Principles of holistic education applied to the Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century in Singapore

The theoretical study relates the principles of holistic education to the Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21) in Singapore. Building on the principles of holistic education, TE21 aims to produce highly qualified educators who succeed in nurturing the potential in each child. Holistic education is a humanistic and democratic educational approach that was developed in the USA. Its goal is to help every learner reach their highest innate potential, find their identity and purpose in life, and become socially and environmentally responsible. This study shows how the same principles may lead to slightly different outcomes when adjusted to the needs of Singaporean society. As a direct product of the National Institute of Education and the Ministry of Education, TE21 confirms the importance of a national educational strategy, which is the core of economic growth and political stability, as well as a tool to be used for fighting inequality and dealing with other social issues.

Sociálne aspekty čitateľskej gramotnosti s akcentom na dieťa zo sociálne znevýhodňujúceho prostredia na Slovensku

Reading literacy as functional literacy, i.e. the ability to understand and use written text, is alarming for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Slovakia. In relation to children from less favourable backgrounds, the Slovak education system has long been unable to adequately compensate for educational inequalities determined by social origin. The most important stimuli affect children before they enter primary school. The study presents selected research on supporting child readers within the context of the family, based mainly on foreign sources, where this research has a rich tradition. Factors in the so-called home literacy environment, especially reading together or so-called dialogic reading of a parent with a child, as well as the size of the family library, were identified as particularly important. At the end of the paper, the possibilities of socio-pedagogical intervention are outlined.

Pedagogické přístupy a didaktické postupy zaměřené na volnočasovou kompetenci

The article offers an overview of the pedagogical approaches and didactic procedures used for leisure education in school facilities (after-school club, school clubs, children's and youth homes) and evaluates them in terms of the development of leisure education, whose general goal is leisure literacy. In the introductory part, the authors explain the basic concepts. The first (most extensive) chapter is focused on education (extra-curricular education, education outside teaching). Information on various methods, mostly traditional, is followed by a section devoted to methods based on constructivist pedagogy. The first chapter concludes with a section devoted to the methods used in so-called open youth work (Offene Jugendarbeit, Open Youth Work). The second chapter is devoted to the concept of leisure competence, and the third chapter contains an evaluation of educational methods in terms of their suitability for education focused on leisure literacy.

Implementace opatření na podporu žáků se sociálním znevýhodněním ve Zlínském kraji

The paper responds to the current topic of school issues by addressing issues of equal opportunity in education. It deals with the presentation of a specific solution to support the education of disadvantaged pupils in the Zlín Region, which is realized within the Implementation of the Regional Action Plan for the Development of Education within the Operational Program: Research, Development and Education. The aim of the paper is to introduce the activities of the Social Pedagogical Counseling Center. The priority areas of the counseling center are the early identification of the problems of pupils at risk of school failure, for socio-economic reasons, and the support of teachers in resolving difficult situations. The implementation is based on a questionnaire survey of school needs. The purpose of the measure is to connect schools with the social aspect of fieldwork and thus contribute to the sharing of good practices in socio-pedagogical issues.

Causes, consequences and control of student protests

This study investigated the causes, consequences and control of student protests, especially the EndSARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) protest. A descriptive survey was adopted for the study. A total of 600 undergraduates, selected by multi-stage sampling, participated in the study. Three research questions were raised and a questionnaire titled Causes, Consequences and Control of Youth Protest Questionnaire (CCCYPQ) was used to collect data. The findings showed that the protest was caused by extra-judicial killings, assaults, harassment, extortion, bad governance, and youth unemployment. In addition, the findings indicated that the consequences of the protest include destruction of lives and property, hacking of the websites of public ministries, departments, agencies and corporate organizations, destruction of public infrastructural facilities, and disruption of academic activities in schools. The various control measures include disbandment of SARS, compensation for victims of police brutality, and provision of skills acquisition programmes and employment opportunities for youths. There were no significant gender differences in the perceived causes, consequences and control of the protest. Based on the findings, it was recommended that dialogue and collaborative decision-making should be employed in controlling student protest.

Creating a positive elementary school climate based on cooperation between the form teacher, headmaster and social pedagogue

The empirical study presents the dimension of positive school climate using illustrative models that reflect the statements of the participants of a qualitatively oriented research survey including semi-structured interviews. The theoretical introduction deals with the definition of key concepts and briefly outlines selected domestic and foreign models of positive climate. Based on the interviews, it was found that interpersonal relationships are important for all actors who create the school climate and influence mutual cooperation. Teachers point to the need for a fair approach to all pupils; the school principal pays attention to physical and social-emotional security; and the social educator seeks to work with groups of pupils as well as provide counselling for teachers. The aim is to link all these processes in the interest of a positive school climate. For this reason, it is necessary to focus on the mutual cooperation of selected actors who affect the school climate and to reveal possible shortcomings in the field of their cooperation. These shortcomings include, in particular, little involvement, disinterest, lack of concern or poor school philosophy.

