Project manager: Prof. Dr. Jozef Liba, Ph.D.

Co-investigators: Prof. M. Sc. Jana Burgerová, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Dr. Renáta Bernátová, Ph.D., Hedviga Hafičová, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alica Petrasová, Ph.D., Vladimír Piskura, Ph.D., Silvia Bratková, Ph.D., Milica Sabol, Ph.D.

Annotation: Generally speaking, successful versatility and balance in personality development is preconditioned by one’s health condition. Therefore, results of any human activity are determined by the balance between the subjective and the objective facets of a human personality, i.e., by the level of health. Romany pupils from a socially disadvantaged environment represent a specific and, at the same time, highly serious educational problem. The failure to meet fundamental education objectives in the majority of Romany pupils requires, both in short-term and long-term perspectives, a search for and verification of a new education paradigm that will reflect specific features of the Romany ethnic group. A large number of adverse health-related and social-pathological parameters in the field of education to health indicates dysfunctional education strategies and raises questions concerning possible changes. Therefore, what is required is a systematic, purposeful, experimentally and empirically founded reflection of the state-of-the-art in the field of pro-health education. Heavy consumption of drugs (alcohol, tobacco and, partly, solvents), frequent health problems, insufficient and inadequate diet, inappropriate personal and community hygiene, one-sided and irregular motion activities, social-pathological phenomena, premature sexual activities and the related high birthrate in teenagers, etc. are the factors that affect the mental and somatic development of Romany children. The project is aimed at examining, analyzing and evaluating the efficiency of the current education in relation to health and of prevention of social-pathological phenomena in the primary school curriculum. The focus group will be Romany pupils from a socially disadvantaged environment. This will make it possible to specify education preferences in terms of modification and innovation of pro-health education of Romany pupils. In addition, it will help to implement the health-prevention competence in education of future primary school teachers.

 

 

Project manager: Prof. Dr. Iveta Kovalčíková, Ph.D.

Co-investigators: Prof. Dr. Ľudmila Liptáková, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Dr. Martin Klimovič, Ph.D., Juraj Kresila, Ph.D., Marta Filičková, Ph.D., Ivan Ropovik, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alena Prídavková, Ph.D., Dr. Edita Šimčíková, Ph.D., Blanka Tomková, Ph.D., V. Zvijáková

Annotation: The aim of the project – based on the latest knowledge from cognitive and educational sciences – is to develop and experimentally verify programs focused on the stimulation of executive functions of underperforming pupil (in the last grade of elementary education). Following a cognitive analysis of tasks in the field of math and Slovak curriculum and taking into account the potential of the tasks for the use in the stimulation of pupil’s executive functions, cognitive stimulation programs in the domain of math and Slovak language will be developed. In the process of the research, it will be experimentally determined, to what extent can the domain/specific curricularly oriented stimulation programs improve the quality of executive functioning in an underperforming pupil, possibly mediating other, especially performative characteristics. The particular programs will aim at the optimization of the quality/extent of working memory, the quality of attentional control, the quality of self-regulation and cognitive planning. Moreover, the relationship between the improvement of the quality of pupil’s executive functioning, his/her scholastic performance and his/her level of self-assessment will be the subject of inquiry. Based on the acquired knowledge, (1) a didactic material for teachers aimed at the cognitive stimulation of individual educational needs of pupils will be developed, (2) seminars for teachers, special education teachers and psychologists focused on the presentation and work with the stimulation program will be organized, (3) a curriculum of the course „Cognitive stimulation of pupil’s individual educational needs“ will be developed. Subsequently, the course will be integrated into the study programs Preschool and Elementary Education, Special Education, and Psychology.

 

Project manager: Prof. Dr. Zuzana Stanislavová, CSc.

