The paper analyzes the sociological theory. Western type public modernity theories are assumed as a process, for which a developing society is approaching the developed societies reaching a certain level of economic growth, a certain level of public participation and the democratic stage of development, giving the individual more physical, social and economic mobility. Structural functionalism (Parson, 1997; Merton, 1997 et al.). With the approach to this theory, it can be said that inequality in education stems from the ascription to social class, strata, ethnic groups, etc., also due to individual's achievements, which are usually associated with the innate talents and efforts. The analysis of an individual's social functioning and social stratification is based on the approach to Capital theory (Bourdieu, 1986). Thus, the participation of education players in education system, also the accessibility of education to an individual depends on the volume and structure of the available capital. Participation in individual's reproduction process and education system, based on the approach to this theory, is defined by individual's habits (habitus), and harmony with individual's social status. The theory of social conflict (Dahrendorf, 1996; Coser, 1969) argues that conflicts can be identified among all social systems and the educational institute. In terms of social conflict society is the actual and potential arena of conflicts. Network activity theory (Burt, 1982; Granovetter, 1973; Castells, 2005) aims to analyze and describe reciprocal link models in the social system. The followers of this theory keep to the opinion that social structures need to be investigated first, as the players' behavior is constrained by social structures. Very often it is the case at education institution that students from the disadvantaged families, with negative evaluations or various disorders, are often isolated from the classroom and school community.
The paper analyzes the sociological theory. Western type public modernity theories are assumed as a process, for which a developing society is approaching the developed societies reaching a certain level of economic growth, a certain level of public participation and the democratic stage of development, giving the individual more physical, social and economic mobility. Structural functionalism (Parson, 1997; Merton, 1997 et al.). With the approach to this theory, it can be said that inequality in education stems from the ascription to social class, strata, ethnic groups, etc., also due to individual's achievements, which are usually associated with the innate talents and efforts. The analysis of an individual's social functioning and social stratification is based on the approach to Capital theory (Bourdieu, 1986). Thus, the participation of education players in education system, also the accessibility of education to an individual depends on the volume and structure of the available capital. Participation in individual's reproduction process and education system, based on the approach to this theory, is defined by individual's habits (habitus), and harmony with individual's social status. The theory of social conflict (Dahrendorf, 1996; Coser, 1969) argues that conflicts can be identified among all social systems and the educational institute. In terms of social conflict society is the actual and potential arena of conflicts. Network activity theory (Burt, 1982; Granovetter, 1973; Castells, 2005) aims to analyze and describe reciprocal link models in the social system. The followers of this theory keep to the opinion that social structures need to be investigated first, as the players' behavior is constrained by social structures. Very often it is the case at education institution that students from the disadvantaged families, with negative evaluations or various disorders, are often isolated from the classroom and school community.
Laima Šamatavienė. Theme of the Master's thesis 'Self-expression of Pre-school Education Group Teacher and Quality of Education'. Research supervisor Prof. Habil.Dr. M. Barkauskaitė. Vilnius Pedagogical University, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, Department of Educational Sciences. 05.05.2009 . Objective of the research is to examine and make analysis of self-expression of pre-school education group teacher and quality of education. The main objective defined in the thesis is concretized with the tasks as follows: analysed conception of self-expression of pre-school education group teacher and quality of education in research literature, analysed and examined self-realisation of a teacher while making strategy of his/her activities, revealed and described expression of self-realisation of pre-school education group teacher while developing a program of education, plans of activities, a concord of self-expression of pre-school education group teacher and quality is discussed, the attitude of parents to competences of teachers while organizing education procedure is ascertained. All concepts related to the theme of the analysis are discussed following the governmental decrees, principles of equal opportunities, contextuality, efficiency, and continuity of educational system, aims and tasks of education. A qualitative and quantitative analysis was made in accordance with made in advance program of research, aims and tasks defined in the research program were fulfilled, a structured questionnaire and interview were prepared. Thirty six pre-school education teachers and one hundred forty parents of children attending pre-school education school responded to questionnaire. The results of qualitative analysis revealed that a lot of pre-school education teachers are drawing important attention to managerial self-expression of a teacher while seeking for education quality strategy through individual program of educational entity and plans of activities as well, taking needs and expectations of society into consideration. The results of the research show that seeking for better results of quality of education, and improving planning of activities, organizing of educational procedure, self-expression of pedagogical communication and collaboration and managerial competences, the teachers should agree more often on their activities with parents, colleagues, educational entity, and to be able and capable to attain for balance between the provision of knowledge and consulting, management and leadership, to