OUR TEAM
Our STEP facilities for counselling and educational services provide psychological and special-educational services. We have a large team of professionals and the whole STEP Pedagogical-Psychological Counselling Centre.
Pedagogical-Psychological Counselling Centre STEP provides psychological and special-educational services. We are registered as an educational facility with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. All our results, reports and recommendations have the same legal validity as that of a government pedagogical-psychological counselling centre.
Our team is made up of professionals with years of experience in the area of support for the education and upbringing of children. We believe that each child is a person with a potential that just needs to be discovered and successfully developed. We deal with children as young as 3, their parents (or legal guardians), teachers, teacher’s assistants and other pedagogical professionals in the Czech Republic.
MANAGEMENT
Mgr. Simona Pekárková, Ph.D., CPsychol.
director, psychologist, special education teacher
Mgr. et Mgr. Martina Švandová, Ph.D.
executive officer, psychologist, special education teacher
Mgr. Simona Pekárková, Ph.D., CPsychol.
director, psychologist, special education teacher
She has spent a number of years supporting the education of children and youth with specific educational needs. She worked as a psychologist and a special education teacher at a special-pedagogical and pedagogical-psychological counselling centre. She has done long-term work with class and teacher groups, resolving conflicts and problems with bullying. She co-founded the Techsophia organisation, concerned with the effective use of new technologies in education. She prepares projects focusing on improving teacher and teacher assistant competencies. She is the co-author of several publications, research and scientific papers. She teaches seminars and workshops in psychology and special pedagogy. She does therapeutic work with children and families. She completed a five-year psychotherapeutic course in systemic family therapy and has experience as a school psychologist. In recent years she has concentrated on the creation and implementation of diagnostic and developmental materials and tools for children.
Mgr. et Mgr. Martina Švandová, Ph.D.
executive officer, psychologist, special education teacher
Her long-term focus has been the issue of the special educational needs of preschool and school-age children. She worked as a psychologist at a special-education kindergarten, at a centre for children with combined disabilities and a pedagogical-psychological counselling centre. She has participated in the execution of several projects targeting the development of school teaching staff and the education of pedagogical assistants. At the current time her areas of interest include psychological counselling, leading remedial exercises for children with dyslexia and preschool preparatory courses. She also taught children’s psychology and special pedagogy at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. In recent years she has concentrated on the creation and implementation of diagnostic and developmental materials and tools for children.
Ing. Marek Pekárek, MBA
executive officer, economist
Ing. Marek Pekárek graduated in the field of International Relations at the University of Economics, Prague. In recent years he has held numerous top-level corporate management positions. He has worked abroad as part of the BigBoard company (in Ukraine, Russia and Slovakia). Currently he has an investment share in the development of projects in the areas of education and digital technology use.
Renata Izerová
office assistant
Mgr. Bc. Ing. Jitka Tenklová
head psychologist
Mgr. Jana Vožechová, Ph.D. MBA
special education teacher, project manager
Mgr. Veronika Veselá
psychologist
Mgr. Hana Drvotová
special education teacher
She studied special education and educational counselling at the Charles University in Prague, and has practiced as a special education teacher with a focus on preschooler readiness and children with specific learning disabilities for years now.
She focuses on the issue of school success. Apart from her active work at the counselling centre, she also lectures on school readiness in kindergartens and connects primary school work with that of a counsellor. She has taught at the lower stages of primary school for many years, especially first and second class and additionally working with children from the whole lower stage of primary school, especially in the area of behavioural counselling. Furthemore, she has a wealth of experience with upper stage primary school pupils from previous years.
Mgr. Tereza Komárková, Ph.D.
psychologist, special education teacher
Bc. Linda Vejvančická, DiS.
social pedagogue, lector
Mgr. Denisa Rývová
special education teacher
Mgr. Aneta Angelisová
psychologist
Mgr. Tereza Vávrová, Dis.
psychologist, special education teacher
Mgr. Jaroslav Vídeňský
primary prevention officer
Mgr. Tomáš Sýkora
specialist in educational technologies
Mgr. Tomáš Sýkora has a degree in Software Engineering from the Faculty of Information Technology at the Czech Technical University in Prague and New Media Studies at the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University, and has also studied educational technologies at Utrecht University. He is a co-founder of the TechSophia and iSophi Education companies, focussing on the creation of educational tools. He led the development of educational games for preschoolers as well as the first grade of primary schools with these projects supporting tens of thousands of children throughout the Czech Republic further develop their abilities. He is collaborating in research on multimedia educational materials at the Charles University Faculty of Mathematics and Physics’ AMULAB (Advanced Multimedia Learning Laboratory). He lectures and provides workshops for parents and teachers concerning the possibilities of new technologies.