1. Perspectives and practices of early childhood educators on identifying mathematically talented childrenDarja Antolin Drešar, 2025, independent scientific component part or a chapter in a monograph Abstract: This study examines early childhood educators' perceptions and experiences in identifying mathematically gifted children, addressing a critical gap in early education research. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected through an online questionnaire completed by 47 educators. Findings reveal that educators generally believe mathematical talent can be identified in preschool and agree on the importance of differentiated teaching approaches. However, many reported limited confidence in their ability to identify such children. Educators with positive attitudes toward mathematics showed a stronger recognition of differentiated instruction and early numerical concept development as key indicators of giftedness. Additionally, more experienced educators rated early counting skills as a more significant indicator than their less experienced counterparts. Despite frequent observations of children's mathematical abilities, only 40.4% reported encountering mathematically gifted children. No significant differences were found in observation frequency or encounters based on teaching experience or attitudes toward mathematics.
Keywords: mathematical giftedness, early childhood education, early childhood educators, attitudes towards mathematics, work experiences
Published in DKUM: 02.07.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 12
 Full text (550,38 KB)
This document has many files! More... |
2. Teaching social sciences in ECE : exploring correlations with creativity and algorithmic thinkingMarta Licardo, 2023, independent scientific component part or a chapter in a monograph Abstract: Teaching social sciences in early childhood education context is demanding and little research has been done related to competences that support the high-quality teaching in social studies. The purpose of this study is to examine specific concepts to better understand possible implications of these concepts in teaching social sciences in early childhood education. Future teachers, students of preschool education (N=31), reported the highest mean values for teamwork, following social sciences teaching skills, creative self-assessment, and algorithmic thinking teaching skills. Students feel most competent in teaching life skills and slightly less competent in teaching social studies, presumably of its complexity. The analysis of correlations between all four concepts revealed that students who report higher creativity, report higher teamwork skills and higher algorithmic thinking teaching skills. The results are important for supporting the students in creativity during their undergraduate study and in learning how to teach social sciences in early childhood education.
Keywords: social sciences, early childhood education, algorithmic thinking, teamwork, creativity
Published in DKUM: 09.05.2024; Views: 194; Downloads: 11
Full text (501,50 KB)
This document has many files! More... |
3. Collaboration with immigrant parents in early childhood education in Slovenia : how important are environmental conditions and skills of teachers?Marta Licardo, Lais Oliveira Leite, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyse how important are specific environmental conditions and skills of early childhood education (ECE) teachers as predictors of collaboration with immigrant parents. The study included 348 ECE teachers in Slovenia. The results revealed that environmental conditions (e.g., gender, level of education, job position, educational environment support) are important predictors of collaboration with immigrant parents. Male teachers, teachers whose job position is ECE teacher rather than assistant teacher, and teachers who have higher levels of education reported a significantly better collaboration with immigrant parents than female teachers and teachers with lower educational levels. Regarding ECE teacher skills, results revealed that interpersonal and professional skills (e.g., positive values, positive attitudes towards teaching immigrant children and perceived immigrant child misbehaviour) are important predictors of reported collaboration with immigrant parents in ECE. The results are of practical significance for ECE teachers, immigrant parents and ECE management staff.
Keywords: early childhood education, teachers, immigrant parents, interpersonal skills, collaboration
Published in DKUM: 17.07.2023; Views: 490; Downloads: 78
Full text (840,88 KB)
This document has many files! More... |
