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Relevance. Studies in different regions of the Russian Federation confirm that corruption affects all spheres of society. The education system has not been left out. This negative phenomenon is also characteristic of this department, which, in turn, should become a standard of honesty and fairness, given its main activity – education and socialization of the younger generation. Therefore, corruption in the field of education has irreparable omissions and serious consequences. Anticipating these consequences, an anti-corruption policy is being implemented at the state level aimed at forming a personality with sustainable anti-corruption behavior. This policy is based on a legal system with a long history. The paper analyzes the regulatory and legal aspects related to anti-corruption policy. The preventive activity of subjects of prevention of corruption offenses is summarized. Purpose and methods. The purpose of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of regulatory legal acts related to anti-corruption policy in the field of education. To achieve this goal, the research uses the comparative legal method, generalization and analysis of normative legal acts, the method of expert assessments, content analysis, and sociological methods. Results. The state anti-corruption policy aimed at forming a personality with sustainable anti-corruption behavior is of paramount importance in the system of countering a dangerous phenomenon. In contrast to forceful methods, anti-corruption policy, which has a strong legal basis, conducted at the state level, has good prospects. Intolerance to corrupt behavior is formed among young people from school, and anti-corruption “immunity” is developed. Practical implications. The results of the study can be used in the preparation of regional anti-corruption programs in the field of education.

Humanity has been faced with violence of various gruesome forms such as the two world wars in the 20th century, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine, state-sponsored violence against its own people in the developing world, terroristic acts, gang fights, violent crimes, and other examples that result to death, destruction, and suffering. In this context, this paper examines the discourses on ethical principle of nonviolence and the application of the nonviolent communication with the goal of integrating these in peace communication. The study has a qualitative, inductive research design with the meta-analysis of research studies and discourses on the ethical principle of nonviolence and the effectiveness of nonviolent communication within the three spectra of peace, namely: inner peace, interpersonal peace, and outer peace (sociopolitical peace and peace with nature and the environment). The themes drawn from the research studies are agape love, compassion, ahimsa, application of Gandhian nonviolence in peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes, empathy, recognition of our own and the others’ feelings and needs, conversion of peoples’ hearts, changing oppressive social structures, and pacifist response to aggression. The study found the interconnection between inner peace and interpersonal peace, between interpersonal peace and outer peace, and between inner peace and outer peace. The study proposes a holistic framework integrating nonviolence and nonviolent communication principles in the three spectra of peace (inner, interpersonal, and outer) for teaching, research, and extension work.

Background. The study of professional identity in modern specialists is associated with the need to ensure their psychological well-being in an increasingly complicated professional environment because of the inclusion of information and computer means of work. The present research continues the construction of a conceptual model for the professional identity in the context of digitalization. Objective. The present stage of our investigation is aimed at constructing a model of professional identity of the modern specialist that allows to outline trends and directions of its changes in the system of self-evaluation as a professional and to link those evaluations with experiencing psychological well-being. Methods. The respondents are offered the questionnaire for demographic data, the “Trust in technology” questionnaire (Akimova, 2020), the semantic differential for assessing oneself as a professional (Serkin, 2016), C. Ryff’s scale of psychological well-being in adaptation by T.D. Shevelenkova and T.P. Fesenko (2005), L.B. Schneider’s method for studying professional identity (2001), and free associations to the word “technique” to identify the respondents’ ideas about it. Sample. 150 respondents (50 men, 100 women) with an average age of 40 years (from 21 to 63) and an average work experience of 18 years (from 2 to 45 years) who work in different professional digital fields. Results. The present paper describes the structure of ideas about technology, the core of which includes such associations as “a computer”, “technology”, “progress”, convenience”, “telephone”, “innovation”, and “modernity”. The zone of changes includes “work”, “the future”, and “the new” which confirms the digitalization of life and activity of a modern specialist. Those data have been completed by a strong trust in technology and a high degree of its mastering. It identifies three clusters based on the level of psychological well-being which are not associated with the respondents’ statuses of professional identity but relate to the self-evaluation as a professional. A two–dimensional space constituted by two factors: the level of qualification and capacity for work has been constructed. In relation to them, the statuses of professional identity are distributed to determine vectors of possible changes. Conclusion. The ideas of specialists about technology represent the main trends in the digitalization of professional tools: expanding the range of devices used and their positive assessment. Professional identity of 47 per cent of the respondents is precocious, characterized by the recognition of their own authority but, at the same time, the lack of their independence. Only each third person in this group shows a high level of well–being. The vector model of professional identity constructed in the factor space of self–evaluation as a professional enables to outline the main directions of change in the identity according to two parameters: professional one (content oriented) and individual-personal one (performance). Practical application of the results. The obtained results broaden the existing ideas about the professional identity of working people with different levels of psychological well-being and allow to outline the directions of their psychological support.

The study of course leadership in higher education focusses on an understudied area of research, with a limited number of publications discussing the role of the course leader in higher education, and a distinct lack of research on how course leaders in higher education undertake their professional practice. This lack of a pre-existing theory points the researcher towards grounded theory to investigate and generate a new theory on course leaders’ experiences. Since leadership, and therefore course leadership, is an inherent complex social process, selection of grounded theory as a research methodology to explain how course leaders in higher education practice seems a logical choice. Grounded theory has been successfully used to investigate phenomena in education and in leadership practice in other disciplines. We therefore argue that grounded theory is an appropriate selection for research in education and higher education settings for areas of research where no theory currently exists. Moreover, grounded theories focussing on professional practice have been published in various contexts demonstrating that it is an appropriate method for investigating course leaders’ professional practice. Finally, this paper outlines some perceived weaknesses of using a grounded theory approach for researching course leadership, and offers means to navigate these.

