Congratulations to dr. Goda Stonkuvienė after successfully defending her doctoral dissertation Expression of Children’s Learning to Learn Ability in Preschool Education: Experiences of Teachers and Children (Scientific supervisor – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erika Masiliauskienė (Vilnius University, Siauliai Academy, Social Sciences, Education – S 007).  She has  acquired a doctoral degree in Social Science  Education.

The dissertation is available in the library  of Vilnius university and  on the VU website at: https://www.vu.lt/naujienos/ivykiu-kalendorius

The dissertation is available at:
https://is.vu.lt/pls/pub/ivykiai.ivykiai_prd?p_name=DB7160EACFF45A1A4B1A7D82DEBE5E18/STONKUVIENE%20Goda.pdf, and here a short presentation below.

In the doctoral dissertation, the learning to learn ability in childhood from the conceptual and praxiological points of view has been studied for the first time in Lithuania. The relevance of the learning to learn ability and the need to start developing it at the preschool age have been highlighted. Problematic aspects related to the use of the concept of learning to learn in Lithuanian language have been revealed. In the dissertation, the construct of the holistic concept of learning to learn has been theoretically grounded, the dynamism of this ability and the trajectory of its development in preschool education have been emphasized. Referring to the systematic approach, the components of the learning to learn ability, their features and essential preconditions have been discussed. During the empirical research, the methodology of qualitative research and hermeneutic phenomenology were followed. After the analysis of teachers’ and children’s experiences and preschool education programmes, the expression of the learning to learn ability in preschool education was revealed. The experiences of teachers highlighted the problematic nature of the concept of learning to learn. This is also reflected in the analysis of curricula, which shows an insufficient emphasis and lack of a systematic approach to the development of the learning to learn ability. In teachers’ experiences, the prerequisites supporting the development of the learning to learn ability have been identified: encouragement of setting the learning goal and activities, aspects of the environment that makes the development of the learning to learn ability meaningful, expression of children’s reflection and the roles of education participants. The limitations of the development of the learning to learn ability in the preschool institution and the need to increase the competence of teachers have also been revealed. In children’s experiences, the expression of their metacognition can be seen: self-perception as a learner, ability to design and reflect on their learning process. The children’s ability to freely choose learning activities and tools, learn individually and collaboratively and the need for help were highlighted. The dissertation presents a model of successful development of children’s learning to learn ability, which provides an opportunity to purposefully design and organize the development of this ability in the preschool institution.