Using the Czech household microdata, I analyze the regional variations of the motherhood wage gap in the Czech Republic. By this spatial analysis, I aim to detect discrepancies between metropolitan areas and rural localities. Such a study has not yet been carried out in the Czech Republic. Accounting for individual characteristics and working history of employed women, I ob- serve both positive and negative wage gaps but only in several regions. Such findings can be explained by cultural differences, individual self-selection into higher paid jobs or by employers' approach to mothers. For the remaining regions, there is not enough evidence of the motherhood wage gap presence. The hypothesis that in socially excluded localities the wage gap is largest is rejected. Additional examination of the formal childcare provision shows that increase of the kindergartens' occupancy rate significantly decreases salaries of both mothers and childless women. This result is consistent with the previous Czech research. Keywords Motherhood wage gap, Spatial analysis, Czech Republic, Kindergarten JEL classifications D63, J13, R23 1

SAMMANFATTNING Ett av de valbara kandidatprojekten på KTH 2014 var att utifrån ett ganska detaljerat program utforma en stor förskola i Tantolunden i Stockholm. Åtta avdelningar, det vill säga 130 barn och 30 anställda. Dessutom en så kallad plusfunktion med avsikt att ge byggnaderna användning även när förskolan var stängd.   Min ambition var att göra en pedagogisk arkitektur på barnens villkor och med ständigt prioritet på barnens bästa. Efter en serie workshops med barnen på Ragvalds förskola utkristalliserade sig tre bärande idéer.   – Förskolan ska ha torn att leka i. – Tegel är det bästa byggmaterialet. – Det ska vara enkelt att gå in och ut.   Detta lovade jag dem att ha med i mitt förslag. Resultatet blev en serie byggnader, sammanlagt 8 stycken sammanbundna av lider och lektorn, över en av de befintliga stigarna i Tantolunden.  Även barn som inte går på förskolan har tillgång till de fyra lektornen individuellt utformade. Periskopen, Borgen, Solsystemet och Rutschkanan. Vidare utformas övervåningarna på ett sådant sätt att de blir lämpliga att hyra ut till andra barn- eller ungdomsverksamheter. Eller bara till födelsedagskalas. / ABSTRACT One of the options of the main project at the bachelor degree level at KTH 2014 was to design a large pre school based on quite detailed proposal situated at Tantolunden, Stockholm. The building was to fit eight classes i.e. 130 children and 30 staff. An additional request was to take into consideration that the buildings were supposed to be used for other activites when the pre school was closed.   My ambition was to design a building based on pedagogy of play and learn and the terms decided by the children themselves. Three clear key ideas came out from the progress of a series of workshops with the children from Ragvald’s preschool.   - The preschool should have towers to play in - Bricks are the best material to use - It should be easy to walk in and out   I made a promise to make sure the three  ideas would be incoperated in my proposal/design. The result was a series of buildings, eight in total, linked by towers and overbuilt passages stretching over one of the existing paths in the park. The individually designed towers were made so that the public could use them outside opening hours. The towers were namned the Periscope, the Castle, The Solar system and the Slide . Furthermore the upper floors were designed so it would be easy  to rent them out to external children- or youthgroups. Or just to hire for a birthday party.

This diploma thesis deals with the mediation of the topic of home and its forms to children in kindergarten by the method of working with a book. The aim of this work is to select suitable books that offer different forms of home, whether in traditional or alternative form, and to create methodological material for them that would help children understand that each home is different. Based on this methodological material, verify the lessons by three selected teachers and assess according to the reflection whether this material is suitable as a methodology for the topic. The theoretical part of the thesis summarizes the various forms of home and shows the location of this topic in the Framework Educational Program for Preschool Education. Furthermore, the theoretical part deals with the characteristics of preschool children, mainly in terms of social and emotional development, literature for preschool children and methods of working with the book, which are also used in the practical part. The practical part offers methodological material that can be used to mediate the topic of home in kindergartens. 6 lessons have been proposed, which represent different forms of home that a preschool child may encounter today. The lessons also include alternative forms of home, such as a model of alternating...

This diploma thesis focuses on improving reading literacy in preschool children in cooperation between family and kindergarten. The theoretical part is devoted to the concept of a preschool child, taking into account his psychological development, the cooperation of the kindergarten with the family, family itself, reading literacy and methods of its development. Through action research, the practical part focuses on mapping parents' work with children at home using intervention activities to improve parents' understanding of book working methods and the use of reading strategies that help building a positive relationship with books and improve text comprehension, and then evaluate the impact of these activities on parents and their effort to stimulate reading in children. The proposed lessons devoted to the development of reading literacy were implemented with children in the presence of their parents and the aim was to show the possibilities of working with a book through specific activities that will help building interest in books and comprehension of the read text. Due to the implementation of five lessons, progress has been made, which can be recognized from the reflective questionnaires that were completed before and after the lessons. The information from the questionnaires is gathered into...

