Department of Pedagogy, History and Philosophy

In order to secure personal success, it is essential to keep up with the constant scientific developments and technological innovations. Therefore, the Faculty of Education recognises the lifelong learning as a form of social engagement with the increasing importance. The Department for Lifelong Learning was established at the Faculty Council on September 22th, 2010, and since October 1st 2020 it has been called the Department for Pedagogy, History and Philosophy.

Initiatives conducted by the Department are aimed at increasing the level of education of citizens: by presenting research results and knowledge dissemination. The popularization of science aims to raise awareness of the general public about the importance of knowledge in the changing circumstances of social and economic relations. Even if those activities are not part of formal education that ends with qualifications, they contribute to our visibility. By creating study programmes that enable employment, the Faculty provides the opportunity for our students to complete initial education and acquire qualification, or change their occupation, or better their skills. The pedagogical-psychological and didactic-methodological training, that has been conducted by the Faculty is an example of lifelong learning and education that allows students to master the knowledge, expand their abilities and improve the skills necessary for the teaching profession.

The principle of lifelong learning is also prescribed by the Law on Adult Education in the Republic of Croatia, which is based on the principles of lifelong learning, rational use of educational opportunities, relative access to education for all under equal conditions, autonomy in choosing ways, contents, form, means and methods of education. diversity and inclusion, professional and moral responsibilities of employees, etc.

The Department of Pedagogy, History and Philosophy is divided into two sub-departments: Sub-department of Pedagogy and Sub-department of Philosophy and History.

Head of Department

Name and Surname

Snježana Dubovicki, Ph.D.

Title

Associate Professor

E-mail

sdubovicki@foozos.hr

sdubovicki@gmail.com

Office

office number 58

Research interests

Her scientific interest is focused on curriculum research, teaching at all levels of education (with particular emphasis on university teaching and lifelong learning), creativity, self-actualization, emotions in teaching, methodology and qualitative and futurology research methods.

 

Snježana Dubovicki, Ph.D., Assis. Prof., was born in 1984 in Osijek (Croatia). She got her Ph.D. in 2013 at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb (Croatia) with the topic “Correlation between the Curriculum of Teacher Education and Student Creativity Development.” In 2015 she was elected as Assistant Professor. She started working at the Faculty of Education in Osijek at December 1st 2008. At this Faculty, she participates in the teaching of several pedagogical-didactic and methodological courses. She published a university textbook, two scientific monographs and numerous scientific papers. She spoke at numerous international scientific and professional conferences in Croatia and abroad (Japan, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

In 2017, during a study trip to the United Kingdom, she visited elementary and pre-school institutions. Within the CEEPUS program, of the academic year 2018/2019, she was a visiting professor for two weeks at the Faculty of Philosophy in Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina), where she taught Didactics to students of pedagogy, psychology, classroom teaching and pre-school education.

Between 2009 and 2014 she was actively involved in the scientific project “Development of Creativity in the Life-long Learning of Teachers” (245-1221170-1063). In 2018, at the Faculty of Education and in co-operation with the Agency for Education, she organized an education class themed “Playtime in Teaching”. She is a member of the working group for analyzing and preparing curricula on the topic of children´s well-being within the two-year project “Subjective child well-being in Croatia” (2018-2020) of the Study Center of Social Work (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, leader: Marina Ajduković, Ph.D., Full Professor with Tenure), in cooperation with UNICEF Office for Croatia, Children´s World: The International Survey of Children´s Well-Being (ISCWeB). She is a member of the Organizing Committe of Didactic Challenges II (https://didactics-challenges0.webnode.hr/didactic-challenges-ii/), Didactic Challenges III (https://didactic-challenges0.webnode.hr/). She was the executive editor of the journal Life and School (https://hrcak.srce.hr/zivot-i-skola). She is a member of the Croatian pedagogical Society (HPD) and the Croatian Andragogy Society (HDA). Since October 2018 she has been employed as Vice Dean for development and frofessional work by the Faculty of Education in Osijek.

List of publications (CroRIS link)

 CroRIS – Snježana Dubovicki


Members of Department:

Name and surname

Damir Matanović, Ph.D.