Erasmus staff exchanges: A critical exploration of intentions and effects

This article outlines the expected benefits of ERASMUS+ Teaching/Training Exchanges for individuals, the institution as a whole and the degree programmes of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), the Netherlands. The method employed was a series of semi-structured interviews, following initial email contact of 32 (approx. 1.5% of staff) who had been on exchange, or were scheduled to be, during the academic year. Interviews were agreed with 7 staff. Leask (2015) identified a lack of research in this area, and it is hoped this research will help to stimulate thinking on this issue. Despite the small sample size, general preliminary conclusions can be drawn and further research is encouraged. The article examines processes and procedures in place for monitoring such exchanges, and it also explores control and monitoring prior to the exchange taking place, as well as post-exchange outcomes and evaluations. It describes the context and theoretical frameworks and discusses the major findings, including accounts of the participants’ experiences and the benefits for them as individuals, their perceptions, their line manager’s responses and institutional policies and processes. The conclusion has recommendations for improvement based upon the participants’ comments. The main message of this article is the need to set goals for the individual and the institution and to evaluate them upon return.

The resilience of high school students, analysis of compensatory measures, and preferred strategies for coping with adverse situations

The study presents the results of measuring the resilience of high school students. The main goal is to find whether there is a link between the resilience of students and preferred coping strategies. Quantitative research was subsequently conducted with students in the 2nd and 3rd years of secondary schools. The research included a questionnaire survey in which students were presented with two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was self-designed and aimed to assess the level of resilience; the second standardized questionnaire focused on the preferred choice of coping strategies. Responses were received from a total of 516 respondents. The data were evaluated using the tools of descriptive statistics. The results showed that pupils' resilience is generally at a good level. In addition, five key factors improving and lowering resilience were identified. Furthermore, five preferred strategies and five strategies that students prefer to avoid when dealing with problem situations were identified. At the same time, a direct correlation between the effort to take an active approach to solve problems and the degree of resilience was observed; this is considered to be the main outcome of the study.

Dark Triad in the context of career choice

The research study deals with Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) in the context of the vocational interests in high school students. We assumed that students tending towards the helping professions might score differently in Dark Triad traits compared to students oriented towards professions such as manufacturing, business, or law (Jonason et al., 2014; Kowalski et al., 2017). The main goal of the study was to examine the differences in Dark Triad traits with respect to students´ professional intentions. The research was conducted on a sample of 181 students of grammar schools and secondary vocational schools in Slovakia (Mage = 18.3 years; SD = .77); 57% were boys, 43% were girls. The Slovak version of the Short Dark Triad (Čopková & Šafár, 2020; Jones & Paulhus, 2014) and the Questionnaire of Professional Intentions (Džuka, 2006) were used. Testing the significance of differences between students with different professional intentions pointed to significant differences in subclinical psychopathy. Significantly higher psychopathy was shown by students oriented to the sphere of production compared to students oriented to art, science and education. Also in psychopathy, students oriented towards the sphere of business scored higher than students oriented towards the sphere of art and education. Testing of within-subject variability showed Machiavellianism as the most significant feature of the Dark Triad in all professional spheres.

Žáci-cizinci z východní Evropy (Ruska a Ukrajiny): Školní docházka a spolupráce se školou perspektivou rodičů

Příspěvek se věnuje výsledkům studie realizované jako součást dizertačního výzkumu, jejímž cílem bylo prozkoumat rodičovskou percepci základního vzdělávání žáků ruského a ukrajinského původu. Teoretický rámec se soustřeďuje na okolnost minoritního původu a sociokulturní kapitál rodiny a jejich roli v rámci školní docházky. Dlouhodobý kvalitativní výzkum byl veden následujícími výzkumnými otázkami: Jak rodiče hodnotí české základní školství a spolupráci se školou? Jak vyhodnocují svou pozici v rámci edukačního procesu a od čeho ji odvozují? Které strategie ve vztahu ke vzdělávání zvažují a volí a co je ovlivňuje? Výzkumný soubor tvořilo deset rodinných jednotek s alespoň jedním žákem základní školy hlavního vzdělávacího proudu. Tvorba dat probíhala formou polostrukturovaných rozhovorů s rodiči, případně doplněných o pozorování rodinné interakce a neformální rozhovory s dětmi. Navzdory limitům v podobě velikosti výzkumného souboru, který neumožňuje představit zobecňující závěry, zjištění poukazují na ambivalentní charakter kulturní odlišnosti, která funguje jako potenciální zdroj praktických, sociálních a psychologických bariér. Ty pak spolu s dalšími sociokulturně založenými rozpory představují významný aspekt reflexe a případné transformace očekávání, aspirací a cílů, které rodiče na vzdělávání zaměřují.