Training for self-instruction: an ongoing experiment

She is national co-ordinator for the CODIESEE programme and directs the self-instruction project in this context. She is the author of experimental programmes to transform school libraries in Serbia into media libraries. She has also written numerous articles on educational technology.     

The interplay of social competence and psychopathology over 20 years: testing transactional and cascade models

Associations among internalizing, externalizing, and social competence were examined in a longitudinal cohort (N = 205) of 8- to 12-year-old children reassessed after 7, 10, and 20 years. Theoretically informed nested structural equation models tested interconnections among broad multi-informant constructs across four developmental periods. Follow-up analyses examined gender invariance, measurement and age effects, and putative common causes. Key model comparisons indicated robust negative paths from social competence to internalizing problems from childhood to adolescence and from emerging adulthood to young adulthood. Social competence and externalizing problems showed strong initial associations in childhood but no longitudinal cross-domain paths. Using a developmental psychopathology framework, results are discussed in relation to cascade and transactional effects and the interplay between competence and symptoms over time.     

Public and private higher education institutions in Serbia: Legal regulations,current status and opinion survey

This article provides insight into the state of higher education in Serbia, particularly in the context of reform processes based on European Higher Education Area principles. A multidimensional approach was taken, encompassing (a) a review and analysis of legal regulations relevant to the historical context of Serbia, (b) an examination of current working conditions at accredited state and private higher education institutions, (c) and a pilot survey of attitudes among the main participants in higher education teaching. The research gauged attitudes of university professors and students with work or study experiences, respectively, at both state and private higher education institutions. Specific instruments for measuring attitudes were constructed for this study. Professors' attitudes toward state and private higher education were compared through the assessment of aspects of organisational culture including work organisation, stimulating atmosphere, innovation, and creativity. Students expressed their attitudes toward state and private higher education in terms of general atmosphere, curricula, grading criteria, and student status. The results indicate that private higher education was appreciated slightly more than state higher education; both professors and students held more positive attitudes of private higher education for all dimensions investigated.     

Who is responsible for vulnerable pupils? The attitudes of teacher candidates in Serbia and Slovenia

In the ongoing trend towards inclusive education, initial teacher education programmes must ensure that prospective teachers are prepared to teach all pupils effectively. The study presented in this paper aimed to explore the attitudes of teacher candidates in Serbia and Slovenia towards responsibility for the teaching and learning of vulnerable pupils in mainstream elementary schools. Using a quantitative approach, the study sought to elicit teacher candidates’ views about division of responsibility for the academic achievement and additional support of vulnerable pupils and their views on the factors that most affect learning difficulties in those pupils. Our findings indicate that teacher candidates’ feelings of responsibility are unlikely to help when instructing vulnerable pupils. The implications of these findings are discussed and we suggest several ways to improve teacher education programmes to promote inclusive education based on the concept of quality education for all.     

Benchmarking the digital divide using a multi-level outranking framework: Evidence from EBRD countries of operation

The paper proposes an innovative procedure for benchmarking the digital divide. The study demonstrates the potential of an outranking approach as an alternative to the commonly used ranking models based on Composite Indices (CIs). To fulfill the objectives of the benchmarking process, an ELECTRE-based (ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité; Elimination and Choice Corresponding to Reality) multi-level outranking (ELECTRE MLO) method is developed. The proposed approach improves on previous methods of benchmarking the digital divide in two ways: by classifying countries into hierarchical levels of performance and by identifying corresponding benchmarks for less successful ones. The method is applied to 29 EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) countries of operation. The results are visualized in the form of a relation tree, thus providing clear insights for policy-makers regarding how countries stand relative to each other.     

The overall knowledge of genetics in Serbian speech and language pathologists

ABSTRACT

An increase in the number of children with speech–language pathology also having a genetic disorder imposes the need for speech and language pathologists (SLPs) to have sufficient knowledge about genetic basis of speech–language disorders. Research aim was to estimate in Serbian SLPs different aspects of theoretical and practical knowledge about intercorrelation of genetics and speech and language pathology and to compare obtained results with the results of SLPs in the United States. The questionnaire from Tramontana’s study was used in our study. Comparison of the results that obtained in our study with those in Tramontana’s study has shown that our study respondents have higher General Knowledge Index (78.6%: 66.2%), higher mean confidence summary score (22.2: 16.7) and higher mean score of ‘overall’ attitudes about genetics and its relation with communication disorders (20.8: 13.6). Differences which emerge from educational programmes, educational levels and practical experience in the observed groups are indicated as possible causes of differences in the obtained results. On the basis of the obtained results, it may be concluded that it is necessary to elevate SLPs’ level of general knowledge about genetics and to acquire their knowledge through clinical practice.