Title / Position

Full professor with tenure

Vice-Rector for Organization and Human Resources

E-mail

dmatanovic@foozos.hr

Office number

27

Research interests

National history

 

Damir Matanović was born on 25 July 1970 in Vinkovci. He attended primary school in Bošnjaci, and finished mathematical and IT grammar school in Županja. In 1996 he completed two-subject studies in comparative literature and history at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb with graduation thesis Everyday life in Slavonia in the 18th century.

In 2000 he completed postgraduate studies of history at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb with master’s thesis Companies of Brod regiment. He defended his doctoral thesis at the same Faculty in 2003, mentored by Dr Filip Potrebica, full professor, titled Military community Brod at Sava. Social and economic structure of a military border city 1753-1848).

Damir Matanović has been working for nineteen years in the system of science and higher education at the Croatian Institute of History, Faculty of Education of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek. He taught history courses as an external associate at the Faculty of Pedagogy of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Centre for Croatian Studies in Zagreb, Department of Cultural Studies of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek and Etvos Jozsef Foiskoli in Baja, Hungary.

He also worked for the publishing houses Fraktura and Hena-com Zagreb as an external associate. From 1997 to 2008 he worked at the Croatian Institute of History as a postdoctoral researcher and research associate. He acquired the title of teaching assistant in 2000 at the Croatian Institute of History. At the same institution he was elected senior assistant, and in 2004 by decision of Scientific field committee for humanities – scientific field history he was elected scientific associate.

By decision of Scientific field committee for humanities – scientific field history- he was elected senior research associate, and by decision of the Faculty council of the Faculty of education in Osijek he was elected the scientific teaching grade associate professor and the corresponding position for humanities, scientific field history, scientific discipline national history.

He has been employed at the Faculty of teacher education, the legal predecessor of the Faculty of Education of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek, since 15 April 2008.

Since the 2013/2014 academic year, he served as the Acting Dean, from the 2014/2015 academic year until the 2021/2022 academic year he held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, and since the 2022/2023 academic year, he has been serving as the Vice-Rector for Organization and Human Resources.

List of publications (CroRIS link)

 CroRIS – Damir Matanović

First and last name

Maja Brust Nemet, Ph.D.

Profession

Associate Professor

Vice dean for science

Email

mbrust@foozos.hr

Office number

Vice dean’s office and office no. 58

Research interests

Pedagogy, Professional Development of Teachers, Teacher Competencies, Classroom Management, School Culture, Projects in Educational Institutions, Methodology of Pedagogical Research

Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words)

Maja Brust Nemet was born in Osijek in 1984. She studied pedagogy and Croatian language and Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek and she graduated in 2007. In 2015, she received her PhD in the scientific field of Social sciences, Pedagogy, from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb defending the dissertation Socio-Pedagogical Competences of Teachers in the Contemporary School Culture Curriculum. From September 2007 to October 2008 she worked as a pedagogue in the elementary school Josipovac. Since November 2008, she has worked as a Teaching Assistant, from July 2018 as a Senior Assistant at the Faculty of Education, from 2017 as an Assistant Professor, and from February 2023 until today as an associate professor at the Department of Pedagogy, History and Philosophy at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. From October 2018 to 2022, she held the position of head of the Department for Pedagogy, History, and Philosophy, as well as the Center for Career Development of Students. From 2022 until today, she holds the position of vice dean for science. She has participated in more than 50 national and international scientific and vocational conferences. In addition to papers published in the proceedings of conferences, she co-authored and published a scientific book and approx. 40 scientific papers.

List of publications (link to CroRIS)

CroRIS Maja Brust Nemet

Name and Surname

Ivica Kelam, Ph.D.

Title

Associate professor

e-mail

ikelam@foozos.hr

Office number

23

Research

Interest

Bioethics, ethics, philosophy

 

Associate Professor Ivica Kelam, Head of the Department of Philosophy and History at the Faculty of Education, where he teaches the philosophy of education and bioethics. Since October 21, he is Head of Osijek Unit of UNESCO Chair in Bioethics (Haifa). In 2014 he successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled Genetically modified crops as a bioethical problem. Since 2016 he has been Head of the Center for Integrative Bioethics at J.J. Strossamyer University of Osijek.  He is the president of the Organization Committee of the Osijek Days of Bioethics, an international bioethical conference held in Osijek.