make compromise decisions during class activities. Pre-school education teachers are working creatively, that is especially clearly seen in a Russian-spoken pre-school educational entity, they endeavour to provide information to their pupils in a non-traditional and original way. While improving the artistic, personal, social competences, teachers are recommended to renew their knowledge, to pay more attention on their self-analysis. In analysis of activity and initiative competences of teachers given in this Thesis, it is obviously that teachers are attaining for studying during whole their life, however it should be worth to apply more new technologies in their activities, to improve knowledge in state language, to share the gathered experience, to acquire the required qualification, professional development, to promote motivation of pupils. Data of the research revealed that there are favourable conditions for improvement of self-realisation and acquisition of new competences in a pre-school education entity. Pedagogical competence, planning of activities, competences of educational procedure, pedagogical communication and collaboration, private and educational competences are especially important for self-realization of a teacher. However teachers feel lack of self-education means that could be worth for development of competences, there is a lack of knowledge and new educational methods oriented to development of competences, experience of application. Attitude of parents to competences of teachers in arrangement of educational procedure marks out being provided services: engagement of children, diversity of activity, quality, state language teaching. Self-expression of pre-school education teacher and quality of education is a complex urgent problem both theoretically and in practice. It requires making a wider and deeper analysis in the process of development of educational procedure and attaining for quality of such procedure.
Laima Šamatavienė. Theme of the Master's thesis 'Self-expression of Pre-school Education Group Teacher and Quality of Education'. Research supervisor Prof. Habil.Dr. M. Barkauskaitė. Vilnius Pedagogical University, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, Department of Educational Sciences. 05.05.2009 . Objective of the research is to examine and make analysis of self-expression of pre-school education group teacher and quality of education. The main objective defined in the thesis is concretized with the tasks as follows: analysed conception of self-expression of pre-school education group teacher and quality of education in research literature, analysed and examined self-realisation of a teacher while making strategy of his/her activities, revealed and described expression of self-realisation of pre-school education group teacher while developing a program of education, plans of activities, a concord of self-expression of pre-school education group teacher and quality is discussed, the attitude of parents to competences of teachers while organizing education procedure is ascertained. All concepts related to the theme of the analysis are discussed following the governmental decrees, principles of equal opportunities, contextuality, efficiency, and continuity of educational system, aims and tasks of education. A qualitative and quantitative analysis was made in accordance with made in advance program of research, aims and tasks defined in the research program were fulfilled, a structured questionnaire and interview were prepared. Thirty six pre-school education teachers and one hundred forty parents of children attending pre-school education school responded to questionnaire. The results of qualitative analysis revealed that a lot of pre-school education teachers are drawing important attention to managerial self-expression of a teacher while seeking for education quality strategy through individual program of educational entity and plans of activities as well, taking needs and expectations of society into consideration. The results of the research show that seeking for better results of quality of education, and improving planning of activities, organizing of educational procedure, self-expression of pedagogical communication and collaboration and managerial competences, the teachers should agree more often on their activities with parents, colleagues, educational entity, and to be able and capable to attain for balance between the provision of knowledge and consulting, management and leadership, to make compromise decisions during class activities. Pre-school education teachers are working creatively, that is especially clearly seen in a Russian-spoken pre-school educational entity, they endeavour to provide information to their pupils in a non-traditional and original way. While improving the artistic, personal, social competences, teachers are recommended to renew their knowledge, to pay more attention on their self-analysis. In analysis of activity and initiative competences of teachers given in this Thesis, it is obviously that teachers are attaining for studying during whole their life, however it should be worth to apply more new technologies in their activities, to improve knowledge in state language, to share the gathered experience, to acquire the required qualification, professional development, to promote motivation of pupils. Data of the research revealed that there are favourable conditions for improvement of self-realisation and acquisition of new competences in a pre-school education entity. Pedagogical competence, planning of activities, competences of educational procedure, pedagogical communication and collaboration, private and educational competences are especially important for self-realization of a teacher. However teachers feel lack of self-education means that could be worth for development of competences, there is a lack of knowledge and new educational methods oriented to development of competences, experience of application. Attitude of parents to competences of teachers in arrangement of educational procedure marks out being provided services: engagement of children, diversity of activity, quality, state language teaching. Self-expression of pre-school education teacher and quality of education is a complex urgent problem both theoretically and in practice. It requires making a wider and deeper analysis in the process of development of educational procedure and attaining for quality of such procedure.
