What do preschool teachers\u27 professional biographies reveal about interweaving of profession and creativity?

Na področju proučevanja ustvarjalnosti se v zadnjem času porajajo dileme v zvezi z metodološkimi vprašanji proučevanja tega pojava. Hkrati je pri proučevanju ustvarjalnosti mogoče zaznati tudi premik od tradicionalnega, psihometričnega pristopa k bolj kvalitativnemu pristopu. K slednjemu sodi tudi t. i. kvalitativna raziskava življenjska zgodovina, ki se na pedagoškem področju usmerja na učitelje in vzgojitelje, na njihov pogled na delo in življenje in je kot taka nekakšna osebna refleksija. V pričujočem prispevku predstavljamo potek in rezultate take raziskave, ki se je usmerila na vzgojiteljice, ki so bile prepoznane kot ustvarjalne, pri tem pa nas je zanimalo, kako vključene vzgojiteljice opredeljujejo in doživljajo prepletenost lastnega poklica in ustvarjalnosti. Na podlagi kvalitativne analize zbranega gradiva predstavljamo nekatere ključne dejavnike ustvarjalne poklicne poti vzgojiteljic.In the field of research in creativity, some dilemmas regarding methodological approaches have arisen. Consequently, a shift from the traditional, psychometric approach to a more qualitative approach has been in progress recently. The so-called life history research is a type of qualitative research, which, in the field of educational research, focuses on teachers and preschool teachers, on their perspective of work and lifeit can be a sort of a personal reflection. In the paper, we present the process and the results of such research, which included preschool teachers who had been identified as creative. The aim of the research was to establish how preschool teachers define and experience the interweaving of their own profession and creativity. The results of qualitative analysis thus show some of the key factors of preschool teachers\u27 creative career

Sustainable Architecture in the Context of Education: Reponses of Primary School Teachers on the Topical Subject

The concept of sustainability and a sustainable and ecological development are common debate topics in today’s society. This paper discusses the concept of sustainability in green building with regard to schools. The research was conducted on a representative sample of primary school teachers, focusing on some of their opinions on green building. We asked them which aspect of building they favoured and how often they asked themselves certain questions about the school they taught in. Furthermore, we were interested to see whether we would find age-related differences. To this end, teachers were divided into two groups, namely, teachers of up to 35 years of age and teachers over 35. We were surprised to find that teachers over 35 had a more positive attitude towards green building in schools compared to their younger colleagues. Based on the results, we came to a conclusion that the topics pertaining to ecology and sustainable development are neglected in today’s education. However, making them part of school curriculum is not enough, as the opinions and attitudes of teachers on sustainable and ecological issues also have an important impact on the subject-matter itself

