Magistra Iadertina is a scientific journal published by the Department of Teacher and Preschool Teacher Education at the University of Zadar, Croatia. Annual Proceedings were first published in 2001 when the Teachers College in Zadar gained its independence. With the foundation of the University of Zadar in 2003 the Proceedings were transformed into a journal of the Department of Teacher and Preschool Teacher Education. In 2006 the name was changed to Magistra Iadertina, but the topics remained the same. The journal publishes scientific and professional papers that use interdisciplinary approach to study topics that interest those engaged with teacher and preschool teacher education studies. The journal is published annually. Sveučilište u Zadru Odjel za izobrazbu učitelja i odgojitelja Magistra Iadertina Ulica dr. Franje Tuđmana 24i 23000 Zadar Tel.: 023/311-540, 023/345-043 E-mail: magistra.iadertina@unizd.hr
The study examines the effectiveness of the diagnostic-intervention programme Comprehensive Movement Intervention (CMI), which is based on the principles of neuropedagogy and focuses on correct motor development as the key factor in the successful functioning of pupils with developmental disorders. The research sample comprised ten first-level elementary school pupils with developmental learning disorders and impaired communication skills. The programme lasted for six months, with participants performing individual exercises at home under the supervision of a parent with regular check-ups every four to five weeks. The research methodology combined quantitative and qualitative approaches, and a single-group experiment was used to measure effectiveness. A pretest and posttest assessed 35 areas, each scored from 0 (impaired) to 1 (mastered). The results demonstrated statistically significant improvement: the average score increased from 15.70 to 28.40 (p < 0.05, paired t-test). The greatest improvement occurred in the areas of fine motor skills, balance and attention, and all participants showed improvement in at least one of the monitored areas (100% success rate, McNemar test, p < 0.05). The findings confirm that motor interventions can significantly affect the perceptual and executive functions of pupils with developmental disabilities. The study at the same time highlights the need for longitudinal studies on a larger sample and with a control group. The CMI programme appears to be a promising tool for supporting inclusive education. The study was conducted within the framework of the VEGA project No. 1/0196/23.
Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Josip Cvrtila in Croatian literature for children
The purpose of this paper is to research literary history by examining the work of the teacher and writer Josip Cvrtila, at his creative peak as a respected, but now largely forgotten, author of Croatian children’s literature. The paper will show that Cvrtila’s contribution has not received recognition it deserves in historical accounts of Croatian children’s literature, which will justify the need for research on this topic and its revaluation. The research will rely on sources from the first half of the 20th century, and for this purpose, articles and discussions from newspapers, contributions from professional and children’s magazines, archival materials, biographical and autobiographical records, and a listed bibliography of Josip Cvrtila’s work will be analysed. In addition, the research will focus on a comparison of the reconstructed perception of Josip Cvrtila’s work in the first half of the 20th century with the representations of that period created after World War II, those from the second half of the twentieth century and those created after the independence of the Republic of Croatia, with the aim of understanding the selection procedures that have resulted in the representation of Cvrtila’s work today.
Significant determinants of contribution to the development of higher levels of intercultural sensitivity
In the so-called global village of the 21st century, interactions between people of different cultural heritages are becoming more frequent as a result of technological development and mobility, which is reflected in business, travel and leisure. The task of intercultural education (ICE) is to develop intercultural sensitivity (IS) as an affective component and at the same time the foundation and prerequisite for intercultural communication competence (ICC). IS is developed through the curriculum of the cross-curricular theme of civic education and through the curricula of a number of school subjects/faculty courses (especially social studies, linguistics and art), by holistically affecting all aspects of student development. Educational institutions (which, according to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, are part of the microsystem of the child/student) play an important role in the development of IS. However, research shows that teachers in many countries, including the Republic of Croatia, are still not sufficiently prepared for the challenges of IS. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of key predictors, or determinants, that contribute to the development of IS, present relevant empirical findings and offer a critical review. According to the research results, these determinants can be divided into: a) indirect: multicultural experiences (more frequent contacts with members and friendships with people from other cultures, volunteer work, student exchanges, education with members of other cultures, etc.) and b) direct: following news and events outside one’s own country, following media and art from other cultures, learning about other cultures, knowledge of foreign languages, a number of psychological determinants (such as ethnocultural empathy, social-emotional competence, self-confidence in interactions, personality traits - primarily Agreeableness, Extraversion and Openness, behavioral flexibility, self-control), and sociodemographic (individual education, educational status of parents, years of experience of educational staff, graduate level of study, urbanity of residence, type of secondary school, etc.). Based on the analysis of the aforementioned predictors and insights from empirical research, the final part of the paper formulates recommendations for more effective development of IOiO in accordance with the constructivist learning paradigm.
