Department of Preschool and Elementary Education and Psychology scientific and research orientation include:

• competences of children and teachers in preschool education, pre-primary didactics, diagnostics and outdoor education, management of schools and children’s play within the context of preschool education,
• children with general educational needs, children from socially disadvantaging background (focus on the field of preprimary and elementary education),
• cognitive functions and emotional processes affecting the efficiency and abilities of gifted and talented pupil, cognitive processes and functions of pupils in the learning process,
• research methodology, measurement issues and quantitative inference in the social sciences,
• effectiveness of the recent theories in elementary reading and writing, ethical and prosocial education – its practical implementation in preschool and primary stages of education,
• Pedeutology (theory of a teacher’s profession), the issue of professional qualifications of teachers, development of critical thinking in students of educational science, teacher`s psychohygiene (coping with stress, emotional intelligence and emotional regulation, subjective well-being and quality of teacher`s life).

Students, upon completion of the courses offered by of the Department of Preschool and Elementary Education and Psychology, will:

• gain theoretical background in social (especially educational and psychological) sciences with a more narrow focus on preschool and junior school age,
• acquire practical skills related to planning, designing, diagnosing, and implementing educational process, and pedagogical abilities for leisure time activities,
• be able to utilise professional knowledge of preschool, elementary education, and psychology in professional practice; during their teaching practice in kindergarten and elementary school students demonstrate a range of acquired skills and gained subject-specific competences in communicative, interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects.