THE CONCEPT OF COMPETENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF EDUCATION REFORM IN LATVIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Ilze Briška ◽  
Gunta Siliņa-Jasjukeviča ◽  
Daiga Kalēja-Gasparoviča
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
General Education ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Research Question ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Evaluation Of Learning ◽  
Common Understanding

The word competence is a key concept of ongoing education reform in Latvia - the ESF project “Competency approach in the curriculum” (hereafter: Project). The implementation of the idea of competence-based curriculum is related to significant changes in the structure of school and pre-school curriculum, the system of evaluation of learning outcomes, teacher education etc., which are widely clarified and discussed in expert groups and public space. Participating as experts in the development of a Project, the authors of the article find that the Latvian educational space lacks a common understanding of the meaning of the concept competence. Often the pedagogical terminology used by educators even contradicts the innovative meaning and essence of the reform. The aim of the article is to clarify the inconsistency and contradictions related to understanding of the concept competence in the context of Latvian educational reforms. Research question: How to use the pedagogical terminology related to concept competence to reflect the innovative approach correctly and deeply, but at the same time - simple and understandable for the teachers, parents and children. To find it out, the article analyzes the essence of the competence approach in theory and compares it with the actual situation in practice. The research data were obtained in 34 written students’ reflections after study practice and 9 interviews with experienced teachers of general education schools in different regions of Latvia. The content analysis of the interviews was proceeded, the dimensions of holistic understanding of concept competence was marked and types of contradictions – generalized. Results: The analysis revealed discrepancies between terminology used in the framework of educational reform, and educators’ understanding of its meaning. These findings can develop educators’ common understanding of concept ‘competence’.

scholarly journals POSITION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN LITHUANIAN GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND IN EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN GENERAL EDUCATION SCHOOL

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Romas Prakapas ◽  
Gintautė Žibėnienė
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Education School

Entrepreneurship, as one of today’s most relevant competences, is widely discussed in the public space. We must admit that scientific discussions have not yet led to a unanimous definition of the phenomenon, although the studies themselves are quite abundant. On the other hand, considering the social reality as being subject to constant change, it is also important to analyse the documents which are directly related to change of content of the said education. Scientific problem can be set as follows: what entrepreneurship education is provided in today’s general education school of Lithuania. Purpose – toreveal position of entrepreneurship education in Lithuanian general education curriculum and in educational process in general education school. It analysed the regulations on the Lithuanian general school curriculum content of the school year 2016-2017 in terms of the development of entrepreneurship: strategies, curricula, resources, etc. The analysis shows that in terms of modelling of curriculum formal education is aimed at training entrepreneurship following the principles of holistic approach, integrity and consistency. Lithuanian general curricula for general education are modelled in such a way that the learners integrally understand entrepreneurship, from different perspectives of subjects, as an integral competence.

Today in Light of Yesterday: An Exploration of Workers’ Childhood Memories in the Context of Child Protection Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean A R St. Jean ◽  
Brian Rasmussen ◽  
Judy Gillespie ◽  
Daniel Salhani
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Childhood Memories ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Explorative Study ◽  
Parents And Children

Abstract Child protection workers are routinely faced with emotionally intense work, both personally and vicariously through the traumatic narratives and experiences of parents and children. What remains largely unknown is how child protection workers’ own childhood memories might influence the manner in which they experience and are affected by those narratives. The aim of this explorative study was to use Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis as a research methodology to answer the research question, ‘In what ways do social workers experience, and make sense of, their own childhood memories in the context of their child protection practice?’ Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight child protection workers, aiming to understand their personal and professional experiences with regard to this question. The study found a relationship between various forms of childhood adversity and the presence of negative present-day triggers when participants were faced with practice scenarios that bore similarity to those experiences. Implications with regard to child protection worker well-being, countertransference and risk decision-making are discussed.

“Weg Da—Wir Wollen Lernen!” Education Reform in Hamburg, Germany in Neoliberal Times

2013 ◽  
Vol 115 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Jeff Bale
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
News Media ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Reform Measure ◽  
Interpretive Communities ◽  
Critical Policy

Background/Context This paper is in dialogue with critical policy scholarship that has developed a certain consensus about what neoliberalism is and what its impact has been on recent education policy. A substantial part of the paper comprises a synthesis of recent German scholarship on neoliberal education policies in that country. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Drawing on critical analysis of neoliberal education policy, this paper examines a recent education reform measure in Hamburg, Germany. A key component of the intended reform measure was defeated by a ballot initiative spearheaded by a coalition of Hamburg residents widely understood to represent the city's wealthy elite. Making sense of the controversy over this reform measure is the central goal of this paper. To do so, I identify five features of neoliberal education policy in Germany and use them as a framework within which to read the specific reform measure in Hamburg and the resistance to it. Research Design This paper reports an interpretive policy analysis and draws on document sources from four interpretive communities: (a) Hamburg's education ministry; (b) two pro-reform coalitions; (c) one anti-reform coalition; and (c) news media sources. A total of 389 documents were collected for this study, to which I applied a grounded theory approach for data analysis. Conclusions/Recommendations By reading this controversy against previous scholarship on neoliberal education policy, I argue that this specific case of education reform in Hamburg does not follow the pattern such analysis would predict. By stressing this divergence, I neither intend to challenge the consensus on neoliberalism within critical policy scholarship, nor to position this reform policy as a panacea to neoliberal ills. Rather, I argue that the anomalous nature of this specific reform effort in Hamburg provides two unique analytical opportunities: (a) to understand more deeply the constraints imposed by neoliberalism on schooling, especially in a context of policy making that bucks the neoliberal trend; and (b) to identify more clearly what educational policy strategies are required to move beyond neoliberal imperatives for schooling and society.

