The paper analyzes the language guide Nije-nego by D. Kostić as the first orthographic dictionary of the Serbian language. Without scientific pretensions, this handbook was primarily intended for general practice, as a guide that could assist everyone for whom language is a tool-journalists, writers, editors, proofreaders, teachers. Before Kostić's guide, Serbs did not have normative works in the dictionary form: Čuturilo's orthographic handbook from 1884 and Petrović's from 1914 did not have orthographic dictionaries. This was achieved only in 1923 with Belić's Orthography of the Serbo-Croatian Language, the first systematic orthographic handbook among Serbs. In this paper, an orthographic dictionary is understood as an alphabetic list of terms related to orthographic rules covered in our orthographic handbooks - capitalization, writing words together or separately, phonetic changes, abbreviations, punctuation, and orthographic signs. The aim of the paper is to present a language handbook from the first half of the twentieth century and to highlight the significance of such a method of addressing language content in Serbian language teaching. A dictionary, as a form of orthographic handbook, is suitable for quickly finding specific terms and resolving grammatical and orthographic dilemmas that users may have. It does not require knowledge of the literary language norm or the language in general, which is why this handbook is not intended solely for language experts but also for general practice. In Kostić's handbook (and in two later editions, one of which has the phrase "orthographic dictionary" in the title), a pattern is applied where non-standard forms (on the left side, under the heading Nije) are opposed to standard forms (Nego). This is a very practical way to master the literary language norm, especially since dictionaries like this one point out language phenomena that are not covered in grammar books. It is precisely in this observation that we see the space that handbooks of this form can find in the educational process, as they easily provide examples of language mistakes that Serbian speakers might not even realize are mistakes. In didactic and broader linguistic literature, the teaching of the native language is often described as insufficiently functional, especially at the elementary school level, where crucial grammar and orthography knowledge is acquired. A characteristic of such teaching is the so-called "grammatization," formalistic and verbal, isolated from language practice, and serving as a goal in itself. When we look at grammar textbooks and the accompanying didactic-methodical apparatus, we find certain progress compared to previous observations. In addition to some grammatical handbooks in Serbian that include orthographic dictionaries within them, in the approach to presenting teaching content from grammar, orthography, and language culture, these are most often presented in the form of isolated fragments. Also appearing are so-called "language lessons" that provide examples illustrating violations of certain grammatical or orthographic rules, related to the content covered on those textbook pages and part of the didactic-methodical apparatus. On pages dedicated to a specific language content (grammatical, orthographic, etc.), such examples are often set apart in some way (framed, printed in a different color, in a separate paragraph, etc.), with expressions like Pazi! (Be careful!), Obrati pažnju! (Pay attention!), and so on. Since Belić's Orthography from 1923, orthographic handbooks also feature orthographic dictionaries, which can also be understood as lists of terms that in practice provoke dilemmas and mistakes. This is also pointed out in the teaching process (especially in higher elementary grades and at the high school level). On the other hand, compared to dictionaries like Kostić's, finding solutions is harder because they rarely point to irregular phenomena, which, once again, are part of everyday language practice, especially among the school population. Handbooks like this one, in the form of an orthographic dictionary, can help authors of grammar textbooks for all ages in selecting appropriate examples for specific teaching units. They have served and will continue to serve lexicographers because normative dictionaries highlight exactly those forms that, from the perspective of the literary language norm, cause dilemmas and mistakes in practice - all with the aim of improving the language culture of everyone who uses the Serbian language.
Managing a foreign language classroom represents a complex process that requires teachers to possess a wide range of skills and abilities. The effective implementation of classroom management strategies has proven crucial in overcoming challenges arising from heterogeneous monolingual classrooms. Examining key aspects such as management style, communication models, language input, and cooperative learning highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach. The democratic/integrative management style, with a focus on communicative and humanistic-affective approaches, plays a crucial role in meeting the needs of students. Asymmetric interaction in communication often emerges in institutional contexts, where the teacher's role is dominant. The quality of communication models in the classroom directly depends on fulfilling the first aspect. Language input in the classroom, tailored to the group's needs, aims at developing language competence in line with educational objectives. Cooperative learning creates space for a better understanding of others' needs, reflection on one's identity in the classroom, and the acquisition of intercultural competence. All the mentioned dimensions of managing a foreign language classroom are interconnected and require careful integration into the teaching process to achieve effective learning and meet the needs of all participants in the classroom. This underscores the importance of continuous teacher development towards a comprehensive approach to managing a foreign language classroom.
