Journal of Early Years Education

Children’s culture amongst German minority in Hungary

Ágnes Klein — 2024-05-22

The study examines the concept and constituents of the culture of German-minority children in Hungary on the basis of international trends in the concept and research on children’s culture. An important question is the relationship between tradition and modernity and the balance between the two. Based on these, the aim is to provide a comprehensive picture of the children’s culture of the German ethnic group in Hungary.

Some aspects of maintaining the folk traditions of the German minority in Hungary

Mária Karsainé Gasser — 2024-05-22

In this article we will show how the folk traditions of the German minority in Hungary can be passed on to children in a playful way and the methodology and tools that can be used to convey them in an experiential way. We approach the topic through concrete examples of folk traditions, folk customs and related games. The folk customs of the German minority in Hungary play a declining role in family life, and the task of preserving and transmitting them is increasingly down to national minority kindergartens and schools. These national minority educational and training institutions are attended not only by children of members of the German minority in Hungary, but also by ethnic Hungarian children, to whom these folk customs are unknown. These folk customs contribute to the development and strengthening of the children’s national identity. In our paper we illustrate, with a wealth of examples, possible ways of preserving this wealth of disappearing cultural treasure.

Childhood dreams – Roma/Gypsy children’s culture and identity empowerment

Fanni Maszlag — 2024-05-22

In this study we review the significance and role of Roma/Gypsy stories in strengthening a sense of identity and social learning. In the course of the analysis, we attempt to offer a sense of the values of the Gypsy culture in Hungary. The starting point of the thesis is that individuals acquire not only real community norms, values, behaviours, attitudes and roles, but also incorporate lessons conveyed by fictional models. These models may be textbooks, films, music, and literary works such as fairy tales. The aim of this study is to draw attention to the cultural values conveyed by Gypsy tales and the key role they play in the transmission of ethnic identity.

Playful tasks for the experience-based exploration of the texts in the story book 'Maiden conceived in the dew'

Anna Bereczkiné Záluszki — 2024-05-22

In the elementary school education of ethnic Hungarian children in Slovakia, they can consciously practise their understanding of various text types and their creation through playful activities and playful tasks in classes dealing with their ethnic culture. Playful fairy tale adaptations included in the Slovak nationalities education program, in the curricula of the early years of the nationalities’ classes, contribute to the familiarization of Slovak culture, to the appropriate level of literary understanding, and to the education of early readers.

Roma traditions and the Romani language as resources for learning: overcoming (in)securitization

Erika Kerekesné Lévai — 2024-05-22

In this study we discuss about pedagogical approaches to engagement with Romani-Hungarian bilingual Roma pupils and their family members in a way that respects their autonomy. Our work focuses onthe concept of translanguaging (García, 2009; García & Li, 2014) and a pedagogical programme based on this theory that has been implemented in recent years in Tiszavasvári, Hungary. First, from the perspective of the practising teacher, we highlight the importance of the school-family relationship on the one hand, and the autonomy and self-organisation of young people on the other. We show how the teacher can contribute to this and how it is linked to bilingualism and cultural values. The final chapter of the paper presents the language pedagogical ideas behind the project. The central argument is that the pedagogical approach behind the concept of translanguaging also represents a break with abyssal thinking (cf. García et al., 2021).

Documentation of the folk poetry of the ethnic Germans in Hungary: The possible use of a book of nursery rhymes written in a dialect in the teaching of German language and folklore

Márta Müller — 2024-05-22

The study focuses on the collection of German nursery rhymes in Hungary, the editing of nursery rhyme books, and the teaching of German nursery rhymes in primary schools. The authors review the most important stages in the collection of German folk poetry in the 19^th century, and then take stock of the Hungarian German folktale collections of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, with a special focus on those that include texts in a German dialect. The paper summarises the conditions for the successful collection of German dialect texts and the criteria for compiling a book of nursery rhymes. The second part of the paper discusses the role of nursery rhymes in German dialect in the educational process. It discusses the fields of competence to which German dialect nursery rhymes relate. Illustrated with e example of a nursery rhyme in dialect, it sets out concrete methodological steps that teachers of German can follow to successfully teach such rhymes to their pupils.

Authors 2024/1

2024-05-22

Methods for developing social relations in kindergartens and schools education

Katalin N. Kollár — 2024-05-22

Our study summarizes the Hungarian methods for developing social relations in kindergarten and school education and the possibilities inherent in them. With a brief historical review, we try to show that the improvement of group-dynamics was not always an obvious goal of public education, and that this may not always be the case even today. Even so, there are methods endorsed by practice that can successfully improve children's relationships with each other, and thus can indirectly serve not only as successful tools for personality development, but also to increase school performance and further the cause of inclusive education.

