Becoming and being a teacher in higher education is a long process of individual transformation. The research aims at highlighting the meaning of time and relations in regard to teachers’ professional self-awareness through their interactions with students in higher education. The research design was qualitative in which the phenomenological methodology according to Max van Manen version was applied. Findings revealed that temporality and relationality are social constructs that shape the teacher-student interactions in higher education as they are loaded with worldviews that guide their educational actions and and their relationships. Thus their subjectivities and life-world educational experiences-based worlds are built on temporalities. A higher education teacher’s professional self-awareness is a developmental process which requires from the person reflection on his/her own experiences. Teachers through interactions with students balance between expectations and requirements which encourage both sides to find ways of integrating creative methods into the teaching and learning processes. Through working with students, teachers step into the “unknown” and learn within togetherness. Being in togetherness brings bilateral interchange between teachers and students, which motivates both sides to be self-aware. These reciprocal interactions invite participants to grow and seek mutual interchange through different experiences and contexts.
{"title":"Teacher’s Professional Self-Awareness Within The Interactions With Students In Higher Education: Temporality and Relationality","authors":"V. Žydžiūnaitė, M. Daugėla","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.10","url":null,"abstract":"Becoming and being a teacher in higher education is a long process of individual transformation. The research aims at highlighting the meaning of time and relations in regard to teachers’ professional self-awareness through their interactions with students in higher education. The research design was qualitative in which the phenomenological methodology according to Max van Manen version was applied. Findings revealed that temporality and relationality are social constructs that shape the teacher-student interactions in higher education as they are loaded with worldviews that guide their educational actions and and their relationships. Thus their subjectivities and life-world educational experiences-based worlds are built on temporalities. A higher education teacher’s professional self-awareness is a developmental process which requires from the person reflection on his/her own experiences. Teachers through interactions with students balance between expectations and requirements which encourage both sides to find ways of integrating creative methods into the teaching and learning processes. Through working with students, teachers step into the “unknown” and learn within togetherness. Being in togetherness brings bilateral interchange between teachers and students, which motivates both sides to be self-aware. These reciprocal interactions invite participants to grow and seek mutual interchange through different experiences and contexts.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45565973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meta-learning, a contemporary learning paradigm, will be analysed in this article. This study aims to analyse and conceptualize the definition of metalearning, to provide evidence for the application of metalearning to learning, and to single out and name the features that allow the development of metalearning in the context of self-directed learning. To reach this goal, the concept model of Walker and Avant, involving a theoretical analysis of the concept, was selected. To reveal the theoretical concept of metalearning, the analysis of scientific publications of Lithuanian and foreign authors in the field of education and training was performed, using data collection and data analysis methods. The analysis of the concept of metalearning allows us to state that metalearning is not possible without self-regulation (self-control, self-awareness, self-reflection), reflection, independence and responsibility. Metalearning competence includes the intrinsic motivation and conscious cognitive activities of the learner; it seeks to understand and manage their thinking processes, it understands memory processes, selects the best learning methods according to the existing conditions and circumstances, organizes an optimal learning environment in the learner community, and, finally, directs the learner toward a positive experience in the process. Metalearning is complex learning that includes the integration, selection, and application of individual needs, opportunities, and teaching strategies. It emphasizes successful, perceptual learning, the application and continuous pursuit of existing knowledge, personal qualities, self-motivation, and reflection.According to Mylona (2012), the weakness and lack of empirical research on meta-learning is a consequence of the lack of focus on existing systems to clearly define all constructs that would be more actively involved in meta-learning and help overcome emerging learning challenges.
