In this article we focus on the artistic work of Martina Skala, a Czech writer living in the United States. We have analysed all of her intentional works published in the Czech Republic: the series of stories about Strado and Varius (2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; 2010), the publication of Medvídek Kuma: An Extraordinary Journey to the North Pole (2009), the book My name is Čičák (2019), and a story called The Way of the Wacky Hen in Search of Happiness (2020). We also focused on publications that Skala has only illustrated. The intention of this paper is to fill a void in the critical reflection on Martina Skala´s work for children, and thus stimulate further discussion about her potential contribution to the development of contemporary literature for children and young people. We believe that the didactic potential of the analysed works is considerable, both in all aspects related to the consolidation of reading skills in beginning readers, but also in those associated with the beginnings of children’s reading (for example, building a relationship with books in prereaders).
CS
V příspěvku se věnujeme umělecké tvorbě české spisovatelky žijící ve Spojených státech amerických, Martiny Skaly. Analyzovali jsme veškerou její intencionální tvorbu, která byla vydána v České republice: sérii příběhů o Stradu a Variovi (2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; 2010) publikaci Medvídek Kuma: nevšední putování na severní pól (2009), knihu My name is Čičák (2019) a vyprávění s názvem Cesta praštěné slepice za štěstím (2020). Zaměřili jsme se rovněž na publikace, které Skala pouze ilustrovala. Záměrem příspěvku je zaplnit prázdné místo v kritické reflexi tvorby Martiny Skaly pro děti, a tím podnítit další diskusi o jejím možném přínosu pro rozvoj současné literatury pro děti a mládež. Domníváme se, že didaktický potenciál analyzovaných děl je značný, a to v rámci všech aspektů souvisejících s upevňováním dovednosti čtení u začínajících čtenářů, ale i v těch spjatých s počátky dětského čtenářství (například budování vztahu ke knize u předčtenářů).
This paper focuses on the issue of integrating innovative methods into the teaching of literature in lower-secondary schools. It aims to highlight the factors that influence these methods’ use and thus fill a gap in the existing research in the field. The research inquiry is based on a qualitative approach; the group of respondents consists of male and female teachers working in lower-secondary schools at the time of the research. The structured interview method was chosen for data collection, and the data obtained was evaluated using grounded theory. We present the results obtained from 24 interviews. Due to the research’s qualitative nature, it is impossible to generalise from the findings. The so-called time and teacher factors and the classroom factors are associated with not using these methods, and developing competencies and applying them to life factors are associated with using them. The paper also comments on the influence of school support, the influence of inspiration from university teachers, and the positive experiences of the respondents. The influence of the age of the teachers was found to be insignificant.
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