Different linguistic classifications of Spanish and Slovak make the differences between these two languages. The genetic criterion classifies languages, clustering them into language families, the largest among which is the Indoeuropean one. The typological criterion divides languages according to their grammatical structures. Meanwhile, Slovak is genetically a Slavonic language, and Spanish is a Romance language. Therefore, they both belong to different language families. Also, according to the typological criterion, Slovak is a synthetic language, and Spanish is an analytic language. Based on a theoretical study of the standard features and differences between the Slovak and Spanish verb systems, we formulated the hypotheses about language interferences, which are accepted or rejected at the end of the research. The current research aims to examine the errors in the use of past tenses by Slovak university students who study Spanish as a foreign language, and then analyze where these errors are due to interference with their native language. The present paper observes what errors students make in using past tenses in Spanish. The research question is: What interferences do Slovak learners of the Spanish language experience in the use of past tenses? We applied scientific methods (an observation, a textual analysis, a synthesis) to conduct the study. The first method was an observation. Applying this method made it possible to gather data by watching the process of doing grammatical exercises in Spanish during classes held from September 2020 to May 2022 for the first- and second-year students at the Faculty of Applied Languages of the University of Economics in Bratislava. These students knew English and were generally better at it than Spanish. We also conducted a textual analysis that primarily looked at the learners’ short-text writing skills. We used a form with 30 phrases the respondents needed to complete using past tenses. Then, we assessed the written and spoken communication skills of students. The analysis results show that, on the one hand, most respondents needed help distinguishing between the past continuous and simple past tenses, resulting in misuse. On the other hand, we found some slight errors in phrases in which the present perfect tense was supposed to be used.

The article studies the translation of the Ancient Greek literature into Ukrainian as an important and historically conditioned process that influenced the translation tradition in Ukraine. The authors trace the history of translation dating from the period of Kyivan Rus to modern times by applying linguistic, chronological and thematic approaches. As a result of the conducted study the authors define main directions and trends of assimilation of the classical Ancient Greek literature by the Ukrainian context through translation in its cultural and historical dimension, as well as characterize the translations of the Ukrainian scientists and outline their contribution into the classical literature corpus formation. It has been revealed that in different historical periods, translated literature performed definite functions (it was used in religious worship, as the material for original literature creation, in intellectual discussions). Since the 19th century, there existed a tendency when translators (M. Zerov, I. Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, V. Svidzinskyi, P. Nishchynskyi, M. Rylskyi, G. Kochur, Borys Ten, M. Lukash, M. Moskalenko, A. Sodomora, etc.), guided by their own preferences, cultural trends, national needs, political attitudes, consciously chose original texts for translation, carried out scientific investigations and added commentaries to their publications, thereby creating a scientific discussion in the Ukrainian society. It was also found out that translations of Homer's works into Ukrainian led to the emergence of a certain translational tradition (the same phenomenon is observed in Western Europe), when Ukrainian translators developed a methodology that allowed them not only to convey the ideological and content component of the original poems, but also to reproduce the rhyming of ancient poetry. The paper concludes that modern translators from the Ancient Greek language continue to popularize ancient literature and the legacy of the holy fathers, thereby supporting the continuity of the Ukrainian school of translation.

The characteristics of the university that issued the higher education diploma are an important signal for the employer, indicating the quality of the graduate’s training. However, it remains unknown to what extent top Russian universities really differ in the quality of the educational process from other universities, and do not simply use their ability to admit the most talented and motivated students. This paper attempts to answer this question using student engagement indicators, which are considered worldwide as a valid tool for assessing the quality of higher education. The article aims to examine the relationship between student engagement and two institutional characteristics of universities (a special status and the size of the university) by employing survey data on 16,143 students studying at 401 Russian universities. The results demonstrate that students studying at federal, national research and flagship universities have comparatively lower class engagement and social engagement compared to students from universities without special status. In addition, students at institutions with a size between 1,000 and 3,500 students were the most engaged in class activities and, at the same time, disengaged, while a size of less than 1,000 students was negatively associated with disengagement. The results obtained, on the one hand, require further research into the relationship between institutional characteristics and student engagement. On the other hand, they indicate the need to increase the weight of indicators of the quality of the educational process in universities in government excellence initiatives aimed at identifying leading universities and supporting them, as well as the importance of developing valid indicators of the quality of the educational process that can be used as a criterion in such government competitions.

Traditional music should have greater significance and impact in education of children of younger school age. Curricular content of music education lessons enables students to learn about heritage and, therefore, learn to respect and cherish Serbian music and traditional music of other nations. Becoming familiar with traditional music in music lessons is one form of contributing to the development of the awareness of cultural and national treasure and of the need for its preservation and cultivation. The paper presents research that included 671 teachers from all districts of the Republic of Serbia. The aim of the research is to examine the opinions of teachers regarding the status of traditional music in the lower grades of primary school. The method of theoretical analysis and descriptive method were used. The results show that the contents of traditional music are practiced to a greater extent, but primary school teachers also believe that there is a need for including more of these contents in music lessons. When it comes to specifying which traditional contents are used in music lessons, it is noticeable that in different regions the contents related to the traditions of the local environment are nurtured. The respondents believe that students have positive reactions to traditional content but that it is not in the first place when it comes to children’s interests. The research findings can serve as the basis for considering an improvement of continuous professional development courses for employees in education, but they can also be an incentive for collecting and publishing literature with the contents of traditional music in order to facilitate and improve the work of primary school teachers and the learning process of students.

Music plays a significant developmental role in the life of adolescents and has different functions in the life of an individual. Listening to music is one of the most important activities of adolescents, while their music preferences reflect their values, conflicts, and developmental problems they are faced with in everyday life. It is important to understand how adolescents use and experience music on a daily basis and what factors impact their use of music. The power of preference for a specific kind of music depends on the degree to which that type of music fulfills certain functions because the level of functionality and the power of music preference are correlated. While identity formation, peer socialization, and social perception remain important functions of music throughout one’s life, they are especially important in the period of adolescence. To understand better the strong links between music preferences and the functions of music in an individual’s life, it is important to include the personality factor that provides practical and relevant information about what makes us who we are. Music education can influence the music preferences of young people because listening to music is an important activity in their leisure time. The paper presents theoretical models of music preferences, characteristics of music, contexts of listening to music, correlation between music preferences and personality traits, as well as the functions of music that are most relevant in the life of adolescents.

Spiritual music is said to have many functions: from religious, pedagogical, to educational and developmental functions. Reducing spiritual music, particularly Serbian spiritual music, solely to a tool for awakening one’s religious feelings had a negative imapct on studying this type of music in Serbian education in the post-war period. However, in the last decade of the previous century, Serbian spiritual music was incorporated in the curricular content of Music Education in primary schools. Bearing this in mind, the authors of the paper set the aim of their research – to determine the representation of Serbian spiritual music in teaching Music Education in the second cycle of general education, as well as its significance according to teachers’ opinions. In order to contribute to this endeavour of national importance, the authors conducted research to investigate how much is Serbian spiritual music present in the current curricula, recommended contents, and music lessons, and what is its function from teachers’ perspective. The research results, obtained on a sample of 24 teachers from the territory of the city of Niš, show that teachers attach importance to covering this content in their music lessons, they believe that this type of music is sufficiently represented in the curricula, and that they self-educate on this topic. The results illustrate the current situation which can be a starting point for potential modifications of the curricula in terms of expanding the content related to Serbian spiritual music.