{"title":"Meta-Learning: Concept Analysis","authors":"Jovita Matulaitienė, Lina Kaminskienė","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.12","url":null,"abstract":"Meta-learning, a contemporary learning paradigm, will be analysed in this article. This study aims to analyse and conceptualize the definition of metalearning, to provide evidence for the application of metalearning to learning, and to single out and name the features that allow the development of metalearning in the context of self-directed learning. To reach this goal, the concept model of Walker and Avant, involving a theoretical analysis of the concept, was selected. To reveal the theoretical concept of metalearning, the analysis of scientific publications of Lithuanian and foreign authors in the field of education and training was performed, using data collection and data analysis methods. The analysis of the concept of metalearning allows us to state that metalearning is not possible without self-regulation (self-control, self-awareness, self-reflection), reflection, independence and responsibility. Metalearning competence includes the intrinsic motivation and conscious cognitive activities of the learner; it seeks to understand and manage their thinking processes, it understands memory processes, selects the best learning methods according to the existing conditions and circumstances, organizes an optimal learning environment in the learner community, and, finally, directs the learner toward a positive experience in the process. Metalearning is complex learning that includes the integration, selection, and application of individual needs, opportunities, and teaching strategies. It emphasizes successful, perceptual learning, the application and continuous pursuit of existing knowledge, personal qualities, self-motivation, and reflection.According to Mylona (2012), the weakness and lack of empirical research on meta-learning is a consequence of the lack of focus on existing systems to clearly define all constructs that would be more actively involved in meta-learning and help overcome emerging learning challenges.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42088365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Learning about sexuality relates to each individual learner’s identity, as everyone’s experience of sex is authentic. It is naive to attempt to force sex education on pupils and see them as tabulae rasae. Unsatisfied sexual (informational) curiosity creates circumstances wherein it is easy to fall into traditional gender roles with no ability to assess them critically, furthermore not having a set of skills to see oneself and others in a non-stereotyped manner. Young people who do not have strong, positive relationships either at home or at school face the highest possibility of participating in sexually risky behavior. Improving sexual literacy through sex education has an element of interdisciplinarity, as it includes media literacy, critical thinking, ethics, human rights, culture studies, history etc. Educational sciences become a hub that connects these different disciplines so as to ensure that the process of sex education is present and it is able to develop sexual literacy.
{"title":"Sex Ed Experiences of Pupils. Toward Literacy in Sex Education","authors":"Akvilė Giniotaitė","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.5","url":null,"abstract":"Learning about sexuality relates to each individual learner’s identity, as everyone’s experience of sex is authentic. It is naive to attempt to force sex education on pupils and see them as tabulae rasae. Unsatisfied sexual (informational) curiosity creates circumstances wherein it is easy to fall into traditional gender roles with no ability to assess them critically, furthermore not having a set of skills to see oneself and others in a non-stereotyped manner. Young people who do not have strong, positive relationships either at home or at school face the highest possibility of participating in sexually risky behavior. Improving sexual literacy through sex education has an element of interdisciplinarity, as it includes media literacy, critical thinking, ethics, human rights, culture studies, history etc. Educational sciences become a hub that connects these different disciplines so as to ensure that the process of sex education is present and it is able to develop sexual literacy.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46571819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The proposed research is directed at studying the impact of the intercultural educational space on the formation of intercultural competence of future teachers at a pedagogical higher education institution. To determine the levels of intercultural development, the authors adopted the Intercultural Maturity Model by P. King and M. Baxter Magolda. Having identified the initial, intermediate, and mature levels of intercultural development, the authors analyze the process of completion to the full development of intercultural competence. Experimental research was conducted in 2019 at the Institute of Pedagogics and Psychology at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. To conduct the study the authors opened the Intercultural Communication Center, whose activity was aimed at modeling and implementation of intercultural educational space at this university. The participants in this study were 63 future teachers (third-year students of the University). The pedagogical experiment included the following stages: preparation, diagnostics, formation, and control. The authors identified the intercultural orientation of the goals of the educational process and tasks at each stage. The following methods were used: analysis, survey, interview, conversation, methods of observation. During the pedagogical experiment, attention was focused on the formation of students’ intercultural abilities according to the content and structure of intercultural competence. The study showed a redistribution of respondents in groups – a significant decrease in the percentage of students on the Initial Development Level (the difference is 55.6%) and an increase on the Intermediate Development Level (the difference is 20.6%) and Mature Development Level (the difference is 34.9%). Statistics allow us to assert the significant dynamics of changes in group indicators by levels of intercultural competence at the beginning and end of the study. The study confirmed the hypothesis that the creation of the intercultural educational space at the higher education institution has a positive effect on the process of intercultural competence formation.
