Current supported research projects of Department of Psychology staff members:

Cooperation with dr. Kenneth Mavor, University of St. Andrews (Strategic Partnerships Fund in 2021, 2022)

In 2021 we started cooperation with dr. Kenneth Mavor from the St. Andrews University. Ken and his colleagues systematically apply the theory of social identity in the educational process (viz Mavor, Platow, Bizumic, 2017)

Their findings can contribute, for example, to a deeper understanding of what aspects affect the educational experience of university students, how to prevent problems with procrastination and other problematic attitudes to study, and vice versa, how to support subjectively and objectively positive educational experiences.

Events – 2022:

An online workshop on Using Path Models to Explore the Role of Social Identity in Promoting and Undermining Learning will take place: https://capv.cz/event/worskhop/

Further activities at the faculty will be announced.

Events – 2021:

Invited lecture by dr. Mavor with title Social Identities for Learning, recording is available on the faculty YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kw52ep0Jb4

Contact: In case of questions and interest in involvement, contact dr. Machovcova: katerina.machovcova@pedf.cuni.cz

Supervision – Prevention of Teacher Burnout (TA CR TL01000399)

Principal investigator: doc. PhDr. Irena Smetáčková, Ph.D.

Project duration: 2018–2021

Grant agency: TACR

The research builds on an extensive research project on teacher burnout, which identified a strong link between peer support and burnout. Under this research project, therefore, peer support techniques (supervision, intervision, mentoring, Balint and Wanda group therapy) were examined in more detail in schools that have been using them for a long time or are just introducing them. An extensive questionnaire survey for teachers and other surveys for school psychologists were also used. The project output is a guide for school management on the selection and implementation of peer support techniques, which has been published on ucitelskevyhoreni.cz. The key findings will be summarized in a book to be published in February 2021.

Teachers’ Understanding of the Causes of School Failure and Efficiency of Educational Interventions (CZ.02.3.68/0.0/0.0/19_076/0016390)

 

Principal investigator: doc. PhDr. Irena Smetáčková, Ph.D.

Project duration: 2020–2022

Grant agency: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports; Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation

Interdisciplinary research supported under the Innovation in Education programme focuses on long-term case studies with participatory elements. Its aim is to verify educational approaches to reduce the risk of school failure in children in the 2nd grade of primary school. At the beginning of the 2nd grade, a comprehensive collection of data from children, parents and teachers in 30 primary school classes is carried out. The data collection will be followed by long-term observation of the teaching process and by interviews. After 1.5 years, the comprehensive data collection process will be repeated. A comparison of the data from the first and second rounds in combination with the results of continuous observation will be used to identify which of the educational approaches help reduce the risk of school failure. For more detailed information about the project, see https://pedf.cuni.cz/PEDF-2075.html

Outstanding Actions for LGBTI — OUT

(881931 — OUT — REC-AG-2019)

 

Principal investigator: Prague Pride, o.s.; on behalf of the partner doc. PhDr. Irena Smetáčková, Ph.D.

Project duration: 2020–2022

Grant agency: European Commission

 

The project is supported by the European Commission and conducted by Prague Pride, o.s. Our department is a project partner with responsibility for research into teachers’ attitudes towards LGBT+ students and topics in primary and secondary schools. The research will include a questionnaire survey for teachers and specifically for staff in school counselling centres, as well as focus groups. The aim is to find out (1) what activities supporting LGBT+ students are in place in schools, or what their strengths and weaknesses are, and (2) what teachers’ attitudes towards and experiences with these activities are. Based on research findings, practice-oriented outputs will be prepared for schools.

Key Literacy Skills in Primary School Pupils – Test Diagnostic Battery

(2018TL01000365-S)

 

Principal investigator: doc. PhDr. PaedDr. Anna Kucharská, Ph.D.

Project duration: 2018–2021

Grant agency: TA CR – ETA Programme

 

The aim of the project is to carry out a standardization study as a basis for development of diagnostic tool standards for use in practice.  The users of the project outputs will be school-based and external counsellors assisting pupils with literacy issues, which is one of the most important topics in connection with the currently applied inclusive education concept. The new battery of tests can also be used in research and for teaching in universities.

As part of the project, research will be carried out to prepare a full diagnostic battery for assessing literacy skills in primary school pupils, including at-risk pupils. Various tools were created and piloted under the GACR project “Reading Comprehension – Typical Development and Its Risks” and they will now be standardized. The battery is needed in schools and counselling centres for psychologists and special education therapists.

It aims to respond to the limits of current psychodiagnostic testing: updated standards will be generated, and the scope of the new tests is broader than most tests in the Czech Republic. The battery will include tools for assessing literacy on all levels: it will include tests of phonology and language skills, decoding abilities, comprehension (listening, oral and silent reading), reading ability self-evaluation and questionnaires for parents and teachers. The research sample for standardization of the test battery is min. 200 respondents in each age cohort (1st – 5th grade of primary school).

