Insights on student leadership using social dream drawing: Six propositions for the transformation role of South African student leaders

Background: Student leadership is central to the South African transformation agenda in higher education. Even so the understanding of student leadership, especially regarding its purpose and its implementation varies across contexts.Aim: This article aims to present propositions for student leadership practice considering the current diverse and often fragmented understanding of student leadership. Such propositions should aid the formation of a streamlined multi-levelled and systemic co-curriculum for student leadership that equips student leaders for their significant transformation task.Setting: The study was conducted in a South African higher education institution within the associated Student Affairs department. The university where data was collected is referred to as a historically White university.Methods: Social dream drawing was utilised to elicit data that enabled insights into student leadership. The data was analysed by pluralistically fusing discourse analysis with a psychodynamic interpretation.Results: The findings reveal a preoccupation in student leadership with South African historical narratives and the implications thereof for the present, and future, of the country. Additionally, student leaders indicated that there are complex psychological implications that result from their leadership experiences. Six propositions for student leadership are presented.Conclusion: The insights gained from the research study have the potential to contribute positively to higher education legislation and student development practice, particularly regarding the psychological conflicts that student leaders experience, and to the possible ways to resolve these. Because student leaders are key to the transformation agenda in South Africa, these insights can contribute directly towards their suitability in fulfilling this role.

Sustainable Fashion as a Research Object in Foreign Scientific Literature

The concept of sustainability in fashion, having been developed on the basis of ecodesign concepts, takes an important place in scientific research all over the world. The aim of study is to analize and summarise foreign scientific researches about sustainability in fashion. The results were achieved by using methods of sources analysis, which refer to different research fields, in the context of sustainable fashion and their further synthesis according to areas. The main directions of research in each area were identified and summarized in the conclusions. There were considered basic concept definitions – sustainable fashion and the principles of sustainable design, which are used in modern scientific works of foreign researchers. The analysis of foreign scientific sources in the context of sustainable fashion was provided in areas of: economics, marketing, management; sociology and psychology of consumer behavior; ecology; technologies based on the principles of sustainable design; design; aesthetics and art history; education; legislation; information technology. The scientific value of study. For the first time the systematization of foreign research in the context of sustainable fashion was carried out. The conclusions are given after the analysis of each area, underlining the main directions of foreign scientists` research. Conclusions. Researchers from all over the world pay attention to the issues of sustainable fashion and explore problems of the integration of sustainable fashion into everyday life. Sustainable fashion sets up new values that actualize the issues of aesthetics of sustainable fashion in the theory of art history and design practice. However, it should be noted that the analized scientific works concerning fashion design in the context of sustainable fashion, do not reveal aspects of design related to the creative process and aesthetic perception. Sustainable fashion needs changes of existing design tools in the context of sustainable design principles. Therefore, there is a need for their further study.

Revisiting universalism in the Finnish education system

The aim of the article is to revisit the principle of universalism and analyze how it has changed in the legislation on compulsory education by asking: how are different characteristics of universalism emphasized in the basic education legislation and parliamentary discussion (in 1968, 1982 and 1997)? The analysis portrays the varieties of universalism within the comprehensive school, produced by the four instruments used to govern education (legislation, economy, ideology and evaluatory). According to the analysis, the foundation of the comprehensive school system in the 1960s was laid on uniform content and aims at the ideological level, emphasizing equality of education. The 1980s was a transition phase between ‘old’ and ‘new’ universalism, when instruments of legal and economic governance enabled the expansion of universalism and increased costs. Simultaneously, the aims of the comprehensive system and its contents were increasingly set at the local level. We conclude that the ‘new’ comprehension of universalism in the 1990s entailed issues such as the rise of the evaluation of education, local economy of education and individualism.

Innovative approach to organization and payment of work of teaching staff at higher school

The article deals with the problem of a sharp increase in the workload of scientific and pedagogical staff (SPS) of higher educational institutions, which has worsened under the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of the main reasons for the growing workload has been carried out (the need to develop e-learning courses and replace colleagues due to the increased morbidity), as well as the possible negative impact of this factor on the higher education system. The assessment of the increasing volume of educational and methodological work during the transition to a combination of traditional and distance education technologies is carried out. Based on the analysis of the standard procedure for rationing the work of scientific and pedagogical staff, which is widespread in the Russian universities, the proposals for creating the innovative system of organization and remuneration of teachers are developed. The system is based on the differentiation of the categories of SPS, depending on the main activities performed (educational, research, methodological, etc.) into three sub-categories: SPE of the specialized department, SPE of the academic department, and SPE of a professional organization. There is proposed a matrix distribution of official salaries, depending on the SPE subcategory and qualification level. The teacher's salary consists of a fixed official salary and a flexible system of allowances based on the use of weight coefficients that are changed in accordance with the priority directions of the educational organization's development strategy. The proposed system can be adapted to the changing requirements of the labor market and education legislation and motivate the teachers to self-development, to using innovative educational technologies and research activities, and at the same time can retain all state guarantees for remuneration.

EVALUATION OF HAPPINESS IN ALBANIAN EDUCATION, LEGISLATION AND POLICIES

Studies show that happiness positively affects the student's learning process. Happy students have higher academic achievements, better relationships with friends as well as more active participation in secondary activities in education. International education policies estimate that happiness is correlated with well-being and life quality. Yet, happiness is not considered as one of the mail goals in the Albanian education policy and legislation. The article will firstly shed light on the impact of happiness on better student performance. It will reflect the international legislation and policies which have valued happiness as a fundamental human goal, by extending the relevant analysis in the field of legislation and policies in Albania. The analyses will help to understand the place that happiness occupies in the goals of education and the need for evaluation of the level of student happiness as a tool towards student well-being and education quality. The article will focus on the need to include the concept of happiness in the whole educational process, in order to positively encourage students not only in terms of higher school performance but also in terms of their overall well-being. Key words: education, happiness, Albania, students, well-being

Zur Schriftlichkeit der unteren Bevölkerungsschichten um die Jahrhundertwende Briefe im Ersten Weltkrieg

The paper discusses the literacy of lower classes in the last decades of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and focuses on the correspondence of the First World War. Besides briefly reviewing the general contexts for the literacy of lower social classes (education, legislation), the paper discusses language/ethnicity issues as well. By summarizing linguistic remarks from selected research papers, the author underlines that the large number of letters was due to the increased need for communication and these pieces of writing reflect the literacy and the language of the masses; consequently, wartime correspondence is an accurate reflection of the communica­tion of lower social classes.