Tomas Bata University in Zlín

13th Annual Student Conference of the Department of Educational Sciences

On April 18, 2024, the Department of Educational Sciences FHS UTB in Zlín held a student conference aimed at providing students of the third year of Social Pedagogy in full-time form with a space for the presentation of their bachelor theses. Students were given the opportunity to try out their thesis defences and to work out any shortcomings before the state examinations. After the presentation of the participants, the conference was opened with an introductory speech by the Director of the Institute of Educational Sciences doc. Mgr. Jakub Hladík, Ph.D.

The plenary session was led by students from the follow-up master’s programme in Social Pedagogy, who presented on their successfully defended bachelor’s theses from previous years. Bc. Jakub Brhláč gave a presentation on the topic The Use of Experiential Education Programmes in Developing Social Relationships Among Older SchoolAge Children. Following this, Bc. Pavla Dubská discussed The Adaptation of Children of Foreign Nationals to Nursery School from the Perspective of Nursery Teachers. The session concluded with a presentation by Bc. Natália Juranová on Understanding the Lived Experience of Trans People. The afternoon programme continued in six thematic sections, each chaired by academic staff from the Department of Educational Sciences (ÚPV). In these LIFE AT THE FACULTY 21 Drama as a Tool for Enhancing English Skills In April this year, the Centre for Language Education prepared two interesting workshops for students and employees of UTB aimed at promoting communication skills in English. This uniquely designed two-day minicourse was led by Mgr. Jana Orsavová, PhD, in collaboration with Patrice Meunier, a charismatic educator and experienced actor from Paris’s Gustave Eiffel University. One of the participants shared her reflections on the workshop in a short report. sessions, students presented their bachelor’s thesis projects on a wide range of topics, including the role of social pedagogues in primary schools, the profession of teaching assistants, leisure education, adaptation programmes and experiential pedagogy, value orientation, primary prevention and mediation in the school environment, classroom climate, social services, senior adaptation, families exhibiting risk behaviours in children and youth, low-threshold facilities, children’s homes, substance abuse, resocialisation, media and social networks, quality of life, and wellbeing, among others. The topics were then discussed together, and feedback was given to all presenters.