List of publications (link to CroRIS)

 CroRIS – Ivica Kelam

First and last name

Rahaela Varga, Ph.D.

Profession

Associate Professor

Email

rvarga@foozos.hr

Office number

63

Research interests

education, teacher/student/headteacher competencies, lifelong learning, teaching

Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words)

Holds a Ph.D. in Education Sciences from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Works as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Osijek, Croatia. Teaches pedagogy and didactics courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels.

Recent projects: Competence standards of teachers, pedagogues and mentors (2019 – 2022);  Principal: a profession and a qualification, not a function (2015-2016); Necessity to modify students’ status in and outside classroom (2009 – 2014).

Regularly takes part in international conferences, has (co-)authored multiple books and over thirty research papers. Speaks Croatian, English and German.

List of publications (link to CroRIS)

CroRIS Rahaela Varga

Name and surname

Antonija Huljev, Ph.D.

Title

Assistant Professor

e-mail

ahuljev@foozos.hr

Office Nr.

38

Research interests

pedagogy, socio-political impacts of music, history of Croatian literature

 

Antonija Huljev was born in Osijek on November 22, 1987. She was a teaching assistant for philology an pedagogy at the Department of Cultural Studies of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek (2013 – 2018). Since 2018, she has been a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Education. The areas of her scientific and professional interest are pedagogical axiology and the history of Croatian literature, and in a broader sense, pedagogy and literature. In 2009 she graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek with a BA degree in Croatian language and literature and Pedagogy and in 2011 she became the Master of Education in Croatian Language and Literature and Master of Pedagogy at the same Faculty. In 2018, she completed the Post-graduate Interdisciplinary Doctoral Study Programme in Culture (Faculty of Arts and Literature in Culture) and earned a Ph. D. from the Doctoral School of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek (interdisciplinary field of science, i.e. interdisciplinary humanities and interdisciplinary social sciences).

She has edited several conference proceedings and books, published several scientific papers in Croatian and foreign journals, and participated in several conferences in Croatia and abroad. So far, she has published three books. She is a member of the editorial board of the magazine "Vospitanie - Journal of Educational Sciences, Theory and Practice" (Republic of Northern Macedonia) and the magazine "Pannoniana" (Faculty of Educational Sciences, Osijek, Croatia).

In the period from 2009 to 2010, she worked as a student in the library of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Osijek. From 2011 to 2012, she worked as a proofreader for the magazine "Military History" published by Večernji list.

She is a member of the School Board of the Center for Education "Ivan Štark" in Osijek. She is also a member of Matica Hrvatska and an honorary member and professional associate of the Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps.

List of publications (CroRIS link)

 CroRIS - Antonija Huljev

First and last name

Višnja Vekić-Kljaić, Ph.D.

Profession

Assistant professor

Email

vvkljaic@foozos.hr

Office number

49

Research interests

Preschool pedagogy, Preschool curriculum, Action research, Project learning

Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words)

Višnja Vekić-Kljaić was born on November 2, 1967, in Osijek. She completed her elementary education at Dobriša Cesarić Elementary School in Osijek and graduated from the "Braća Ribar" CUO in Osijek, earning the title of Associate in Preschool Education. In 1988, she graduated from the Preschool Education program at the Faculty of Education in Osijek, obtaining the title of Preschool Educator.

In 2010, she earned the professional title of Professor of Preschool Education from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Educational Sciences at the University of Mostar. She completed her PhD in 2020 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek with a dissertation titled Structural and Content Determinants of Early Childhood Education Curriculum.

She lives in Osijek with her husband and two daughters. From 1989 to 2021, she worked as a preschool teacher at the Osijek Kindergarten in the "Pčelica" facility, with a mixed-age group integrating the English language. Since 2021, she has served as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Social and Humanistic Sciences at the University of Slavonski Brod.