intercultural communication competence (ICC)
recommendations for more efficient development of IOiO
The influence of prior experience and gender on changes in somatic, cognitive, and self-confidence anxiety levels during ski technique learning
The aim of this research was to determine changes in anxiety among students when learning alpine skiing technique with regard to prior knowledge and gender and the level of anxiety on performance evaluation. 130 kinesiology students (74 male and 56 female students) participated in the research. In this study, anxiety was self-assessed using a questionnaire, and it was represented by three levels of anxiety: a) somatic anxiety level, b) cognitive anxiety level and c) self-confidence anxiety level. The respondents were divided into two groups depending on their previous experience in skiing: beginners and advanced, and there were equal numbers of men and women in both groups. Adoption and improvement of alpine skiing techniques was carried out over 10 days. Anxiety was assessed at three control points: a) immediately before learning the skiing technique, b) after 4 days (or on the morning of the fifth day) and c) after 7 days (or on the morning of the eighth day). The t-test F(1,126) was used to examine the difference in the total score between the beginners and the advanced students. The recorded level of anxiety in terms of the somatic anxiety level was higher among the beginners than in the advanced group, although the somatic anxiety level decreased during the learning of skiing technique in both groups. The same applies to the cognitive anxiety level. The self-confidence anxiety level remained consistently significantly higher among the advanced participants compared to the beginners. Girls are statistically significantly more anxious when looking at the total score and the cognitive and self-confidence anxiety level, but such statistically significant differences were not recorded in the case of the somatic anxiety level. When it comes to the connection between the aforementioned anxieties and the overall grade, lower anxiety correlates with better grades in all cases.
Collective teacher efficacy in primary schools
Collective teacher efficacy is a shared group belief that the group is capable of performing certain activities to achieve success. In the educational context, teacher perceptions of collective efficacy refer to their personal assessment of their colleagues’ abilities to perform teaching activities which support students’ psychological and social adaptation to the school environment. A vast body of research indicates that collective teacher efficacy correlates with students’ school success and teacher well-being. The aim of this research was to examine the perceptions of collective teacher efficacy in primary schools. The research involved 761 primary school teachers from all counties in the Republic of Croatia. The collective teacher efficacy survey and the sociodemographic data survey were applied. The findings indicate that teachers have slightly higher assessment of collective efficacy of teachers, while they seem to have slightly lower assessment of student abilities. No statistically significant differences were found in the perceptions of collective efficacy between classroom teachers and subject teachers. Also, no statistically significant differences were found in the perceptions of collective efficacy in terms of the years of teaching experience.
Functions of listening to music among choir and klapa singers
Music plays an important role in people’s lives and has various functions, such as personal, social and cultural functions. This paper investigates the functions of listening to music among choir and klapa singers and examines whether gender, singing in a choir or a klapa, completing secondary education and attending additional music lessons are significant predictors of the aforementioned functions. The study was conducted via an online questionnaire on a sample of 130 participants, who were singing in various choirs and klapa groups from Croatia. The research employed a questionnaire to collect sociodemographic data from the participants, and The Adaptive Functions of Music Listening Scale (Groarke and Hogan, 2018), which contains 46 items, was also used. The results confirm that, compared with men, women listen to music more to satisfy cognitive functions, whereas in the case of affective functions, no differences were observed between men and women. Singing in a choir or a klapa and additional music lessons did not prove to be significant predictors of music listening functions. Compared with participants from vocational schools, those who attended grammar schools listen to music more to satisfy cognitive functions, which is explained by the influence of music lessons during secondary education. The results obtained have numerous implications for the psychology of music and music pedagogy. The paper presents implications of the obtained results for the field of music pedagogy.
Dropping out of primary music schools – parents’ perspective
The decrease in the number of children enrolled in primary general and music schools alike and the fact that a significant number of students who start specialized music education drop out raises the question of the sustainability of music education in Croatia. The aim of the study is to determine parents’ opinions regarding the factors that lead to dropping out of primary music schools in Croatia and the ways to help students graduate from primary music school. Similar to the previous research by Nikolić et al. (2023), which conducted a survey among music school teachers in Croatia, parents (N = 425) identified four contexts for students dropping out of music school: student, educational context, parents and communication. In addition, they singled out the teacher as a possible reason for dropping out of primary music school. Parents agreed that the most important reasons for dropping out of primary music school were the students’ inadequate interest and motivation in learning music, but also the extracurricular overload since compulsory general primary school takes priority in their education, as well as difficulties in coordinating schedules between schools, extracurricular activities and independent learning and practicing of the instrument at home. As significant factors for dropping out of music school, parents recognize students’ insufficient effort and insufficient practicing of the instrument, as well as parents’ failure to provide their child with the necessary support when they want to give up because of a crisis, and parents’ failure to encourage the child to practice the instrument regularly. Parents suggested how stakeholders in the music education process could offer better support to music school students.
