Members of the sub-department
Tijana Borovac, Associate Professor, Ph.D.
First and last name | Tijana Borovac, Ph.D. |
Profession | Associate Professor |
tborovac@foozos.hr | |
Office number | 49 |
Research interests | early and preschool education, initial education of educators, professional development of educators, leadership in early and preschool education (EPE) |
Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words) | Dr. Tijana Borovac, Associate Professor, completed her primary and secondary education (Jezična Gimnazija-Language Grammar School) in Osijek. In 2002, she graduated from the College of Teacher Education in Osijek, earning the title of Preschool Educator. During her studies in 2000, she received the Rector’s Award for exceptional academic achievement. In 2004, she graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Osijek (Marketing Management programme), obtaining the title of Graduate Economist. She earned her doctorate in the field of Social Sciences, specifically Pedagogy, by defending her dissertation titled Social Interaction of Children in Age-Mixed Groups in Early and Preschool Education Institutions. Her doctoral studies were completed at the Postgraduate Doctoral Programme in Pedagogy, focusing on Early Education in Family and Institutional Settings at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Since 2007, she has been employed at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. She teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Early and Preschool Education, specialising in the areas of integrated curriculum, leadership, and action research in early and preschool education. Dr Borovac has participated in several professional and scientific research projects (financially supported by HRZZ-ECLAT, Adris, and UNICEF), consistently aiming to explore the perspective of children at an early and preschool age. She is the author of numerous professional and scientific papers in the field of early and preschool education, focusing on the education of future educators, their professional development, children’s executive functions, play, and more. She is also the author and co-author of three chapters in Croatia’s first textbook on early and preschool pedagogy, Pedagogy of Early and Preschool Education. She has presented at numerous national and international conferences on early and preschool education (EECERA, OMEP) and has served as a member of several scientific, programme, and organisational committees. Dr. Borovac is the Chair of the Programme Committee and a member of the Organising Committee for the 1st and 2nd International Scientific-Professional Conference KOMPAS – Competent Systems in Early and Preschool Education, held at the Faculty of Education in Osijek in 2022 and 2024. In 2020, the Education and Teacher Training Agency appointed her Chair of the Examination Committee for Professional Certification Exams for Preschool Educators in Kindergartens. |
List of publications (link to CroRIS) |
Alma Škugor, Associate Professor, Ph.D.
First and last name | Alma Škugor, Ph.D. |
Profession | Associate Professor |
askugor@foozos.hr | |
Office number | 52 |
Research interests | student-centered teaching, professional development of teachers, alternative pedagogical concepts, pedagogy of sustainable development, pedagogy of practical life skills |
Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words) | She has been employed at the Faculty of Education since 2007. She obtained her PhD degree in 2013, and since 2021, she has been working as an associate professor. From 2014 to 2018, she was the coordinator for working with the training schools for all methodology courses for students of the integrated undergraduate and graduate five-year university class teacher studies. Until 2018, she conducted practice in the courses Didactics of Natural Science II and Research in Natural Science. She teaches Pedagogy of Sustainable Development, Pedagogy of Practical Life Skills, Alternative Schools, Alternative Pre-school Programs, Pedagogy for Children with Special Needs, and Methodology in Education. In 2017, she successfully completed Montessori educational training in teaching children aged 3 to 12. In doing so, she acquired an international degree (Montessori - Pädagogik Diplomlehrgang) in accordance with the guidelines and the standards of the Austrian Montessori - Ősterreich umbrella association. She collaborated on the research project of the Croatian Science Foundation: “Professional development of teachers in the function of improving the learning outcomes of elementary school students in natural sciences and mathematics” (2018-2022). She has participated in a number of international and national scientific and professional educational conferences and has published about forty professional and scholarly papers. She is the Head of the Career Development Centre for Students Foozos. She was a co-chair of the Organizing Committee of the 42nd International Scientific Conference on Changing Perspectives and Approaches in Contemporary Education in cooperation with the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE). In cooperation with the Education Agency, she conducts professional training for teachers. |
List of publications (link to CroRIS) |
Ida Somolanji Tokić, Assistant Professor, Ph.D.
First and last name | Ida Somolanji Tokić, Ph.D. |
Profession | Assistant Professor |
isomolanji@foozos.hr | |
Office number | 49 |
Research interests | ECEC, integrated curriculum, play, transition |
Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words) | Ida Somolanji Tokić, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, was born on February 5, 1985, in Požega. She completed her primary and secondary education in Osijek. In 2007, she graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek with a degree in pedagogy and Croatian language and literature. She earned her PhD at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb in 2018 with the dissertation “Transition from early childhood education and care to compulsory school education - the curricular meeting place” under the mentorship of Edita Slunjski, PhD. She began her career in primary education and has been employed at the Faculty of Education in Osijek since 2008, currently holding the title of Assistant Professor. She is a member of the Department of Social Sciences and the Center for Teaching Methodology and Student Practice, where she oversees the implementation of practicum in kindergartens for undergraduate and graduate students of Early and Preschool Education programs. She teaches courses in early childhood pedagogy, integrated curriculum, project-based learning, and action research. Her research interests focus on integrated curricula, professional development, children's play, and educational transitions. Through her teaching and research, she strives to advance contemporary knowledge and foster pedagogical innovations tailored to the Croatian educational context. She is the author of numerous academic and professional papers in these fields, including two chapters in the first Croatian textbook on early childhood pedagogy. She actively participates in and delivers invited lectures at conferences. She serves on committees for both national and international conferences and is one of the key contributors to the establishment of the international conference Competent Systems in Early Childhood Education and Care (KOMPAS). She is a reviewer for domestic and international journals. She is a member of working groups, including the Committee for the Development of Qualification Standards in Higher Education. Among her project involvement, she highlights “Improving the Inclusivity of Initial Education for Early Childhood Educators” (UFZG and UNICEF). She chairs examination boards for licensing exams for pedagogues and educators in kindergartens. Additionally, she is a member of the Croatian Pedagogical Society, OMEP Croatia, the Croatian Association for Educational Research, the ENNEA Professional Learning Community, and Alumni FFOS. |
List of publications (link to CroRIS) |
Višnja Vekić-Kljaić, Assistant Professor, Ph.D.
First and last name | Višnja Vekić-Kljaić, Ph.D. |
Profession | Assistant professor |
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) |
Petra Bučević, Assistant
First and last name | Petra Bučević |
Profession | Assistant |
pbucevic@foozos.hr | |
Office number | 49 |
Research interests | childhood, early childhood education and care |
Curriculum vitae (up to 300 words) | Petra Bučević was born in Osijek in 1991. She is an educator for early and preschool-aged children. She graduated from the Faculty of Education, where she currently works as a teaching assistant in the interdisciplinary field of educational sciences. She is pursuing her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Education. Her research focuses on childhood studies, documenting the educational process, and early and preschool education. Currently, she leads seminars and practical exercises in courses related to early and preschool pedagogy, the integrated curriculum of early and preschool education, and project-based learning in kindergartens. |
List of publications (link to CroRIS) |