Family and Career Reconciliation: Family, Employer and Career Counsellor Perspectives

The discussions about work and family reconciliation have revealed the fact that it is essential to talk about division of roles and agreements in the family, the skills important for career management, “here and now” search for the solutions to various problematic situations, flexibility and ability to get involved in work activity at the same time respecting family needs. Seeking reconciliation of family and career, family needs have been linked to positive parenthood and at the same time work tendencies and career opportunities have been estimated. Here we face some obstacles which are common to the aspiration of harmony and satisfaction in family, work or while developing career opportunities. The goal of this empirical study – to discuss common grounds and distinguish needs and challenges of young families, employers and career counsellors for successful reconciliation of family and career. A qualitative research included narratives of young parents, interviews with employers and a focus group interview with career counsellors. The data received from the narrative has been interpreted according to thematic analysis method and the interview data of focus group has been presented by dividing the data into categories and subcategories. Results have demonstrated that young parents’ experiences intertwine with employers’ experiences in some cases while career counsellors are expected to provide guidance and support to facilitate the potential conflict although there are still gaps in this service provision.

Conceptualisation of Self-Education for Healthy Life Style: From Satisfaction of Psychological Needs to Implementation of Life Objectives

The descriptive conceptual analysis-based article aims to substantiate the construct of person’s self-education for healthy life. So why the research question in the following: How is conceptualised the person’s selfdevelopment for a healthy lifestyle in the Self-Determination Theory on the basis of the natural psychological needs of the person, motivated and pursued by the theory? Personal self-education in the education science is associated with a modern, dynamic and holistic educational concept, which implies a life-long process of human development and an individual path. By planning, organizing, managing and controlling the process of personal development, a person takes responsibility for the direction, goals, ways and final result of self-education. A healthy lifestyle as a kind of self-education fulfills the conditions of holistic development and contains physical, mental, social, spiritual self-education. In conceptualizing a person’s self-education for a healthy lifestyle, it is best to refer to the intrapersonal health education theories. These theories emphasize the influence of environmental and social factors on a person’s lifestyle, and the person’s knowledge, skills, motivation, attitudes and free determination to change oneself and his/her lifestyle. The Self-Determination Theory reveals the trends of personal development and calls it eudaimony or a path of life based on the satisfaction of general personal psychological needs - autonomy, competence and conenction, as well as the pursuit of inner goals and universally recognized values. Realized and satisfied natural psychological needs encourage person’s inner energy, internal motivation associated with person’s native inclination for development. In pursuit of personal development and health-oriented goals, a person finds a sense of meaning in his or her activity and experiences a state of well-being.

The Peculiarities of the Use of Information Communication Technologies in Foreign Language Teaching/Learning Process

In our contemporary society the use of Information and Communications Technologies is an inseperable part of everyday life. Information and Communications Technologies can be of great benefit in learning foreign languages for both the learner and the teacher alike. As in every change that tends to happen gradually yet unnoticeably, there are the advantages and the downsides that cannot be overlooked nor ignored. Information and Communications Technologies when incorporated in education also unavoidably has these dichotomous variables. What are these variables in the implementation of Information and Communications Technologies in education and do the positive factors outweigh the negative ones? The object of the research is the use of information communication technologies in foreign language lessons. The aim of the research is to reveal the peculiarities of using information communication technologies in the teaching of foreign languages. Research questions in this study are the following: What peculiarities of using information communication technologies arise in the process of teaching foreign languages in high school classes? How is the use of information communication technologies influenced by the age of the learners? What Information Communication Technologies are used in foreign language lessons? Findings showed that the self-perception, help to clients, professional ethics, trust are the components of professional responsibilities in the daily professional practices of social workers and social pedagogues. Realizing and accepting the fact that Information and Communications Technologies and Information Technology in general have become a part of our everyday life, one cannot ignore the importance of it in the field of education. Systematic evaluation of the implementation of Information and Communications Technologies in education in order to assure its effectiveness as a tool that acts as an aid for not only the pupils but also the teachers should become a normal part of the educational system. It should be viewed as a means of improving the lesson and as a means of support for those pupils who are in serious need of it.

Leadership Values and Values Based Leadership: What is the Main Focus?

The article is based on descriptive theoretical research and focused on two notions such as ‘leadership values’ and ‘values based leadership’. These two concepts are not compared, but every of them is described separately by highlighting general characteristics and showing their broad complexity. Both notions are not related to ethics and / or morality, as the aim the literature review was to provide insights on leadership values and values based leadership. The research question was the following: What aspects include two concepts such as ‘leadership values’ and ‘values based leadership’? Fourteen leadership values are provided and in the summary the three unifying aspects are presented and discussed – personality, interaction(s) and relationship(s), and action(s) / work. The common and flexible leadership values are presented. Values based leadership is discussed generally and four principles of this leadership are distinguished – self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility. Also positive and limiting values based leadership shortly is discussed. The conclusion is focused on the idea that the leader needs to regain and maintain trust. Positive values based leadership goes beyond leveraging strengths and making meaning. Values based leaders who engage their employees and help them flourish in life. And for their organisations they boost productivity, creativity and financial returns. Leading and evaluating success based on values is the best way to build a high-performance culture in organisation.

