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Preschool teacher's role in the development of strengths in the early years
Get PDFThe diploma thesis, entitled The role of a kindergarten teacher in the development of child’s areas of strength in the early years, is divided into theoretical and empirical part. For the theoretical part I presented ways for a kindergarten teacher to identify child’s areas of strength in the preschool period and how he can encourage them, an importance of portfolio use, the role of a kindergarten teacher to promote areas of strength, how to create a stimulating learning environment and NTC learning. In the empirical part, I surveyed kindergarten teachers at Dobra Teta Private Kindergarten because I am interested in how they see their role as educators in developing and promoting areas of strength in the early years. The sample was non-random. With the help of the descriptive method and the method of quantitative research, I obtained the necessary data. The questionnaire included 51 kindergarten teachers working in different age groups with different work experiences. All respondents feel competent to discover areas of strength, of which 94.12% have already discovered them in their group. All respondents in their group use the portfolio to help monitor children's development. As many as 39.22% observe children once a week, 31.37% observe them once a month, 11.77% once every three months, 5.88% several times a month and occasionally, and only 5.88% observe them and make progress on a daily basis. According to the answers of the respondents, I conclude that kindergarten teachers use observation and attach great importance to monitoring the child's development. All respondents answered that they stem from the interests of children. Also, all respondents answered that they include NTC learning in their daily lives and that they see progress in children when children learn through games
Teachers’ use of teaching methods and forms in mathematics teaching in grade 3 of primary school
Get PDFTeaching and learning are closely connected with comprehension and the concept of knowledge. How we understand these two concepts, determines how we organize our work in school (Vidmar, 2011). Knowledge is the result of learning and assimilation of knowledge starts with school’s curriculum. The final result then depends on the teacher and their teaching style (Bečaj, 2011). Teachers are autonomous in their choice of learning approach, they decide which learning methods and forms of learning to use for a particular teaching content. In the process. they can relay on various psychological and didactic discoveries, based on different theories of learning and teaching. Recently, constructivistic theories of learning have been widely mentioned, alongside with tendency towards more challenging learning objectives aimed at developing creative, critical thinking with the ability to solve more complex problems, to integrate knowledge and to apply it in new situations (Marentič Požarnik, 2008). In the master’s thesis we were therefore interested in the extent to which these contemporary guidelines or teaching models are reflected in mathematics teaching. Since the forms of learning and learning methods are largely determined by the characteristics of the teacher’s teaching and thus their way of teaching, we focused mainly on the teacher’s use of learning methods and forms of learning in teaching mathematics in third grade of primary school. In the theoretical part, we first defined knowledge, presented theories of learning and teaching (behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism) and the models of teaching that derive from them (transmission and transformational models of teaching). Finally, we presented detailed learning methods and forms of learning that are used in mathematics education.
In the empirical part, with the help of our own online questionnaire, we investigate which learning methods and forms of learning teachers use when teaching selected topics in mathematics in the third grade of primary school. We were also interested in whether the choice of learning methods varies according to the years of service of the teacher and whether teachers are satisfied with the choice of learning methods and forms of learning or would like to improve their knowledge in this area.
The result of the survey showed that in the third grade teachers most often use the lecture method, followed by the demonstration method, then the collaborative learning method and finally the text-based method and the problem-solving method when dealing with mathematical content. When deciding on forms of learning, the most common form of learning teacher use in teaching mathematics is frontal learning form, followed by individual learning form, group teaching form and finally pair work teaching form. The results also showed differences in the choice of lecture method, text-based and problem-solving method and in the frequency of group and individual learning form between longer-serving and shorter-serving teachers. Longer-serving teachers are more likely to include all three of the above learning methods and the individual form of learning, while short-serving teachers are more likely to include the group form of teaching in their mathematics lessons. The results also have shown that teachers do not tend to choose any of the selected teaching models when choosing their teaching approach, but rather choose an approach that is a combination of both transmission and transformational models of teaching.
In conclusion, teachers do not feel insecure in their choice of learning methods due to the different orientations for mathematics teaching, but they would still like to receive training in “modern” teaching approaches to mathematics
Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the homeless in Nova Gorica and the response of the local community
Get PDFIn the master's thesis I will present the changes experienced by homeless people in the area of Nova Gorica that occur from first to third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic and the actions homeless people received to compensate the obstacles that emergency situation set. I used qualitative approach. For many of us, the epidemic represented a major turning point in our life, even if we did not experience it all the same way. Some of us simply stayed at home when the movement restriction was introduced, while others did not have that option. The cessation of public life also meant the closure of public spaces and services and the reduction of the activities of organizations, which for many homeless people were the center of meeting basic human needs. With the help of interviews with users and employees in the field of homelessness. I collected data on their observations in the field of everyday life, access to health services and interpersonal relationships, and planning responses and barriers for employees. Purpose of my research is to present an integral picture of the state of homelessness in Nova Gorica between first and third wave of the epidemic, which will offer a basic insight into experiencing the situation, as well as systemic weaknesses that would need to be dealt in the future. Results that I present below I see as a small but important guidelines in planning further work in the field of homelessness in our country, as the content is derived exclusively from user’s and practical experiences
The impact of fairy tales on the emotional and social development of preschool children
Get PDFIn the thesis, I tried to show how fairy tale characters affect children and what the fairy tale actually teaches them. In the theoretical part, I defined fairy tales and examined the place of fairy tales in a child's life. It then shows how to choose a suitable fairy tale for a preschool child, how and when to read it, why children should read fairy tales, and whether classic fairy tales for preschool children are scary. Along with fairy tales, children learn about life, the things they are allowed to do, and what they are not allowed to do, they learn to behave in certain situations with friends, relatives, with the elderly. Together with the fairy tales, the children identify with the characters from the fairy tales, they do everything their heroes do. Everyone who reads fairy tales to children knows that they experience them strongly emotionally.
