Children\u27s emotions upon the inclusion of a therapy dog into the kindergarten

V diplomskem delu sem se osredinila na čustvene odzive otrok ob vključitvi terapevtske živali v vrtčevski oddelek. Diplomsko delo sem razdelila na dva večja sklopa – teoretični in empirični del. Teoretični del sem razdelila na dva dela. V prvem sem opredelila čustva ter čustveni proces. V nadaljevanju sem predstavila področja čustev, delitev čustev, definicije nekaterih čustev ter razvoj čustev v zgodnjem otroštvu. V drugem delu teoretičnega dela sem opredelila terapevtske živali – psa, ter načine vključevanja teh v vrtčevski oddelek. V nadaljevanju sem predstavila razlage o učinkih vključevanja živali v otrokovo življenje ter odnos otrok do živali. Z raziskavo sem poskušala ugotoviti, kako so se otroci čustveno odzivali pred vsakim srečanjem s terapevtskim psom, med prvim srečanjem s terapevtskim psom in po njem, ter morebitne razlike v čustvenih odzivih otrok med drugim in tretjim srečanjem s terapevtskim psom in po njem. V vzorec sem vključila dvanajst otrok drugega starostnega obdobja (4–6 let). Pred srečanji in po njih sem pridobila podatke o počutju otrok prek intervjuja, ki sem ga sestavila sama, ter liste desetih čustvenih simbolov, ki jo je pripravila likovna pedagoginja. Med srečanji smo raziskovalke (jaz ter dve vzgojiteljici) čustvene odzive otrok vpisovale v Opazovalno shemo čustev, ki sta jo sestavili S. Prosen in H. Smrtnik Vitulić (2011). Z raziskavo sem ugotovila, da so se otroci vključitve terapevtske živali pred srečanji veselili ter so izražali željo po srečanju s terapevtsko psičko. Ugotovila sem tudi, da smo med prvim srečanjem s terapevtsko psičko največkrat zabeležili čustvo veselja ob opazovanju terapevtske psičke ter ob neposrednih stikih z njo. Čustvo veselja so otroci najpogosteje izražali s smehom in nasmehom. Med prvim srečanjem s terapevtsko psičko smo pogosto zasledili tudi čustvo strah, največkrat ob delu otroka s terapevtsko psičko, kljub prisotnosti vodnice. Ugotovila sem tudi, da so si vsi otroci po prvem srečanju želeli ponovnega srečanja s terapevtsko psičko. Na podlagi pridobljenih podatkov sem ugotovila, da se je z večkratnimi obiski terapevtske psičke povečalo izražanje čustva veselja in upadlo izražanje čustva strahu ter da se je obenem povečalo izražanje čustva pričakovanja. Ugotovitev, da je bilo izražanje čustva veselja in pričakovanja pogosto zabeleženo, nas lahko spodbudi k misli, da bi morali otrokom večkrat dati priložnost, da vstopajo v interakcijo s terapevtskimi živalmi tudi v vrtcu.In the graduation thesis, I focused on emotional reactions of children in case of inclusion of a therapeutic animal in a kindergarten group. The graduation thesis is divided into two major parts: theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part is further divided into two parts. In the first part, I defined feelings and emotional process. Further, I presented the area of feelings, division of feelings, definitions of some feelings, and development of feelings in early childhood. In the second part of the theoretical part, I defined therapeutic animals – a dog – and ways of including dogs into a kindergarten group. Further, I presented explanations of effects of including animals in the child’s life and relationship of children to animals. Based on the research, I wanted to establish, how children emotionally responded prior every meeting with a therapeutic dog, during and after first encounter with a therapeutic dog, as well as potential differences in emotional responses of children among the second and third meeting with a therapeutic dog and after the meeting. The sample included twelve children of the second age period (4–6 years). I used interview in order to obtain the data on how children felt prior and after the meetings. I prepared the interview, as well as sheets with ten emotional symbols, which were drawn by the art teacher. During the meeting, the researches (me and two teachers) recorded emotional reactions into Observational Scheme of Feelings prepared by S. Prosen and H. Smrtnik Vitulić (2011). The research revealed that children were excited about the inclusion of the therapeutic animal prior meetings, and that they expressed a wish to meet the therapeutic dog. I also established that joy was the most commonly recorded feeling during the first meeting when children were observing it and had a direct contact with it. Most commonly, the feeling of joy was expressed with laughter and a smile. During the first meeting with the therapeutic dog, we also often noticed the feeling of fear, most commonly during the work of a child with the therapeutic dog despite the presence of the guide. I also established that all children wanted to meet the therapeutic dog again. Based on the obtained data, I established that after several meetings with the therapeutic dog, expression of joy increased, while a feeling of fear decreased. At the same time, expressing a feeling of expectation increased. The finding that the feelings of joy and expectation were frequently recorded should encourage us to believe that we shall give children opportunity to interact with therapeutic animals also in kindergarten more often