Relations Among Poor Sleep, Anxiety and Depression Among the Students of Health Sciences

The research in the area of health sciences students’ sleep quality and mood disorders is lacking in Lithuania, as well as other European countries. The aim of this study was to compare prevalence of poor sleep, anxiety and depression among the students according to the study programmes and to assess the relations among poor sleep, depression and anxiety. The study sample consisted of 672 Klaipeda State University of Applied Sciences students (95.5% were female), from 18 to 46 years of age. Sleep quality was evaluated by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, anxiety by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, sociodemographic questions were used. The chi-square test or Fisher exact test was used to estimate association between categorical variables. P-values less than 0.05 were interpreted as statistically significant. Poor sleep was more prevalent among Beauty Therapy (26.4%, 95% CI 22.2-30.56) and Nursing (21.3%, 95% CI 17.42 – 25.17) students, as compared with persons studying in Oral Health programmes (14.8%, 95% CI 11.46 – 18.17), p<0.05. Depression mean score was higher in Beauty Therapy students (4.76), as compared to Oral Health (3.69) students, p<0.05. Beauty Therapy (9.99) or Physiotherapy students (8.24) had higher anxiety mean score, as compared to Oral Health students (7.14), p<0.05. Anxiety mean score was significantly higher (8.45) among the ones with disturbed sleep, as compared to normally sleeping students (5.86), p<0.001. Depression mean score (4.77) was higher among the students having disturbed sleep, as compared to the students which sleep was not disturbed (2.87), p<0.001. Poor sleep and anxiety were more prevalent among the students aged 20 years and older as compared to the students, aged 18 and 19 years. Second and third year students more often had poor sleep or anxiety as compared to the first-year students. Poor sleep and anxiety were more common among Beauty Therapy and Physiotherapy students than among Oral Health Students. Among the students who slept poorly, symptoms of anxiety and depression were statistically significantly more frequent than those students whose sleep was not disturbed. Depression and anxiety mean scores were statistically significantly higher among the students who had poor sleep, as compared to the ones who had normal sleep, in all age and year of studying groups.

Self-Directed Later Life Learning: Individual and Social Contexts

The purpose of the study was to investigate how self-directed later life learning is utilized and interpreted by older adults in their particular environments. The following questions were raised: What are the opportunities for older adults’ engagement in self-directed learning in their environments? How older adults realize their self-directed learning in response to the opportunities provided by their environments? Thematic analysis was used as research method to analyse participants’ experiences and meanings they attribute to self-directed learning in their actual environments. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 older adults engaged in their self-directed learning pursuits. The findings from the study showed that older adults’ engagement in generativity-based activities, interest-based activities and social networks are contexts of self-directed learning in later life; these contexts support older adults’ self-directed learning by providing learning impetus, opportunities and resources; realization of self-directed learning is influenced by ageing-related changes and individual circumstances of older adults.

Socioeconomic Characteristics, Oral Care Habits and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among the Parents of Pre-School Children in Klaipėda

There is a lack of data about oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among the parents of pre-school children, especially in Lithuania and the relationships among socio-economic status, oral care habits and OHRQoL. Research questions: is OHRQoL influenced by socioeconomic status or oral care habits? Research focus – oral health-related quality of life among the parents of pre-school children. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships among socioeconomic status, oral care habits and oral helath-related quality of life among the parents of pre-school children in Klaipeda. The study sample consisted of 375 parents (mother or father) of pre-school children. The questionnaire survey was conducted at randomly selected 23 kindergartens in Klaipeda city. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic and oral care habits questions. All the participants were examined by self-administered OIDP questionnaire, which measured oral impacts on physical, psychological and social aspects of daily performances. The highest overall impact on OHRQoL among the parents of pre-school children was observed in the domain of Carrying out major work or role (73.0), the lowest one in the Eating and enjoying food (25.74) domain. Mean OIDP score was significantly higher among the parents whose socioeconomic status was low (35.44), reflecting poorer OHRQoL, as compared with high (8.07) socioeconomic status. Parents with poor oral care habits significantly more frequently were affected (79.2%) in Smiling, laughing domain, as compared to the parents whose oral care habits were good (20.8%). Lower socioeconomic status and poorer oral care habits were related with worsened oral health-related quality of life, especially in the area of psychological performances.

Paris Climate Summit and Turkey's Renewable Energy Policies

The increase in population and urbanization which emerged together with industrialization have brought the increase in energy demand with them. Carbon emissions rise as a result of the increase in energy demand and lead to climate change. Such changes in climate have negative effects on not only the environment but human life as well. Therefore, countries should implement energy policies with low carbon density in order to reduce greenhouse gas emission. In this context, preferring renewable energy sources can prevent temperature increase by reducing the effects of fossil fuels on the environment. Turkey should attach importance to renewable energy sources and invest in these sources in accordance with the commitments accepted at the Paris Climate Summit in order to reduce carbon emission.