Second, the empirical part, presents the role of the fairy tale in kindergartens, when we read it, why and how it affects children. I figured out which fairy tales are appropriate for preschool children and which are not. With the help of research conducted among educators, we found out how fairy tales affect preschool children, whether children identify with fairy tale characters, or whether educators think they themselves are educated enough to interpret fairy tales. The research sample consists of educators and assistant educators, the sample consists of 80 respondents from over 60 different kindergartens in the Republic of Slovenia. With the help of the research, I got an answer to the question of what is the place and role of a fairy tale in a child's emotional and social development in the preschool period. Research showed that not all of the preschool teachers thinks that all fairy tales are good for kids and they also think they are educated enough to explain fairy tales to children. Most of preschool teachers believe that all children identify with fairy tales and that fairy tales are very instructive for preschool children
Word comprehension and expression in children from 24 to 47 months
Get PDFVocabulary development is a very important part of a child's language development process. In this regard, the biggest changes occur in the first years of the child's life, which is why focus on children aged between 2 and 4 in this survey. By the fourth year, however, children manage to pronounce an average of 1,000 words. Having a wider vocabulary allows children to form sentences with more words. As a matter of fact, researchers have found a stronger correlation between the breadth of vocabulary and connecting words into sentences than between the age of the child and connecting words into sentences. Most four-year-olds are able to pronounce all of the sounds, except for sibilants and /r/, and fewer simplifications of words can be perceived in their speech. Their speech is better understood even by people they do not know. Nevertheless, one ought to remember that vocabulary is influenced by a variety of environmental and genetic factors, as well as any special needs children might have.
Our research dealt with the vocabulary of children aged between 24 and 47 months. The aim of our research was to analyze the results achieved by children in the field of word comprehension and in the field of word production. We were also interested in how successful children were in understanding and expressing nouns and verbs and if there were differences between boys and girls. In the empirical part, we used the first three tasks of the New Reynell Developmental Language Scale (NRDLS-SI) to analyze the results of 11 children (four boys and seven girls) with regular speech and language development. The survey showed there were statistically significant differences between the children's scores on tests of language comprehension and language production. We also found statistically significant differences on the test of comprehension and expression of nouns and verbs, which means that more nouns than verbs appear in the speech of children between the ages of two and four. We also examined the influence of gender on vocabulary development and found some minor gender differences between the sexes (especially in language production). Girls scored slightly higher than boys, but the gender difference was not statistically significant
Happily ever after - Preschool learning about death and grief through fairy tales
Get PDFThe master's thesis researches the formation of the concept of death and the grieving process in preschool children, and how this topic is discussed, especially within the context of kindergarten education. It highlights the fairy tale as one method of bringing this topic closer to preschool children and as a method of providing help when experiencing an actual loss.
The theoretical section begins by defining the characteristics of the preschool period – the child's emotional, social and cognitive development – and the importance of kindergarten for the child. As the child develops, so does his/her concept of death; the latter influences the child's grieving process when experiencing an actual loss. In addition to the child's concept of death, we also focus on the specifics of the child's grieving process and on the different ways in which adults can discuss this topic with the child. The fairy tale is highlighted and presented, as well as its role in teaching the child about important life topics. The fairy tale is presented as an appropriate preventive and curative method in this regard, which can also be used by social pedagogues in their practice.
The empirical section examines whether the topic of death and grief is discussed in kindergarten and in what way (if at all) the preschool teachers go about it. We were also interested in the frequency and uses of the fairy tale, also in connection with learning about death and grief. We focused on suggestions stemming from experience, which would be of help in writing a potentially appropriate children's fairy tale on the topic of death. Based on the theoretical findings and the interview results, a story was written entitled Manja, the Girl with Green Eyes. In addition to all the observations obtained during the research, this story also contributes to the existing, though not that diverse, Slovenian literature on this topic. Whereas all the findings combined will be of help in planning the learning process on the topic of death and grief, or in the process of providing help to a child who has lost someone close to them
Reading with the help of a therapy dog
Get PDFReading is a communicative activity that is pivotal in school and everyday life. In the Curriculum for the Slovenian language (2018), reading is also conceived as an opportunity to form a personal and national identity and as a process for broadening horizons. It is desired that students will perceive it as enjoyment in gaining new information. However, the process of developing reading is difficult to enjoy if students have difficulty doing so. They may also develop negative feelings about themselves, so their self-confidence and motivation are lower.