The significance of the school environment for the implementation of a constructivist approach to teaching
In order for the constructivist teaching approach to be successfully implemented in the classroom, a stimulating school environment must be created. Since this teaching approach is primarily student-centred, it is understandable that the focus of the implementation of teaching must be on the learning process itself, which requires a challenging and stimulating environment, the development of students’ and teachers’ intrinsic motivation and authentic assessment of performance. The learning environment can be considered as a space with material and physical aspects in which the learning process takes place, as well as the climate of socio-emotional relationships or the setting in which the learning process takes place. The results of this research indicate a lack of time, excessive content and the demands in terms of time and effort required to prepare and deliver lessons according to the principles of the constructivist teaching approach.
Analysis of the orientation of study programs towards the labour market through the prism of entrepreneurial competencies
This study aims to elaborate, compare and revise the characteristics, trends and connections between the orientation of certain study programs on the labour market demands through the development of entrepreneurship by using theoretical and comparative approach. Accordingly, a qualitative methodological approach was used, that is, data collection through document analysis as well as the trend analysis method. The results indicate the presence and/or absence of a large number of outcomes related to entrepreneurial competencies and the potential relevance of individual study programmes. Special attention is focused on the analysis of the learning outcome s visible in the syllabi of eighteen undergraduate, graduate and integrated study programs conducted at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. There is a difference in study programmes designed in the last five years, while other study programmes which have been delivered at the University of Osijek for many years retain the tradition, but also the need to change for new generations. The trend analysis highlights the ever-increasing relevance and, therefore, the orientation on the labour market of those study programmes that were created in the last five to seven years. As a result, one can conclude that students outside the faculties of economics do not acquire enough competencies for entrepreneurship. In addition to revising study programmes, it is necessary to offer new elective courses at different levels of education, but also free elective courses that would give students a wider knowledge and the possibility of acquiring entrepreneurial competencies during their studies. All of the above is a response to the challenges that the young face when completing their higher education. One of the indicators of the necessity of introducing changes is the growing number of teaching staff who decide to change their profession upon completing their studies or who enter the private sector (OECD, 2008; 2016; 2019). In this sense, the development of entrepreneurial competencies strengthens competitiveness on the market but also contributes to the sense of a complete professional competence.
Enhancing Job Satisfaction in Teaching Through Effective Leadership and Management
The present study aimed to examine the relationship between effective leadership and management and the job satisfaction of teaching staff working in various degree colleges in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. A structured questionnaire was used, comprising three parts: demographic details, the Effective Leadership and Management Scale (ELMS), and the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS). The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional design, with data collected from 180 teacher educators across six degree colleges using an anonymous, closed-ended survey. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to conduct data analysis. The results indicated that the average score for effective leadership and management was 2.9 ± 0.8, reflecting a moderate to high level of perceived leadership effectiveness. Similarly, the mean score for job satisfaction was 3.1 ± 0.9, suggesting very good satisfaction levels among the participants. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between effective leadership and management practices and overall job satisfaction. Specifically, higher scores in the dimensions of individuality, performance, and direction were strongly associated with greater satisfaction among teaching staff. The findings underscore the importance of empowering educators, promoting their well-being, and enhancing job satisfaction through the implementation of effective leadership and management practices. These should be considered a priority and strategic goal for educational administrators aiming to improve institutional performance and teaching quality.
Copyright (c) 2025 Shrikant Singh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Nomenclature of the ADHD Construct in the Context of the Croatian Speaking Area
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a pervasive and persistent disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Labeling and stigmatization of such students in educational environments is not uncommon. The language used to describe individuals with difficulties influences the ways of interacting with them and the expectations placed upon them in the social and educational context. The processes of labeling and stigmatization are influenced by the terminology of the disorder, as well as the alignment of that terminology with either the medical or social model of disabilities. The medical model accepts the medical perspective as authoritative in defining difficulties and disabilities, while the social model focuses on the social environment of the person with disabilities and/or difficulties. Stigmatization begins with the recognition of differences within a social context and the labeling of individuals who deviate from societal norms. Such differences are often associated with negative stereotypes, followed by prejudice and discrimination, which negatively affect the social opportunities and academic success of students with ADHD. The scientific purpose of this paper is to offer a scientifically established proposal of terminology that will be used in future scientific and professional papers, legal acts, and interdisciplinary communication among experts. The practical implementation of this terminology represents the applicative purpose of this paper. The primary aim of this work is to present the development of terminology related to the disorder in the Croatian language, which is most commonly referred to as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, in Anglo-Saxon contexts, and to propose an optimal term for future use in the Croatian language. Two terms have been proposed for future use: (1) “Difficulties of Activity and Attention” and (2) ADHD.
