Papers by Branislav Pupala
Indonesian children’s voices of the school-from-home policy
International Journal of Early Years Education
Two important topics in early literacy development in Slovakia are discussed in this paper: the c... more Two important topics in early literacy development in Slovakia are discussed in this paper: the conceptual framework for its stimulation by efficient preschool curriculum, and the continuity of formal elementary school education with respect to children's preceding developmental achievements. The paper discusses the ongoing research project focused on the possibilities of early literacy intervention--the project is conducted by the Department of Social and Biological Communication in collaboration with the Department of Preschool and Elementary School
Children's Literature in (Czecho) Slovakia: Ideological Inheritance from a Communist Past
Childhood education, 2011
Výchova a vzdelávanie v základných diskurzoch
Abstrakt: Prehl’adova studia prinasa poznatky o tom, akým sposobom sa pedagogický výskum vyrovnav... more Abstrakt: Prehl’adova studia prinasa poznatky o tom, akým sposobom sa pedagogický výskum vyrovnava s neoliberalizmom ako zovseobecnenou formou socialnej spravy v su y zapadnej kulture. Ukazuje, e neoliberalizmus je povaovaný za univerzalny ramec ostatných zmien v zakladných segmentoch vzdelavania a e teoreticke a kriticke analýzy tohto fenomenu predstavuju významnu su y vedeckej produkcie v oblasti pedagogiky. Zdoraz y prinos vzniku a rozvoja tzv. guvernmentalnych studii pre porozumenie mechanizmom a dosledkom neoliberalnej spravy spolo ycnosti, a ukazuje, ako metodologia týchto studii napomaha identifikovat’ neoliberalne strategie uplat y v regulacii socialnych subjektov prostrednictvom vzdelavania. Analyzovaných je pat’ vybraných segmentov kritických analýz (od konceptu celoivotneho uycenia sa, cez predskolske a vysokoskolske vzdelavanie a k vzdelavaniu u y a projektu PISA), ktore zjavne ukazuju ideovu a teoreticku sudrnost’ analýzy vzdelavania cez mrieku neoliberalnej guve...
Indonesian Journal of Early Childhood Education Studies, 2017
This article returns to the historical roots of ECEC and considers them within the context of con... more This article returns to the historical roots of ECEC and considers them within the context of contemporary international preschool education policy. Present-day policy is characterised by the high level of support directed at this education level. The reasons for this are largely economic and ECEC is becoming part of economic development strategy. Frequently research such as the HighScope Perry Preschool Program can be found in the background. In many ways contemporary ECEC is reminiscent of education policy under communism in Europe. This area represents a concealed spot in the international research on preschool education. The extensive expansion of nursery schools in these countries took place from the middle of the last century onwards. They were the first countries to create preschool curricula at the national level. They also often relied on the first attempt at an early years curriculum, contained in John Amos Comenius’s The School of Infancy (Informatorium of Maternal School).
Předškolní a primární pedagogika: Predškolská a elementárnapedagogika
ABSTRACT Vyd. 2.
Quality preschools: Commonalities and Uniqueness across Nations
Indonesian Journal of Early Childhood Education Studies, 2016
This paper explores how different forms of pre-school education have developed in various countri... more This paper explores how different forms of pre-school education have developed in various countries on different continents. Particular attention is paid to European traditions of pre-school education and how their roots differ in post-communist countries and in traditional western European countries. It is drawn primarily from experience of one particular post-communist country – the Slovak Republic. Doubt is cast on whether there is such a thing as a universal European tradition, and contrasts are made between “aesthetic” and “craft” approaches to pre-school education. The paper highlights the historic roots of centralised national programmes that take the form of prescriptive documents concerned either with the inputs or outputs of education and which differ from a traditional, open, framework-based curriculum. It draws attention to the issue of a “culturally relevant pedagogy” in the search for appropriate pre-schooling models for developing countries. The paper is based on the ...
Teaching profession is experiencing a regression in places and it certainly suits the current eco... more Teaching profession is experiencing a regression in places and it certainly suits the current economically oriented neoliberal education policies. Teacher tranning is accepted by academic model of teacher education, however this model shows that the notion of university teacher education is still a fragile one. The question is whether the former will prove feasible.
Prehl’adova studia prinasa poznatky o tom, akým sposobom sa pedagogický výskum vyrovnava s neolib... more Prehl’adova studia prinasa poznatky o tom, akým sposobom sa pedagogický výskum vyrovnava s neoliberalizmom ako zovseobecnenou formou socialnej spravy v sucasnej zapadnej kulture. Ukazuje, že neoliberalizmus je považovaný za univerzalny ramec ostatných zmien v zakladných segmentoch vzdelavania a že teoreticke a kriticke analýzy tohto fenomenu predstavuju významnu sucast’ vedeckej produkcie v oblasti pedagogiky. Zdorazňuje prinos vzniku a rozvoja tzv. guvernmentalnych studii pre porozumenie mechanizmom a dosledkom neoliberalnej spravy spolocnosti, a ukazuje, ako metodologia týchto studii napomaha identifikovat’ neoliberalne strategie uplaťnovane v regulacii socialnych subjektov prostrednictvom vzdelavania. Analyzovaných je pat’ vybraných segmentov kritických analýz (od konceptu celoživotneho ucenia sa, cez predskolske a vysokoskolske vzdelavanie až k vzdelavaniu ucitel’ov a projektu PISA), ktore zjavne ukazuju ideovu a teoreticku sudržnost’ analýzy vzdelavania cez mriežku neoliberalne...