Stavovi odgajatelja prema slikovnicama homoseksualnog sadrzaja

Inclusion refers to the respectful acceptance of diverse modes of being, including sexual orientation as one of the means of its multiple expression. Aimed at the portrayal of the current trends in a highly diversified society, picture books with their explicit homosexual content are growing in popularity. It is evident, however, that the pragmatics of their kindergarten use is still controversial, largely motivated by teachers\u27 attitude to homosexuality as such. The purpose of the presented study, undertaken among the teachers from the Istrian County, was to determine educators\u27 orientation towards homosexually-charged picture books and identify opinion differentiating factors influencing their perception, such as teachers\u27 service length or the degree of the respective urbanization or rurality of the area they inhabit. A questionnaire was devised as a means of data collection. The research results indicate that the pool of 127 respondents was neither fervently pro-or against both the picture books with homosexual content and their kindergarten use as such. Although with no significant statistical differences in the service length, teachers with more extensive in-service experience find it easier to accept homosexual content of the picture books in question but are more reluctant to incorporate their use into their teaching practice. As expected, the higher the level of urbanization of the area educators represent, the more accepting they are. Conversely, the more rural teachers\u27 immersing surrounding, the lower openness to diversity on their part, translating into their diminished readiness to use the discussed homosexually explicit material. Close analytical reading of the study results reveals that for the previously mentioned inclusion to become an integral part of the teaching practice, the system of education has to undergo major changes to provide professional development opportunities for teachers and equip them with necessary tools for the skilled handling of such sensitive matter as homosexuality proves to be.Inkluzija uključuje prihvaćanje i poštivanje različitosti, među koje spada i homoseksualnost. S ciljem upoznavanja različitosti u društvu nastaju i različite slikovnice, među njima i slikovnice homoseksualnog sadržaja, pri čemu je njihova uporaba u vrtićima ovisna o tome kakva stajališta imaju odgajatelji prema homoseksualnosti. Analiziramo rezultate empirijskog istraživanja čiji je cilj bio utvrditi kakvi su stavovi odgajatelja istarske županije spram slikovnica homosekusalnog sadržaja i postoje li razlike u stavovima u smislu radnog staža odgajatelja i toga žive li odgajatelji u urbanoj ili ruralnoj sredini. Podatci su bili sakupljeni uz pomoć upitnika koji je izrađen za ovo istraživanje. Rezultati pokazuju da odgajatelji (N = 127) nisu ni izrazito naklonjeni kao ni izrazito nenaklonjeni slikovnicama homoseksualnog sadržaja, a osjećaju nelagodu pri njihovoj uporabi. Među njima nema ni statistički značajnih razlika u vezi s radnim stažem, a ipak rezultati pokazuju da odgojitelji s duljim stažem bolje prihvaćaju slikovnice takva sadržaja, dok istovremeno osjećaju veću nelagodu pri njihovoj uporabi. Očekivano, slikovnice više prihvaćaju odgajatelji iz urbanih sredina, a odgajatelji iz ruralnih sredina osjećaju više nelagode. Da bi odgajatelji djelovali u pravcu inkluzije, potrebno je osigurati da se u sustavu obrazovanja i stručnog usavršavanja odgajatelje i ostale pedagoške djelatnike opremi kompetencijama za suočavanje s tabuiziranim temama, među koje ubrajamo i homoseksualnost

Trends and challenges in leadership in education in Slovenia based on some selected projects

This paper presents the significance of the role of the head teacher and the importance of the National School for Leadership in Education, founded in 1996 with the aim of empowering head teachers with ongoing new knowledge and skills, as well as Slovenian legislation referring to the conditions for head teachers, the procedure of selecting head teachers, their responsibilities as well as numerous tasks the head teacher has to perform. According to the data, most head teachers in Slovenia are female. Head teachers are facing numerous bureaucratic tasks, lack of time for pedagogical leadership, and inappropriate career development. Regarding the challenges mentioned, three current topics, programmes or projects, which include a large number of head teachers, are presented in the paper. The first deals with the development of the programme Managing and leading innovative learning environments which consists of three pillars: (1) Consultancy, (2) Distributed leadership, and (3) Managing head teachers’ career. The second topic represents projects in the field of quality, and the third one tackles the field of entrepreneurial competences of head teachers and leadership teams. In spite of various projects and programmes in which the head teachers participate in order to acquire new competences, head teachers are still facing a lot of challenges on a daily basis. Only some of them are mentioned in the paper, such as cooperation or partnership with parents, amending the procedure of the appointment of head teachers, and the need for various forms of support, required by head teachers in their work.Collection name: “PEDAGOGICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE” 4

Zmanjševanje odpora in čustvenih blokad pri pisanju

Writing is as much a communicative as it is a cognitive process an active individual is involved in. In this paper some characteristics of writing as a communicative process and some characteristics of writing as a cognitive process are stated. Further a model engaging both communicative and cognitive elements of writing is added, these elements being connected with linguistic resources. The author considers some prejudices, myths or emotional blocks to be destroyed as not to hinder the writer in writing. Besides the confrontation with the blocks, it is also important that the writer have in mind that writing or cul ture of writing can be improved only through the writing itself. Moreover, good writing is not correct but effective writing, pursuing its objective, reaching out to the readers and reflecting the author's thoughts.Pisanje je komunikacijski in kognitivni proces dejavnega subjekta. Navajamo značilnosti pisanja kot komunikacijskega in kognitivnega procesa ter model pisanja, ki združuje sestavine obeh in jih povezuje tudi z jezikovnim področjem. Opozarjamo na predsodke, mite in čustvene blokade, ki ovirajo pisca pri pisanju. Poleg odpravljanja čustvenih blokad je za pisanje pomembno, da se pisec zave, da lahko izboljša ali kultivira svoje pisanje Je s pisanjem samim in da dobro pisanje ni pravilno pisanje, temveč "učinkovito pisanje", ki ustreza namenu, bralcem in izraža piščeve misli