Given that the gender and number of nouns are adopted for the first time in the second grade of elementary school in Republic of Serbia. The subject of this research is the way of processing these grammatical categories at the age when the concepts of noun gender and number are introduced and when basic linguistic rules are established. To examine the current solutions, we analyzed eleven approved textbooks for the second grade of elementary school. We considered the starting texts, the provided examples, linguistic accuracy, and methodological gradualness, as well as the possibilities for improving grammar teaching. The research results show that: 1) there are different ways of introducing the concept of gender and number of nouns to students; 2) the introduction of grammatical gender through the concept of natural gender dominates in the second-grade textbooks; 3) there are numerous places that cause linguistic confusion or represent a kind of methodological trap. We believe that these inaccuracies can lead to significant challenges in teaching grammar in the higher grades of elementary school. In the conclusion of the paper, concrete steps are proposed in the concluding part of the paper for the introduction of the concept of gender and number of nouns in the second grade of elementary school.
This paper explores the role of everyday, practical life activities as a key factor in the early development of mathematical concepts in preschool children. The focus is on the analysis of the cognitive specificities of children of this age, as well as the potential of these activities for the development of logical-mathematical thinking. The theoretical basis of the work includes modern psychological and pedagogical approaches, where Maria Montessori's method and the concept of situational learning are analyzed in particular. The paper relies on qualitative analysis of examples from practice and existing curricula. The possibilities of applying measuring, serial and classification activities in the function of early mathematical development are pointed out. It was concluded that the introduction of everyday activities into the educational process can encourage functional understanding of concepts, but that systematic pedagogical support and further empirical insights are necessary to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.
The horizontal link between the contents of two school subjects, Serbian Language and Science and Social Studies, can be made by a broader localisation of literary works which places literary texts in social and historical contexts. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the sets of Serbian Language textbooks and Science and Social Studies textbooks for the fourth grade of primary school are complementary in terms of providing students with a basis for understanding historical and geographical terms necessary for the localization and understanding of traditional epic poetry. Content analysis of textbooks published by nine publishing houses was carried out, using historical and geographical terms in the poem "Miloš u Latinima" as a unit of the content analysis. There are 53 historical and geographical terms in this poem and they were classified into three categories - historical terms (personalities, rulers' titles, other concepts from the past), geographical terms (settlements, rivers, mountains) and historical-geographical terms (nations, monasteries). The research results indicate that historical and geographical terms in the poem exist in the methodological apparatus of the textbooks and that there is a correlation in terms of the presence of these concepts in textbook sets of the same publisher for both school subjects. However, there is a level of inconsistency between the textbooks of the same publisher regarding the explanations of historical/geographical terms - some terms or concepts in the poem are either not explained in any of the textbooks or they are duplicated. It is necessary to find a way for harmonising the cross-curricular contents in the textbooks for a more successful localisation of traditional epic poems.
The issue of attention in teaching seems prima facie familiar and almost trivial. In the teaching practice, attention is taken for granted. Anyone who has worked in teaching knows that it is necessary to attract and maintain students' attention, and that it is an integral element of every school lesson. But what is precisely attention and why is it important for teaching? Are the conceptualizations of attention simple, unequivocal and unambiguous? In the paper, we examine the conceptualization of attention from the perspective of teaching and school learning, first through a theoretical analysis of traditional definitions of attention in the psychological literature, then we examine one of the contemporary philosophical positions on attention, and in the main part of the paper we examine the concept of attention in teaching and school learning from a specifically pedagogical-psychological and didactic perspective. The aim of our paper is to demonstrate that even an elementary overview of theoretical definitions (such as we provide in this paper) confirms that the conceptualization of attention in teaching and school learning is neither simple nor unambiguous and that it is based on a series of open theoretical questions and conceptual dilemmas, which makes attention a non-trivial and provocative didactic issue, requiring continuous elaboration and research.