In this paper, the authors present an in-depth analysis of eight educational videos, selected from the total of 153 videos for teaching music art at the classroom level (ages 6–10 years) on the Slovenian educational portal www.razlagamo.si, created during the COVID 19 pandemic. The in-depth analysis focuses on the folk dances presented in the videos, the articulation of the teaching unit, the use of teaching methods, the integration of student activities, the use of audiovisual resources and adaptations. On the basis of the shortcomings that were identified, the authors highlight guidelines and didactic recommendations for teaching folk dances in traditional lessons and through educational videos, justify the usefulness of folk dances in music teaching in primary schools and present possibilities for using new information technologies in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.

Starting from the fact that from the onset of formal education students encounter choral singing as an activity successively linked to general music education, the paper emphasizes the importance of using movement as a pedagogocal tool for the development of immanent rhythm, vocal technique, and intonation in working with children’s choirs. The main purpose of this research is to systematize the experience gained in the transnational project “Vox Mundi“ carried out in Temisoara, Romania in 2022 in order to point to potential choices and future approaches to movement at choral rehearsals at general mucis education level. In the course of a ten-day intensive youth exchange, five multiplicative events, and the elaboration of three intellectual outcomes, a survey was conducted, with the sample including 50 elementary school choir singers, members of choral organizations of five partner countries (Romania, Serbia, Poland, France and Hungary). By reviewing and unifying the exercises from different choral music activites, we modeled an approach to specific general music education resources with the aim of acquiring the skills and competencies necessary for using movement with polyphonic singing. A significant level of advantages of integrating movement and singing was identified, while the correlation between the delibarate use of movement and an increased engagement was also identified as a factor that was consistently present. In addition, it was discovered that movement and music can illustrate emotional meaning of music and improve relationships among choral singers. This article focuses on practical suggestions which can provide new points for discussion on the necessity of using movement in working with members of children’s choirs, children who are in the first or second cycle of elementary education.

The aim of this paper is the semiotic analysis of a foreign language textbook as a semiotic phenomenon reflecting the cognitive attitudes of its authors and aimed at forming not only external but also deep layers of the learner's linguistic personality, responsible for motivation, intents and attitudes. The material to be analysed is a popular line of EFL textbooks “English file” by British authors Ch. Latham-Koenig and C. Oxenden. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time a foreign language textbook is considered not as an educational and methodological text, but as an alternative reality, a dynamic complex sign, similar to the discursive space of a fiction book. The study is conducted by applying the method of contextual analysis, the method of cognitive-pragmatic analysis, and the interpretive method to the polycoded texts of EF-textbooks. The authors conclude that the semiotic complex of EF-textbooks exhibits the characteristics of an educational novel of fiction, where the learner assumes the function of a fairy-tale hero, acting in the space of English-language cultural mythologems, reference-metric elements, topoi and narratives. As a result of active realisation of the happy end narrative, supported by the system of topoi and precedent names characteristic of the English-language conceptosphere, the textbook uses the suggestive potential of the so-called soft power to form changes at the motivational-pragmatic level of the linguistic personality.

The paper discusses the development of ethnic fiction in the modern Russian literature, focusing on Shamil Idiatullin's 2020 novel “Poslednee vremja”. We show that the tendency towards switching from ethnic to regionalist agenda can be observed in the works by both Russian authors, such as Denis Osokin and Alexei Ivanov, and authors having a non-Russian ethnic identity, such as the Tatar novelists Guzel Yakhina and Shamil Idiatullin. We adopt an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together techniques from literary studies (analysis of the genre and the literary situation as well as the historical and cultural context) and linguistics (an etymological analysis of proper names, in the first place). Our commentary on various linguistic, historical and cultural aspects puts Idiatullin»s novel into the discourse of the contemporary ethnic fiction as a text that expresses the positions of both the Conquerors and the Conquered. The analysis of personal names and other words of non-Russian origin that are used in the Russian text allows to identify the fictional ethnic groups with the actual peoples of the Volga-Kama region and places the novel within a present-day context. One of the key themes of “Poslednee vremja” is language loss, and some scenes, such as the self-immolation of the pagan priest Arβuj-Kuγə̑za, make a clear reference to the contemporary history of the region. The novel»s title can be translated as both “End times” and “These times”; thus, it includes simultaneously an apocalyptic allusion and a hint to the events of the recent past.

The paper studies the role and functions of songs in an ethnic language in the life of representatives of the internal diaspora. The article is based on the results of sociolinguistic surveys conducted in Chuvash and Mari diasporas of the Moscow region in 2014–2017 and 2019–2021, respectively. The researcher employed the following sociolinguistic methods: direct observation, participant observation, structured interviews of respondents, documentary recording of responses, statistical data analysis. One of the blocks in the sociolinguistic questionnaire included such aspects as the language – in – culture and ethnic culture maintenance in the context of the vitality of ethnic language. Ethnic culture, along with the ethnic language, is one of the key markers of ethnic identity in both samples. As the results of the survey demonstrate, songs in Mari or Chuvash occupy a significant place in the respondents’ life. Several functions of the ethnic song were identified: adaptation to new living conditions; co-optation of new members (i. e., through cultural ethnic events); creative self-realization; language learning (i. e., ethnic songs used for educational purposes in language courses); initiation into language and culture for new speakers of Chuvash and Mari. The role of ethnic song in the revitalization of the language has been equally determined.

The article is dedicated to the 120-years-old history of the Yamashurma secondary school. The paper discusses the opening of the Russian-Tatar school in the village of Yamashurma, Kazan Uyezd, at the outset of the 20th century, the situation at the school during the war years, the educational system in the Soviet times, the stages of school curriculum, and overall the life and development of the educational institution. The study higlights the role of mullah F. Khamzin in the opening of the school, the work of G. Kulakhmetov, a graduate of the Kazan Tatar Teachers School, who taught here in 1903–1908, and also “teacher Gabdulla” who held the position of the school headmaster in 1911–1932. The study is based on the documents from the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan and the book by R.A. Shakirzyanov, Candidate of Technical Sciences, “Yamashurma School is a spring of enlightenment”.

The relevance of the topic covered in a scientific paper is that the educational significance of music in the upbringing of young people is evident. It is also the emphasis on the sophisticated theoretical aspects of music science that the human being develops consciously in listening to music. The aim of the paper is to reveal the need to differentiate national melodies from lightweight music.