Use of interactive techniques in Slovak language teaching

Júlia Szabóné Marlok — 2024-05-22

Thanks to 21^st century interactive technologies, teachers can support learning processes in increasingly effective ways. In my study, I present interactive learning materials and curricular elements for Slovak language lessons, using LearningApps.org – a platform for interactive and multimedia teaching aids and exercises. My aim is to share knowledge based on my own experience, present teaching ideas and resources, as well as motivate my fellow teachers to use and create digital applications. These learning apps help to expand knowledge and learn and organise grammatical phenomena. They ensure the stimulation and maintenance of students’ interest in learning and teaching Slovak, contribute to effective learning, and the successful facilitation of independent learning and critical thinking.

The role and significance of literary texts for children in the Literature of the ethnic Germans – The children‘s anthology Igele-Bigele of the Germans in Hungary

Gábor Kerekes — 2024-05-22

The anthology Igele-Bigele, published in 1980, was the first attempt by the literature of German minority in Hungary to promote the reading of books by children. This laudable intention was realised using texts by authors of the literature of the Germans in Hungary active at that time, but – with one exception – no new names appeared compared with previously published anthologies. The volume was compiled by Valeria Koch, who at that time worked as an editor for the journal Neue Zeitung. From today’s perspective, the suitability of some of the texts as children’s literature may be judged differently from the way it was at the time of publication, but this anthology nonetheless represents a remarkable start: Hungarian-German literature turning to children, something that clearly occurred independently, without reference to foreign – including Hungarian-language and German – models. It should not be forgotten that at that time Hungarian-German literature was limited in terms of quantity, and the number of texts suitable for children was low. In this situation, the publisher made the best of the situation and enabled the publication of the anthology, which can rightly be described as the starting point of the children’s literature of the Germans of Hungary, as it was an important forerunner of all later children’s books for the ethnic Germans of Hungary.

Practical ways of preserving German cultural traditions in primary schools

Mira Gölcz — 2024-05-22

The preservation of traditions in German ethnic schools is of paramount importance for the maintenance of cultural diversity and the cohesion of ethnic communities. In this study, I will summarize the importance and techniques of heritage preservation in German ethnic schools. The preservation of traditions in German ethnic schools helps maintain cultural identity and strengthen community cohesion. The aim of the study is to demonstrate how these schools contribute to the transmission and maintenance of German cultural traditions. I will introduce the understanding of the importance of heritage preservation from the perspective of German ethnic schools, with particular emphasis on the challenges of globalization and the dangers of identity loss. I offer examples of concrete tools and methods for heritage preservation, such as language education, the celebration of holidays and folk customs, as well as the organization of cultural events and programs. Furthermore, the study highlights the social and educational significance of heritage preservation and the role of German ethnic schools in shaping the identity of younger generations and passing on cultural heritage. The methods and practices presented in the study can contribute to ensuring that German ethnic schools continue to successfully preserve and nurture their cultural traditions for future generations.

Old Bavarian street names in Hungary and their significance for the education of German as a minority language and folklore

Márta Müller — 2024-05-22

This paper provides an overview of the functional-semantic and morphological-lexical characteristics of the old Bavarian street names revitalized by the two German communities in Hungary. It presents the onomastic and dialectological questions that emerged during the revitalisation process; describes the conditions necessary for the successful revitalisation of old Bavarian street names; summarises how the appearence of Bavarian street name signs has an impact on the linguistic landscape of the settlements and the local population and makes recommendations as to how the old Bavarian street names can be used in the teaching of the subjects ‘German as a minority language’ and ‘folklore of the ethnic Germans in Hungary’.

The study and promotion of the Hungarian language in a Hungarian school in England

Kitti Bartalos — 2024-05-22

Today, it is almost an everyday phenomenon for people to move abroad and start a family in another country or take a family decision to live in another country according to their lifestyle. Learning the language of the destination country is necessary in both cases, but often families also have a need to preserve and nurture the Hungarian language, and they want their child to learn and develop it in a Hungarian community. The high-quality cultural and educational program of the Birmingham Hungarian Educational and Cultural Centre provides the opportunity for Hungarians living in the diaspora to preserve Hungarian culture and traditions, as well as to learn, develop and cultivate the Hungarian language. The aim is to present, through the cultural and educational activities of the school, an example of good practice whereby the acquisition and development of the Hungarian language can be successfully implemented in a foreign language environment.