Latvijas izglītības reformas vērtējums pedagogu vidē pamatskolas 1.–3. klasē: gadījuma analīzes piemērs

The 21st century is an essential time for changes in the society. Development of technologies, globalisation and the fading of national boundaries all contribute to a change of the educational paradigm. The changes also affect the Latvian education system as the implementation of the project “Competency approach in learning content” is in progress. The implementation of the new learning content has began on September 1 of the academic year 2020/2021. To determine the Primary school teachers’ (Grades 1-3) readiness for putting the changes into practice, a survey was conducted. The survey data analysis shows that the teachers admit that changes are necessary; meanwhile they believe that the implementation of changes is chaotic. Likewise, teachers are not insecure about the new learning content that is added to the curriculum. Teachers discuss problems such as information fragmentation, lack of technologies and learning materials, insufficient amount of lessons intended for a particular content as well as its influence on qualitative preparation of lessons.

Caurviju prasmju pilnveides aspekti augstskolu studiju procesā

In the recent years, the higher education has become widely available to society in many countries in the world, and the enrolment numbers in universities have increased also in Latvia, but the number of obtained qualifications or degrees differ significantly, as well as the percentage of involvement in the exact science study programmes remains low. The author draws attention to students' broad skills as one of the possible preconditions for sustainable studies and concludes that the transversal skills that have been acquired in the learning process and defined in the general education standards largely correspond to a broad skills needed by the students. The acquisition of transversal skills in the learning process, as it is set out in the general education standards of all grades, could be sufficient for starting studies and acquiring a qualification or a degree, however, the reasons for termination of studies are related to the level of acquisition of transversal skills. The results of several studies demonstrate the impact of art for creating an environment and conditions leading to improved academic, social and behavioural study outcomes. In turn, arts therapy, which has its origins in art, psychology and psychotherapy and is based on a holistic approach, focuses on the growth and development of the individual in all areas of human experience: intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual. The results obtained in the theoretical study highlight the need for further theoretical and empirical research on the improvement of transversal skills in the higher education process and on the use of the pedagogical aspect of arts and arts therapy in the improvement of transversal skills in the higher education study process.

Studentu veselīga dzīvesveida paradumi emocionālai labjūtei

In the academic years of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, a total of 122 full-time and part-time students were interviewed from study programmes ‘Teacher’ (LiepU) and ‘Sports Health’ (RSU Liepāja Branch). The research data shows that students should improve their healthy lifestyle habits in the following healthy lifestyle components: physical activity, eating habits and stress management, as 5.1 % of respondents have insufficient physical activity, which is a risk factor for chronic diseases, 37.7 % of students do not control the use of salt and sugar and 28.7 % of students are not using healthy methods to overcome stress. Evaluating students' emotional wellness it can be concluded that 40 % of students are able to maintain their emotional wellness at sufficiently good level, 51 % of students at satisfactory level, but 9 % at unsatisfactory level. Moderately close correlations are found between the following characteristic parameters of a healthy lifestyle component: physical activity, eating habits, stress management. There is a weak correlation between the indicators of emotional wellness and all healthy lifestyle components described in this study, except for the components that characterize the stress management.

Vajāšana skolās: potenciālās sekas hroniskiem konfliktiem vienaudžu vidū

One of the most serious and visible crimes done by children are mass murders in schools. They draw society’s attention in whole world. The interpretation of the causes differ but one cannot deny their link with peer bullying. It exemplifies the cycle of violence – a child who suffered or observed regular and open violence, suffers from severe and negative effects. He or she often becomes an aggressor, and victimizes other persons. Thus, the violence continues and spreads becoming a prolonged social problem. Often it is also a cause of serious violent crimes. Therefore, the risk of mass murders exists everywhere where adults are tolerating the peer bullying. The peer bullying in Latvia is a widespread phenomenon. If in Latvia the teachers and society will not address this issue more effectively, bullying will result in the new victims and perpetrators among children.

Pedagoģiskās mijiedarbības transformācija mācību procesā pandēmijas laikā

The authors of the article address a current and socially significant problem of teachers' work, raising the issue of pedagogical interaction transformations in the planning and implementation of the pupils' learning process during the Covid19 Pandemic. In the article, the factors influencing the quality of the distance education process in the digitalization of the learning process and pedagogical communication are identified, based on the analysis of theoretical understanding of educational challenges and analysis and characterization of the survey data implemented in practice. The article mentions identified contradictions that lead to the changes in teachers' pedagogical thinking and activities, in order to improve the quality of pedagogical interaction for implementation of a successful and resultative distance learning, focusing on pupils and teachers’ needs and defining a purposeful, timely inter-institutional cooperation and its practical implementation, developing resources and potential of the educational field in order to enhance every pupil’s individual growth. The empirical research data have been obtained, applying the EDURIO survey platform, which guarantees credibility of the results and provides a profound data analysis in the professionally involved research target audiences. The target audience of the survey is teachers, pupils and parents. The experience of the teaching practice during the distance learning confirms that a learning process in which pupils need parents’ support as little as possible has to be developed purposefully, or the school has to provide an extra help and support for the pupils whose parents’ support is restricted. Lots of activities performed by parents during the distance learning are also desirable at home as an addition to onsite learning – search for information resources or share one’s knowledge (performed by 63 % of parents), help children to plan their time (30 % of parents), encourage children (33 % of parents), talk over with the child the success at school (30 % of parents). The research data support the opinion that in the context of education, pedagogical cooperation needs to be strengthened and supervisions raised, involving all management forces and agents of change. Based on the research findings, the recommendations are offered to the specialists of Liepaja City Municipal Department of Education and City’s administration for high-quality development of school staff implementing the pedagogical processes of digital transformation on a daily basis.