Entrepreneurship, as one of today's most relevant competences, is widely discussed in the public space. Conditional novelty and popularity of the phenomenon is intriguing and engaging. Discussions regarding the content of the concept of entrepreneurship are carried out regularly at different levels, despite the fact that the definition of the said phenomenon is provided in general documents of the European Union. In the last decade, according to various laws and regulations, as well as scientific publications, entrepreneurship is considered as "general competence or competence relevant to all citizens of the rapidly developing countries and related to creativity, ingenuity, new ideas and their implementation; therefore, entrepreneurial education becomes particularly important in terms of implementation of social, technological and economic changes of various countries". The Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning17 sets out eight key competences important to the EU citizens (communication in the mother tongue; communication in foreign languages; mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology; digital competence; learning to learn; social and civic competences; sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; cultural awareness and expression), and entrepreneurship is one of them. Entrepreneurial education is particularly topical in the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy. [.]
Entrepreneurship, as one of today's most relevant competences, is widely discussed in the public space. Conditional novelty and popularity of the phenomenon is intriguing and engaging. Discussions regarding the content of the concept of entrepreneurship are carried out regularly at different levels, despite the fact that the definition of the said phenomenon is provided in general documents of the European Union. In the last decade, according to various laws and regulations, as well as scientific publications, entrepreneurship is considered as "general competence or competence relevant to all citizens of the rapidly developing countries and related to creativity, ingenuity, new ideas and their implementation; therefore, entrepreneurial education becomes particularly important in terms of implementation of social, technological and economic changes of various countries". The Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning17 sets out eight key competences important to the EU citizens (communication in the mother tongue; communication in foreign languages; mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology; digital competence; learning to learn; social and civic competences; sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; cultural awareness and expression), and entrepreneurship is one of them. Entrepreneurial education is particularly topical in the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy. [.]
The Bologna declaration stresses the importance of education and educational co-operation in the development and strengthening of stable, peaceful and democratic societies. Additionally the declaration highlights the need to promote European co-operation in quality assurance with a view to develop comparable criteria and methodologies. The cooperative activity of universities created preconditions for students' mobility under the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes. Hence, a comparison of efficiency of engineering education studies at partner institutions has become a topical issue. The paper presents the problems related to engineering education quality at different universities and suggests a system of indicators that are applicable for education quality estimation. The main idea is to compare the distinguished aspects of the education process and to evaluate quality of teaching. The efficiency of different subjects (social and engineering) is estimated by applying sets of criteria, to be implemented by incorporating a proposed system of criteria into questionnaires for students at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU), who participate in student mobility programmes. Processing of the received responses let the author achieve the ultimate aim, i.e. to trace differences in the quality of teaching. Policy implications in the field of engineering education quality management are seen as main outcome of presented research.
The Bologna declaration stresses the importance of education and educational co-operation in the development and strengthening of stable, peaceful and democratic societies. Additionally the declaration highlights the need to promote European co-operation in quality assurance with a view to develop comparable criteria and methodologies. The cooperative activity of universities created preconditions for students' mobility under the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes. Hence, a comparison of efficiency of engineering education studies at partner institutions has become a topical issue. The paper presents the problems related to engineering education quality at different universities and suggests a system of indicators that are applicable for education quality estimation. The main idea is to compare the distinguished aspects of the education process and to evaluate quality of teaching. The efficiency of different subjects (social and engineering) is estimated by applying sets of criteria, to be implemented by incorporating a proposed system of criteria into questionnaires for students at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU), who participate in student mobility programmes. Processing of the received responses let the author achieve the ultimate aim, i.e. to trace differences in the quality of teaching. Policy implications in the field of engineering education quality management are seen as main outcome of presented research.
