Search

The satisfaction in a profession is one of the key elements for productivity, quality working results but its also important from a personal point of view in the sense of motivation for work and persistence in overcoming difficulties. Satisfaction in the teaching profession is also very important for the overall quality of the educational process and its issue that should not be neglected. Therefore, considering many educational reforms that are occurring, our particular interest was focused on exploring the satisfaction of being a teacher in the context of primary school teachers in Bulgaria and Macedonia. Based on this, this study aims to examine primary school teachers' satisfaction with their professional activity. The subject of study are 232 Bulgarian and 123 Macedonian primary school teachers who teach different school subjects. A modified questionnaire, with 22 items related to the satisfaction with the teaching profession, is applied. Obtained data were analyzed using factor analysis, analysis of variance and non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. The results show that the items with the highest values for the primary school teachers' satisfaction in both countries are: the duration of holidays, the professional relations with colleagues, and the professional relations with the school management. There are no significant differences between Bulgarian and Macedonian primary school teachers in terms of satisfaction with most of the factors related to their professional activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative intervention strategies, such as hippotherapy, have become increasingly popular in autistic children with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in recent years. The article is dedicated to research aimed at examining the effects of hippotherapy on motor function in children aged between 7 and 15 with an ASD diagnosis. The study involved 19 children with autism Spectrum disorders. The two standardized tests (the Single-Leg Balance Test and The Posture Assessment Bertotti Scale), covering 3 stages of application (pre-therapy stage, intermediate stage, post-therapy stage) provided important information on the effects of horseback riding on equilibrium stability and body posture of these children. Data were The final results indicated a significant improvement in balance and body posture in all 19 children. Hippotherapy intervention was determined to have aided in the development of the motor function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to teach through reflection is one of the main indicators for the level of professional experience. The scientific presentation puts a focus on the forming of pedagogical reflection in the future teachers in the nursery school and the primary school. The presented technology for conscious practice of reflection in the physical education, applied in different educational forms - observation, current practice, pre-graduation training, extra auditory studies, reveals possibilities for optimizing the special training and pedagogical competency of the students for the effective realization of the physical education of children and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of the present text is the impact of the metacognitive processes on the resultant characteristics of perception with understanding of the scientific information in the field of theory and methodology' of the physical education. Participants in the study are 70 students from the Faculty of Education at Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. The students are from the specialties of "Preschool and Primary School Education " and "Primary School Education with a foreign language. " In order to determine the level of the text comprehension by the students we have used the questionnaire "Metacognitive involvement in the activity" (Schraw & Dennison, 1994). A quantitative and qualitative analyses of the resulting differences between the three levels of perception of the scientific information which have emerged during the study has been made. Their taking into consideration would enhance the effectiveness of the educational and cognitive activity of the students when working with specialized resources and it would optimize their scientific and methodological preparation for a successful implementation of the motor education of children at a preschool and school age. The results show that the meta cognitive processes influence the process and the result of perception of the specialized text with understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]