Atgriezeniskās saites nozīme mācīšanas un mācīšanās procesā

Delivery of feedback is an integral part of the learning process, which ensures an effective teaching and learning process. Although the students are primarily orientated to get a mark, there are a number of strategies that can be used to maximize students' involvement in the learning process, including providing effective feedback. When providing feedback to students, their lack of skills is analysed with a view towards improving these skills, and a constructive approach to learning applied raising awareness among students. Summarizing the data of empirical research, it can be concluded that students receive feedback, but it does not provide a complete picture about students’ achievements. Among students, there is also a view that teachers do not provide the feedback that would motivate them, and some say that for them feedback is not necessary. This means that in the pedagogical process, during the implementation of the conceptual framework of the new basic education curriculum, it is necessary to promote the importance of feedback in order to help students to appreciate it and thus improve their performance, which would contribute to the growth of teaching and learning.

Mūsdienu komunikācijas paradumu maiņa starp skolēniem un skolotājiem dažādās paaudzēs

The research over the past decade demonstrates that modern technology have incredibly changed the communication habits – more than ever before, however they differ between generations. The research shows that the views on the role and importance of education also significantly differ between the generations, thus the change of communication habits can potentially lead to conflict situations between students and teachers. The aim of this study is to determine the differences between the desired communication methods based on the common generational distance in Latvian schools between students and teachers: Baby Boomer Generation (BP), born between 1946–1964, Generation X (XP), born between 1965–1980, and Generation Z (ZP) born between 1996-2010. For the research purposes, a semi-structured interview was developed and three research questions were analysed, and as a result it was concluded that there are statistically significant differences between generations in their preferred forms of communication – the younger the generation, the more technology-mediated communication is employed. It was found that the teachers prefer using technology-mediated communication more in business communication setting, but the younger generation often does it also in the context of personal communication. The study found that there are no statistically significant differences between generations in the perceived quality of communication. These results suggest that a potential split is possible between perception of communication between students and teachers. The additional research would be necessary on the perception of the distance-learning situation among all participants in the educational process.

Skolotāju metakognitīvo prasmju pašnovērtējuma korelācija ar pašnovērtējumu par savu profesionālo pilnveidi

In order to achieve higher learning goals for students, for teachers it is important to plan, monitor and reflect on their professional performance to make decisions about the improvements that need to be made. Metacognitive skills are essential for teachers to define their real professional development needs and organize their own professional development. This leads to a hypothesis that teachers who have developed metacognitive skills use them both in their classroom and professional development process. In a case study, teachers of a large high school of Riga were examined whether there is a correlation between teachers' assessment of their metacognitive skills in organizing learning process in classroom and their self-assessment about professional development. The findings of the study suggest that there is no clear correlation between teachers' assessment of their professional activities related to lesson planning, monitoring and evaluation and their attitudes towards their involvement in the design, implementation and reflection of their professional development. Although average rates of teachers' self-evaluation for lessons and their professional development are quite similar across all aspects of metacognitive skills, the correlation between these elements is weak (up to 0.3) or moderately close (0.5 to 0.7). Teachers who indicate in their self-assessment that they regularly plan, monitor and evaluate their performance in the classroom do not always follow similar steps in their professional development and vice versa.

Migrācijas krīzes izaicinājumi mūžizglītības kontekstā

The immigration crisis in Europe and its consequences are our collective responsibility as Europeans, and it is important to show solidarity by providing immigrants with much needed support, based on generally accepted human rights and moral responsibility issues. Along with the challenges posed by the migrant crisis the issue came up of better integration of immigrants into society, providing the necessary information regarding the assistance offered, social guarantees, protection, and knowledge of local culture, traditions, history and educational opportunities. Summarizing the empirical research data, it can be concluded that the portrait of a Latvian immigrant is as follows: average age - 29.9 y/o, coming to Latvia to look for a job 45% or 24% to study, 44% married or in non-registered relationship, 39% have little information about Latvia or in 13% of cases there has been no information, in 93% of cases immigrants want to get some information about Latvia – the Internet and friends (other immigrants or residents) are mentioned as the most popular sources of information. In turn, educators working with immigrants confirm that integration and educational issues are particularly important in the first year since arriving to Latvia, focusing on learning the national language, providing a place to live, and providing direct support in a specific life situation. At this stage, it is especially important to provide professionally oriented and accessible lifelong learning, which can contribute to the better integration of migrants into the local community and the labour market.