Challenges and Achievements of European Education Ministers on Information Exchange and Collaboration within the European Economic Community between 60s and 80s

This article examines the concerns of all national education systems in Europe regarding exchanges of information, ideas and collaborations since the beginning of the configuration of the European Community in the 1960s. The idea of working together member states for a better future for the younger generation was found both in the documents of the Conferences of Heads of State on Education and in the consultations of education experts. This was pointed out by education ministers, such as Edgar Faure or Olivier Guichard, in France, who made strong arguments, demonstrating responsibility for action for future generations. Although the beginning was difficult, in the 1960s the documents referred to the education of the children of migrant workers, the importance of learning modern languages, the recognition of diplomas. In the 1980s, meetings at the level of education ministers highlighted a deepening and strengthening of cooperation to adapt language teaching models, expand the study of European history and European institutions in secondary education increasing access to education for children with special needs, setting up school spaces for language learning, but especially the creation of a European Centre for Education.

Russian students about learning under the covid-19 pandemic: Resources, opportunities and assessment of the distance learning

The covid-19 pandemic has made the whole world face specific challenges that required urgent decisions on how to organize the work of social institutions, including education, in this new reality. Since March 2020, national education systems all over the world have been adapting their activities to the quarantine measures and have been switching to distance learning. In varying degrees, these changes affected all levels of education - from preschool to higher and postgraduate education. However, the tasks to be solved differed by the level of education. The article presents the results of the comparative analysis of the activities of the Russian higher-educational institutions based on their students estimates - during the forced distance learning in the spring of 2020 and during the planned switch to such a format in the fall of 2020. The article is based on the surveys of the Russian students conducted in June 2020 (N=31423) and February 2021 (N=32358). The study was conducted to test the hypotheses that negative estimates of distance learning and rejection of such a format by many students in the spring of 2020 changed in the fall of 2020. The results of two surveys show that Russian universities have passed through the stage of digital transformation which affected both the resources for organizing the educational process and the competences of the teaching staff. The experience of work in the difficult and unpredictable conditions of the pandemic changed the public opinion from the negative perception of distance learning to understanding and accepting its positive features for the education system and its actors. The introduction of digital technologies is an objective and inevitable process in the development of the educational sphere and the country.

The Inclusion of Resilience as an Element of the Sustainable Dimension in the LOMLOE Curriculum in a European Framework

This article provides the research community with a conceptual framework from a historical perspective of the impulse of education sustainability in the official international literature. In addition, the United Nations International Conferences held on Japanese territory in order to foster education for risk reduction and for training resilient individuals and communities are analyzed. The study of the content of both approaches, education for sustainability and education for risk reduction, constitute an innovative approach especially relevant after the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The article advances with a historical analysis of the use of the concept of resilience in the European Institutions’ official documents. Our findings show that it is particular after 2015 when resilience is linked to sustainability. Before this, the European approach was mostly linked to food crises and emergencies. The article offers a synthesis of the global and European approaches in tables so that we can compare the progress in the United Nations discourse and the European Union one. In this conceptual framework, we offer a contribution to the debate for European national education systems. In particular, we offer contribute to the debate of the Organic Law LOMLOE approved in Spain in 2020, in which education for sustainability is strongly considered but not so much resilience education. The article intends to contribute to the inclusion of resilience as an element of the curriculum linked to the education for sustainability.

Problems of Early Learning to Program. How to Bridge the Gap Between Pictographic and Textual Programming Styles

Around the world, the “coding is the new literacy” thesis is beginning to be shared by an increasing number of decision-makers inside and outside national education systems. This leads to the inclusion of courses on information technology, including programming, in the curricula of school and early childhood education in various countries. In Russia, with its centralized education system, the amount of programming skills that a 9th grade graduate must master was established by the federal standard in mid-2021 and includes a certain set of initial programming skills that a student must be able to demonstrate by choosing one of the 6 full-text programming languages prescribed by the standard. Our experience shows that today the programming skills provided for by the specified standard can be successfully mastered by all primary school graduates (age 11-12), and we predict that the problem of early compulsory teaching in programming will be posed by Russian legislators and solved by the Russian education system in the near future. The main thesis of this article is that the best way to systematically teach the basics of programming to beginners of all ages, including elementary school students, is to consistently use the three approaches - icon-based, block-based, and text-based - provided that there is a methodological and technological continuity of software environments that support these three approaches. This continuity can be achieved by creating a consistent family of multiple learning environments. The article describes the experience of developing and using such a family of three software environments for the system of preschool and primary education in Russia, as well as for the system of teacher training in universities.

