The aim of this thesis is to find out the benefits of Persona Dolls method in connection with prejudices. The first chapter of its theoretical part deals with changes in the field of education after year 1989 and with the process of creating pivotal curricular documents (so called General Educational Programme) which have been used in Czech school system since then. The second chapter describes particular parts of General Educational Programme for pre-primary and primary education as well as the conception of curricular documents related to Persona Dolls method. The most important chapter of the theoretical part is defining the Persona Dolls method itself. This chapter outlines the theoretical basis, principles and prospective benefits of this method, and gives instructions how to use the method in a class. Moreover, certain pitfalls associated with using this method are mentioned as well. The last chapter of the theoretical part contains detailed description of the coherence of Persona Dolls method and curricular documents. The empirical part presents qualitative research focused on eliciting the role of the teacher, teacher's strategy, the interaction of pupils and the doll, working with feelings and the development of pupils' key competencies in relation with using Persona Dolls method in...

This thesis deals with Method Persona Dolls, which evolves children's approach and values, it is pre-eminently focused on empathy development, creativity, self-confidence, positive evaluation of others and forms of pro-social behaviour. The theoretical part is focused on the description of curriculum reforms and characteristic of curriculum documents in general, particularly on Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education. The theoretical part further deals with this method from the point of view of theoretical principles, methods of its use and contribution, but from the point of drawback as well, which can occur when using this method. The method is also analysed from the point of view of curriculum documents as a possible tool for key competencies development. In addition, it is concerned about emotional intelligence and grade-schoolers emotional development, values and emotion description. Furthermore, the concept of value-based education of Cyril Mooney will be concerned as next item. Both methods are compared and I search for possible linkage between Method Persona Dolls and strategies used in value education. The action research will form the research part of the thesis, in which the empathy development and communicative competence of pupils using the Persona Dolls Method is...

Many devastating problems face South Africa’s young children that can hamper their emotional and social development. The Emotional Literacy and Persona Doll programme (Buchanan, 2007) attempts to intervene in the young child’s emotional development. Persona Dolls are used to encourage emotional expression and management in young children. Previous research has indicated the positive effects of the Persona Dolls and Emotional Literacy programmes with children. However, the development in the trainees and practitioners who use these dolls has yet to be researched. This research study assessed the development of empathy, and the personal experiences of trainees who underwent the emotional literacy and Persona Doll training programme in South Africa. Participants included social workers, psychologists, and preschool and foundation phase teachers. Participants’ empathy was assessed before the first training session, and at the end of the training through Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (1980). Participants also documented their feelings, experiences, and thoughts while undergoing the training, in a journal. Process notes of persona doll sessions and evaluation forms were also used in the study. Although the quantitative results did not show any significant results in terms of an improvement in empathy for the trainees, the qualitative results demonstrated that the participants found that they were more able to think and talk about their own emotions, and the emotions of others. This is a crucial aspect of emotional literacy, where one is able to identify and think about one’s own emotions. Furthermore, the group of participants learnt important reflection and containment skills, which they believe they can and are using in their work with others, and with their families. While there is no statistically grounded argument for the improvement of empathy, and in extension emotional literacy, the participants in the training seemed to have developed their own emotional literacy skills, and found that they are better able to work with children and adults in the realm of emotional work. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Ububele is a resource and training centre located in the greater Alexandra Township of Johannesburg. One of Ububele’s projects, the Ububele Persona Doll project, is a programme that is aimed at developing emotional literacy in pre-school children using a life-size handmade doll in a group setting. This research has sought to explore the use of the Ububele Persona Dolls. The sample consisted of eighteen Grade R children at the Ububele Therapeutic Nursery School and their teacher. They were video recorded during six regular Ububele Persona Doll sessions. The use of the dolls in developing emotional literacy in pre-school children, as well as their potential for use in group therapy was assessed in three different stages. Firstly, the presence of emotional material in the form of emotional adjectives was assessed. The teacher’s response patterns and level of empathy, as well as the effectiveness of the responses in terms of the goals of emotional literacy development were analysed. Lastly, the transcripts were examined for the presence of material, with regard to thematic content that could be used in group therapy. The presence of emotional adjectives suggested that there was useful emotional material present, although the material was mainly brought up by the teacher and the range of the material was limited. The teacher’s responses were most frequently informative, didactive or directive responses and questioning responses. However, she did make use of paraphrases and restatements, reflections and verbal encouragers to a lesser degree. With regards to the empathic levels of the responses, most of the responses involved exact replications of what was said by the child and no empathic responses requiring an understanding of human behaviour were given. The goals of emotional literacy training were all being achieved within the sessions. A number of themes, including physical discipline, abuse and neglect, broken or non-nuclear families, and death and dying, emerged. These themes could be concentrated on by a group facilitator.

The thesis devotes to innovative approaches at the elementary school level and is focused on an education method designed to counter prejudice Persona Dolls. The thesis describes theoretical foundations of the above mentioned method and its contribution to the developmentof students'key competences focused on the communicative competence.The theoretical part of the thesis futher discusses the possible uses of the method Persona Dolls in achieving education goals according to the Framework curriculum, especially focusing on cross-sectional topics. The research part is devoted to investigation of teachers'experience with this method. The author finds out how often and in what ways a particular teacher involves the method of Persona Dolls in his teaching. Primarily, the research investigates the rate of interconnection between the content of cross-sectional topics and topics of this method lessons with relation to ways of planning Persona Dolls lesson by individual teachers. A partial research objective is to evaluate the development of students'communicative competence while using Persona Dolls method. KEYWORDS: Innovation, method Persona Dolls, Framework curriculum for elementary education, key competences, student, deliberate work with prejudice

This diploma thesis deals with the Persona Dolls method, which consciously works with prejudices. The theoretical part is focused on the mapping of the changes in the current education that has been practiced in Czech education since 1989. The curriculum documents, which regulate education, have been developed. The second chapter concerns the area of values for which school can be the stimulating environment in which they can evolve. The central part of the theoretical part is the chapter dealing with the Persona Dolls method. It focuses on the theoretical starting points of the method, the goals, the method of working with the method, presents the conditions for realization, then the pitfalls that can prevent the effectiveness of working with the method. The last chapters of the theoretical part are devoted to linking the Persona Dolls and Framework Educational Programs, especially in the area of key competencies. It then deals with the context of the method and values of society. The research part of this diploma thesis is verified by the qualitative action research according to the Korthagen cycle ALACT, whether the method is suitably treated in practice and if the principles of working with the doll are fulfilled, whether the key competencies, attitudes and values are being developed. It also...