Copyright (c) 2025 Davor Vukelić https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Contextual Factors as a Parameter of the Quality Implementation of Educational Inclusion – the Prism of the Family Context and Regular School System
This review paper explores and defines the role of contextual factors as constructive elements in inclusive education. Quality implementation of inclusion implies changes at the level of everyday educational practice, focusing on the clear role of all key stakeholders involved in the implementation process itself. Analyzing various dimensions of context, including family environment, school systems, social climate, and political and legislative frameworks, the paper explores how these factors shape and encourage inclusive education. By reviewing relevant research, the paper identifies key aspects of context that positively influence inclusion. Exploration of their role in supporting diversity and creating enabling frameworks for people with different educational needs emphasizes the principle of accepting mutual differences in work as incentives, not obstacles. By identifying key contextual factors in order to analyze and synthesize previous knowledge, a clear framework and starting point is created in terms of organizational and programmatic preconditions for the implementation of inclusion. Synthesis of previous knowledge provides insight into the importance of contextual approach to inclusive education, emphasizing the need for further research and practices aimed at improving inclusive education in the system of regular and special educational institutions.
preschool and regular educational system
Copyright (c) 2025 Matilda Karamatić Brčić, Marijana Miočić, Tena Velki https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Systematic Analysis of Research Studies on Students’ Self-management Supported by Use of Digital Technology in Primary Education
This systematic review critically evaluates peer-reviewed literature on the outcomes of self-management interventions in primary schools, supported by use of digital technologies. Guided by the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the review encompassed eight databases and included empirical studies, literature reviews, meta-analyses, and theoretical contributions published between 2014 and 2024. Inclusion criteria mandated a focus on school-based self-management interventions in primary school settings.Findings highlight the critical influence of self-management on primary education. Studies demonstrate that interventions, including those leveraging digital tools, games, and open educational resources, significantly enhance student engagement, learning outcomes, as well as social and emotional competencies. The review underscores the importance of teacher training and acknowledges challenges in integrating self-management strategies within existing curricula. Effective self-management necessitates a nuanced approach combining traditional methods with modern digital technologies tailored to individual student needs. For example, integrating game-based self-management techniques and digital tools, like mobile learning applications, benefits engagement and academic performance, particularly for students with learning challenges. While further research is crucial to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of digital interventions and develop innovative strategies for promoting self-management across diverse educational contexts, potential benefits of digital technology-based approaches are clear. The limitations of traditional methods, which often prioritize external control over fostering intrinsic motivation and self-regulation, highlight the need for new and engaging tools. This is particularly relevant considering that young children often struggle with self-management skills, exhibiting behaviours like aggression, lack of motivation, and disengagement from learning. Traditional approaches frequently lack effective interventions, especially those leveraging modern digital technologies, needed to adequately address these challenges and cultivate essential self-management skills. However, research indicates a significant gap in exploring the development of self-management skills in connection with the implementation of digital technology in learning environments. This gap represents a crucial area for further investigation, as it highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of how digital technology can be leveraged not just for academic progress, but also for fostering essential social-emotional competencies like self-management. Therefore, exploring the use of interactive games, educational apps, and engaging digital platforms, specifically designed with self-management development in mind, offers a promising avenue for transforming how these crucial skills are taught and learned. These digital technologies hold the potential to create more engaging and personalized learning experiences, catering to individual needs and learning styles in ways that traditional methods often fail to accomplish.
Copyright (c) 2025 Miha Cojhter, Marta Licardo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
An Error Analysis of University Students’ L2 English Essay Writing
Learning a second or foreign language (L2/FL) involves mastering basic language skills, with writing being the most challenging and often problematic for L2 learners. Despite its importance, writing has historically been overlooked in L2 instruction (Carter & Nunan, 2001), even though it is regarded as one of the most difficult aspects of L2 learning (Hyland, 2004). Errors are considered inevitable and important in L2 learning (James, 2001), providing insight into what learners have or have not yet mastered. L2 learners often make errors in writing due to various factors, including negative transfer or interference from their first language (L1), which are classified as interlingual errors. In contrast, errors arising from a lack of knowledge of L2 rules are referred to as intralingual errors (Saville-Troike, 2008). This study aimed to identify errors in L2 English essay writing among students. Fifty-three students from a higher education institution training primary school teachers, who had taken English as a Foreign Language classes as part of their study programme, participated in the research. The students were tasked with writing a 350-word opinion essay on a specified topic. Quantitative and qualitative error analysis has revealed that the students made more interlingual than intralingual errors, with the most frequent errors involving articles, prepositions, spelling, and capitalisation. The study also found that although the first language was not the only source of errors, it still influenced the L2 English writing process. These findings align with other studies (e.g., Phuket & Othman, 2015; Patekar, 2017; Shakir, Rasool & Khan, 2020). The study results suggest that more practice in explicit L2 teaching and targeted instruction is needed to enhance students’ writing skills at the higher education level.
