MIŠLJENJA STUDENATA ZAVRŠNE GODINE STUDIJA O MOGUĆNOSTIMA PRIMENE METODE VERBALNIH ASOCIJACIJA U PROJEKTNOM KONTEKSTU

This presentation will focus on the specifics of studying preschool children’s verbal associations and the challenges that researchers face during both data collection and data processing – from the perspective of final year students at the Teacher Education Faculty in Belgrade. It employs a psycholinguistic research method aimed at examining the mental lexicon, which is significant for educators as it provides insights into children’s perspectives on the world. Precisely for this reason, during the summer semester of the school year 2023/24, one of the tasks in the exercises from the subject Methodology of Speech Development II was to implement this method with children. Based on this experience, we asked them to fill out a survey in which they evaluate the place and importance of applying this method in project planning in kindergarten. The goal of the work is to learn about the possibilities of applying the method of verbal associations in educational work, as well as the possibilities of including students and practicing educators in more extensive research that would be led by university teachers. This vertical design of research practice would have a positive impact on all involved levels of education and training. On the one hand, an overall larger research sample conducted in a larger number of age groups would contribute to the relevance of the conclusions. On the other hand, research results collected in individual age groups in kindergarten would be used for project planning and development of real projects within those small learning communities.