 

Public(s), Education and Education Policy: Values, Attitudes, Reasoning and Experience. (CZ.02.3.68/0.0/0.0/19_076/0016402)

 

Investigator: Prof. PhDr. Stanislav Štech, CSc. (expert project advisor)

Project duration: 2020–2022

Grant agency: Research project under OP Research and Development for Innovation, Call No. 02_19_076 under the Innovation in Education programme, Priority Axis 3 (research institution: Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

The project aims to conduct a comprehensive survey of the views of the general population, the population of parents of children aged 5 to 20 and the professional public, teachers and principals, on education and educational policies. The main topics are inequalities in education, educational content, graduate profile, parental participation and responses, and the teaching profession. In order to investigate the relationships between values, experience and opinions on educational policy, the project applies quantitative and qualitative methods and special research designs.

Reasons Cited by Education Studies University Graduates for Not Choosing a Teacher’s/Educator’s Career (CZ.02.3.68/0.0/0.0/19_076/0016404)

 

Investigator: Prof. PhDr. Stanislav Štech, CSc. (guarantor of subject-matter project outputs)

Project duration: 2020–2022

Grant agency: Research project under OP Research and Development for Innovation, Call No. 02_19_076 under the Innovation in Education programme, Priority Axis 3 (research institution: Faculty of Education, Charles University)

A pressing problem faced by the educational system (not only in the Czech Republic) is an increasing shortage of teachers. One of the reasons is that a large proportion of graduates of teaching study programmes do not embark on a teaching career (up to one quarter, according to the data from recent research studies). The aim of the project is to identify and gauge the extent of this problem and the underlying reasons, identify barriers to improvement, evaluate the policies used nationally and abroad, show their possible consequences and propose appropriate steps and measures that could significantly reduce the problem.

Les inégalités socio-culturelles face à l’école à la maison dans le contexte de confinement lié à la pandémie de Covid-19 (Socio-cultural inequalities and homeschooling during school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic), IDEM Research Project (Inégalités dans l’école à la maison)

 

Investigator: Prof. PhDr. Stanislav Štech, CSc. (as co-investigator for the Czech Republic)

Project duration: 2020–2021

Project coordinator: Centre Emile Durkheim, UMR CNRS 5116, Université de Bordeaux, 3ter Place de la Victoire 33076 Bordeaux Cedex

So far without funding for expert project advisor.

A questionnaire survey based on a French questionnaire was adapted to the conditions in another 8 EU countries, including the Czech Republic. About 5,300 parents completed the questionnaire online in the Czech Republic. The analysis aims to answer questions concerning the role of structural variables (family socio-economic status, home resources), procedural variables (style of upbringing, educational aspirations for children, school-related parental interventions), school communication and communication with the school about the level of satisfaction with the situation, and psychological variables such as the parent’s sense of pedagogical competence, parents’ concerns associated with the interruption of in-classroom education, etc. The aim is to compare the situations in different countries.

 

 

Q17 – Teacher Training and the Teaching Profession in the Context of Science and Research

 

Participating faculties (university institutes) of Charles University: Faculty of Education, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Humanities.

Project duration: 2017–2021

Grant agency: UK (PROGRES)

 

The Faculty of Education is participating in a multi-disciplinary project under the PROGRES programme that also engages other faculties which train teachers and school principals. The project involves cooperation with faculties not specializing in education, which will contribute to the topics addressed by the Faculty of Education in their respective areas of specialization (e.g. the Faculty of Humanities and their input regarding the theory of fine arts). The Faculty of Education also intends to participate in projects implemented by other faculties in relevant scientific fields (Psychology, Environmental Studies). In the PROGRES project, scientific tasks will no longer be addressed within the framework of individual scientific disciplines. Instead, basic research topics have been defined, which will be addressed by individual researchers or working groups from the Faculty of Education or researchers from other faculties according to their areas of specialization. Within specific research areas, topical tasks arising from the needs of society and primary, secondary and tertiary education, the educational needs of future teachers, as well as the development possibilities of scientific disciplines will be addressed. Each addressed topic will have a subject-matter component, a didactic component pertaining to an area of specialization, a pedagogical-psychological component, a special education component and a universal, philosophical component, taking into account managerial competencies. The focus of the project will be in line with the development of specific topics, logically integrating different scientific disciplines relating to training and education with an emphasis on the integrating aspect of all topics – the transformation of educational institutions, education actors and requirements imposed on education and acknowledgement of current scientific and social challenges.