The paper analyzes the process of digitalization in public administration, with a focus on the digital transformation of government services. Special attention is given to the role of digital tools in improving the education system and preventing peer violence. The theoretical framework includes defining digitalization and its application in the public sector, with a particular emphasis on educational institutions and authorities responsible for child protection. Through a case study of the national platform "I Protect You," the paper examines the implementation of digital transformation and its effects on reducing violence among children. The results show that, over the first five years, the platform has become an important prevention instrument, while the increase in the number of reports indicates greater trust in institutional child-protection mechanisms and the development of a culture of nonviolence.
The paper analyzes the normative acts on national minorities and guarantees of their right to education in Serbia, emphasizing the importance of this right for the preservation of cultural and linguistic identity. We will review the legal and institutional framework consisting of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, relevant laws and international documents, such as the Framework Convention and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The paper points to important segments that must be the subject of future research and analysis in order to harmonize the position of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia with European standards, and to improve and plan in detail the procedures for conducting classes for these social groups. We will point out challenges in the implementation of the right, such as the lack of teaching materials, staff and infrastructure, and emphasize the need for further improvement of the system for the full implementation of the right to education.
Cooperative teaching has long been one of the leading pedagogical strategies aimed at creating conditions in educational institutions that will contribute to their release from the transmissive teaching model. Accordingly, the goal of the research is to discover, among the basic elements of cooperative teaching, those that can contribute to the successful prediction of students' choose to using reproductive learning. The research sample included 516 elementary school students from Serbia, from the Rasina and Pomoravlje districts. The research results confirmed that based on a more successful organization of cooperative teaching, lower levels of student chuse to using reproductive learning can be predicted. The following elements of the structure cooperative teaching stood out as significant predictors in the model: positive interdependence students and "face-to-face" promotive interaction. Hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that the above variables also have a mediating role on the line between the other predictor variables and criteria. Moderator analysis determined that there is an interaction among significant predictor variables in the model. Introducing this interaction into the model contributed to its greater accuracy. In its final form, the model of the listed predictors explains 11.1% of the variance in reproductive learning.
With the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, this study explores the factors shaping the intention of future teachers and educators to integrate AI-based tools into their practices, building upon existing research on AI in education. It investigates how variables such as intelligent-ethical Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), AI-related anxiety, subjective norms, AI for social good, and self-assessed AI competence influence this intention. Data were collected from 157 pre-service teachers at the Faculties of Education in Jagodina and Belgrade, and multiple regression analysis revealed that 72.9% of the variance in intention to use AI was explained by these variables. Intelligent-ethical TPACK (b = 0.501, p < 0.001) emerged as the strongest predictor, followed by AI for social good (b = 0.296, p < 0.001) and subjective norms (b = 0.195, p < 0.01). The results highlight the importance of enhancing teacher education programs to develop intelligent-ethical TPACK and awareness of AI's role in promoting social good.
By reading Shakespeare's play The winter's tale in a new way the author of this paper has the goal to focus our attention on the actual events and the connection between the events from social reality and from personal, emotional, spiritual world of characters. The author' s aim is to show that the past brings energy to present time and for ideas of cosmic justice that must be satisfied in every moment by no means. By linguistic analyses, thinking about characters' actions, by revealing hidden meaning of the spoken words, by citing chosen extracts from the play we come to the conclusion that the past leaves an indelible mark in the present and has a noticable influence on today's society and culture. Verse narration reveals Shakespeare's attitude towards tradition, customs and faith striving towards harmony and love for people and for God. Shakespeare finds the material for this play in real life, but the focus of his dramatic enthusiasm is a man himself - a timeless being with universal fears, anxieties and sufferings, who is torn apart between his inner thoughts and knowledge of the outer world. This very fact is actually a testimony of eternal spiritual makeover, changes of ideas and knowledge, all of which, as Shakespeare and the scholars that studied his works used to point out, represent the enlightenment of human's soul that strives for universal values. Shakespeare's capability to create various characters of different intellect and social background, to follow them along some imaginative line, to give them thoughts and language, to make a connection between earthly and cosmic signs, symbols and events is also due to the very end of this drama. The end resembles very musch some kind of a new open space, a new horizon where the last scenes of the play take place. Having in mind Shakespeare's position in the literary world, we can rightfully acquire the idea of his creations living through centuries because he involved cosmic vision in them. That vision guides future writers, dramatists, philosophers to transformations of human mind and thoughts making them believe that this is where man's elan vital (life force) lies. By analyzing parts of the play we shall point out social and cultural values that are also cherished today.