Copyright (c) 2025 Katica Balenović https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Educational and Family Values in the Fairy Tale “Stribor’s Forest”– Promoting Altruism and Moral Development in Students
As one of the most renowned Croatian writers, Ivana Brlić Mažuranić is significant for the development of children’s literature. In the fairy tale “Forest of Stribor,” the author depicts the unconditional love of a mother for her son, a love that persists despite life’s challenges. The mother is willing to sacrifice herself for her son, even when he treats her unjustly. The author’s works abound with educational values that are relevant even today, in the era of globalization, internationalization, technological advancements, artificial intelligence, communication networks, and unfortunately, the atrophy of universal values. The aim of this study is to analyze the pedagogical aspects of educational values, especially family values, in the literary work/ fairy tale “Forest of Stribor” by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić. By applying qualitative research approach and employing interviews as a research instrument, an attempt was made to determine the understanding of the fairy tale and family values from the perspective of fourth-grade students in an elementary school in Osijek. The analysis of the research results will shape and determine the understanding of family values from the students’ perspective as well as the development of students’ morals and altruism in order to gain a clearer insight into how education was approached in the Croatian cultural context at the time of the fairy tale’s creation and into the author’s own value system.
Copyright (c) 2025 Višnja Vekić-Kljaić, Vesnica Mlinarević, Janja Lučić https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
UN Education for Sustainable Development in Action
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), promoted by the United Nations, is a social movement to be nurtured for the future benefit of the planet and humanity. In a rapidly changing world, where cascading risks are increasingly evident, the continued development of ESD is critical to overcoming cross-cutting challenges. Starting from the viewpoint that quality education should focus on learning ‘how to live sustainably,’ this article examines the integration of ESD into Croatian primary schooling within the context of current global challenges, as defined by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research examines the implementation of selected ESD priority areas that are relevant for primary schooling: advancing policy, transforming learning environments, building the capacities of educators, and establishing a monitoring system that could track and enhance national education policy and performance. This paper also discusses relevant global and EU education frameworks, singling out the recently published Cypriot policy as an example of good practice. The research was conducted in 927 primary schools in Croatia. The results revealed that the primary obstacle to further ESD development in primary education is the insufficient integration of new ESD achievements and trends, largely because many challenges that should be globally addressed by the Agenda 2030 are not satisfactorily integrated into teaching. This indicates the need to amend the existing National Curriculum, which is still under development, and calls for substantive support from the highest decision-making spheres regarding the global importance of sustainable development. Respondents also indicated the need for improved knowledge, skills, and cooperation among teaching staff and a wider range of stakeholders, such as local communities. A more comprehensive approach to improving ESD in Croatia could be inspired by Cyprus’s ESD policy to bring together a wider range of stakeholders and achieve ESD objectives in a timely manner.
education for sustainable development (ESD)
Copyright (c) 2025 Mira Zovko, Vatroslav Zovko https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
The Relationship Between Vocal Fatigue Symptoms in Teachers and Sources of Teacher Stress
The aim of this study was to examine the occurrence of vocal fatigue in a group of teachers and to examine its possible connection with workload, i.e., inappropriate student behaviour and the need for professional recognition as sources of professional stress among these voice professionals. The study involved 74 participants (62 women and 12 men) aged 24 to 65 years – 40 of them employed in primary schools and 34 in secondary schools – who completed the Croatian version of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI-C) questionnaire and the Scale for Measuring Sources of Teacher Stress. The results showed the existence of a statistically significant positive correlation between the average results in all three categories of the VFI-C and all subscales of the Scale for Measuring Sources of Teacher Stress. A higher level of stress in teachers was associated with greater self-perceived presence of vocal fatigue symptoms. Compared to male teachers, female teachers reported statistically significantly higher stress caused by all observed sources and a higher overall experience of stress. This points to the importance of workload control and stress management in educational settings in reducing the risk of the occurrence of vocal fatigue symptoms among teachers, especially among female teachers.
