Asociaciones profesionales como contribuyentes al desarrollo profesional de los docentes de educación infantil (Caso de Croacia)

This paper is a result of the assumptions of the importance of the professional development of early childhood education (ECE) teachers. Professional development is seen as a developmental process grounded in lifelong learning. While discussing the professional learning community as the optimal support in professional development, the paper discusses the role of professional associations in professional development. Aim of the research was to find teachers’ opinion whether the professional association contribute to their professional development. In order to ensure the best understanding of this problem, a research was conducted with the help of group interviews. Focus group participants were early childhood education teachers (N=6) who are also members of the Association of Preschool Educators “Krijesnice”. The analysis of the results indicated that ECE teachers highly value the need for their professional development. They also emphasize lifelong learning and motivation as prerequisites of professional development. The Association of Preschool Educators is seen as a support in professional development.Este trabajo está basado en la suposición sobre la importancia del desarrollo profesional de los maestros de educación preescolar. El desarrollo profesional se entiende como aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. Observando las comunidades profesionales de aprendizaje como el apoyo ideal para el desarrollo profesional, se está investigando el papel de las asociaciones profesionales en el desarrollo profesional. El objetivo de la investigación fue investigar la opinión de los maestros sobre la cuestión si la asociación profesional contribuye a su desarrollo profesional. Para asegurar la mejor comprensión de este problema, se ha llevado a cabo una investigación en forma de la entrevista en grupo. Los participantes del grupo focal fueron los maestros que también son miembros de la Asociación de los maestros de educación preescolar (N=6) “Krijesnice” (“Luciernagas”). El análisis de los resultados demuestra que los maestros en gran medida valoran la necesidad del desarrollo profesional de los maestros. También enfatizan el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida y la motivación como prerrequisitos del desarrollo profesional. La Asociación de los maestros preescolares se considera como el apoyo al desarrollo personal

Razlike u igri djece u homogenim i heterogenim dobnim skupinama u dječjem vrtiću

Most of the things children do are learned by playing. Children\u27s play is seen as intrinsically motivated. Active participation in playing allows children to develop different abilities and skills necessary for life in the community. Through playing, a child learns to establish satisfactory relationships with other children and becomes socially competent. The research suggests that there are differences in social competence among children of the same age who attend kindergarten. Learning through playing is one of the ways to acquire social skills, so we were interested in finding out possible differences in children\u27s play in these groups. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to determine whether there were differences, and if so, in which areas of play. For this purpose, a questionnaire was constructed on the basis of what teachers in both groups had observed and recorded considering the different aspects of playing behaviour of children aged 5-7 years. It should determine the way in which children organized play activities and how they participated in them. The areas in focus included the folowing: partnership in play, type of activity, characteristics of play, and communication during play. The obtained results could contribute to determining the difference in children\u27s play in homogeneous and heterogeneous kindergarten classes, giving us better insights into the differences related to children\u27s social skills.Većinu onoga što znaju i umiju djeca su naučila igrajući se. Igru djece obilježava intrinzična motivacija. Aktivno sudjelovanje u igri djeci omogućuje razvoj različitih sposobnosti i vještina koje su nužne za život u zajednici. Kroz igru dijete uči ostvarivati zadovoljavajuće odnose s drugom djecom i tako postaje socijalno kompetentnije. Istraživanja govore o razlikama u socijalnoj kompetenciji između djece iste dobi koja pohađaju homogene i djece koja pohađaju heterogene skupine. S obzirom na to da je učenje kroz igru jedan od načina usvajanja socijalnih vještina, zanimalo nas je da li se igra djece u navedenim skupinama razlikuje. Cilj istraživanja prikazanog u ovom radu bio je utvrditi postoje li te razlike i ako postoje na koja se područja igre odnose. Zbog toga je konstruiran upitnik na temelju kojeg su odgojitelji u jednim i drugim skupinama opažali i bilježili različite aspekte ponašanja za vrijeme igre djece u dobi od 5 do 7 godina, kako bi se utvrdio način na koji djeca organiziraju aktivnosti u igri i kako u njima sudjeluju. Područja koja su promatrali bila su: partnerstvo u igri, vrsta aktivnosti, karakteristike igre i komunikacija tijekom igre. Rezultati istraživanja doprinos su utvrđivanju razlika u igri djece u homogenim i heterogenim skupinama u dječjim vrtićima, što nam daje bolji uvid u razlike u socijalnim vještinama

Policies and practices of early childhood education and care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from five countries

The COVID-19 pandemic, which affects all areas of life, has also affected children in need of education and care. It is of great importance to develop policies that take into account the best interests of children in this process. In this review article, the policies developed for early childhood education and care during the pandemic period in five countries (Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey), how they are implemented, the problems that arose, and the solutions produced are discussed. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that we need to focus on eliminating the educational inequalities, set policies for the welfare of children on foundations that are more realistic, rebuild teacher training, and improve the welfare of families. Priorizating the best interests of the child in the policies to be developed and building the social ecology on justice will ease overcoming the crises that will be faced