{"title":"Impact of Intercultural Educational Space on the Formation of Intercultural Competence of Future Teachers at a Pedagogical Higher Education Institution","authors":"Oksana Pryshlіak, V. Polishchuk, N. Lupak","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.3","url":null,"abstract":"The proposed research is directed at studying the impact of the intercultural educational space on the formation of intercultural competence of future teachers at a pedagogical higher education institution. To determine the levels of intercultural development, the authors adopted the Intercultural Maturity Model by P. King and M. Baxter Magolda. Having identified the initial, intermediate, and mature levels of intercultural development, the authors analyze the process of completion to the full development of intercultural competence. Experimental research was conducted in 2019 at the Institute of Pedagogics and Psychology at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University, Ukraine. To conduct the study the authors opened the Intercultural Communication Center, whose activity was aimed at modeling and implementation of intercultural educational space at this university. The participants in this study were 63 future teachers (third-year students of the University). The pedagogical experiment included the following stages: preparation, diagnostics, formation, and control. The authors identified the intercultural orientation of the goals of the educational process and tasks at each stage. The following methods were used: analysis, survey, interview, conversation, methods of observation. During the pedagogical experiment, attention was focused on the formation of students’ intercultural abilities according to the content and structure of intercultural competence. The study showed a redistribution of respondents in groups – a significant decrease in the percentage of students on the Initial Development Level (the difference is 55.6%) and an increase on the Intermediate Development Level (the difference is 20.6%) and Mature Development Level (the difference is 34.9%). Statistics allow us to assert the significant dynamics of changes in group indicators by levels of intercultural competence at the beginning and end of the study. The study confirmed the hypothesis that the creation of the intercultural educational space at the higher education institution has a positive effect on the process of intercultural competence formation.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49609704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this article it is argued that the optical metaphor and critical practice of diffraction further developed by Donna Haraway and Karen Barad might be no less significant than the widely spread notion of reflection, when the questions of various practices of knowledge are addressed. By considering Paul Ramsden’s approach to learning/teaching and its underlying theory in higher education alongside Karen Barad’s methodology of diffraction, it is shown that Ramsden’s understanding of learning/teaching is rather based on the theoretical assumptions of diffractive practice. His notion that teaching/learning are closely related and actively shaping each other, and that learners are not disconnected from the environment and their previous experiences with the subject matter and learning process itself, adds to Barad’s onto-epistemological position that knowers know the world at the same time as being the part of the world in its ongoing intra-activity. Ramsden’s understanding of relation is diffractive, because it is not about predefined binary entities and their fixed identities, but about layers and entanglements of various previous experiences and reactions to the learning environment. In addition, looking at learning/teaching processes through a different perspective also leads to a different approach to teaching and other ways of problem-solving. Both Ramsden and Barad distrust homologies, analogies, and causality-based conceptions of knowledge sharing. Instead, the ability to respond to an always new learning/teaching environment is assessed, which implies a diffractive type of sensitivity to the context, iterative process of re-turning, and the creation of dangerously indeterminate relationships and commitments. In this way, some of Barad’s philosophical notions, i.e., the diffraction pattern, intra-activity, re-turning, and others, also may acquire new practical content.