In this study we aimed to investigate preschool teachers' perceptions of mathematics in relation to play. And what pre-school teachers have to say about their active presence about children's mathematical learning. In addition, we also want to investigate how they describe that mathematics in both planned and spontaneous play is implemented. We used these issues to get close to our aim; What approaches do pre-school teachers have to play and learning in relation to mathematics? How do preschool teachers describe the implementation of mathematics in relation to play? In this study we used qualitative research and we interviewed six active preschool teachers and summarized their answers. We found out that a phenomenological research approach suits this study. The theories we have based our study on are Lev. S Vygotskij, Alan Bishop and Friedrich Fröbel. Our result: In this study, we have studied pre-school teachers' perceptions of how mathematics can be applied through play. According to preschool teachers, play leads to mathematics learning. Furthermore, they believe that play and learning go hand in hand, so it can be difficult to define what play is and what learning is, according to most of them. The study shows that learning takes place in preschool daily and in all activities the children participate in or observe. According to the teachers, learning in mathematics can take place when the child plays by himself, or in interaction with other peers, and with a teacher present. This teachers’ presence depends on the situation in the game. According to the teachers, they can sometimes observe the game and only participate to implement a clarification in the game, be a co-researching teacher with empathy. Our conclusions may be that learning in mathematics takes place all the time, but it is clarified by the active role of preschool teachers and awareness of their approach.

The Diploma thesis "Research on religious literacy of preschool children in a Christian kindergarten class: Case study" consists of two main parts. Its chief aim is to introduce a new term "religious literacy" and identify its main features on children of preschool age. In the first chapter, it is dealt with the term of literacy in general and from the religious point of view. First, the term is defined; its levels, main factors and points of judgment are specified. Further, the particular models for preschool age and the main principles of its effective stimulation and development are drawn up. In the chapter about religious literacy, the stage of faith intuitive - projective is presented, typical for preschool age. It is based on the passages from Catechism of the Catholic Church. The item of the second part is a case study as an empirical research on religious literacy of preschool children in a Christian kindergarten class. The research is directly connected to the theoretical part and its main goal is to get a real picture of the stand of religious-literacy state of preschool children and to analyze given issues. The research sample is characterized; the kindergarten is presented with the related commentary of the Educational program for preschool education. The project main aim and partial...

Die Kindertagesbetreuung in Sachsen ermöglicht allen Kindern chancengerechte und qualitativ hochwertige Bildungs- und Sozialisationsprozesse sowie soziale Teilhabe am Wohnort.

Die Adventsaktion „Türen auf!“ will genau das ermöglichen: Herausgehen aus der Enge und Tabuisierung durch falsche Vorstellungen. Hereinkommen in eine Gemeinschaft, die junge Menschen mit Behinderung integriert, unterstützt und Teilhabe ermöglicht. Der Zugang zu Schulbildung ist dabei ein wichtiger Schritt. Jedes der drei vorgestellten Projekte ist für sich einzigartig und will die Lebensumstände der jungen Menschen vor dem Hintergrund ihres regionalen Umfeldes und ihrer besonderen Situation verbessern.

Job satisfaction of early childhood teachers in military programs and satisfaction changes as teachers deal with challenging behaviors in the workplace was the focus of this study. The goal of The National Association for the Education of Young Children is to ensure quality programming that promotes positive child development experiences. Child development experiences are impacted by teaching staff, partnerships, administration, and the children's' environment. This case study examined the specific environment and behaviors that military childcare providers experience at a small military installation and explored how working with children with challenging behaviors impacts the job satisfaction of early childhood teachers. Herzberg's 2-factor theory provided the conceptual framework on how satisfaction and dissatisfaction can exist in the same environment. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and observations of the work environment with 11 participants ranging from 23 to 56 years of age at the military installation. The participants were selected for being part of the military community and early childhood teachers at the study site. Data were open coded and thematically analyzed. Findings indicated that the teachers at this site have a dual perception of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the workplace that stems from experiences with coworker relationships, dealing with policy and procedure changes, and adjusting to the varying behaviors of children. The implications for social change include providing research findings on early childhood teacher satisfaction to the study site so that administrators can develop a plan to improve military early childhood care provider job satisfaction, which may improve the quality of the environment of the military child.

The influx of women of childbearing age into the labor force, family dynamics of dual working parents as a result of economic factors, and weakening of extended family supports have increased demand for early childhood care and education programs in Nigeria. Consequently, a problem emerged in increased enrollment in ECCE programs that are deficient in terms of structural and process factors of child-caregiver ratio, group size, staff qualifications, health and safety practices, curriculum implementation, and parental engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influenced parents' in their decision process for ECCE placement for their children aged 6 months to 1 year in Asaba education zone of Delta State, Nigeria. Epistemological constructivism was employed as the conceptual framework for this inquiry. A qualitative design together with one-on-one interviews of 9 parents of children enrolled in selected public, mission, and private ECCE programs were employed to answer four research questions on parents' decision making for ECCE selection. The resulting data were analyzed using both a priori and open coding to generate themes and patterns. The study revealed that parents relied on personal priorities over quality indicators. This study may contribute to social change by providing policymakers and other stakeholders with information on factors parents consider in their selection of ECCE programs, including factors that incline parents to choose quality-deficient programs. This information may lead to program improvements that increase enrollment of children into quality programs, reduce gaps in achievement and opportunity between the low and middle-income groups, and enhance social equity and success for children enrolled ECCE programs.