The research of the puppet animated by actor in the function of acquiring of the initial mathematical concepts confirmed the basic hypothesis: puppet is important for the adoption of initial mathematical concepts and in that function can be successfully applied. The paper has revealed a new aspect of the application of the puppet in the function of acquiring mathematical concepts, as an active performer of their representation (and not, as usual, a mediator).The results of the research, which sample was the children puppet program of Television of Belgrade, pointed to significance of puppet in the function of acquiring of the initial mathematical concepts on TV and that it is suitable for successful representation of the majority of the initial mathematical concepts. The paper provides the best examples (the parts of puppet scenarios, the photographs of puppets, puppet scenographies and mise-en-scènes) of the application of the puppet' potentials and peculiarities in the function of acquiring of the initial mathematical concepts. These are: gathering, size'variations, classification (by color, shape, size), correspondence (association, arrangement, matching), sorting, counting, addition, subtraction, differentiation of concepts left and right, whole and half, reversibility, conservation, measures and measurement.All elements of art of puppetry are potentially in the function of adoptions mathematics for preschoolers. Developing children's speech, the puppet helps understanding of words' precise meanings, verbalization of transformation, movement and interaction in space and time. The puppet scenarios are interesting, full of twists and turns, dramatic, dynamic and abound in problem situations. Puppet characters are simplified and typical, but original, exciting and familiar to children who can easily and happily identify with them. The puppet often embodies geometric bodies, and it' design contains geometric shapes. The puppet scenography represents an aesthetically designed limited space for mathematical operations, which are also used in it' creation. Puppet animation makes many mathematical operations and concepts feasible, obvious and understandable for child (e.g. general shape of commutativity). Puppet mise-en-scene enables children ' s perception of spatial representation. Puppet direction, representing coordination of spatiotemporal actions and kinematic organization of in puppets, can replace the real manipulation with objects, represent reversible process and accelerate the creation of the geometric intuitions and concepts of conservation. We propose the use of puppet as an active performer of representation of the initial mathematical concepts in working with preschool children. We recommend that the best examples of the application of puppet (the parts of puppet' scenarios, the photographs of puppets, puppet scenographies and mise-en-scenes), given in this work, to be used in institutionalized VOR (directly or as an inspiration for original puppet texts, scenographies and mise-en-scènes).
The aim of this applied research is to determine the factors that influence the prevalence of the application of field teaching, as a form of extracurricular education, in the implementation of geographical content from fifth to eighth grade, according to the opinion of 111 teachers in the Republic of Serbia, depending on their teaching experience and academic education. The theoretical basis is formed by the elements of emancipatory didactics. The results indicate that there is still an insufficient number of geography teachers willing to implement this form of work, although they are aware of the numerous advantages of fieldwork, citing: the time and effort required for organization, while teachers who use fieldwork highlighted it as the most interesting part of their teaching activities. The pedagogical implications of these findings point to the need for educational policy (number of lessons in curricula, etc.) to be dedicated to the possibility for teachers to have the conditions for this type of teaching activities in geography teaching.
Algorithmic thinking is a problem-solving approach and one of the core skills pupils develop interactively during primary education. One approach to developing algorithmic thinking is working with physical digital devices such as educational robots. The aim of this paper is to present the methodological approaches in developing algorithmic thinking using educational robots, as well as alternative approaches in case of lack of technology. The code writing is shown through 4 different methodological approaches, as well as the transformation from the square grid into a linear algorithm. When writing the algorithm, mistakes (bugs) are inevitable, so special attention is paid to recognizing and correcting errors (debugging), as an important skill that should be developed in the first cycle of primary education. In the absence of physical digital devices, algorithmic thinking can be developed using virtual robots-emulators, available in the Web environment, or in the form of mobile applications.