Background: The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of body development and composition on the depression level, and to determine which of the morphological and body composition parameters have higher impact on the manifestation of depression in women aged 19 to 30 years.Methods: The study was conducted on the sample of 50 voluntarily selected test subjects. From 83 women presented at the fitness center “Fitnes Center Mall” in the city of Gjakova for the purposes of this study are voluntarily involved 50 women aged 19 to 30 years with an average age of 23.2 years. For the purpose of this paper were applied 11 body composition variables and one test for measuring depression levels.Results: The obtained results show that the multiple correlation coefficient between the predictor and the criterion system is quite high R = 0.962. This relation shows that the common variability between the two systems is 93% (R Square = 0.926). Predictive variables that has the influence in the manifestation of depression level are: Height of the body body (HEIG) t=2.784; pBody mass index (BMI) t=2.908; pConclusions: The research results show that Height of the body, Body weight, and Body mass index affect in the rate of depression level. Research shows that although mental and physical health are two separate concepts, yet they are still in a strong relationship, physical condition affects in mental state.

In recent years there’s been a lot of interest in eXtended Reality (XR) and its potential in military domains. The cutting-edge technology is used to influence public opinion, recruit, train the soldiers, and eventually increase combat warriors’ lethality by enhancing their ability to detect, decide, and engage the enemy. The paper addresses some technological aspects of the so-called shadow wars. Deployment of Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR), two basic components of XR, depends not only on technology maturity but also relies heavily on the human exposed to the completely different immersive stimulus. While accompanied by high profiling of user experience and Artificial Intelligence (AI), XR technologies can change human behaviour. The paper examines what are the possible effects of digital narratives, information embodiment, uncanny valleys, and “virtualisation” of war in the broad context of cultural and technological changes.

Introduction. In the modern educational space, an intensive digital transformation is currently taking place, which imposes new requirements for teacher competencies. This determines the relevance of setting goals and solving problems in order to develop up-to-date models for improving the qualifications of teachers of vocational education and training (VET). The paper discusses the current state of the development of digital competencies of teachers and teachers of Serbia and Russia in line with the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) and the European Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigСompЕdu). The paper includes an analysis of the peculiarities of vocational education and training systems, as well as the directions of further training of teachers, conducted by participants in the international project “Professional Development of Vocation Education Teachers with European Practices (Pro-VET)”. In order to better understand national contexts, the content of the reports of the participating countries of the project was analysed in the context of the EU policy and strategy for the development of digital competency of VET teachers. In this article, the authors focus on exploring digital competencies required of VET teachers within the European Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigСompЕdu) to identify digital competencies and development needs of Serbian and Russian VET teachers when working in online learning environments. The aims of the research are the following: 1) to compare the educational needs of Russian and Serbian VET teachers in the development of their digital pedagogical competencies; 2) to identify the theoretical and practical base for VET teachers’ digitally competent development programme design in the context of online learning according to the best European practices in the field of VET. Methodology and research methods. The development of the model was based on learning theories, didactics and practical approaches to soft skills development in online learning environments. The research has been conducted by the means of document analysis, theoretical analysis and synthesis methods, comparative method, modelling method and expert estimation method. Results and scientific novelty. Key aspects of VET teacher training systems in Russia and Serbia are compared and needs in development of digital pedagogical skills of Russian and Serbian VET teachers are identified. A developed model of VET teachers’ digitally competent development programme design in the context of online learning according to best European practices in this fields is represented by two components: structural and functional. The structural component of VET teachers’ digitally competent development model contains: learning theories and didactics, adult learning theories, soft skills development approaches in online learning, learning outcomes development approaches. The functional component of the model contains: national and European educational policy, strategies in the field of digitalisation of education and the development of digital competencies of teachers, European Union policies related to online learning; pedagogical, psychological and didactical design parameters of the content of advanced training programmes in the context of e-learning. Practical significance. The demonstrated model is being tested in the framework of the implementation of the international Pro-VET project supported by ERASMUS+. Methodological approaches, procedure and tools of VET teachers’ digitally competent development are being developed and tested. The application of digitally competent development programmes ensures the transparency of training and allows for the correlation of national and international training programmes as well as the development of academic and professional mobility of VET teachers. The process of designing such educational training programmes in online environment for VET teachers has begun at some universities in Russia and Serbia (participants of the project). The developed online training programmes can be used as a basis to design more quality online courses beyond the Pro-VET project in the sphere of professional development for VET teachers.

The article examines the problem of assessing the competitiveness of universities from the perspective of regional and urban development. The paper raises the question of taking into account the criteria aimed at examining the benefits of universities for the territory of presence in the modern methodology of assessing the effectiveness of universities. The article considers the advisability of integrating the results of international university rankings in the development of indices which assess the impact of universities on urban development. It includes a review of the methodologies of compiling international city rankings (Global Cities Index, Cities of opportunity, Mercer Quality of Living, The Global City Competitiveness Index, QS Best Student Cities) in order to identify the content and significance of the criteria aimed at assessment of the effectiveness of universities. The paper gives a critical assessment of international university rankings (Qs World University Rankings, Times Higher Education, Academic Ranking of World Universities). It also proposes criteria to evaluate universities from the perspective of the benefits they bring to the cities in which they are present. The article was prepared as part of the research work of the state task of the RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation.

Academic writing is considered to be the most challenging and difficult skill in terms of English as a Second Language. This study critically explores the obstacles in academic writing faced by students at Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia. To investigate, a comprehensive questionnaire has been floated among professional teachers to get their expert opinions (about students’ obstacles in writing) in order to identify some problems and form effective remedial strategies eventually. This paper focuses on the two significant aspects of academic writing, namely language skills (LS) (Grammar etc.) and writing skills (WS) (writing itself as a skill). Equally relevant to the issue are organization, coherence, and connectivity. The authors claim that Russian learners have poor learning background in writing skills due to the lack of balanced syllabus and teaching technologies. Aside from this, only determining problems is not sufficient to take students out of writing phobia. Furthermore, it is necessary to point out the fact that poor reading skills also lead to this kind of disappointment. Most of Russian learners do not know how to initiate their composition (essays). This paper will prove to be an academic contribution to improve the writing skills among ESL/EFL Russian learners in general and students of Tomsk Polytechnic University in particular. The presented analysis should also be of interest to researchers in other countries (universities) in which the field of academic writing is emerging.

