The Preschool Reading Badge (PRB) has been established in the Slovenian kindergartens as one of the organizational complements to the Reading Badge project, with the aim of promoting and disseminate reading in the preschool years. PRB has been introduced in many Slovenian kindergartens, although there are many who claim that it is not suitable for preschool children and does not correspond to the curriculum for kindergartens (1999). The problem with transferring the reading badge from school to preschool is the frivolity and carelessness of the implementation process, which should be adapted to development and learning in preschool. However, the implementation of the PRB for non-Slovenian children, who would urgently need appropriate accommodations within the PRB, is almost completely unthinkable.
The aim of the research study was to find out how preschool teachers implement PRB in classes with at least one non-Slovenian child (immigrants, migrants, children whose mother tongue is not Slovenian) and whether they follow the principles of Kindergarten Curriculum (1999). Questionnaires were used as research instruments. In a sample of preschool teachers who worked in groups with non-Slovenian children and implemented PRB in the school year 2020/21, it was discovered that the preschool teachers did not follow certain principles of the Curriculum for Kindergartens (1999) when implementing PRB, namely the principle of equal opportunities and diversity and the principles of multiculturalism, the principles of collaboration with parents, the principles of active learning and providing opportunities for verbalization and other means of expression, the principles of enabling choice and difference, and the principles of respect for privacy and intimacy. The findings indicate that preschool teachers are poorly familiar with the potential adaptations of reading materials for non-Slovenian children as provided by the Slovenian Reading Badge Association and they also do not use most of the adaptations. There also remains an ill-conceived routine review of the works read for PRB. It was determined that preschool teachers who are involved in PRB pay too little attention to communicating with parents and finding a way to motivate parents. The results of the research confirm that PRB significantly privileges children from Slovenian families, as only just over half of non-Slovenian children successfully complete PRB.
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