Copyright (c) 2025 Inja Tadić, Ana Bonetti, Marina Olujić Tomazin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Opinions of Primary School Teachers on Learning Modalities of First-Grade Students with Special Emphasis on the Importance of Auditory Attention
Human senses represent an entry point for information, which is then processed in order to ultimately shape a behavior. Although all senses play an important role in learning, the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways of receiving information represent the three most common types of learning. In order for teachers to organize the teaching process in a dynamic and proactive way—aligned with the student’s optimal learning modality—it is important to recognize that modality and adapt the teaching process accordingly. It is also important to emphasize that a student’s ability to communicate their needs, ideas, and thoughts plays a crucial role in the acquisition of educational content. Therefore, the aim of this research was to examine the opinions of primary school teachers on the learning modalities of first-grade students, with a particular focus on listening and its connection to the teacher’s assessment of students’ communication skills. For the purpose of the research, a questionnaire was designed to assess the opinions of primary school teachers regarding learning modalities, especially in connection with the auditory modality. A total of 460 primary school teachers from 14 counties in Croatia completed the questionnaire. The results show that teachers believe that the longest attention span and the most successful acquisition of educational content among first-grade students are achieved through the visual modality, while the auditory modality is considered the least effective. On the other hand, teachers believe that students’ communication skills are linked to selective auditory attention, auditory memory, and the acquisition of educational content through auditory means. These findings indicate the need to develop programmatic activities in preschool and early primary education with the aim to increase those activities that foster the development of listening skills.
Copyright (c) 2025 Koraljka Bakota, Katarina Pavičić Dokoza, Marija Žagmešter Kemfelja https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Research of Children’s Literature in Ukrainian Scientific Discourse
Contemporary studies of children’s literature are multidimensional and multidisciplinary. They cover texts and contexts, focus on both individual works or a writer’s body of work and on theoretical generalizations of literary and cultural phenomena, as well as on national and comparative studies. However, in different countries, study of children’s literature has its own specifics and history of development. In this article, the authors reviewed and analyzed the Ukrainian efforts in researching children’s literature. The role and contribution of famous writers, scientists and teachers in affirming children’s literature as a full-fledged subject of scientific studies was determined. The key trends in the development of Ukrainian studies of children’s literature in the late 20th and the early 21st century were highlighted, listing the main problems which they raise. In this context, effective strategies, methodologies and critical approaches were considered in the research. These efforts revealed the potential of a systematic study of contemporary Ukrainian prose for children and youth as a multifaceted subject. They resulted in an outline of the concept of the artistic-aesthetic paradigm and the methodology of its cognition, which is based on the literary analysis of poetics that encompasses narrative, receptive-aesthetic, gender, post-colonial and other approaches as well as multidisciplinary studies.
multidisciplinary studies of children’s literature
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Puppet Theater Transposition of Contemporary Picturebooks
U radu se analiziraju odabrane suvremene lutkarske predstave izvedene prema slikovnicama kao predlošcima s ciljem utvrđivanja karakteristika koje povezuju slikovnicu i lutkarsko kazalište te načina na koje se u lutkarskim predstavama očituju transformirani verbalno-vizualni elementi slikovnica prema kojima su predstave izvedene. Polazi se od zajedničkih karakteristika slikovnice i lutkarske predstave kao što je višemodalnost slikovnice odnosno sinteza više umjetnosti kao sastavnica lutkarske predstave, te od teze Milana Čečuka (2009) prema kojoj je ekspresija slikovnice na različite načine prisutna u lutkarskim predstavama koje autor interpretira kao oživljene trodimenzijske slikovnice. U svim analiziranim lutkarskim predstavama prisutni su tijek radnje i vizualna ekspresija slikovnice na način koji doprinosi razvijanju scenske dinamike te je slikovničko nizanje prizora prisutno u transformiranju verbalnih i vizualnih diskursa slikovnica predložaka u komponente lutkarskih predstava.
theater of different means of expression
Towards a New Periodization of Croatian Children’s Literature
As part of numerous studies that are carried out in the field of scientific examination of Croatian children’s literature as a literary, cultural and social phenomenon, there is a need to rethink the way of establishing the periodization of the development of Croatian children’s literature. The paper starts from Crnković’s periodization of Croatian children’s literature and its socio-political contextualization undertaken by Majhut, and in the central part of the paper, presents a proposal to consider its cultural field, which could serve as a further incentive to outline the development of Croatian children’s literature as objectively as possible.
Materiality, Metafiction and “The Reality of Fantasy”in Contemporary Picturebooks
According to many scholars, picturebooks are artefacts that deserve not only to be read but also cherished. Artists and publishers nowadays experiment more and more with book architecture in order to attract consumers. As a result, picturebooks in interesting shapes and different sizes, featuring impressive fabrics and boasting odd paper qualities and unusual textures are published, imbued with aesthetic and ludic appeal. The use of cuts, flaps, foldouts, envelopes, slipcases, die-cuts, pop-ups, and tabs in picturebooks, all challenge the traditional reading process, as readers must carefully observe their physical, multisensory and interactive elements so as to interpret the denotative and connotative meanings of the picturebooks and participate in storytelling. Those materials also draw attention to the status of books as objects, dissolving the boundaries between fiction and reality. Based on previous academic research regarding the differences between concepts such as narrativity and nonnarrativity, fiction, nonfiction and metafiction, and the material aspects of picturebooks, this article correlates the concepts of metafiction and materiality. It discusses the role of movable parts in picturebooks and the way they offer readers a playful experience, compelling them to embed that narratives are artefacts of fiction and making them aware of the interplay between reality and illusion, allowing the latter to become part of their world.
