Centre for Global Studies Seminar
ECEC Policy - Post-socialist, European and
Global Perspectives
When studying (local) ECEC in Slovakia, we need to understand the broader contexts of this issue
and of the area. This means taking Slovak, European and global history and perspectives of ECEC into
consideration. This presentation highlights different storylines within European ECEC, and relates them
to global trends in ECEC across different parts of the world, and in particular to Aotearoa New Zealand.
The presentation focuses especially on the post-socialist storyline of Slovakia and its distinctive position
in historical and contemporary developments. Current challenges facing Slovak ECEC force us to deal
with global issues similar to those dealt with in the context of developing countries.
Prof. Branislav Pupala, is a Professor of early childhood education at Trnava University, a
senior research fellow at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and co-founder of the Centre for
Research in Education, Bratislava, Slovakia. His research focuses on policy in ECEC, curriculum
development, and comparative/international studies in ECEC. Prof. Pupala was the head of the
team developing and implementing the new national curriculum for ECEC in Slovakia.
AP Ondrej Kaščák is the head of the Department of Pedagogy at Trnava University and a senior
research fellow at the Centre for Research in Education at the Institute for Research in Social
Communication of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, Slovakia. His research focuses
on education policy, school ethnography, sociology of childhood and sociology of education.
Date: 5 February, 2016
Time: 1.30pm - 2.30pm
Venue: Meeting Rooms A & B (2.27)
Please RSVP by 3 February to Sonja Arndt for catering
purposes: [email protected]