Příběh české kurikulární reformy
Kapitole mapuje vývoj a problemy kurikularni reformy v Ceske republice. Výklad je rozvržen do cty... more Kapitole mapuje vývoj a problemy kurikularni reformy v Ceske republice. Výklad je rozvržen do ctyř casti. Zacina pokusem o vymezeni klicových pojmů z nazvu kapitoly (kurikularni reforma, implementace). Navazuje kapitola, jejiž ambici je mapovat vývoj ceske kurikularni politiky od roku 2000 do soucasnosti s ohledem na ideu ramcoveho a skolniho kurikula. V dalsi kapitole jsou rozebirany problemy spojene s tvorbou a ověřovanim ramcových vzdělavacich programů. Samostatna kapitola je věnovana problemům spojeným s plosnou implementaci ramcových vzdělavacich programů, ktera se odehrava prostřednictvim tvorby skolnich vzdělavacich programů.
tice a přírodních vědách by si měli uvědomit význam takovéhoto spojení studijních oborů a otevřen... more tice a přírodních vědách by si měli uvědomit význam takovéhoto spojení studijních oborů a otevření kombinací s pedagogikou podpořit. Seznáme ní s metodami přírodních věd, matematiky a techniky by mohlo podstatně přispět k prohloubení metodologické kvalifikace odborníků v pedagogice. Vzhledem k rozdílnému charakteru pedagogiky, popř. didaktiky, a uvede ných věd jde ovšem o úkol nelehký. Ve studiích oborových didaktiků a pedagogů se poukazuje na nutnost zpřesňování terminologie. Oborové didaktiky pojednávají o problémech pře sahujících vyučování. Překonává se pojetí tradiční didaktiky. Oprávněně se proto uvažuje o termínu oborové pedagogiky. Problematiku, na jejíž ak tuálnost jsme se pokusili upozornit, je tedy možno vyjádřit jako vztahy pedagogiky a oborových pedagogik.
Pedagogika, 70(4), 407–424, 2020
This article analyses the neoliberal transformation of ECEC in five selected countries (Germany, ... more This article analyses the neoliberal transformation of ECEC in five selected countries (Germany, Slovakia, Indonesia, Nepal, and Kenya). Both the Global South and the Global North are represented. The countries were selected either because of the authors' involvement in research in the respective country or because of their long-term personal experience of that particular system of ECEC. The knowledge the authors acquired enabled them to delve deeper into the question of the point at which ECEC systems encounter neoliberal education policy and to describe the different ways in which the countries have adapted to the new policies. The article shows that neoliberal education policies require different types of adaptation and that these may have very different effects on the system of ECEC-from a change in concept to system convergence and practical resistance or total governance of the ECEC sector. The article contributes to a more granular understanding of the effect of the econo...
Czech Sociological Review
The article examines the application of 'governmentality studies' to the fi eld of education and ... more The article examines the application of 'governmentality studies' to the fi eld of education and particularly to the formation of social representations of the goals and needs of contemporary education and current curriculum design. The fi eld of governmentality studies is based on Michel Foucault's analyses of social power and the technologies of power, which in later writings he applied to liberal government and liberal notions of social control. This perspective provides better insight into contemporary neoliberal technologies of social control and the related technology of social control in general, examples of which in various social sectors are then provided by the authors in the article. The education sector must also be understood in the context of neoliberal governmentality, which casts in a new light many educational strategies that are generally accepted without question. The strategy of lifelong education must then be released from its representation as a natural right and instead included among the strategies of social coercion and domination directed at the inter-institutionalisation of education. Equally, it is also possible to expose debunk the skills-based concept of 'enterprise curriculum' that blurs the difference between general and professional education as a neoliberal power strategy. The results of the failure to apply this perspective to the education sector are the unchallenged ideologisation of contemporary education discourse and the formation of educational strategies that generate many undesirable consequences.
Studia Paedagogica, 2020
The Slovak teaching profession is in a difficult situation. There are signs that the country is f... more The Slovak teaching profession is in a difficult situation. There are signs that the country is facing a teaching staff shortage and that the demand for new teachers will continue to grow. The data indicate that some subjects are being taught by unqualified teachers on a fairly wide scale. Finding quick, simple solutions to these problems is a challenge because teaching is not considered an attractive profession, mainly because of teachers' low salaries and social status. We will illustrate related uncertainties and complications in the teaching profession by looking at two extremes of these trends in the teaching profession. On the one side, we have Teach for Slovakia, which has opened potential for new teaching qualification models. It is an example of inclusive education in the sense that it only works when differences among teachers are accepted and the focus is on teachers' strong points and professional characteristics. On the other side, the introduction of national t...