The origin of the term švietimas may be found at the turn of the 18th century in the Age of Enlightenment. Most of society lived in hardship, poverty, and oppression with no political rights, lacking even a rudimentary education. In other words, society was in darkness and needed illumination. It is no wonder the era was called the Age of Enlightenment (the Lithuanian term švietimasis based on the word for light). It should be noted that the term enlightenment was used only figuratively to describe the age, while basic pedagogical terms in most of Europe emanated from the Latin word educare. Possibly the most salient event of the Age of Enlightenment in Lithuania was the establishment of the Commission for National Education in 1773. As in other European countries during the Age of Enlightenment, the term education was adopted. But in 1795 most of Lithuania was occupied by Tsarist Russia and Russian laws came into force. In 1802 Ministerstvo narodnogo prosveščenija (Enlightenment Ministry) was established in Russia using the term enlightenment instead of education, which was then copied in Lithuanian. This was a time of intense Russification, and the term švietimas became fixed, pushing out the word edukacija. We might agree with B. Bitinas (2011, 5), that the Tsarist occupation cut short the efforts to solidify the educare concept that was prevalent in Western Europe. More than a century later Lithuania declared its independence and the issue of basic Lithuanian terminology became very relevant. In 1935 S. Šalkauskis first used the word ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung to describe the object of the science of pedagogy. Later, when Lithuania was again occupied and isolated from Western Europe by the iron curtain of the USSR, the use of the term ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung was used more often. . This term became fixed in the 1981 textbook "Pedagogika" by B. Bitinas, V. Rajeckas, J. Vaitkevičius, and Z. Bajoriūnas. At the same time, as in all of the USSR, švietimas (prosveshchenije in Russian) was used as an administrative term. The situation changed in 1990 when Lithuania regained its independence. Although the term ugdymas was considered the equivalent of education/erziehung, this stance faltered in 2009 when TESE (The thesaurus for education systems in Europe) officially fixed the term švietimas as the translation of the English term education. From that time the term švietimas is used for education/erziehung when translating documents of the European Union. It should also be noted that in the last few decades the term edukacija is returning to the Lithuanian scholarly lexicon. This term is the most lucid equivalent of education/erziehung, which was formally anchored in Lithuania in 1773, but forgotten due to Russification. With it the concept of educare returns to Lithuania. Maybe the time has come to return to edukacija as the Lithuanian equivalent of education/erziehung and the object of educational science? The Ministry might be called Edukacijos ir Mokslo ministerija, and the term švietimas could retain its figurative meaning.
The origin of the term švietimas may be found at the turn of the 18th century in the Age of Enlightenment. Most of society lived in hardship, poverty, and oppression with no political rights, lacking even a rudimentary education. In other words, society was in darkness and needed illumination. It is no wonder the era was called the Age of Enlightenment (the Lithuanian term švietimasis based on the word for light). It should be noted that the term enlightenment was used only figuratively to describe the age, while basic pedagogical terms in most of Europe emanated from the Latin word educare. Possibly the most salient event of the Age of Enlightenment in Lithuania was the establishment of the Commission for National Education in 1773. As in other European countries during the Age of Enlightenment, the term education was adopted. But in 1795 most of Lithuania was occupied by Tsarist Russia and Russian laws came into force. In 1802 Ministerstvo narodnogo prosveščenija (Enlightenment Ministry) was established in Russia using the term enlightenment instead of education, which was then copied in Lithuanian. This was a time of intense Russification, and the term švietimas became fixed, pushing out the word edukacija. We might agree with B. Bitinas (2011, 5), that the Tsarist occupation cut short the efforts to solidify the educare concept that was prevalent in Western Europe. More than a century later Lithuania declared its independence and the issue of basic Lithuanian terminology became very relevant. In 1935 S. Šalkauskis first used the word ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung to describe the object of the science of pedagogy. Later, when Lithuania was again occupied and isolated from Western Europe by the iron curtain of the USSR, the use of the term ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung was used more often. . This term became fixed in the 1981 textbook "Pedagogika" by B. Bitinas, V. Rajeckas, J. Vaitkevičius, and Z. Bajoriūnas. At the same time, as in all of the USSR, švietimas (prosveshchenije in Russian) was used as an administrative term. The situation changed in 1990 when Lithuania regained its independence. Although the term ugdymas was considered the equivalent of education/erziehung, this stance faltered in 2009 when TESE (The thesaurus for education systems in Europe) officially fixed the term švietimas as the translation of the English term education. From that time the term švietimas is used for education/erziehung when translating documents of the European Union. It should also be noted that in the last few decades the term edukacija is returning to the Lithuanian scholarly lexicon. This term is the most lucid equivalent of education/erziehung, which was formally anchored in Lithuania in 1773, but forgotten due to Russification. With it the concept of educare returns to Lithuania. Maybe the time has come to return to edukacija as the Lithuanian equivalent of education/erziehung and the object of educational science? The Ministry might be called Edukacijos ir Mokslo ministerija, and the term švietimas could retain its figurative meaning.