Didacticism in Croatian Translations of Children’s Literature on Examples From Anglophone Literature
Reading any literary work with the intention of finding life’s truths and lessons or authorial views, political, or ideological messages in the text, we will find a series of explicit or implicit attempts to teach or direct the reader. If we specifically look for it, the element of didacticism can be found in every literary work. However, didacticism is most often associated with children’s literature because it is often believed that it is precisely children readers who need this kind of instruction, message, and direction. Didacticism is recognised by the intention to direct the reader towards an idea or behaviour, and thematically encompasses a spectrum from moral lessons to socio-political dogmas. In the Croatian context, the phenomenon of annotated editions of works included in the required and recommended reading lists is interesting. Methodically annotated works are special for their final overall form and interpretation possibilities, because the literary text is joined by a paratext composed of a methodical instrument, usually in the form of accompanying texts, annotations, and a dictionary of foreign words. In this way, the work acquires the direction of probable interpretation in the educational context and in younger readers. Although both Croatian titles and translations appear in methodically annotated editions, this paper will analyse elements of didacticism in translations of children’s literature on the example of two works from Anglophone literature, Peter Pan and Winnie-the-Pooh. Both works are considered classics of children’s literature and their Croatian translations have been included on Croatian primary school required and recommended reading lists for many years.
Croatian translations of children’s literature
Due to the limits on minors’ legal, geographic, and financial agency, many young people face difficulties directly engaging in civic activity or political activism. Researchers must therefore find creative, desire-centered ways of engaging with youth theories in a manner that is accessible to a broad number of young people. This paper explores the methodologies and theoretical findings of a six-month digital ethnographic study in which twelve American teenagers read and analyzed works of young adult speculative fiction that explore political themes through the central metaphor of monstrosity. Over the course of the study, the participants’ theories of monstrosity fell into three conceptual categories: invisible monsters (internal forces), the monstrous oppressed, and monstrous oppressors. This paper aims to demonstrate that the methodological approach of engaging with youth political knowledges through young adult literature leads to theoretical bridges across academic disciplines and offers social, emotional, and intellectual benefits to young research participants.
The History of Children’s Literature as Viewed by Socialist Researchers in Croatia Until 1965
Even today, research papers dealing with socialist children’s literature written in socialist Yugoslavia are rare. One gets the impression that such literature for children never existed. It is as if children’s literature was either not written in the period of socialist Yugoslavia, or if it was, it had nothing to do with the socialist environment in which it was created. As if children’s literature was being created beyond the existing socialist reality and entirely independently of it. Such a perception of Croatian children’s literature from the period of socialism, presented to us by researchers of children’s literature, has persisted in socialist Yugoslavia as well as in democratic Croatia. However, there was one period in communist Yugoslavia when the topic of socialist children’s literature was addressed in various publications. This happened during a relatively short interval after enough time had passed since the Second World War and the revolutionary change that affected all parts and aspects of society, including children’s literature, and when a sufficient number of literary works for children and practices already existed. There are two authors who marked that period of children’s literature studies: Grigor Vitez and Danko Oblak. Grigor Vitez published theoretical texts that focused mainly on fairy tales and children’s poetry, whereas some of his works were left behind in manuscript form. This theoretical effort was primarily pragmatically motivated, making it easier for him to create editorial policies, which have also influenced the general direction of Croatian children’s literature. Danko Oblak, on the other hand, was interested in the connection of children’s literature with the socialist era in which it took shape. In order to better determine the characteristics of contemporary children’s literature, he had to turn to the past, explore the development, features of certain previous periods of children’s literature, and the circumstances in which one period transitioned to another. In other words, Danko Oblak created an outline of socialist Yugoslav children’s literature, which is the subject of this paper.
Application of Video Games in Teaching Required Reading (The Case of the Novel Crime and Punishment and the Video Game Crime and Punishment: Who Framed Raskolnikov?)
Starting from contemporary tendencies in which digital media take up a significant amount of time and content, which is often to the detriment of reading, especially when it comes to classic literature and required reading, the paper advocates the thesis that in order to develop reading habits and master required reading lists in modern times, it is necessary to use opportunities that modern technologies make possible. In particular, the possibilities offered by video games can be put to use, especially since the number of video games based on literary classics has lately been increasing. The paper provides an overview of video games that refer to required reading and offers suggestions for the use of video games in the development of reading habits as exemplified by the video game “Crime and Punishment”. Who framed Raskolnikov? In this game, 1% of the text of the novel is directly quoted, and it can be suggested to students to read the novel and compare it with the video game: what has been preserved from the novel, do they agree with the solutions of the author of the video game, etc. This kind of reading includes an activity that is important to young people today and brings them closer to the art of the written word. Also, it is important that it informs them that today the profession of a video game developer relates to reading, i.e., it informs them that the importance of reading has not decreased even in those branches that are habitually associated with “anti-reading”.