ORBIS SCHOLAE
Po niekoľkých kolách testovania žiackej populácie prostredníctvom projektu OECD PISA sa začínajú ... more Po niekoľkých kolách testovania žiackej populácie prostredníctvom projektu OECD PISA sa začínajú najmä v akademickom prostredí objavovať štúdie odkrývajúce slabé a rizikové miesta tohto projektu. Tie poskytujú kritický pohľad na deklarovanú objektivitu PISA výsledkov a cez viaceré roviny a aspekty nabádajú k opatrnosti pri vyvodzovaní silných záverov krajín pre reguláciu vzdelávania prostredníctvom výkonov dosiahnutých v tomto type merania vzdelávacích výsledkov. Štúdia sumarizuje kritické hľadiská publikovaných analýz, takže poskytuje pohľad na tento projekt v širších, ako dominantne diskutovaných súvislostiach. Prezentované je globálne ekonomické a politické pozadie zavedenia a periodického opakovania PISA testovania, jednak vo vzťahu k špecifi ckým ekonomickým záujmom, ako i vzhľadom na spôsoby dominujúcej neoliberálnej správy globalizovanej spoločnosti. Rovnako sa poukazuje na problémy, ktoré evokujú samotné položky PISA testov, kde existujú celkom jasné signály, že PISA je v rozpore s vlastnými deklaráciami o tom, čo testuje a na aké výkony poukazuje.
Journal of Pedagogy
The article analyses the Slovak preschool education sector using Bourdieu’s field theory. It desc... more The article analyses the Slovak preschool education sector using Bourdieu’s field theory. It describes stable and volatile points in the evolution of preschool education in terms of the power games occurring within the specific social field of power relations shaped during these games. It explores the groups of powerful players that represent the political, civic-professional and academic sub-fields exerting an influence over the preschool field who in different ways and at various times control the preschool field and structure within it the hierarchy of power relations in preschool education governance. The analysis is empirically illustrated; the power relations played out and were renewed when the national preschool curriculum was undergoing fundamental change. It describes the strategies, processes and consequences of changes in the power relations between the sub-fields and the associated behaviour of the actors. The analysis shows how the power conflicts ultimately led to the...
Vyučovanie cudzích jazykov v primárnom vzdelávaní: program vysokoškolskej prípravy učiteľov
Technology of Education, Sep 25, 2009
Text prezentuje perspektivny navrh studijných programov, ktore budu schopne pripraviť uciteľov cu... more Text prezentuje perspektivny navrh studijných programov, ktore budu schopne pripraviť uciteľov cudzich jazykov pre primarne vzdelavanie a pomožu plnohodnotne realizovať zamery Koncepcie vyucovania cudzich jazykov na zakladných a stredných skolach. Ponuka vseobecnu schemu studijneho programu, ktora može byť napomocna pri vytvarani konkretnych programov tohto typu. FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PRIMARY EDUCATION: THE PRE-GRADUATE PROGRAMME OF TEACHER TRAINING Abstract: The paper presents a perspective proposal of university study programmes which will train teachers of foreign languages for primary education, helping to fully implement intentions of The Conception of Teaching Foreign Languages at Primary and Secondary Schools. It offers a general scheme of a study programme which may be helpful for the creation of particular study programmes of the same type. Key words: The Conception of Teaching Foreign Languages at Primary and Secondary Schools. Foreign language teaching to young learners. Teacher training. Study programme.
Teachers' voice, power and agency: (un)professionalization of the early years workforce
Early Years, 2017
This article examines Slovak early years teachers’ concerns with conceptions of teacher professio... more This article examines Slovak early years teachers’ concerns with conceptions of teacher professionalism. It suggests that there is a mismatch between understandings of professionalism, policy aspirations and the attitudes of teachers to their own professionalism, and that this mismatch fuels early years teachers’ sense of agency. These tensions between conceptions of professionalism, teaching practice and actual working conditions have led to a groundup approach to self-governance within the early years teacher workforce. We analyse teachers’ discussions in an early years online forum of 12,500 members that was started and remains governed by the teachers themselves. It represents in itself a very particular attitude and response to the need to determine what it means to be a professional teacher. This analysis examines intersections of policy, quality and professionalism, and highlights considerations of power and voice, and the complexities of uncertainty and change. The article c...
Policy Futures in Education, 2016
Early years education in Europe and elsewhere around the world is currently in the spotlight due ... more Early years education in Europe and elsewhere around the world is currently in the spotlight due to political and economical changes and subsequent promises of effective investment into its provision. In this article we analyse everyday preschool practices in Slovakia in terms of tensions between policies, the teachers workforce and the concept of professionalism. Through bureaucratic scientisation, teachers become subjects with bureaucratic subjectivities, and they are expected to devote increasing amounts of time to planning, reporting and administrative tasks. Teachers are decreasingly focused on the actual work on the ground with the children, and are concerned instead with notions of accountability and reporting, which supposedly raises their professional status. Slovakia's experience of the bureaucratic subjectivities of early years teachers has complex ramifications for European and overseas countries as it problematises and unmasks the global issues of complex tensions b...
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Papers by Branislav Pupala