From Challenges to Opportunities: Reorganization of Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Post-Socialist Countries

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, there is no doubt that education researchers will analyze the changes in teaching and learning over the years to come. There is no certainty that new waves and variants of COVID-19 will not force humanity to radically change educational technologies in the future. This will bring mankind closer to the predictions of science-fiction authors and futurists, not taken seriously before. In this regard, it is important to scientifically document and analyze various measures for transforming education in the current situation, thus, creating the database for future generations. Analysis reveals that geographically adjacent countries with numerous current or historical interrelations, show the uniqueness of their response to the pandemic because of a number of current economic, social, cultural and geographical factors. Quite promising in this regard are the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which in the second half of the 20th century had almost identical principles for developing national education systems, but changed significantly under the influence of the reforms of the last thirty years. Comparing the cases of five universities from Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic enable us, not only to identify common problems, but also to describe the most effective measures for the reorganization of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, dictated by the need to sustain the quality of teacher training.

Building resilient education systems: A rapid review of the education in emergencies literature

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities and inequalities of national education systems and hindered the education of millions of children globally. In response, the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre, which is a long-term, strategic partnership between the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), undertook a rapid review of literature to support policymakers. The research has six evidence-based outcomes that can help policymakers to build resilient education systems and thereby enhance education quality and equity during emergencies. The COVID-19 emergency provided the impetus for this research, with much of the reported data associated with this pandemic. Learnings from past education in emergencies situations have informed the understandings of the impacts and implications of the COVID-19 emergency, and have been synthesised with the COVID-19 literature to inform policymakers about how to build resilient education systems. This report presents evidence relating to two main types of emergencies affecting education: natural disasters and communicable disease, and political conflicts. Both types of emergencies can also coalesce within the same education system, resulting in complex and often protracted emergencies. This review found that emergencies impact education in two main ways: endangering children’s wellbeing, and exacerbating unequal learning outcomes.

On the constitutional legal consolidation of the principles of egalitarian education in Russia and Finland

This article carries out a comparative legal analysis of the constitutional legal consolidation of the principles of egalitarian education in Russia and Finland. The majority of national education systems represent the so-called hybrid systems, in which egalitarian foundations coexist with certainty elitist elements. First and foremost, it is associated with the need to ensure practical orientation of education for maintaining competitiveness of the countries that are capable of inventing innovative technologies. The achievement of humanistic goals of education remains important. Articulating the problem of whether to allocate budgetary funds to support students with outstanding talent, or rather support those experiencing difficulties with access to education. The object of this research is the legal relations in the area of exercising the right to basic public education. The author’s special contribution consists in articulation of the problem of clarifying the social effectiveness of egalitarian and elitist models of education on the example of legislation of Russia and Finland. Leaning on the conceptual and international legal principles of equality in education, a comparative legal analysis is conducted on the constitutional legal consolidation of equal opportunities in receiving basic public education in Russia and Finland. It is noted that the differences in the structure of education system, mostly egalitarian in Finland and rather elitist in Russia, depend not only on the availability of resources, but also on the political choice of the past, present and oriented towards the future.

The Use of Digital Educational Resources in Times of COVID-19

COVID-19 has profoundly disrupted national education systems, affecting the future well-being of school-age children. Bacher-Hicks and colleagues showed that the intensity of the search for online learning resources in the United States doubled with respect to pre-COVID-19 levels. However, areas of the country with higher incomes, better internet access, and fewer rural schools experienced significantly greater increases in search intensity. Using a similar method to study the case of Spain, we analyze the evolution of search intensity for a selection of digital educational resources over the period 2015 to 2021. Special attention is paid to the period of COVID-19 pandemic, namely, March 2020 to June 2021. The findings include a widespread rise in the use of digital resources with respect to the use in the last 5 years, which varies by digital educational resource and region. However, the use of digital resources in Spain does not seem to vary according to family income, at least in relation to open access digital educational resources. In addition, there appears to be a steady decline in search intensity for digital educational resources and a certain degree of substitutability following the surge due to the pandemic and the school closures.

