The Department of Preschool Education offers the possibility of undergraduate and postgraduate study. It carries out the three-year higher education programme Preschool Education and the postgraduate two-year master’s study programme Preschool Education.
The basic goals of the Preschool Education study programme at the first level are to qualify students for quality work with preschool children and children in the first grade of nine-year primary school, for collaboration with their parents and colleagues and other professionals in kindergarten, school and elsewhere. In the course of the education process, students become acquainted with different views and concepts of childhood and education. The study also includes extensive practical training, which is carried out in kindergartens throughout Slovenia.
The basic goals of the Preschool Education study programme at the second level are to train students for research in the field of preschool education and in individual fields of activity, to develop students’ competences for managerial functions, and to educate students about the most current topics in the field of preschool education. The programme provides in-depth knowledge, skills and methods of work for quantitative and qualitative research of numerous problems in the field of early childhood and preschool education.
The study and work of a preschool teacher are diverse and offer plenty of opportunities for creativity at work. The study process involves fieldwork, demonstration lessons in kindergartens and the first grade of primary school, visits to concerts, puppet shows and art exhibitions.