the short contemporary fairy tale with a child as the main character was discussed more in depth, as this theory by Marjana Kobe was used to compare the picture books in the empirical part. The chosen picture books feature some themes that young readers are likely to come across in real life, which is why the theoretical part also discusses problem-oriented topics as explained by Igor Saksida. This theory was used for analysis in the empirical part of the thesis. The theoretical part ends with the definition and typology of family as theorised by Tanja Rener (2006), as well as a mention of changes in the family. The final part of the theoretical part deals with the image of family in the literary history of Slovenian youth literature as described by Milena Mileva Blažić. The empirical part of the thesis compares picture books by Babette Cole and Patricija Peršolja: Prince Cinders (1987) by Cole and Oglas za eno mamo (2009) by Peršolja; Mummy never told me (2003) by Cole and Tata zmaj (2014) by Peršolja; and Vsega po dvoje (1998) by Cole and Samo še pet minut (2021) by Peršolja. The first part is mainly interested in the types of families that appear in individual picture books, according to Rener’s theory, and if and how this influences the problem-oriented themes that appear in these picture books. The picture books were compared according to some categories found in Učni načrt za slovenščino (Poznanovič, 2018). A comparative table was used to compare the common features of contemporary fairy tales according to Marjana Kobe (1999). The final part of the empirical part deals with characteristics of problem-oriented literature as defined by Igor Saksida (2014) and how (or whether) they can be found in these picture books. The results of the analysis show how the motif of family appears in each individual picture book, which problem-oriented topics it includes, which characteristics of the contemporary fairy tale it expresses and whether the picture book can serve as a starting point for discussing problem topics in preschools
Barriers to gender equality and their impact on the advancement of female social pedagogues to leadership positions in management
Get PDFThe master thesis focuses on female social pedagogues in management leadership positions and the impact of gender (mis)equality on their career path. The theoretical part presents theories on gender, gender roles and the socialisation of these roles. Women's social role and women's participation in the labour market are described as well. Furthermore, the legal basis relating to gender equality and barriers for women in management is presented. Finally, reforms and changes that could improve women's position in society and management are described.
The aim of the master thesis is to learn about the career path of female social pedagogues in management positions and find out whether they have encountered any barriers along their way and how they have dealt with them.
The empirical part presents six interviews with social pedagogues in management positions. The results of the study showed that, in relation with promotion, social pedagogues experience personal, subjective barriers that originate within themselves. They did not mention causes, related to the business structure or their working environment. Due to their education, they consider themselves well equipped with the competences to cope with career challenges. In their work, most of them use social pedagogical competences and skills to a great extent and management skills to a lesser extent. The study also shows that the interviewed women view barriers as challenges and that they do not discourage their desire for work and promotion
Analysis of copyright comics and novelties in contemporary comic art
Get PDFThe thesis presents innovations in the modern comics industry and Japanese comics or manga is at its forefront. In it, I present the historical background of the manga and how it differs from Western culture and its comic book practices.
In my thesis I also present an author's work based on the tradition of Japanese comics, analyze it and present the new technology that enabled me to craft it
Motif of nature in the selected children's poems by Oton Župančič
Get PDFOton Župančič is a Slovenian poet, playwright and translator, born on January 23rd 1878 in Vinica, Bela Krajina. He was the second-born of father Franc Župančič and mother Ana, born Malič.
Despite all the poetic opus, when we think about Župančič, we surely remember his most popular poetic collection for children and youth Ciciban in še kaj (1915), even before it, he created Pisanice (1900) for youth, which was his first poetic collection for youth, and the poetic collection with a picture book Lahkih nog naokrog (1912), which was created during the time, when the poet was a teacher in Germany. Through the poets for youth, the poet spoke convincingly and kindly about fundamental values, like goodness, love of country and for the mother, truthfulness and love of the native word. In the poets for youth, the poet’s connection and respect for nature can be perceived, but particularly his love for his home town, from which he drew energy and inspiration for new creations.
The graduation thesis consists of the theoretical and empirical part. In the theoretical part I first present the biography of Oton Župančič and continue with the presentation of the literary science ecocriticism, where I present the development of ecocriticism and its research questions, which were described in the introduction of the publication The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology by Cheryll Glotfelty. Summarized are also the opinions and researches, stressed out by the professor Jožica Čeh Steger (2012), and the opinions and researches of other authors, who complemented her findings. The theoretical part concludes with the discussion of Maria Nikolajeva (2003) about the connection of the verbal-visual relation in picture books.
The goal of the graduation thesis is to present the relatively young literary science ecocriticism and extend its knowledge even to the preschool period. In the empirical part of the graduation thesis, I wanted to identify the poet’s attitude towards nature and how it is presented in poems. I also wanted to identify the verbal-visual relation in a poem and illustration from the poetic collection Lahkih nog naokrog. I analysed the selected poems using ecocriticism and its thematic fields, and in the case of poems with illustrations, I also analysed the verbal-visual relation according to the discussion by Maria Nikolajeva, where I used the comparative method. In the empirical part, I used the methods of analysis and synthesis