In the theoretical part of the master's thesis, we present reading as one of the communicative activities and factors that influence the development of reading, and the phases/stages in its development. We then identified elements of reading ability (reading technique and reading comprehension) and the motivation to read. Finally, we presented the characteristics of a therapy dog and its trainer, as well as the role of a professional in therapy. We also focused on the possibility of working with a therapy dog at school and presented the R.E.A.D. programme, which is the main example for our research.
In the action research, the results of which are presented in the empirical part, we included two 3rd grade students who have difficulty reading. With the presence of a therapy dog in their reading exercises, we wanted to influence the improvement of students reading technique and understanding of what was read, as well as their motivation to read, and increase their self-confidence and self-image. They attended eight meetings with a therapy dog and, with the help of an inclusive teacher, solved various reading tasks.
The results of the test before and after the reading meetings with the therapy dog show that their motivation to read increased, and that they improved their self-confidence and self-image. They also improved their reading technique – their fluency, accuracy and reading rhythm were better. Each of them progressed at their own pace. Both also improved their reading comprehension. In the interviews conducted, progress and positive effects were also noticed by the parents, teacher and dog trainer
Stimulating speech development in children with special needs
Get PDFThe main topic of my thesis is stimulating speech development in children with special needs. I discuss speech development in children, the development of storytelling as well as speech and language disorders. In the research part of the thesis the quantitative approach and causal non-experimental method were applied. The quantitative approach includes an adapted non-standardised diagnostic test “Preizkus pripovedovanja zgodbe: Rokavička” (Marjanovič Umek et al., 2010), which was performed to assess the quality of a child’s storytelling. The causal non-experimental method was applied to analyse the results of the activities performed during the research. Four children with special needs participated in twelve research activities. The research results show that the activities had a positive impact on the development of children’s speech. The most common disorder in articulation of sounds was sigmatism, which was identified in all children, but with a varying degree of intensity. In addition, the research findings indicate that the ability of storytelling increased in two of four boys; the greatest improvement was observed in the field of syntax and phonetics
Spatial perceptions of Ljubljana's primary school students about Ljubljana
Get PDFIn our master's thesis, we examine the perceptions of Ljubljana and the local surroundings among pupils of three Ljubljana primary schools. In the theoretical part, we summarize the key findings on the development of spatial representations in pupils, their perceptions of space, and observation of their surroundings or hometowns. We then focus on the role of memory in recognizing objects from photographs. In the central part of the thesis, we discuss the survey design and the analysis of the results, which we compared with the study carried out in the same primary schools in 2000.
The research aimed to determine the pupils' spatial perceptions of their hometowns and Ljubljana in 2021, to study the development of pupils' perceptions during their schooling from the first to fourth grades of primary school, and to find out how well they knew Ljubljana's landmarks. The results were compared with those obtained in 2000. One hundred eighty-two pupils took part in the survey: 72 from the Vižmarje Brod Primary School, 77 from the Milan Šuštaršič Primary School, and 34 from the Majda Vrhovnik Primary School. In the 2000 survey, 216 pupils participated: 64 from the Vižmarje Brod Primary School, 73 from the Milan Šuštaršič Primary School, and 79 from the Majda Vrhovnik Primary School.
The survey data were collected through interviews with pupils. The findings showed that more primary school pupils know about castles, but less of them about bridges, monuments and famous buildings, compared to pupils involved in the study twenty years ago.
The results will help teachers teach and prepare activities and materials related to spatial representations, observation of the surroundings, and learning about Ljubljana. They will provide valuable information on how today's pupils perceived their hometown compared to their peers two decades ago
Youth work in NGO youth centres
Get PDFThis master thesis focuses on the characteristics of youth workers in NGO youth centres. In the theoretical background, I first define different aspects of youth work. I describe young users and their characteristics, define youth work, youth workers and origins of the profession. I also describe youth centres and other findings in the field of youth work so far. I continue with empirical part, in which I researched what kind of work tasks youth workers perform, what kind of obstacles and advantages they face in their work, and how these affect the quality of their work. I used semi-structured interviews as a research tool in the descriptive method of the qualitative research approach. The sample was selected intentionally, by contacting NGOs that have youth centres under their umbrella. It comprises 10 youth workers from nine different youth centres. The results show that youth workers often face different challenges in their work. The most common are systematic, financial and in the field of human resources. Youth workers need to be flexible in their work and carry out a wide range of tasks. The working environment is in some ways conducive and in others inhibitive to the quality of work. Finally, the youth workers propose some suggestions for changes in their field of work that would enable them to improve their working conditions and thus the quality of their work. With my master's thesis, I wish to provide a deeper insight into the work of youth workers working in NGO youth centres and want to encourage critical reflection and shifts towards greater professionalisation of the profession and systemic regulation of youth work