EL EFECTO DEL LIBRO DE TEXTO ESCOLAR EN EL MERCADO EDITORIAL ECUATORIANO

El libro de texto escolar es una herramienta de control curricular, su relación con el aprendizaje y enseñanza que la determina el Estado ecuatoriano. El objetivo de los textos escolares es mostrar el universo científico y cultural que se quiere enseñar a los estudiantes y refleja los: valores, estereotipos e ideologías del Ecuador. A partir de 2011 se normalizó y lo controla y distribuye el Ministerio de Educación de forma gratuita en los establecimientos educativos fiscales, fiscomisionales y municipales del Ecuador. Son elaborados y producidos por las más importantes casas editoriales, además revisados y avalados por las universidades del país. Este sistema aparece con la creación de la Ley Orgánica de Educación Intercultural que ha logrado establecer políticas editoriales en el sector educativo, así como dinamizar la economía del sector editorial en toda su cadena productiva tanto intelectual como de fabricación. Es relevante el análisis de la producción editorial por la expansión de los sistemas nacionales de educación y la implementación de los modelos de enseñanza, se presenta varios puntos de vista sobre la representación del saber oficial y el acceso igualitario a la información y conocimiento. Se identifica cómo están distribuidas las casas editoras y la contribución de las universidades del país para la evaluación de contenidos, según su área de experiencia y la asignatura que abarca el texto escolar. El artículo muestra también diferentes cifras sobre la asignación y fondos destinados al proyecto que aporta a la economía de Ecuador. Palabras clave: Textos escolares, políticas editoriales, mercado editorial, impresión, diseño editorial. AbstractThe school textbook is a curricular control tool, its relationship with learning and teaching is determined by the Ecuadorian State. The objective of the textbooks is to show the scientific and cultural universe intended to be taught to students and reflects the values, stereotypes, and ideologies of Ecuador. As of 2011, it was standardized, controlled, and distributed by the Ministry of Education free of charge in public, fiscal, “fiscomisional”, and municipal educational establishments in Ecuador. They are elaborated and produced by the most important publishing houses, also reviewed, and endorsed by the country's universities. This system appears with the creation of the Organic Law of Intercultural Education, which has managed to establish editorial policies in the educational sector, as well as boost the economy of the publishing sector throughout its productive chain, both intellectual and manufacturing. The analysis of editorial production is relevant due to the expansion of national education systems and the implementation of teaching models, various points of view are presented on the representation of official knowledge and equal access to information and knowledge. It is identified how the publishing houses are distributed and the contribution of the country's universities for the evaluation of content, according to their area of experience and the subject covered by the textbook. The article also shows different figures on the allocation and funds destined for the project that contributes to the economy of Ecuador. Keywords: School texts, editorial policies, publishing market, printing, editorial design.

Comparative Analysis of Educational Programs for Training Social Pedagogues on the Example of Universities in Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Germany

In the context of integration of national education systems into a single global educational space, the competency-based paradigm of education serves as the main for training competitive strategy specialists. The transition to competency-based educational standards of higher education involves the formation of students' professional competences for successful professional activity. The aim of the research is to study and analyse the experience of development of professional competences in the training of social pedagogues in Kazakhstan, Lithuania, and Germany. In this paper, the study and comparative analysis of the experience of forming professional competences in the training of social pedagogues in Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Germany are carried out. The research showed that during the period of study at the University in the specialty "Social pedagogy and self-cognition", it is necessary to introduce a competency-based approach aimed at the formation of professional competences for working in an inclusive education. As a result of the research, the nature and trends of training social pedagogues in three countries are identified, then general and special competences of social pedagogues are analysed; finally, the professional competences adopted by the world community are highlighted.