Until the 1970s, women in the Novi Pazar region partied separately from men. On that occasion, in accordance with the customs of this environment, they could only be cheered by women who played the def [tambourine]. This instrument was accompanied by singing and playing during posedak/poijelo [evening visit to friends], džumbus [party], krna [a party where a girl prepares for marriage by painting parts of her body]. This form of music disappeared over time, but in the last twenty years, it has been revived and today it is an essential element of socalled bachelorette parties. Contemporary scientific findings indicate that the contents of the culture in which the student grows up have a significant place in teaching. Since women's playing on the def in the Novi Pazar region is little known to the public and has not been evaluated as a teaching content to date, we decided to analyze the structure of the def, the way and forms of music playing in the context of customs, and point out its methodological applicability through a theoretical analysis of the relevant literature. The aim of the work is to improve the teaching of musical culture in Serbia and preserve this element of intangible culture. The descriptive method and content analysis technique were used in the research. In the paper, it was established that the singing and dancing of women in the Novi Pazar area accompanied by def is a methodically applicable content in the area of listening to music in all grades of primary school, while in the fields of man and music and musical instruments is applicable in the fifth grade of elementary school. In accordance with the goals of the program and modern trends - content integration and intercultural education - teachers were given specific guidelines for processing this music content. Namely, singing and dancing of women accompanied by def can be integrated within the subject (between areas), but also outside the subject Music - with the contents of Nature and society (the way of life of people and their customs in the region where the student lives) and the Language (folk songs). Also, through the processing of this content in areas where the majority of Serbs and/or other national minorities live, students, in addition to mastering musical issues, would get to know each other and be guided to understand the culture of Bosniaks living in Serbia, which leads to intercultural education. We hope that with this work we will improve the teaching of musica in Serbia and contribute to the preservation of this form of music.
This paper examines the potential of ChatGPT-4o as a support tool in Nature and Society teaching for fourth-grade students. Tasks of three levels of complexity in the domain of magnetism were generated by the tool and evaluated by 12 experts using a Likert scale. The results indicate that the generated tasks are age-appropriate, with the basic-level tasks receiving the highest evaluations. The analysis focused on aspects such as safety, promotion of student cooperation, alignment with learning outcomes, real-life application, and clarity. Certain shortcomings were noted, particularly in terms of safety in task implementation and the need for clearer instructional guidelines. The paper discusses the implications for future use of AI-based systems in elementary education and emphasizes the necessity of teacher training for responsible implementation of such technologies.
Innovative teaching models, including integrated learning, have emerged to address the shortcomings of traditional education, which stem from the compartmentalization of subjects. Integrated learning involves blurring or partially obscuring the boundaries between different subjects or disciplines by establishing meaningful connections among similar aspects of different disciplines. The aim of this research was to determine the existence of similar or identical educational content on natural phenomena in the curricula for the subjects World Around Us/ Nature and Society and English language, and explore possibilities for their integration. The research employed theoretical analysis as the method and content analysis as the technique. The sample included curricula for the first four grades of primary school, specifically their segments related to the aforementioned subjects. Through analysis, it was found that these curricula contain similar or identical content on natural phenomena, but they are not fully aligned within individual grades.
Social and political conditions have always influenced literature and it was reflected on the poetry of very important poets in the development of Serbian literature for children and young people, Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj and Aleksandar Vuco. In this text we are going to think about the two different ways in which childhood was depicted in the poetry of Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj and Aleksandar Vuco. We are going to compare the first and the second period in the development of Serbian literature for children and young people analyzing the relationship between adults and children (authority and freedom),presentation of school and social reality and consequently the conditions in which children are brought up. While Zmaj's child is overprotected by his parents, Vuco's child is rebellious, capable of taking care of himself and finding the way out of the problems he is facing. We are going to show the way in which Vuco builds the critical attitude towards capitalism using the characterisation of his heroes and observing their everyday incidents and accidents, their imaginations and cravings. We are going to consider the values children were taught by Zmaj and ,on the other hand the values Vuco offered them as well as the elements that influenced that poetics.
Numerals hold a significant place in grammar and speech practice. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the principles of systematicity and progression, along with other aspects of introducing numerals in grammar and spelling teaching. Content analysis and comparative analysis encompassed curricula and learning programs from the first grade of elementary school to the fourth grade of gymnasium, as well as grammar textbooks from the second to the fifth grade. Inconsistencies in the didactic-methodological apparatus of textbooks were observed, as well as insufficiently clear and logical connections between contents for the first and second cycles of elementary school, and between elementary and high school. This suggests the need for changes in the content of curricula and grammar textbooks to overcome these discrepancies. Then, language teaching would be further grounded in science and adapted to the students' age.