Quo Vadis, Homo Digitalis? Razmišljanje o dobrobitima u obrazovanju i pandemiji bolesti COVID-19 u Belgiji, Hrvatskoj, Poljskoj i Rumunjskoj

The last few decades brought about unprecedented rapid technological change. The COVID-19 pandemic sped it up and forced digitalized citizenship, digitalized teaching and learning, and permanent engagement through the virtual bond. Many processes were moved to the virtual world and those illiterate in digital tools might have felt excluded or left behind. Technological advancements have had many benefits revealed but they have also had multiple negative effects on the educational process and the well-being of participants of the latter. As our study shows, human social nature opposes the use of the Internet as the main or only medium of human interaction. Our study shows that sole online education is not desirable and is not good for our well-being. In the article, we present empirical research findings from 4 EU countries representing different parts of Europe. A group of researchers from 4 universities joined forces to map the needs of teachers and learners and to identify key factors for well-being in education in post-pandemic educational settings. Qualitative data came from over 2000 participants (teachers and learners), as a part of a larger case study. In this article, we focus primarily on the data from an online survey in 2022, supplemented by a prior Pilot study in 2021.Posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća došlo je do neviđeno brzih tehnoloških promjena. Pandemija bolesti COVID-19 ubrzala ih je te prisilno digitalizirala građane, digitalizirala poučavanje i učenje te nametnula stalni angažman putem virtualne veze. Mnogi su procesi premješteni u virtualni svijet, a oni nepismeni u digitalnim alatima osjećali su se isključenima ili zapostavljenima. Tehnološki napredak otkrio je mnoge prednosti, ali je također imao i višestruko negativne učinke na obrazovni proces i dobrobit njegovih sudionika. Kao što pokazuje naša studija, ljudskadruštvena priroda protivi se korištenju interneta kao glavnoga ili jedinoga medija ljudske interakcije. Naša studija pokazuje da isključivo internetsko obrazovanje nije poželjno i nije dobro za našu dobrobit. U ovom članku predstavljamo rezultate empirijskih istraživanja iz 4 zemlje članice EU koje predstavljaju različite dijelove Europe. Skupina istraživača s 4 sveučilišta udružila je snage kako bi prikazala potrebe nastavnika i učenika te identificirala ključne čimbenike za dobrobit u obrazovanju u poslijepandemijskom obrazovnom okružju. Kvalitativni podatci prikupljeni su od više od 2000 sudionika (nastavnika i učenika) i dio su veće analize slučaja. U ovom se članku prvenstveno usredotočujemo na podatke iz internetske ankete iz 2022. godine, dopunjene prethodnom pokusnom studijom iz 2021. godine

Norwegian and Croatian Students of Undergraduate Kindergarten Teacher Education Programs on Their Professional Development and Conditions for It

This article presents Norwegian and Croatian students’ perspectives on conditions for their professional growth during undergraduate kindergarten teacher education. The data gathered through focus group interviews are theorized using the cultural-historical wholeness approach that identifies institutional conditions for the development of certain motivations and acts. Since the students from the two countries generally perceive the institutional conditions for their learning as insufficient, the conclusions refer to certain institutional practices that could strengthen the development of competences that students recognize as the most relevant. These competences to act grow at the intersection of theory and practice

Navigating crises : examining the impact on students in four European countries

A crisis is any challenging situation that requires a judgment or a decision. During their lifespan people are exposed to crises at micro, meso and macro levels. Lately, many research deals with crises at macro level. Situations of crises at a macro level that we have been facing such as pandemics, war, earthquakes, and substantial challenges in everyday situations and life lead to the necessity to explore learning and teaching at higher education institutions in the times of c rises. The goal of t he research was to determine strategies for dealing with crises on macro level among students in higher education. For this purpose, qualitative research was conducted using the focus group method. Four focus groups were held in which a total of 40 students of different profiles from Belgium, Croatia, Poland, and Romania participated. The results show that the biggest challenge for most participants in crisis situations was the absence of social support. In their answer s, participants discussed the challenges of distance education, stating "screen fatigue" as an obstacle. Despite this, participants pointed out that times of crisis enabled them to discover their own strengths, which they can use as coping strategies in potential future crises

Unfreezing the Discursive Hegemonies Underpinning Current Versions of “Social Sustainability” in ECE Policies in Anglo–Celtic, Nordic and Continental Contexts

Social sustainability is linked to finding new ways of living together and strengthening social capital and participation, as well as to social justice and equity in societies, and it is becoming increasingly important for diverse multicultural societies. In this article, we trace understandings of social sustainability as established in Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy documents by following the chains of meaning connected to sense of belonging, local place and cultural diversity and through ECE collaboration with children’s parents/caregivers. Critical discourse analysis has been applied to trace the chains of meaning attached to these concepts in ECE steering documents in Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Such analysis shows different ways in which the ECE polices indirectly work with social sustainability, as well as create critical distance from the sets of meanings established in each country (by proving a chain of meaning established in the policy documents of another country). In conclusion, we do not advocate in favour of any of the chains of meaning but argue for continual reflection and reflexivity, and we see research to be a particularly significant arena in which to unfreeze the taken for granted and sustainable notio