Transnational policy borrowing and lending of ideas is mostly from the global North to the global South. In sub-Saharan Africa, transnational policy borrowing and lending is complicated by western “dirty gossips” (distortions and stereotypes) about African societies. While works by Steiner-Khamsi, Quist and Kendall outline the complexities of transnational resource flows to sub-Saharan Africa, analysis of how western distortions about Africa shape transnational policy transfer is lacking. This paper employs symbolic violence and postcolonial frameworks to outline how Europeans and Americans’ “dirty gossips” about Africa have influenced external transfer and flow of educational ideas and practices to sub-Saharan Africa since the colonial era. It also delineates the complicated ways western distortions and stereotypes about sub-Saharan Africa is a strategy by western partners in the global transnational policy borrowing and lending processes to position themselves in trusteeship roles while infantilizing education policy makers in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper argues that western education partners, particularly, western Africanist scholars, employ distortions and stereotypes as important components of their transnational policy borrowing and lending frameworks with the objective to present education in sub-Saharan Africa as a “crisis” and a new frontier, and their resolve to confront, explore and tame the crisis.

This conceptual paper draws on the understanding and application of institutional performance management system (IPMS) by managers in a higher education institution’s department. Managers in HEIs are tasked to develop and support staff at all job levels and are accountable for their performance. The implementation of the IPMS in higher education institutions could enhance the growth and development of the department and its staff. The paper highlights practices of IPMS as well as identifies the successes and challenges in understanding and applying IPMS within HEIs, to provide a consolidated practical advice for universities in South Africa. Staff development and support are central to ensuring that commitments made, are seriously translated into relevant actions in the department. Such actions by the institution lay a strong foundation for improved performance. The purpose of the paper is to unpack and contextualise the understanding and application of institutional performance management system (IPMS) of staff, by recognising its merits depending on the context and circumstances where it is applied. This qualitative paper analysed literature studies that include books and articles written on performance management systems in higher education, to establish how performance data is used to improve institutional staff performance. Findings reveal that HEIs’ performance criteria in IPMS, do not always serve to monitor and evaluate the department’s progress on planned goals, objectives, and initiatives. The paper, therefore, serves as a foundational piece that highlights gaps in higher education institution managers’ understanding and application of IPMS, for supporting and improving staff performance.

This paper explores academic promotion practices in higher education institutions. Promotion of faculty members of universities is one of the major mechanisms in maintaining and improving the quality and efficiency of higher education and research activities in the country. Appointment processes are therefore critical to institutional development; therefore, the study argues for the identification of successful practices by exploring the enablers and disablers within the institutional promotion process in South Africa. This qualitative conceptual paper used literature, not limited to books, articles and chapters written on higher education institutions’ promotion practices. There is, however, limited research on institutional promotion practices for academic employees within the South African higher education institutions. The study argues for the identification of successful practices to ensure fair and equitable institutional promotion practices by exploring the enablers and disablers within the institutional promotion process in the South African higher education. The paper serves as a foundational piece in understanding that appointment practices can be regulated to ensure fairness and equity. The appointment practices highlight the importance of shifting academic staff profiles in ways that are more representative of a diverse democracy. The inclusion of South Africa demonstrates a gap that exists in the academic promotions within higher education institutions. Findings reveal power-play and micro-politicking within promotion practices in HEIs. The paper serves as a foundational piece in understanding the regulation of fairness and equity in academic appointment practices.

The aim of this paper is to map the tide of education reforms worldwide and to spell out the implications thereof for the field of Comparative and International Education – the field of scholarship tasked with assessing and guiding the global education project. In the field the notion of the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) has gained currency. In this paper the deficiencies of that concept are identified. These include its non-exhaustiveness, its lack of a theoretical underpinning, and its lack of a normative dimension. It is argued that the field of Comparative and International Education, with its theoretical construct of the education system, its basic theorem of education systems being shaped by societal contextual forces, and the comparative method for approaching education issues and challenges, appears most promising in providing a theory as well as a method for a scholarly as well as a public discourse about education. The most salient societal trends of the twenty-first century world are enumerated, as well as how these have precipitated in changed education objectives, educational management and administration, teachers and students, and curricula.

This paper examines the recent noticeable rise in parents and carers in England, deciding to home school their children. This rise has been attributed to schools advising parents with ‘difficult’ children, those with special educational needs or behavioural problems, that they have a choice; home educate or their child will be permanently excluded. Also, there is a rise in parents removing children from schools due to bullying, school refusal and general unhappiness with school regimes and demands made on learners. The paper discusses causes of this increase in elective home schooling and examines the policy changes proposed and implemented by successive governments. Recently, concerns have arisen over what type of education is being offered to children by poorly educated parents, the rise of so called temporary schools in unsuitable buildings, concerns over religious indoctrination and the lack of a broad and balanced curriculum being offered, which could result in a lack of future employment opportunities for students. Certainly, a new approach is urgently needed if children’s futures are to be protected.

This paper presents results of a comparative international study on some aspects of school counseling in the following 12 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, UK, and USA. The authors explain the multi-functional character of school counseling, give an idea of establishing a research field that could be called ‘comparative school counseling studies’, show the original terms in individual countries, and compare six aspects of school counseling: 1) legislative framework; 2) position requirements; 3) role of school counselors; 4) functions of school counselors; 5) interaction; and 6) ratio. The paper concludes with a long list of qualities school counselors are expected to possess. This is a document study chiefly based on examining, systematizing and comparing national documents (laws, reports, instructions, advices, position requirements, ministerial orders, recommendations, strategies, and statistics) on school counseling.

In the 1960s Soviet regime in Lithuania introduced through education a concept of “a new man”. This “new man” represented the idealistic vision of the Soviet citizen, thus he had to be indoctrinated with the specific set of values. History as a value-oriented discipline at schools, including both humanitarian and social dimensions, can be understood as one of the most appropriate school subjects for such totalitarian formation of a new man. The aim of this paper is to distinguish principal values, which were introduced to the school children at schools of late Soviet Lithuania (1957-1988) during history education. It is pivotal to note, that Soviet control in Lithuania is understood as an occupational and suppressive regime. Also, it was a regime of idiosyncrasies, so the contents of the aforementioned educational materials are analyzed in two-layered principle – the direct instructions regarding the lifestyle, values, and opinions appropriate to Soviet citizens and more subtle (through symbols, images, and politics of national Communism) indoctrination. This paper raises a hypothesis that Lithuanian break up with the Soviet Union in 1990 has left traces in current Lithuanian education because it was recreated mostly by the same people, who were instructed in the Soviet value system. People educated as “the new Soviet men” created a new Lithuanian history education curriculum, thus aspiring to prompt “a new Lithuanian man”.