{"title":"Reflective or Diffractive Learning/Teaching? Concurrences of Paul Ramsden And Karen Barad’s Approaches","authors":"Karolina Rybačiauskaitė","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.11","url":null,"abstract":"In this article it is argued that the optical metaphor and critical practice of diffraction further developed by Donna Haraway and Karen Barad might be no less significant than the widely spread notion of reflection, when the questions of various practices of knowledge are addressed. By considering Paul Ramsden’s approach to learning/teaching and its underlying theory in higher education alongside Karen Barad’s methodology of diffraction, it is shown that Ramsden’s understanding of learning/teaching is rather based on the theoretical assumptions of diffractive practice. His notion that teaching/learning are closely related and actively shaping each other, and that learners are not disconnected from the environment and their previous experiences with the subject matter and learning process itself, adds to Barad’s onto-epistemological position that knowers know the world at the same time as being the part of the world in its ongoing intra-activity. Ramsden’s understanding of relation is diffractive, because it is not about predefined binary entities and their fixed identities, but about layers and entanglements of various previous experiences and reactions to the learning environment. In addition, looking at learning/teaching processes through a different perspective also leads to a different approach to teaching and other ways of problem-solving. Both Ramsden and Barad distrust homologies, analogies, and causality-based conceptions of knowledge sharing. Instead, the ability to respond to an always new learning/teaching environment is assessed, which implies a diffractive type of sensitivity to the context, iterative process of re-turning, and the creation of dangerously indeterminate relationships and commitments. In this way, some of Barad’s philosophical notions, i.e., the diffraction pattern, intra-activity, re-turning, and others, also may acquire new practical content.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44781012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The 2019 guidelines for the renewal of general education programs in Lithuania state that there is a lack of coherence between the goals of education, the implementation of the curriculum, and the assessment of students’ achievements. The description of Lithuanian primary, basic and secondary education (2015) states that the main result of education is the gradually acquired competencies indicating the spiritual, intellectual and physical maturity of a person, which include knowledge, understanding, abilities and attitudes. This presupposes that state maturity exams should be designed to reflect the competencies, knowledge, understanding, abilities and attitudes that indicate a person’s maturity. Based on this idea, a qualitative study was conducted in 2020. Its aim was to determine the indicators of personal maturity in Lithuanian conceptual educational documents. To achieve the research goal, we applied the data collection method (document analysis) and the data processing method (content analysis). Qualitative research has shown that a person’s maturity in Lithuania is identified based on a set of competencies. To complete their general education, students should have the following competencies: social, emotional and healthy lifestyles; cognition; creativity; civil, cultural communication. A review of the scientific literature presupposes that at the stage of late adolescent personality development, a person is yet to be in search of their identity. The documents emphasize that competencies are assessed in teacher-student interactions by accumulating qualitative evidence of competencies. Meanwhile state maturity exams measure three groups of cognitive abilities: knowledge and understanding, application of knowledge, and advanced thinking abilities. Personal values and beliefs are not reflected in state maturity exams. The conclusion of the research is that maturity exams do not reflect the maturity of a person described in the conceptual documents of Lithuanian education.
{"title":"Personal Maturity and Its Reflections in Conceptual Lithuanian Education Documents","authors":"Brigita Miseliūnaitė, Gintautas Cibulskas","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.14","url":null,"abstract":"The 2019 guidelines for the renewal of general education programs in Lithuania state that there is a lack of coherence between the goals of education, the implementation of the curriculum, and the assessment of students’ achievements. The description of Lithuanian primary, basic and secondary education (2015) states that the main result of education is the gradually acquired competencies indicating the spiritual, intellectual and physical maturity of a person, which include knowledge, understanding, abilities and attitudes. This presupposes that state maturity exams should be designed to reflect the competencies, knowledge, understanding, abilities and attitudes that indicate a person’s maturity. Based on this idea, a qualitative study was conducted in 2020. Its aim was to determine the indicators of personal maturity in Lithuanian conceptual educational documents. To achieve the research goal, we applied the data collection method (document analysis) and the data processing method (content analysis). Qualitative research has shown that a person’s maturity in Lithuania is identified based on a set of competencies. To complete their general education, students should have the following competencies: social, emotional and healthy lifestyles; cognition; creativity; civil, cultural communication. A review of the scientific literature presupposes that at the stage of late adolescent personality development, a person is yet to be in search of their identity. The documents emphasize that competencies are assessed in teacher-student interactions by accumulating qualitative evidence of competencies. Meanwhile state maturity exams measure three groups of cognitive abilities: knowledge and understanding, application of knowledge, and advanced thinking abilities. Personal values and beliefs are not reflected in state maturity exams. The conclusion of the research is that maturity exams do not reflect the maturity of a person described in the conceptual documents of Lithuanian education.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49486506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cultural understanding is a basis for competence-oriented general education. Teachers are responsible for applied content and methods that are used to purposefully lead school students to that result.The aim of this study is to identify actual goals for the development of teacher education curriculum, professional development, and teaching aids by investigating in-service teachers’ challenges in the successful promotion of students’ cultural understanding in general schools.The readiness of teachers to promote the cultural understanding of primary school students was explored in a mixed-methods study. The findings indicated aspects that teachers consider relevant as well as the main problems and gaps between theoretical principles recognised as essential by educational policy, and teachers’ beliefs and practices.
