The educational influence in kindergarten depends on the social relation, the relationship between the educator and the educatee. Pedagogical theory and practice have moved from authoritarian attitudes that required obedience and subordination to permissive patterns that, despite good intentions, do not always yield positive results. The modern pedagogical theory leans towards fair and democratic social relations and within them to a cooperative educational influence, which, taking into account the developmental and psychological characteristics of the child and appropriate motivation, helps children develop morality, responsibility and independence. In this thesis, I am interested in the concept of pedagogical relations, the necessary competencies of the educator, authority, educational style and the answer to the question of what attitude in kindergarten leads to the desired educational effects and which socio-pedagogical concepts can help.
In the theoretical part, I focus on childhood as a period that has constantly changed and reshaped throughout history in parallel with social development. In the continuation of the thesis, I describe the social work concepts of empowerment, participation ethics and the working relationship. The shaping of these has been influenced by postmodern philosophy, and I consider them to be an integral part of the social competence of an educator, who enters a relationship with children and parents. In the chapter on relationships and social competence, I focus on the social network and pedagogical relationship in kindergarten. In this section, I explain the associated terms and concepts. By collecting the theoretical basis, I wanted to form a theory of a democratic pedagogical relationship, which explains the mutual dependence in a relationship between the educator and the child, and the educational effect. The modern pedagogical relationship includes transfer, boundaries and leadership, acceptance of a competent individual taking into account his abilities and experiences, awareness of the distribution of power, which is not used for manipulation, it sets an example for children – an authority that they imitate and learn from, so that it reaches educational effects and planned goals that lead them to their own autonomy.
I searched for answers in literature and supported them with practical research. In the Kindergarten Črnuče, I observed two groups of children and the relationships between children and educators. Through the interview, I collected the views of four educators on the social and factual relationships they create with the children. I was interested in individual elements of the social relationship between the educator and the children in the kindergarten, which educational style prevails in each group, what form of authority is present and to what extent the educators are familiar with social work concepts. In addition to the interview, I collected data by observing the children and the atmosphere in the groups.
The results of the research proved the educators' awareness of modern principles of education and relationships, but in practice there are still some obstacles to a fully democratic relationship and collaboration, as the relationship is a living matter resulting from the participation of several actors, their past experiences and the culture of a certain society and its individuals. There is a need for the collaboration between the family and the kindergarten, the educator must act autonomously, which can only be done with knowledge to support their requirements and expectations, with consistency and planning, which in addition to tangible products and descriptive activities, includes situations in which children strengthen social skills and learn to articulate their emotions, boundaries and needs.
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