In 2023, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the scientific area of Social Sciences, the scientific field of Pedagogy ( Pedagogy of early and preschool education).

In September 2024, she joined the Faculty of Education at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek as an Assistant Professor.

She has participated in two institutional projects and Erasmus+ mobility programs, publishing several scientific and professional articles in journals, scientific monographs, and conference proceedings in the field of pedagogy. She has also presented her work at professional and scientific conferences. Her research interests focus on early childhood and preschool education pedagogy.

List of publications (link to CroRIS)

CroRIS - Višnja Vekić-Kljaić

First and last name

Pavao Nujić, Ph.D.

Profession

 Assistant Professor

Email

pnujic@foozos.hr

Office number

57

Research interests

history of Slavonia and Syrmia in the 18th and 19th Century, local history, history of education

Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words)

Pavao Nujić was born in 1991 in Osijek, where he attended elementary and secondary school (I. Gymnasium). In 2009, he enrolled in a double program in History and Pedagogy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. During his studies, he received the Rector's Award and served as the editor-in-chief of the student journal Essehist. He graduated in 2014 with the distinction summa cum laude. In 2014, as an Erasmus scholar, he spent six months at the Institute of History at Karl Franzens University in Graz, and in 2015, he spent one month at the University of Vienna for professional and scientific training.

He began his postgraduate studies in History in 2014 at the Faculty of Croatian Studies (then Croatian Studies) at the University of Zagreb. In 2020, he defended his doctoral dissertation, "The Petrovaradin Grenzer Infantry Regiment in the 18th Century," under the mentorship of Prof. Damir Matanović, PhD.

Since 2015, he has been working as a research and teaching assistant of history at the Faculty of Education, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. In 2021, he became a postdoctoral researcher (senior research and teaching assistant since 2022). He was involved in the conduct of the following courses: Croatian History, Local History, History of Education, World Religions, and Cultural History of Croatia in the Teacher Education program, as well as Local History, Environmental History, and Croatian National Heritage in the Early and Preschool Education program and The Historical Development of Inclusion in the Educational Rehabilitation program. At the Faculty of Kinesiology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, he lectures as an external associate in the course History of Physical Exercise and Sports.

His research interests focus on the history of Eastern Croatia in the 18th and 19th centuries, with an emphasis on the Slavonian Military Frontier and Osijek. He has published several scientific and professional papers and has presented at numerous academic and professional conferences. He has been a member of the program or organizational committees of several international and domestic scientific conferences. Since 2018, he has served as assistant editor and later as technical and executive editor of the humanities journal Pannoniana, published by the Faculty of Education and Educational Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek.

List of publications (link to CroRIS)

Pavao Nujić

First and last name

Ružica Tokić Zec, Ph.D.

Profession

Assistant Professor

Email

rtokic@foozos.hr

Office number

38

Research interests

Culture of educational institutions, values, family pedagogy, parenting

Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words)

Ružica Tokić Zec graduated in 2013 from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek and obtained a master's degree in Education in English Language and Literature and a master's degree in Pedagogy. In 2021, she received a PhD from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek with the topic “Preschool teachers, primary school teachers and university instructors' perceptions on organizational culture in educational institutions as the first in the generation.” Since 2012, she has organized early English language programs for preschool children. From 2014 to 2015, she worked as a pedagogue at the Elementary School "Tin Ujević" in Osijek and passed the professional exam to be an expert associate pedagogue. Since 2015, she has been teaching courses in the field of pedagogy (Pedagogy, General Pedagogy, Family Upbringing and Partnership with Parents, Parenting, and Final Paper Methodology) at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. In 2016, she received a UNESCO scholarship and participated in the 10th International Summer School - “The contemporary problems of children and childhood in multicultural societies” - theory, research, praxis in Warsaw, Poland. In 2023, she was invited to the St. Gallen University of Teacher Education in Switzerland for professional development. She has published several scientific and professional papers, participated in several international and domestic scientific and professional conferences, been invited as a speaker at professional conferences, and carried out activities to popularize science.

List of publications (link to CroRIS)


CroRIS – Ružica Tokić Zec