Problems of Education in the 21st Century

115

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 76, No. 2, 2018

121-139

Authors: Kateřina Berková, Kristýna Krejčová, Alena Králová , Pavel Krpálek, Katarína Krpálková Krelová, Dana Kolářová

The research deals with the development of cognitive process dimensions in economic education. The aim is to research factors that influence academic achievement of students according to their intellectual level and grades. The researchers used quantitative design of research based on standardized assessment of intelligence and non-standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to analyse the pedagogical competences of the teachers of economic subjects from the students' point of view in close relation to the teaching management and the impact on the motivation to learn and the achievement of students in these subjects. The respondents were 277 Czech students aged 16-17 who were divided into groups according to their intellectual level and grades. The data were analysed by a correlation analysis and a multiple regression model. In conclusion, the following can be stated: (a) From the point of view of the above average intelligent students, expertise can be considered as an important competency of the teacher; teaching average intelligent students, communication and presentation skills seem to be important. (b) It is desirable to develop cognitive processes, critical thinking actively, to lead students to become aware of changes in their own thinking and to orient them towards mastery goals. (c) Particularly for students with weaker results it is necessary to create intrinsic motivation, which develops cognition and thus is able to develop higher cognitive dimensions further. The links between these areas are of utmost importance for education and, above all, for developing of students' scholarship. Each student can be educated, and it is necessary to influence them to develop their personality and all of their potential abilities. The conceptual four-sector model represents the initial pathway to lead students who are differentiated according to the intellectual level and academic achievement to the active development of thinking, learning and critical insight.

159-174

Authors: Katja Jeznik, Klara Skubic Ermenc, Jasna Mažgon

The focus of education policies on greater equity and accessibility of education for all exposes an important difference between narrow and broad definitions of the concept of inclusion. The narrow definition is tied above all to the school context, where responsibility for the realisation of inclusion lies with pedagogical workers. The broad definition refers to an understanding of inclusion as the embracing of diversity as a positive value for the community, regardless of the institutional context in which we endeavour to achieve inclusion. The research discussed the inclusive educational practice of a special educational institution catering for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Using a sample of 139 participants at the international inclusive festival Play With Me, the attitudes towards inclusion and towards persons with special needs (a Likert scale was created) were researched. The results indicate that respondents generally had positive attitudes towards inclusion; there were differences between them, depending on the roles they undertook at the festival (mentors of students taking part in the festival and volunteers running various festival activities), the institutions they came from (special or mainstream educational institutions, associations, NGOs), and whether or not they had experience of individuals with special educational needs (SEN), either in their work or in their studies. Although a broad understanding of inclusive culture is present in the statements of respondents, it appears that both general and special teachers (in the role of mentors) still incline slightly more towards a narrow understanding of inclusion than volunteers do, which raises questions about pedagogical workers' conception of education.

189-214

Authors: Linda Palla, Ann-Christine Vallberg Roth

The aim of this research is to explore what may characterise teaching in language, communication and multilingualism in preschools, as expressed in writing by preschool teachers and managers in 10 Swedish municipalities in 2016. The data consists of written answers to an open-ended question in a reflective document. The reflective document was sent to 243 preschool teachers and managers, of whom 222 responded. A didactically oriented analysis was performed based on three levels: practice-related action level, theoretical level and meta-theoretical level. The results of the analysis are distributed in distinctive traces that more clearly refer to the practice-related action level than to the theoretical level or meta-theoretical level. Child-centred teaching, which may or may not be delimited, is characteristic of language, communication and multilingualism. Teaching is said to be constant: spontaneous but deliberate in all contexts and situations but also delivered through planned activities, projects and themes. Verbal communication is predominant in teaching. Vague and low-frequency traces of multivoiced teaching related to multilingualism and special support have emerged. The multivoiced teaching described mainly ends with general teaching of children in preschool – a multivoiced approach in general.

231-249

Authors: Anna-Karin Svensson

The current research is an in-depth study of four pre-service teachers’ own experience of reading in various contexts and for different reasons. The aim is to analyse what has been significant regarding reading in a life history perspective by the use of narratives. A socio-cultural perspective on reading is used as analysis tool. The over-arching result from analysing pre-service teachers’ narratives is that reading is a relational process regardless of the context reading takes place in. The emerging themes allow a deeper understanding on critical aspects for developing reading in various contexts and at different levels. Significant others seem important in every reading practice, from new readers in primary school to pre-service teachers’ reading at university level. The narratives reveal a need for bridging the gaps that arise between the reading practices in the various contexts that students meet in school and university.

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Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 76, No. 2, 2018