  • Theory of school and the teaching profession (pedeutology). Teaching profession and professional standards, career development, continuing teacher education of teachers, school principals and other education professionals (educators, special educators, psychologists, etc.), including school management.
  • Education and literacy. This research topic will be based on a comprehensive concept of literacy – reading, mathematical, digital, informational, technical, scientific, and legal or artistic literacy. Emphasis will be placed on the developmental aspects of literacy from pre-literacy levels to fully functional literacy.
  • Teacher training. The research will focus on the application of new methods and forms of teacher training and innovative educational models and on development of subject didactics in close connection with the development of those disciplines on which the didactics are based and for which they are designed, with reflection enabling further progress in the theory of subject didactics and methods and forms of teaching. In this framework, the research will focus in particular on examining language, science and technology, social science and art education.
  • The research will focus on the subject-matter, personal, psychosocial and socio-cultural aspects of students and their application in education and training, on students’ ideas, learning activities and educational objectives. Furthermore, the research will focus on specific groups of students, their development potential, risks in education and risk phenomena associated with education. Under the project, student groups will be observed from pre-school to adulthood – also specific groups of students in higher education will be monitored (students with specific needs, socially and financially disadvantaged students).
  • The research will focus on the theory of inclusive education, on opportunities for and strategies and forms of inclusive education, factors supporting inclusion, support measures in the education of individuals with special educational needs, the role of teachers and supportive counselling services in education.

Q06 – Development of Psychological Sciences at Charles University in Interventional and Preventive Therapy Theory and Practice

 

Participating faculties:  First Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education

Project duration:  2017–2021

Grant agency: UK (PROGRES)

 

The major changes in the P03 programme (Development of Psychology Sciences at Charles University) in 2015 and 2016 gradually led to the formation of two major strands, which progressively started to structure the entire programme, and in which the common interests of all three workplaces have become increasingly apparent. These interests are simultaneously supported/expressed by the results of work at all three main levels, i.e. both at the scientific research level (joint projects, planned joint projects, publications, etc.), at the level of practical teaching (joint seminars, subjects, mutual assistance with preparation of curricula and teaching texts, joint conferences and sharing of e-learning materials, etc.), as well as at the development level (e.g. joint design of intervention, prevention and counselling measures):

(A) Clinical-psychological research in psychodiagnostics, medical psychology, forensic psychology, neurosciences, cognitive and executive functions with implications for clinical practice, teaching and research, including links to other psychological disciplines such as developmental psychology, transport psychology, school psychology, etc.: In the clinical psychology theme, the aim is to reinforce the position of empirical research in clinical psychology, while at the same time deepening the theoretical analysis of contemporary diagnostics and psychotherapeutic approaches and procedures. In line with the objective of developing empirical research, attention will be paid to transfer and standardization of psychodiagnostic methods and their applications, both in research and diagnostics, with special regard to forensics (where modern knowledge brings new important applications that are rarely used in the Czech Republic). Other secondary research tasks fall under clinical psychology but are also related to some aspects of cognitive psychology, personality psychology and psychotherapy – they focus on developing neuropsychological diagnostics and methods to psychologically repair impaired mental functions, executive function training programmes and their potential for regulation of individuals suffering from anxiety disorders, on psychological diagnosis of abilities, skills and personality traits (self-awareness is a prerequisite for self-development and successful adaptation to a changing environment) and on developing a broader framework of rehabilitation and psychotherapeutic methods and techniques for various diagnostic groups of patients. The main priority themes of this thematic focus are (1) Stress and burnout prevention research, (2) ADHD in children and adults (diagnosis, therapy, etc.), (3) Development and validation of diagnostic tools and (4) therapeutic strategies and interventions.

(B) Risk behaviour prevention, diagnosis, intervention and school counselling: The workplaces at Charles University fully use the preventive and counselling block in their existing activities, and they can thus complement one another appropriately and effectively develop the results achieved. In recent years, counselling and school psychology has been primarily carried out as a practical discipline. The aim of the programme’s activities, on the other hand, is to develop counselling primarily as a theoretical discipline, to study its paradigms and methods, history, development and concepts, including in school prevention, early diagnosis and intervention. Without such a theoretical approach, it would be difficult to interpret changes in current counselling practice and their implications. At the same time, this block would allow sharing of counselling knowledge gathered at various Charles University workplaces and facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue (pedagogical-psychological and school counselling, career counselling, prevention of risky behaviour and co-morbid disorders, counselling for people with autism spectrum disorders, sports counselling, etc.).

 

 

 

 

 

Current projects of doctoral students supported by the Grant Agency of Charles University (GA UK)

 

  • Video Recordings as Aids to Support Teachers in Developing Reading Pre-Literacy

Mgr. Tereza Tetourová

Project duration:  2020–2023

  • Saviour by Betrayal: Analysis of the Personality of Emanuel Moravec

Mgr. Martin Brummer

Project duration:  2020–2022

  • Diagnostic Markers of Developmental Dysphasia in the Czech Language Environment

Project duration:2019–2021

Mgr. Alžběta Větrovská Zemánková

  • School Boredom and Ways to Manage It

Project duration: 2019–2020

Mgr. Ing. Denisa Urbanová

  • Writing of 4th and 5th Graders with Specific Writing Disorders

Project duration: 2019–2021

Mgr. Michaela Karasová

  • Early Career Teachers and Pupils with SEN: the Impact of Individual and Collective Self-Efficacy

Project duration:2019–2020

Mgr. Anna Vozková

  • Intentional Learning of Collocations in Group Teaching

Project duration: 2019–2021

PhDr. Petra Kacafírková

  • Humour in Teaching Mathematics

Project duration:2019–2020

Mgr. Michaela Pejchalová