scholarly journals Importance of Spiritual Education for Present and Future School: M. Lukšienė’s Insights

Pedagogika ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Elvyda Martišauskienė
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Spiritual Education ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Future School

Spiritual education derives from the conception of a human being as intersection and unity of spiritual, psychical and physical dimension. Spiritual dimension, as a part of supernatural reality, performs a fundamental and unifying function in the becoming of an individual but it is not approachable through positivist research methods. Due to this reason, spiritual dimension of personality is inconceivable to apologists of materialism and pragmatism, unapproachable theoreticians of relativism. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand spiritual parameters of an individual (freedom, truth, love) that manifest themselves through principles of humanism, nationality and democracy. Since its very beginning, the education reform has been grounded on links of an individual and culture because namely, the spiritual dimension enables a human being to become a personality, to create culture and oneself. M. Lukšienė perceives holistic understanding of culture as a highly relevant aspect and education as a component of culture process, which derives from spiritual roots. Therefore, links of personality and culture are fundamentals of education reform. Discussing the relation between change and stability of education, M. Lukšienė directs our attention to spiritual values, approaching them as common denominator of present and future school as well as a guarantee of education reform. She also presents conception of spirituality, links of transcendental dimension, penetrates into the essence and spread of freedom, openness and dignity, and raises concern about moral, national and civic education. Contemporary focuses of education problems emerge at school deriving from the very depths of spiritual education. The main concern regards evaluation of teachers’ work and their training; knowledge commercialization and transfer of related business models to spiritual relations; establishment of education goals eliminating spiritual values or failing to understand mechanism of their (self-)development; prioritization of education methods; nurturance of patriotism, national culture, limits of freedom and other aspects, which were pointed out by M. Lukšienė.

Problems of mass distance learning in a pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 4-11
Author(s):  
S. A. Christochevsky
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
General Education ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Learning Problems ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Learning Conditions

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic affected the whole world, including Russia. The Russian government had to introduce emergency measures to combat the pandemic, including the transfer to distance learning of schoolchildren and students. In the context of a pandemic, it became necessary to urgently consider issues and problems of distance learning in educational organizations, primarily in secondary education organizations. Previously, none of the concepts of informatization of education even considered the massive transition to distance learning for schoolchildren and students.The article examines the readiness of educational organizations, parents and children for the massive use of distance learning, analyzes the problems that arise in the implementation of this form of education, including: the problem of choosing software and platforms for distance learning; problems associated with underdeveloped infrastructure; problems of the availability of electronic educational resources corresponding to the new learning conditions; problems of lack of online work experience for both teachers and schoolchildren; as well as other issues related to distance learning.The need is noted: switching the attention of researchers and developers of software and online platforms to research in the field of mass transition to distance learning at all age levels; the development of new distance online platforms and the processing of many electronic educational resources for new platforms; linking multimedia educational content to exemplary basic educational programs of primary, basic and secondary general education.

Can History Stand Alone? Drawbacks and Blind Spots of a “Disciplinary” Curriculum

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 2471-2495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Thornton ◽  
Keith C. Barton
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
General Education ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Research Question ◽  
History Education ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Content Selection ◽  
The Subject

Background/Context Over the past quarter-century, many historians, politicians, and educators have argued for an increase in the amount of history taught in schools, for a clear separation of history and social studies, and for an emphasis on disciplinary structures and norms as the proper focus for the subject. Unfortunately, discussions of history education too often rest on the problematic belief that the academic discipline can provide direction for the nature of the subject in general education. Description of Prior Research Throughout much of the 20th century, U.S. history educators made common cause with other social educators to promote principled and critical understandings of society. Both groups stood in opposition to calls for more nationalist views of history education. In the mid-1980s, however, this situation began to change, as a coalition of historians, educational researchers, and political pressure groups promoted history as a subject distinct from and independent of the larger realm of the social studies. This new coalition has been unable to avoid conflicts over the selection of content, however, and approaches favored by nationalists often clash with the more critical and inclusive perspectives of historians. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this article, we trace the relationship between historians and other social educators during the 20th century and explore how the forces favoring a realignment of history and social studies coalesced in the mid-1980s. We argue that this coalition has led to an unproductive emphasis on history as a “separate subject” and a resulting lack of attention to the goals of history in general education. Research Design This analytic essay draws on curriculum theory, historical sources, and contemporary cognitive research to outline the changing relationships between historians and other social educators and to examine the limitations of a purportedly disciplinary curriculum. Conclusions/Recommendations The academic discipline of history cannot, by itself, provide guidance for content selection because educators face restrictions of time and coverage that are not relevant in the context of academic historical research. In addition, educators must concern themselves with developing students’ conceptual understanding, and this necessarily requires drawing on other social science disciplines. If students are to develop the insights that historians have most often promoted for the subject, historians must return to their place within the conversation of social studies education.

Alfabeticemos! Let’s Teach Literacy!

2020 ◽  
pp. 63-104
Author(s):  
Deborah Shnookal
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Literacy Campaign ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hearts And Minds

The Cuban revolutionary government prioritized education reform as the key to lifting the country out of underdevelopment and creating a new political culture of participatory democracy, epitomized by the 1961 literacy campaign. Fidel Castro’s opponents, however, regarded this campaign as evidence of the “communist indoctrination” by the government of young Cubans and were therefore determined to “save” as many children as possible by sending them to Miami until Castro was ousted. This chapter takes a detailed look at how the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation unfolded with the mobilization of 100,000 teenagers as literacy brigadistas to teach in the mountains and remote parts of the island. It examines the objectives of the campaign, the recruitment propaganda used to mobilize the Conrado Benítez brigades, how the campaign affected relations between parents and children, and the impact that participation in the campaign had on a generation of revolutionary youth.

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