The purpose of the paper is to highlight ways in which mathematics educators are supported through school inspection. The aim of this paper is to establish whether mathematics educators are adequately supported through school inspection to address mathematics problems within South African classes. For this goal to be achieved, governments have tasked district officials, hereafter known as school inspectors to ensure and guarantee the delivery of quality education to learners. Despite the belief that school inspection may have a positive impact on the teaching of mathematics, little is known about how school inspectors support mathematics educators. A critical factor in capacitating mathematics educators is to ensure that they acquire effective teaching skills to address learners’ mathematics problems. The study employs a qualitative conceptual approach using literature that includes books, articles and chapters written on mathematics, locally and internationally. Due to the limited discourse on how school inspectors capacitate and supervise educators in South Africa, the text serves as a significant piece in understanding how school inspection is implemented for developing mathematics educators in South Africa. The argument posed is whether school inspectors can succeed in adequately fulfilling this task. Findings reveal that supporting mathematics educators provides opportunities that make a real and lasting difference in learners’ lives. Recommendations are that the government and educational stakeholders should ensure that school inspection is regulated to ensure mathematics educators are capacitated to address difficulties in mathematics learning.

The right of the child to education, regardless of social or environmental factors, is indispensable to the development of both the child and the society. In Africa, this right vis-à-vis the future of the child has incessantly been impeached by internal crisis and armed conflicts which often lead to the displacement of children from their homes, and away from formal educational opportunities. This paper examines the impact of internal crisis and armed conflicts on access to the right to education of internally displaced children (IDCs) in Nigeria and the effectiveness of Nigeria’s legal regime in protecting these rights. It identifies structural conditions as the principal challenge truncating the right of IDCs to education. Using the best interest principle, non-discrimination rule, and the right to participate as its theoretical foundation, the paper posits that the protection of the right of uprooted children to education serves the overall future interest of both IDCs and the country. It argues that the failure of government to protect these rights through the emplacement of a robust legal regime to address the identified challenges amounts to an infringement of IDCs right to education and their right to a better future, particularly under international law. The research considers the position of Nigerian law and international human right instruments – Nigerian Constitution, Nigeria’s Child Rights Act, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Universal Declaration of Human Rights – as the legal foundation of its argument. It recommends the emplacement of a structured legal regime to address the challenges.

Inequality and inequity of outcomes persist in South African higher education despite policies to redress the effects of apartheid, which segregated black people from accessing good quality education. Policy in higher education uses the concept ‘historically disadvantaged’ in its interventions aimed to address inequality but the desired outcomes have not been achieved as higher education institutions particularly universities seem to struggle to create conducive environments for all students to participate successfully. Lack of clarity on what needs to be addressed and prioritised could be blamed for the ineffective interventions. Using the capability approach as advanced by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, the paper identifies the most significant capabilities for student disadvantage, which universities should focus on in their interventions. This paper draws from semi-structured qualitative interviews from 26 diverse students from one South African university to argue that when students lack the financial income, affiliation and personal tenacity and hard work capabilities, their lives were affected the most. To that end, it is recommended that higher education institutions should prioritise to address these capabilities to ensure equal access, participation and success for all students.

The paper focuses on the specifics of children’s learning activity organization aimed at creating the Zone of Proximal Development. From this perspective, we analyze the potential of the theory of learning activity and the practice of developmental learning (D.B. Elkonin, V.V. Davydov), outline the achievements of this approach and reveal the issues of concern regarding the correlation between students preconceptions and scientific concepts. The paper thoroughly reconstructs the scientific discourse between the academic standpoints of the “Developmental Learning” and the “School of the Dialogue of Cultures” supporters, showing the relevance of this discourse in the light of modern challenges in education. Finally, we discuss the approaches to the task of developing theoretical thinking in students and engaging them in quasi-investigations presented in the works of M. Hedegaard and E. Etkina.

Educational reforms in Angola have emerged from changing political contexts in the country's history. The last three stand out: the Veiga Simão reform, which was approved in 1973 (colonial period) but did not come into full force; the 1978 reform (post-independence) coming from the third constitutional revision and the reform begun in 2004 (after national peace) instituted with the publication of Law 13/01, of 13 December. These reforms brought the innovations and measures considered relevant to the necessary changes in the education sector. They aimed to improve the current educational situation and brought guidelines that sought other levels of quality crucial to the country's development. Education being a basic pillar of society, all other sectors have benefited from these reforms, especially the economic, social and cultural ones. The aim of this paper is to show the different historical and political contexts that led to the last three educational reforms in Angola and the consequent changes. In order to achieve this objective, a bibliographical research was carried out, which allowed the authors to know the different contexts of the reforms implemented in education in the country. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the reflection on how these contexts, with specific outlines, led to the educational reforms in question and cooperated in the necessary educational changes in this African country.

The paper describes the main stages and transitions in the unfolding of the Learning Activity which is reviewed within the framework of D.B. Elkonin and V.V. Davydov’s concepts about the meaning and content of education. The unfolding of teaching/learning is explained through the emergence of a joint action of teacher and students, that is, the Mediative Action. The concept of the Learning Task as a basis for constructing the general method of action, central to the system of D.B. Elkonin and V.V. Davydov, is also considered as a source of learning motivation. The learning task is seen as the distinct opposition between the search for the method of acting (possible scaffolds of acting) and the very achievement of the result, i.e. the opposition between the consideration (of situation) and the immediate achievement (of result), and, therefore, the opposition between the intriguing (interesting) and the required. The paper also focuses on the evolution of modeling as the evolution of sign mediation in the student’s activity. As the student progresses from understanding and configuring the model to using it as a means of acting, the model evolves. Having gained the function of the means, the model becomes a resource of possible action, and that is how the experience of acting appears before the student him/herself. The unfolding of the learning task and modeling is conceptualized as the correlation between functional genesis and ontogenesis.