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Processing Child Language Data Using Croatian-Italian Bilingualism as a Case Study
This paper provides insight into one aspect of processing child language data, using the transcription of an audio recording of the interaction between a bilingual girl and her mother as an example. Much of what we know today about early language development stems from child language corpora, created through recordings of spontaneous interactions between children and their parents, and the subsequent transcription of such collected language data (cf. Kuvač and Palmović, 2007; Behrens, 2008; Ordulj and Hržica, 2015). One method of transcribing and processing language data was developed for the needs of the CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System; MacWhinney, 2000). The aim of this paper is to present the application of that model and its standards in the transcription of audio recordings created within the project of constructing the bilingual Croatian-Italian child language corpus, MaLi (Batinić Angster and Angster, 2024). Using an example of the spontaneous speech production of a bilingual girl interacting with her mother, which takes place mostly in Italian, the paper will illustrate the transcription procedures of a one-hour audio recording using the CHAT (Codes for the Human Analysis of Transcripts; MacWhinney, 2000) program. Special attention will be given to marking developmental errors related to phonetic-phonological development and overgeneralization, as well as specific features of bilingual production, such as code-switching.
Teaching in Croatia From 1874 to 1918. Characteristics, Aspirations, Development of the Profession, and Social Circumstances
Using a historical, theoretical comparative and hermeneutic methodological approach, this paper critically describes, analyses, systematises and recapitulates the characteristics, aspirations and development of teaching and schooling in the context of social circumstances in Croatia from the adoption of the First Education Act in 1874 until the end of the First World War in 1918. It is clear that in that period, the economic, social, political and cultural circumstances were unfavourable both for the Croatian society and the teaching profession. Despite this, Ban Ivan Mažuranić progressively reformed certain segments of the state system. The development of education and teaching stood out, advocated by forward-looking teachers around Ivan Filipović. Teachers’ associations were formed, and some of the most significant ones were the Teachers’ Association, the Union of Croatian Teachers’ Societies and the Croatian Pedagogical and Literary Choir. A progressive school law was passed in 1874, which improved Croatian education and teaching. However, it was replaced by a more conservative school law in 1888. First teachers’ journals were launched and cooperation with teachers from abroad was established. It is possible to recapitulate how well organized and advanced Croatian teaching and schooling was at that time, both in Croatia and abroad, despite significant social, political and economic disadvantages, achieving its main goal.
Enhancing management skills of university personnel through additional education programs
The article explores the scientific and theoretical foundations of transforming modern approaches to management in the context of expanding the managerial skills of university personnel through additional education programs, which is relevant in today’s educational environment. The increasing complexity of operating conditions, the transformation of the higher education system, changes in educational processes, and rising demands for the quality and competitiveness of higher education institutions require effective utilization of management tools and the development of contemporary leadership qualities by university leaders. Additional education programs, as an element of university personnel management, allow university staff to acquire necessary knowledge and managerial skills focused on strategic planning, efficient resource management, the development of communication skills, and the formation of ethical leadership. These programs provide a unique opportunity for university personnel to develop and unfold their managerial and leadership potentials, contributing to the improvement of education quality, enhancing the institution’s prestige, and ensuring its competitiveness in the face of global changes in higher education.
Educators’ and Parents’ Estimates of Preschool Children’s Social Skills
The paper presents the results of the research on the assessment of social skills in preschool children provided by educators and parents. Starting from the fact that social skills represent special abilities for performing specific social tasks, it seemed interesting to investigate the significance of the development of social skills in preschool children, which the research presents from the perspective of educators and parents. In order to determine this, in the second half of the work year 2022/2023, the research was conducted on a unique sample of educators and parents (N = 388) from the area of the City of Belgrade and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Republic of Serbia). The research results collected by Scaler – EEP-SSCPA (a = .866) and processed by the Mann-Whitney U test, Medians and calculated eta-square showed that educators and parents of preschool children mostly have unanimous assessments about the need and importance of developing preschool children’s social skills, primarily their cooperation, self-control and assertiveness. No significant difference was found in the educators’ and parents’ assessments of the disruptive influence that externalized and internalized problems in the behaviour of preschool children can potentially have on the development of their social skills. Based on the results of the research, the paper points out the need to implement educational work in kindergartens by means of innovative educational systems that include play and other activities of children derived from project-based learning, which allows them to be more involved in their development, education and learning, while relationships and actions in different life and practical circumstances in the kindergarten, family and social environment enable them to obtain benefits for themselves and develop their own social skills.