THE FEMINIST HUNGARIAN FOLKTALE AS POSTMODERN COMBINATORICS – THE ANALYSIS OF CSENGE VIRÁG ZALKA'S STORY-BOOK TITLED RIBIZLI A VILÁG VÉGÉN [CURRANT AT THE END OF THE WORLD]

In this paper we analyze the first story-book of the internationally renowned contemporary Hungarian storyteller, Csenge Virág Zalka. In the first section we investigate the differences between folktale and literary tale, storyteller and story writer, further-/retold heritage and own creation as well as how the boundaries between them destabilize if we note down the folktale originally living in the oral traditional form. Furthermore, we will be discussing the female horizon prevalent in the Zalkaian tale-variants as well as the all-time topicality of the stories by putting the contemporary social and psychological analogies and taboo-breaking procedures of the tales in the foreground. In the focus of our investigation the Ribizli a világ végén [Currant at the End of the World] stands as a literary creation, which although we (also) analyze with an approach coming from the relevant literature of folktales and remade fairy tales, we do this all the way through the analysis in light of the postmodern text-organizing strategies.

VIRTUAL WATER POTENTIAL OF SELECTED COMMODITIES IN CO-OPERATION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC WITH COUNTRIES OF THE WESTERN BALKANS

Our paper rests on two fundamentals: firstly, the EU's initiative to deepen cooperation with and the prospect of its enlargement to the Western Balkans region; and, secondly, the urgency to address sustainable development issues in the international environment. As the virtual water perspective represents an innovative approach in the field of sustainable development, the aim of our paper is to analyse trade-related characteristics based on the water footprint concept (complementary to the alternative RCA/RTA indexes designed to calculate a country's comparative advantage or disadvantage). In our paper, we analyse and evaluate selected commodities traded by the Slovak Republic and the Western Balkans countries in terms of the absolute/comparative advantage related to the national water footprints.

READINESS OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN EMPIRICAL DATA EXCHANGE: PILOT STUDY IN UKRAINE

The article offers the description of the pilot study results on university teachers’ engagement in exchange of empirical data on distance learning. It was suggested that they have a shaped intention to exchange; however, the specifics of their efforts make it difficult to integrate the collected data into the body of open empiricism. The study identifies the meaningful constructs of teachers’ engagement in data exchange. The research findings can be used in the practice of knowledge management in the system of higher education in order to optimize the engagement of teachers in the exchange of empirical data.

VET TEACHERS IN SLOVAKIA AND CHALLENGES FOR THEIR COMPETENCES IMPROVEMENT

The common problem of the many countries that´s identified by many policy makers, educators, economists and other professionals is the problem of high level of youth unemployment rate. Properly prepared workforce for the European economy are current challenges for the teacher and training community. The need to update vocational education teaching (further VET) - teachers’ qualifications and competences is very urgent in the all countries of EU. This study deals with teacher preparation in Slovakia and concisely describes selected results of questionnaire survey on vocational education teacher competences. The study provides an introduction to the theme of teacher competence improvement through small survey conducted at Slovak university of Agriculture in Nitra and suggests some challenges for solution in VET teachers preparation. There is a need of innovative practical approach to stimulating and develop key competences among students in VET institutions. This need is also connected with the quality of VET teachers and the professional teacher competences development in teachers’ preparation and in their further education.

GRADUATED THESIS AS A CHALLENGE FOR MASTER'S STUDENTS: THE CASE OF R. GLIER KYIV MUNICIPAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC

This study examines the practice of writing graduated theses by students who have participated in music competitions. The research method was a focus group. The reasons for this practice are described. It is proved the student cannot comply with the prescribed procedure for writing graduated these. It is concluded that it is time to legitimize this practice. The basis for legitimizing one recognizes its existence, its acceptance by both students and leaders, the positive effect of its use. Measures to legitimize this practice are proposed.

EDUCATIONAL ROBOTICS AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

The accelerating development of technology over the past decades has brought many radical changes in all aspects of life and has unquestionably affected the functioning of our society. The expansion of the digital space and the technological innovation in industry, commerce and household have given rise to a large number of new concepts relating to digital and information technology and their use. In the context of supporting these activities and needs, the FEP document has been updated for the educational area Information and Communication Technology in elementary schools but also in general and technical secondary schools. This innovation is built primarily on the development of computational thinking, which is based on two pillars—algorithmization/programming and educational robotics. The present paper uses educational research to analyse the area of educational robotics as one of the important tools for promoting the concept of developing computational thinking including a description of the specific tools for the implementation of this type of teaching. The aim of the research study was to analyse the current level of pupils’ awareness of and practical experience with educational robotics, both in school and in extracurricular activities. The research tool for data collection was an online questionnaire designed by the authors.

MULTILATERAL VIEW OF SHOAH EVENTS THROUGH LITERARY TEXTS

The paper presents the potential of literary texts with the theme of Shoah in the field of forming the desired profile of citizens of a democratic society. After the introduction, we briefly focus on the anchoring of the Shoah in Czech curricular documents focusing on the educational field of Czech Language and Literature, then we deal with the possibilities of Literary Education in the presentation of Shoah events and then the importance of multilateral perspective on the Shoah and its educational and axiological potential. We demonstrate various multilateral views on the issue of the Shoah with artistic narratives in which one line of events of the Second World War is viewed from another or from different angles.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY COURSE AT PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

The introduction of information and communications technology (ICT) in pedagogical universities of Ukraine has considerably optimized the professor’s preparation for different forms of in-class teaching. The aim of this research is to characterize the range of media resources used during the preparation of the teaching foreign languages methodology course at high-specialized school and universities of Ukraine. The predominant method used to check the effectiveness of ICT was content analysis. The method of psychological experiment served to study the link between ICT and the students’ emotional sphere. An anonymous poll has discovered a considerable number of students showing a positive attitude to online instruments and using those resources very frequently or almost every day.

THE TREND OF WORK FROM HOME AND ITS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

This paper focuses on working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses mainly on the advantages and disadvantages of this way of working, as well as its impact on the psyche and performance of employees and, last but not least, its impact on a company's finances. It uses the synthesis of data found on the internet, from selected reliable sources dealing with the same or similar issues. From these sources it is evident that the effects of working from home are rather negative. The most frequently mentioned advantage is the saving of time, caused mainly by the absence of commuting to the office. The most frequently mentioned disadvantage is the absence of personal contact with co-workers. The disadvantage that a company could feel the most is the extension of the length of communication between employees, and thus the extension of work processes. At first glance, it might seem that a company will save money using this form of work, but the reality is that the company's costs may even increase. This is due to the fact that most companies have chosen to work from home only partly, so the costs of running the offices remain the same or slightly reduced at best, and legislation states that the company must reimburse workers for costs incurred by this form of work. It follows from this contribution that, if possible, workers and employers should avoid the practice of working from home, even though it has a positive effect on the pandemic. The potential for further research could be to compare the results of this work with the same research conducted outside of the pandemic.

WHY SHOULD LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HAVE A DEVELOPED COMMUNICATION STRATEGY? AN ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPAL COMMUNICATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The creation of a communication strategy is an indicator of the subject's approach to communication with the public. The article, based on a sample of 160 municipalities of the Czech Republic, empirically demonstrates that an elaborated communication strategy enhances the public value of intangible assets particularly in the following areas: various segments of citizens are better targeted through a greater number of frequented communication channels, municipal employees are more frequently trained in communication issues, crisis communication plans are likely to be prepared. On the other hand, we confirmed that all these factors are limited to some extent by the size of the municipality and the financial resources allocated for communication.