Parental involvement in the life and work of the preschool institutions is an issue that is becoming increasingly relevant as the reform of the system of the pre-school education unfolds. With the introduction of The New Preschool Curriculum Framework - Years of Ascent (2018), this matter has become fairly significant, because the new curriculum perceives parents as key partners in achieving the goals of the institutional preschool education. Accordingly, there is a clear need to thoroughly study this topic and examine all relevant factors which determine an active positioning of parents in the process of the preschool education. In that context, it is very important to establish parents´ self-assessment of their involvement in the process of the pre-school education. This paper aims to examine parents´ attitudes towards their involvement in the work of preschool institutions. The paper constitutes a part of a more extensive research which deals with the field of parents´ co-operation with pre-school institutions. In this paper the authors present the results of a subscale that examines parents´ attitudes regarding their involvement in the work of pre-school institutions. The research included 763 parents whose children attend public preschool institutions on the territory of Serbia. The results obtained through the research show that parents believe that they have been adequately included in the work of the preschool institutions and they consider themselves informed and active partners in the process of co-operation. Concerning the independent research variables, the results indicate that mothers are more involved than fathers, as well as that younger parents are more active than those who belong to an older category of parents. The parents´ education level has proven to be an important factor behind parental involvement, as well as the variable relating to a specific education group that children attend. Following the obtained results, one can conclude that parents´ self-assessment regarding their involvement in the work of preschool institutions engenders optimism and it supports the attitude that parental involvement is of immense significance for the quality of the preschool education.

There is no dearth of literature on the numerous challenges that women face in securing leadership roles in government, non-government and other societal and community organisations. Over the past five decades or so, researchers and concerned others have been reporting on the lack of women in leadership roles. This paper explores leadership roles of women in higher education (HE), with a special focus on the University of Buea, Cameroon. The paper is based on research work carried out in 2016 and was framed by the gender and development (GAD) model; but it is also supported by on-going research investigation, carried out for the purpose of future publications. This means that by and large, the paper makes use of literature review methodological approach to build the discussion. It makes clear that although on a global scale women’s enrolment in HE exceeds that of men, this does not translate into women senior leadership positions in HE. It acknowledges what HE means in the Cameroonian context, and looks at the socio-cultural and structural factors that influence women’s representation in HE positions in the University of Buea. The paper concludes that the paradigm shift in the global concepts of development has not shown a satisfactory level of decrease in the challenges that women face in relation to attaining senior leadership roles in HE institutions.

The aim of the paper is to briefly explain the relationship between early and preschool-aged children’s play and social-emotional learning (SEL). Play, as the child’s dominant activity, ensures his full and healthy development and SEL makes a significant contribution to it. As SEL is important for a children’s healthy growth, it has recently been the subject of numerous studies and, as a result, has become an indispensable part of the curricula of educational institutions. Socio-emotional competencies enable children to make achievements and advance both academically and personally. In this paper, the emphasis is placed on symbolic and peer play and it is concluded that both types provide opportunities for enhancing all social and emotional competencies (responsible decision-making, social awareness, social skills, self-awareness, and self-management). The prerequisite for creating the conditions for appropriate SEL of early and preschool-aged children are socially-emotionally competent educators (and parents). It is necessary to enrich study programmes at universities where educators are trained in the field of social-emotional competencies and indirectly to enable parents of early and preschool-aged children to learn this as well.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the percentage of expenditure on public education of a country and the effect that each percentage mark has on the economic growth, and therefore Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country. The goal of this paper is to explore how investment in education impacts the economic growth of a country through the production of more skilled workers in the workforce. This paper aims to draw a comparison between the BRICS countries, and a representative number of the countries in the European Union to compare the investment, process and product delivered through these groupings. By looking at the production function from a Marxist perspective it is inevitable to notice that the error coefficient is significantly higher within the BRICS countries than in the European Union, which is reflected in the rate of economic growth. This paper would be of interest to economists, education policy makers, researchers, and scholars.

The Interactive Educational Software in Classroom Teaching (IESCT) represents computer programs used for the independent design of educational content that is to be acquired. The starting point of this research was the general assumption that IESCTs significantly contribute to the effectiveness of classroom teaching and the learning and participation of students in classes. The starting points were also the specific assumptions that the research would identify the components that indicate the most common contributions of IESCTs and that it would establish a significant difference in the estimates of the pre-service teachers regarding the contribution of the IESCTs relative to their academic achievement. To establish this, the research presented in this paper was conducted in the second half of 2019 on a sample of 83 pre-service primary school teachers at the Faculty of Education in Prizren (Republic of Serbia). The data were generated by the IESCT Scale ( = .912). The factor analysis identified two components that indicate the contribution of the IESCT: 1) the efficiency of teaching and 2) individuality in learning. The analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant difference in the estimates of the four groups of students, grouped according to their academic achievement. Based on the critical comparative analysis presented in the paper and the results of the empirical research, a proposal was given for introducing innovative approaches to classroom teaching in schools in the Republic of Serbia and for its implementation in accordance with innovative didactic and methodological models that include the use of interactive educational software in teaching.

The paper analyzes the conceptual framework of the activity-based content of education that was elaborated by Vasiliy Davydov and implemented in a new design of school subjects. The article shows that, in order to promote activity practice in education, Davydov had to develop three project-oriented notions that he integrated into a single system of activity practice: 1. The notion of the structure of the thinking act – the ‘cell’ of any thinking processes acquired by students; 2. The notion of the concept as a system of actions (i.e. the concepts from school subjects, such as ‘number’, ‘phoneme’) that represents the main content of primary education; 3. The notion of a schoolchild’s learning activity as a form of activity aimed at mastering new types of school subjects. The integration of these three notions was possible due to Davydov’s metacognitive approach that allows one to analyze the concretization of the notions about the thinking act using the materials from different school subjects, in different types of activity. The paper argues that the next step in the development of activity practice in education requires the elaboration of the concept of education as a form of integration of the student’s learning activity and the teacher’s instructional activity.

The paper attempts to take a look at the works of V.V. Davydov from the perspective of classical historical ideas of objective forms of thinking, through the prism of dialectics as logics – in other words, through the notions that Davydov himself considered as basic foundations of his pedagogical transformations. Appreciation or rejection of Davydov’s achievements depends entirely on the position of ‘experts’: looking at his accomplishments with the eyes of Hegel or Marx, or analyzing them from the point of view of real educational practice are two principally different things. The extent to which historical classics of philosophy and pedagogy revealed itself in Davydov’s activity and how it was or was not implemented – these are the issues that await their exploration. The paper outlines some topics for such research.

