Zuzana Petrova

Our current national research projects are predominantly focused on early literacy development (age group 3 to 6 years old) with specific interest on how children from marginalized social groups are dealing with exposure to literacy rich environment in pre-schools and at the beginning of the school attendance in 1^st grade when the formal reading and writing instruction starts. Our intention is to describe specific methods, procedures and materials used to inspire children´s interest in reading and writing and to support development of diverse domains of pre-literacy knowledge, competencies and experiences of children in early childhood education (representative to prevailing teaching practice in Slovakia) and to study whether they are beneficial for children early literacy development, especially for children from marginalized social groups. Respectively, what barriers for approaching literacy for children from marginalized social groups are represented in prevailing teaching practice in Slovakia.

Whereas all pre-schools in Slovakia were recently equipped with interactive (smart) boards, in most of the pre-schools teachers are inventing specific educational activities using this technological device to support literacy development of children in their classrooms. Considering this, our research activities (linked to the interest and scientific programme of WG 2&3) could be focused on how children (intact and form marginalized social groups) are developing their understanding of purposes of reading and on how comprehension skills of children are developed under these conditions of literacy practice.