Education for sustainable development has been addressed by professionals, authorities, and a number of research studies in the last decades, and yet the results are not clearly visible. Teachers as agents of a new mindset do not seem to understand the ways of approaching raising awareness of the issues of global challenges. This study investigated the possibility of raising the extent of applying critical thinking to the problem-solving issues of a group of student teachers in their initial training. The sample consisted of 48 student teachers. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used: namely, a questionnaire, content analysis, and focus group interviews. An archive of the students' materials was also used for content analysis. In the data analysis, inter-rater reliability, as well as parametric (t-test) and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test) were applied. The results of the study provide evidence of the positive impact of the use of case studies in teaching pre-service teachers on the development of their critical thinking skills. It can be concluded that it should not be taken for granted that teachers automatically know how to develop the competencies that are necessary for sustainable development (SD). Instead, teacher education institutions need to incorporate thorough training that focusses on education for sustainable development (ESD) into the entire teacher programme in order to make sure that the teachers leave their initial training well prepared for guaranteeing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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The study concentrated on the possible effects of using authentic comics with EFL learners. It examined the strategies applied by novice readers in reading comics with the special focus on lexical guessing using context. The data for this illustrative qualitative case study were collected from observations, discussions, verbal report and in some cases students' writings. The results indicated possible positive effects in vocabulary development and motivation to reading and overcoming linguistic barriers in reading authentic material using the context and prior knowledge.

Content and language integrated learning is one out of the bilingual methods that has been frequently discussed by language teachers, researchers and scholars for the last decade in Slovak educational environment. Mostly they are positive about the benefits CLIL offers for learners and they study both results in language and subject achievement; moreover, they investigate its impact on teachers' competencies and feasible integration of language and content. The article outlines general definition of the CLIL term; illustrates its benefits and drawbacks; discusses the competencies of a CLIL teacher; deals with an issue of materials and takes closer look at integration of English language and Mathematics teaching.

The present study aims to portray the information value of the pre-service teachers' portfolios within the particular study programme needs analysis with respect to the profile of effectively prepared novice teachers. The study focuses on the values of portfolios with respect to teacher training programme needs. The portfolio was used to examine the gaps in pre-service teacher training and practice needs. Student teacher training observations, semi-structured interviews with teacher trainers and structured interviews with supervisors were carried out to confront the findings. The research results may represent a further step towards using student-teacher portfolios as a significant source of information for students (teacher trainee), teachers, managers (author of the study programme).