{"title":"Promoting the Cultural Understanding of a Student in a General Education School: Teachers’ Experiences and Challenges","authors":"Ilze Briška, Gunta Siliņa-Jasjukeviča","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.2","url":null,"abstract":"Cultural understanding is a basis for competence-oriented general education. Teachers are responsible for applied content and methods that are used to purposefully lead school students to that result.The aim of this study is to identify actual goals for the development of teacher education curriculum, professional development, and teaching aids by investigating in-service teachers’ challenges in the successful promotion of students’ cultural understanding in general schools.The readiness of teachers to promote the cultural understanding of primary school students was explored in a mixed-methods study. The findings indicated aspects that teachers consider relevant as well as the main problems and gaps between theoretical principles recognised as essential by educational policy, and teachers’ beliefs and practices.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43607354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article analyzes the experiences determined by biographical circumstances that encourage individuals to choose the profession of a teacher in the pursuit of their vocation. Based on people’s biographies, it can be argued that many separate stages of human life, viewed as a whole, provide a meaningful context that can help understand the phenomenon of vocation and reveal its links to the development of professional competencies and to the efficiency of the educational system. The research usually explains the efficiency of an educational organization through pedagogical, managerial, economic and institutional aspects and defines it by qualitative characteristics that are related to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, results achieved by children, efficient use of resources, and the improvement of the teaching process. The aim of the article is to reveal a person’s vocation to become a teacher as a condition, on the one hand, leading to the pedagogical educational process through informal learning, and, on the other hand, making the educational system more efficient. The analysis and results of the qualitative research data are based on the abductive theory construction according to Peirce and the methodology of the Grounding Theory according to Strauss / Corbin. The research revealed that the choice of pedagogical profession and the perception of vocation are evoked by biographical circumstances. The pedagogical potential noticed and mentioned by the close people as well as the preferences for certain activities from childhood and the perception of one’s needs become a basis for the further development of existing competences. Thus, when a competent educator who experiences strong dedication to an educator’s profession gives lessons in an educational institution, the effective and purposeful activity of the educator interacts with the efficiency building of the education system.
{"title":"The Role of the Teacher's Vocation in the Efficiency Building of an Education System","authors":"Giedrė Paurienė, I. Žemaitaitytė","doi":"10.15388/ACTPAED.45.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/ACTPAED.45.9","url":null,"abstract":"The article analyzes the experiences determined by biographical circumstances that encourage individuals to choose the profession of a teacher in the pursuit of their vocation. Based on people’s biographies, it can be argued that many separate stages of human life, viewed as a whole, provide a meaningful context that can help understand the phenomenon of vocation and reveal its links to the development of professional competencies and to the efficiency of the educational system. The research usually explains the efficiency of an educational organization through pedagogical, managerial, economic and institutional aspects and defines it by qualitative characteristics that are related to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, results achieved by children, efficient use of resources, and the improvement of the teaching process. The aim of the article is to reveal a person’s vocation to become a teacher as a condition, on the one hand, leading to the pedagogical educational process through informal learning, and, on the other hand, making the educational system more efficient. The analysis and results of the qualitative research data are based on the abductive theory construction according to Peirce and the methodology of the Grounding Theory according to Strauss / Corbin. The research revealed that the choice of pedagogical profession and the perception of vocation are evoked by biographical circumstances. The pedagogical potential noticed and mentioned by the close people as well as the preferences for certain activities from childhood and the perception of one’s needs become a basis for the further development of existing competences. Thus, when a competent educator who experiences strong dedication to an educator’s profession gives lessons in an educational institution, the effective and purposeful activity of the educator interacts with the efficiency building of the education system.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41957687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The inconsistency of defining STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education is being addressed in this article. Seeing STEM education as having implications ranging from migration to workforce policies, it is vital to clarify its (inter)disciplinary structure and curriculum orientation. Using a literature review and analysis of documents, STEM education is being tracked from a post-sputnik era to more recent informal and private endeavors, revealing a multiplication of the STEM acronym and the diversification of its curriculum orientation. The findings confirm that there is no consensus on the exact scientific fields assigned to STEM, and the list of disciplines involved ranges from broad (including Social sciences, Humanities or Arts) to narrow (dominated by Natural and Formal sciences). The article implies that historical context and reforms in natural science education partly explain this inconsistency, as the subjects and their interdisciplinary relations are closely linked to overall curriculum orientation, which could be seen as cyclical in nature, swinging from child centered to labor market or subject centered curriculum, inviting to discuss modern science education not as singular STEM, but as plural STEMs viable to multiple pedagogical approaches, integration patterns and aims.