The introductory part of the paper discusses the changed reading habits of children and young people, conditioned by various factors - the development of modern technologies, the use of the Internet, constant reading of various content from numerous screens, changed thought patterns, "accelerated" time, etc. Such a context leaves little room for reading books and other printed publications, especially the so-called fine literature (fiction). For this reason, our research focus is on the attitude of high school students towards books and reading within the framework of teaching literature, and beyond, in the sphere of private life. The aim is to examine their reading habits and attitudes about books and reading in order to - by comparing the obtained data with the results of the similar research - determine the nature of the changes that have occurred in the meantime, and that new knowledge can be used to create serious, fact-based, methodological strategies for improving the current analyzed situation. The central part of the paper offers the presentation of the research conducted on a sample of 1177 students from 13 high schools in the area of the cities of Niš and Novi Pazar, conducted in late 2018 and early 2019. An anonymous questionnaire was used to collect and then interpret the data on students' family and school habits related to books and reading, their attitude towards school compulsory reading lists, libraries, e-books and online literature, as well as creativity and literature studies.

This paper reviews the key research of the automatic engagement detection in education. Automatic engagement detection is necessary in enhancing educational process, there is a lack of out-of-the-box technical solutions. Engagement can be detected while tracing learning-centered affects: interest, confusion, frustration, delight, anger, boredom, and their facial and bodily expressions. Most of the researchers reveal these emotions on video using Facial Action Coding System (FACS). But there doesn’t exist a set of ready-made criteria to detect engagement and many scientists use additional techniques like self-reports, audio-data, physiological indicators and others. In this paper we present a review of most recent researches in the field of automatic affect and engagement detection and present our theoretical model of engagement in educational process based on the learning-centered affects’s detection. Engagement is understood as an affective and cognitive state, accompanying learning process. While reaching optimal engagement students experience various affects, where highly positive and negative feelings mean that a student is close to be engaged in the learning process.

An increase in research productivity is of vital importance in the development of countries worldwide. However, when research outputs are measured, many higher education faculties neither meet the expectations regarding quality nor quantity despite the increasing drive towards publications. This paper examines how academic managers can reform a prevailing weak or average research culture. Research and innovation managers such as deans, research directors and research professors may benefit from implementing the principles of the innovation value chain to transform a specific research culture characterised by low morale and a lack of outputs. Based on the author’s experience and relevant scholarly literature, it is argued in this paper that a general passive or negative attitude amongst faculty members who are expected to produce research outputs, can be converted to a vibrant environment characterised by positive attitudes and increased research productivity.

This volume contains selected papers submitted to the XVIII Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held virtually in June 2020. The XVIII BCES Conference theme is Educational Reforms Worldwide. The Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society is a traditional, scholarly, interdisciplinary, high-level event. Education specialists from all over the world every year attend the Conference so as to present their studies. The Conference purposefully keeps to a small size, aiming at organizing the selection of papers of the best quality and providing excellent opportunities for presentations and discussions. The goal of the XVIII BCES Conference is to provide a platform for in-depth discussions on educational reforms worldwide. The Conference attracts case, international, and comparative studies on reforms at all levels of the educational systems – preschool, primary, lower and upper secondary, postsecondary, and higher education; and in all educational streams – general, vocational, and special education. Authors present their theoretical, methodological or empirical studies on reforms of various educational aspects – aims, priorities, missions, governance, finance, structures, curricula, syllabi, textbooks, teaching and learning styles, innovations, examinations, graduation requirements, academic degrees, etc. Authors also focus on past and present educational reforms.

As scholars we navigate in the fast changing and demanding research environment. The pressure to produce tangible outputs, secure funding, and undertake international collaborations has high implications on individual researchers’ work and well-being. The issues brought forefront in scholarly literature showcase the impact of research pressures on other academic duties such as teaching, scholarly service and community engagement. The attention is also drawn to the ways in which the above mentioned pressures influence choices researchers make regarding their research agenda. In this reflective paper we take the academic discourse a step further to explore how demands of research productivity intertwine with institutional and individual autonomy in our respective countries, Hungary and South Africa. Our conceptual framework is informed by commonly recognized levels of autonomy in HEIs, which relate to research activities. The three levels include: individual researcher, collaborative research teams and the institution at large. Considering the complexity of the topic and length restriction for this paper, we narrow our focus to how institutional and individual researcher’s autonomy converge with two research productivity activities, namely dependence on funding and selection of outlets for research outputs

The subject of this paper is identifying the most common students‘ mistakes in teaching lessons of the Serbian Language which are a part of the exam for the academic course Professional Methodological Practice of Teaching Serbian Language at the Faculty of Philososphy in Niš. By analyzing the data obtained by observing the lessons taught by the students of the Serbian Language at the Faculty of Philososphy in Niš during the four-year period (2015/16 to 2018/19), the authors found and analyzed typical errors, classifying them into six categories: errors in methodological lesson management, ignoring teaching principles, a lack of the required class structure, an incorrect application of teaching methods, incorrect application of teaching and technical aids, and an unbalanced behaviour towards students. As there has been no paper dealing with a similar topic so far, this research should be instructive for students, in terms of offering them guidelines for organizing and taking these exams and state teaching license exams. The obtained results are indicative of the complexity of teaching theory (developmental and pedagogical psychology and didactics) that should be linked to academic disciplines (linguistics, theory of literature, and the art of literature) in the process of methodological design of the lessons of Serbian language and Literature.

The paper presents a technique for assessing features of creative movement in children aged 3—6 years; the technique was used to test the hypothesis about the specifics of these features in each of the preschool ages. The paper outlines the creative task and the entire procedure of the technique; describes the parameters of creative movement (the use of various expressive movements, their originality, transformation into the character etc.) and the system of their assessments. The study involved 205 children aged 3—6 and the paper discusses the obtained data: compares the developmental dynamics of creative movement basing on its parameters and the correlation between them; provides intermediate conclusions concerning the predominance of the cognitive aspect of creativity (“use of means” of the language of movements) over the actual creative aspect (“transformation into the character”, “originality”).

Inclusive education is among fundamental problems in education which has instigated a lot of research and theoretical debates and has become a significant aspect of the education system reforms aimed at radical changes that would result not only in placing the marginalized children in the center of attention, but also in equality and quality of education for all children through the creation of an open and flexible education system. The paper looks at the key characteristics underlying the concept of inclusive education on one hand, and constituting the basis for using art in education, on the other, with the ultimate goal of identifying the values on which the idea of art in education is based and pointing to the opportunities it offers for developing a good quality education for all children. Two critical aspects ‒ an increased academization of the curricula and marginalization of art, and the perception and assessment of individual differences ‒ have been analyzed in the paper. By elaborating on the importance of art in education in general, and especially in the education of children with developmental and learning difficulties, the authors of the paper stress the potential of art for changing perceptions and the culture of teaching, as well as educational institutions, by making them more flexible and open for diversity.