Co-investigators: Assoc. Prof. Radoslav Rusňák, Ph.D., Adela Mitrová, Ph.D., Dr. Lucia Hrebeňárová, Ph.D., Dr. Stanislava Lištiak Mandzáková, Ph.D., Dr. Veronika Palková, Ph.D., Jarmila Žolnová, Ph.D.,  Dr. Tatiana Čekanová, Jana Kožárová, Jana Sopková

Annotation: The proposed project has the character of the pure literary-scientific research and in the context of the Slovak research on the literature for children and youth, it is the first thematically oriented research purpose with the wide range (original and translated works for children and youth embodies a man with handicap - disability/impairment/disadvantagein - published in the process of its holistic development). The project is closely related to the current issue of inclusive education that is a significant part of the actual reform agenda of the international institutions (OSN, OECD, UNESCO, EU), as well as with the inclusive policy of those institutions. In this context Slovakia is also bound to create the inclusive conditions in the educational process up to 2020. Inclusion is a process which is related to the identification and removing the barriers, while the assumption of the barriers identification ability is the collection, gathering, and evaluation of data from various sources. One of the sources that might help to effectively remove the barriers is also the artistic literature. In order that literature can thus be caused, it is necessary to know the sources of such imageries (literary works), resp. have an access to the relevant data about them. Research team is supposed to create an annotated bibliography of the literary texts (supplemented by a study on the types of disabilities, impairments, and disadvantages and the changes and transformations of the social attitudes to the target group; and also by a study on the development of the topic in the Slovak original and translated literature for children and youth) and the anthology of selected literary samples. The research results will provide a relevant overview of the monitored topic in the literature for children and youth in Slovakia.

 

Personal and social factors of school success in pupils with special educational needs in terms of inclusion
Project manager: Tatiana Dubayová, Ph.D.

Co-investigators: Assoc. Prof. Bibiána Hlebová, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Mária Podhájecká, CSc., Dr. Lucia Hrebeňárová, Ph.D., Dr. Stanislava Lištiak Mandzáková, Ph.D., Dr. Veronika Palková, Ph.D., Jarmila Žolnová, Ph.D.; Dr. Tatiana Čekanová,  Jana Kožárová, Jana Sopková

Annotation: The basic principle of inclusion is to eliminate the segregation of children based on their disability or impairment from intact population and provide them an equal access to opportunities in education. In the educational content, we are talking about pupils with special educational needs (SEN). From 1996 to 2009 the number of students educated in inclusive settings increased from 3.451 to 22.051 in Slovakia, so the topic of their school success becomes acute for development of innovative educational methods. Development of these children is specific; therefore, we expect differences in their psychological and social sphere. The first aim of the research project OSFa is research of personal and social factors of school success of students with SEN in inclusive settings. The sample will consist of pupils with developmental learning disabilities; pupils with intellectual, sensual and/or physical disability; pupils with ADHD/ADD; pupils with impaired communication skills; and pupils with multiple disabilities. However, several Slovak studies have shown that primary school teachers do not feel adequately prepared to provide pupils with SEN with professional support as they need. Second aim of the project is to create educational materials and continuing education course for the primary school teachers to be able to improve communication and social skills in pupils with SEN, and to create the environment of acceptance and cooperation between them and intact pupils.

 

Project manager: Assoc. Prof. Iveta Kovalčíková, Ph.D.

Co-investigators: Assoc. Prof. Iveta Scholtzová, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Alena Prídavková, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Ľudmila Liptáková, Ph.D., PaedDr. Martin Klimovič, Ph.D., Dr. Mária Bobáková, Ph.D., Ivan Ropovik, Marta Filičková

Annotation: As part of the project, a battery for assessing the quality of executive functioning - D-KEFS (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS; Delis, Kaplan & Kramer, 2001) will be translated, adapted, and standardized. 8 tests will be prepared for use in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. Standards will be created for 1. a standard population of 9-10-year-old pupils, 2. a population of pupils from a socially disadvantaged environment with a mother tongue other than Slovak. In the process of relational research, the relationship between: the level of executive functioning and the ability to learn will be verified. Through multivariate statistical models and methods of modeling structural equations, the variability of the share of executive functioning on the ability to learn will be explained.