Young children's socio-emotional skills are important for understanding their own and other's behaviours and interactions. No study in Serbia has investigated this before. In this study we explored the links between early socio-emotional skills, behaviour, and mathematics and literacy performance of preschool children in Serbia over time. Children (N = 159) aged 5-8 were rated by the teachers on their socio-emotional skills and behaviour, and their literacy and mathematics assessed at three-time points over 14 months, twice in preschool and once at entry to school. At Time 3, when children entered school, their socio-emotional skills and behaviour were associated with gender, mathematics at Time 1 and their socio-emotional and behaviour ratings at Time 2, controlling for maternal education and literacy at Time 1. Mathematics at Time 3 was associated with mathematics at Time 2, controlling for gender, maternal education, literacy and behaviour at Time 1. No socio-emotional skills or specific behaviour were significant for mathematics. Literacy at Time 3 was associated with mathematics and social skills at Time 1, and literacy at Time 2, controlling for gender and maternal education. At all three times, girls were rated more positively than boys in socioemotional skills and behaviour, except for adjustment to school setting where there were no differences. This study offers the first insight into the links between socio-emotional skills, behaviour and mathematics and literacy performance of preschool children in Serbia which will inform the development and evaluation of interventions. Attrition of the sample limits the findings.

Starting with the theoretical considerations regarding the perception of parental competence in the context of changes typical of modern society and the challenging tasks faced by parents, this paper intends to examine particular factors of self-evaluation of pedagogical (in)competence of parents for the parenting role. The sample comprised 575 subjects, including mothers and fathers of pre-schoolers. The attained results demonstrated that mothers perceive themselves as more competent in the parenting role, regardless of the child's sex, and that parents whose children live with both parents deem themselves more competent. Furthermore, we concluded that financial status and whether the child is undergoing pre-school education are additional determinants of parents' pedagogical competence for the parenting role. The following factors were of little relevance in the study sample: the living environment of the child, parent age, number of children in the family and parental educational level. The obtained results are important for shedding light on parental actions in raising children, as well as for underlining possible changes in behaviour and opinions.

Starting from the socio-political context of changes that have affected the education systems of Eastern European countries, the authors summarize the specific nature of the process of democratization of education in Europe at the turn of the century. The paper analyzes the purpose of democratization of education and of introduction of Civic Education and Religious Education classes in the education system of the Republic of Serbia, observing the idea that education may serve as a generator of social changes, and stating that school is an important support pillar in promoting and accepting the values of the community, as well as in personal growth and the development of every individual. The presented theoretical concepts are supported by the summary of results of empirical studies that have been focused on the analysis of the pedagogical aspects of the implementation of teaching these subjects at the secondary level of education from the perspective of teachers, pupils and parents. Based on the insight into the topic, the authors suggest searching for a ?common tangent? in Civic Education and Religious Education teaching process via an open and tolerant dialogue of participants of both subjects, which would enable the exchange of experiences, attitudes, and opinions of pupils, as well as coinciding and permeating of spiritual and democratic values as a foundation for further democratization of school in general. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179036: Pedagogical Pluralism as the Basis for Education Policy]

Broj dece koja imaju socijalne i emocionalne poteškoće konstantno raste. Socio-emocionalni problemi i problemi u ponašanju mogu predstavljati rizik za pojavu ozbiljnijih poremećaja u kasnijem životu. Pored toga, deca sa problemima u ponašanju i nedovoljno razvijenim socio-emocionalnim kompetencijama imaju tendenciju da se teže uključuju u vršnjačku interakciju, a ponekad su čak isključena iz socijalnih aktivnosti. Mnoga deca sa osnovnim socio-emocionalnim problemima i problemima u ponašanju kojima nedostaje formalna dijagnoza, kao što su npr. poremećaji autističnog spektra, ne dobijaju nužno nikakvu pomoć ili intervenciju, dok istovremeno predstavljaju izazov sa kojim ni roditelji ni vaspitači ne mogu da se nose. Deca su tako izložena riziku i zbog toga se čini neophodnim istražiti i razumeti koje su moguće intervencije za podršku socijalnom i emocionalnom razvoju dece predškolskog uzrasta. Intervencija na predškolskom uzrastu može biti usmerena na roditelje kroz različite programe podrške, edukacijem kao i na decu putem obuke, u vidu različitih oblika intervencija zasnovanih na igri; ali, istovremeno i na roditelje i na decu.

Pedagoške misli i ideje Jan Amosa Komenskog nalaze mesto u gotovo svim istorijskim osvrtima i pregledima problematike vaspitanja i obrazovanja. Njegovi pogledi su vekovima inspirisali mnoge mislioce, a tako je i sa onima iz modernog doba. Razlog tome svakako jesu brojni doprinosi i sveubuhvatnost njegovih teorijskih shvatanja i praktičnih preporuka. Želeo je da iz temelja izgradi didaktiku i položio je nove filozofske temelje vaspitno-obrazovnog rada razvijajući čitav system obrazovanja i vaspitanja. Poseban značaj, i za ovaj rad ključan, jeste njegov stav i pozitivan odnos prema učenju i razvoju u ranom detinjstvu. Cilj ovog rada jeste sagledavanje pedagoških ideja Komenskog kroz njihovo dovođenje u vezu sa modernim shvatanjima potencijala ranog i predškolskog uzrasta. Kao posebno važno, i u okviru ovog rada izdvojeno, jeste njegovo zalaganje za univerzalno obrazovanje tj. obrazovanje za sve, zatim ideje koje se odnose na rano vaspitanje u Materinskoj školi, pridajući veliku važnost vaspitanju dece ranog uzrasta, kao i shvatanje igre i mogućnosti učenja u ovom uzrastu.