{"title":"STEM Education: From Sputnik to Girl Scouts","authors":"Jogaila Vaitekaitis","doi":"10.15388/actpaed.43.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/actpaed.43.7","url":null,"abstract":"The inconsistency of defining STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education is being addressed in this article. Seeing STEM education as having implications ranging from migration to workforce policies, it is vital to clarify its (inter)disciplinary structure and curriculum orientation. Using a literature review and analysis of documents, STEM education is being tracked from a post-sputnik era to more recent informal and private endeavors, revealing a multiplication of the STEM acronym and the diversification of its curriculum orientation. The findings confirm that there is no consensus on the exact scientific fields assigned to STEM, and the list of disciplines involved ranges from broad (including Social sciences, Humanities or Arts) to narrow (dominated by Natural and Formal sciences). The article implies that historical context and reforms in natural science education partly explain this inconsistency, as the subjects and their interdisciplinary relations are closely linked to overall curriculum orientation, which could be seen as cyclical in nature, swinging from child centered to labor market or subject centered curriculum, inviting to discuss modern science education not as singular STEM, but as plural STEMs viable to multiple pedagogical approaches, integration patterns and aims.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44614483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Suvi Lakkala, Agnė Juškevičienė, J. Česnavičienė, Sniegina Poteliūnienė, Stasė Ustilaitė, Satu Uusiautti
The purpose of this article was to analyse the challenges primary and subject teachers had experienced concerning the implementation of inclusive education in Lithuanian primary schools, progymnasiums and gymnasiums. In this study, 86 Lithuanian teachers reflected on their experiences of teaching in heterogeneous classes. The data were collected from 13 group interviews. The article highlights the challenges encountered by the primary and subject teachers in implementing inclusive teaching. The findings were arranged under four themes. Concerning teachers’ pedagogical competence, the teachers highlighted difficulties in differentiating their teaching and including the students with special educational needs in the classes’ social peer networks. Teachers also pointed out the need for multiprofessional collaboration and dialogue with parents. The themes were then interpreted in the theoretical frames of teachers’ professional competences. At a practical level, the study’s findings may help teacher educators understand the teacher competences needed to implement inclusive education and support them to develop existing teaching programs to target the successful implementation of inclusive education. At a conceptual level, this study presents evidence for preparing teachers to work in the conditions of striving towards inclusive education.
{"title":"Implementing Inclusive Education in Lithuania: What are the main Challenges according to Teachers’ Experiences?","authors":"Suvi Lakkala, Agnė Juškevičienė, J. Česnavičienė, Sniegina Poteliūnienė, Stasė Ustilaitė, Satu Uusiautti","doi":"10.15388/actpaed.43.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15388/actpaed.43.3","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this article was to analyse the challenges primary and subject teachers had experienced concerning the implementation of inclusive education in Lithuanian primary schools, progymnasiums and gymnasiums. In this study, 86 Lithuanian teachers reflected on their experiences of teaching in heterogeneous classes. The data were collected from 13 group interviews. The article highlights the challenges encountered by the primary and subject teachers in implementing inclusive teaching. The findings were arranged under four themes. Concerning teachers’ pedagogical competence, the teachers highlighted difficulties in differentiating their teaching and including the students with special educational needs in the classes’ social peer networks. Teachers also pointed out the need for multiprofessional collaboration and dialogue with parents. The themes were then interpreted in the theoretical frames of teachers’ professional competences. At a practical level, the study’s findings may help teacher educators understand the teacher competences needed to implement inclusive education and support them to develop existing teaching programs to target the successful implementation of inclusive education. At a conceptual level, this study presents evidence for preparing teachers to work in the conditions of striving towards inclusive education.","PeriodicalId":36797,"journal":{"name":"Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43445793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}