This thesis explores the viewpoints of graduated educators concerning the use of picture books in kindergarten. The main focus is on familiarity with picture books and their usage in kindergarten. It's important for us adults to realise the significance of picture books as children's first books, as they represent a springboard for later perceptions and interest in literature.
The theoretical part starts with a description of youth literature, its history, and the role of a young reader. I define the concept of a picture book and describe its functions and the importance of interaction between text and illustrations. I provide a detailed description of the elements in the picture book and continue with its typology. In the continuation, I emphasise the importance of picture books in a child's development and visual literacy and specify the criteria for choosing a quality picture book. Finally, I summarize the picture book’s inclusion in three curricula of pedagogical faculties in Slovenia and what is written about picture books in the Kindergarten Curriculum.
The empirical part presents the results of the questionnaire survey, along with a graphic and descriptive interpretation of the results. The research objective is to find out how well graduated educators know picture books, which picture books they know, which ones they use in their work, and how they enter them into everyday life in kindergarten. The findings show that graduated educators are well familiar with picture books and they are aware that picture books are the closest literature to children in the pre-school period.
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