The origin of the term švietimas may be found at the turn of the 18th century in the Age of Enlightenment. Most of society lived in hardship, poverty, and oppression with no political rights, lacking even a rudimentary education. In other words, society was in darkness and needed illumination. It is no wonder the era was called the Age of Enlightenment (the Lithuanian term švietimasis based on the word for light). It should be noted that the term enlightenment was used only figuratively to describe the age, while basic pedagogical terms in most of Europe emanated from the Latin word educare. Possibly the most salient event of the Age of Enlightenment in Lithuania was the establishment of the Commission for National Education in 1773. As in other European countries during the Age of Enlightenment, the term education was adopted. But in 1795 most of Lithuania was occupied by Tsarist Russia and Russian laws came into force. In 1802 Ministerstvo narodnogo prosveščenija (Enlightenment Ministry) was established in Russia using the term enlightenment instead of education, which was then copied in Lithuanian. This was a time of intense Russification, and the term švietimas became fixed, pushing out the word edukacija. We might agree with B. Bitinas (2011, 5), that the Tsarist occupation cut short the efforts to solidify the educare concept that was prevalent in Western Europe. More than a century later Lithuania declared its independence and the issue of basic Lithuanian terminology became very relevant. In 1935 S. Šalkauskis first used the word ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung to describe the object of the science of pedagogy. Later, when Lithuania was again occupied and isolated from Western Europe by the iron curtain of the USSR, the use of the term ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung was used more often. . This term became fixed in the 1981 textbook "Pedagogika" by B. Bitinas, V. Rajeckas, J. Vaitkevičius, and Z. Bajoriūnas. At the same time, as in all of the USSR, švietimas (prosveshchenije in Russian) was used as an administrative term. The situation changed in 1990 when Lithuania regained its independence. Although the term ugdymas was considered the equivalent of education/erziehung, this stance faltered in 2009 when TESE (The thesaurus for education systems in Europe) officially fixed the term švietimas as the translation of the English term education. From that time the term švietimas is used for education/erziehung when translating documents of the European Union. It should also be noted that in the last few decades the term edukacija is returning to the Lithuanian scholarly lexicon. This term is the most lucid equivalent of education/erziehung, which was formally anchored in Lithuania in 1773, but forgotten due to Russification. With it the concept of educare returns to Lithuania. Maybe the time has come to return to edukacija as the Lithuanian equivalent of education/erziehung and the object of educational science? The Ministry might be called Edukacijos ir Mokslo ministerija, and the term švietimas could retain its figurative meaning.
The origin of the term švietimas may be found at the turn of the 18th century in the Age of Enlightenment. Most of society lived in hardship, poverty, and oppression with no political rights, lacking even a rudimentary education. In other words, society was in darkness and needed illumination. It is no wonder the era was called the Age of Enlightenment (the Lithuanian term švietimasis based on the word for light). It should be noted that the term enlightenment was used only figuratively to describe the age, while basic pedagogical terms in most of Europe emanated from the Latin word educare. Possibly the most salient event of the Age of Enlightenment in Lithuania was the establishment of the Commission for National Education in 1773. As in other European countries during the Age of Enlightenment, the term education was adopted. But in 1795 most of Lithuania was occupied by Tsarist Russia and Russian laws came into force. In 1802 Ministerstvo narodnogo prosveščenija (Enlightenment Ministry) was established in Russia using the term enlightenment instead of education, which was then copied in Lithuanian. This was a time of intense Russification, and the term švietimas became fixed, pushing out the word edukacija. We might agree with B. Bitinas (2011, 5), that the Tsarist occupation cut short the efforts to solidify the educare concept that was prevalent in Western Europe. More than a century later Lithuania declared its independence and the issue of basic Lithuanian terminology became very relevant. In 1935 S. Šalkauskis first used the word ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung to describe the object of the science of pedagogy. Later, when Lithuania was again occupied and isolated from Western Europe by the iron curtain of the USSR, the use of the term ugdymas as the equivalent of education/erziehung was used more often. . This term became fixed in the 1981 textbook "Pedagogika" by B. Bitinas, V. Rajeckas, J. Vaitkevičius, and Z. Bajoriūnas. At the same time, as in all of the USSR, švietimas (prosveshchenije in Russian) was used as an administrative term. The situation changed in 1990 when Lithuania regained its independence. Although the term ugdymas was considered the equivalent of education/erziehung, this stance faltered in 2009 when TESE (The thesaurus for education systems in Europe) officially fixed the term švietimas as the translation of the English term education. From that time the term švietimas is used for education/erziehung when translating documents of the European Union. It should also be noted that in the last few decades the term edukacija is returning to the Lithuanian scholarly lexicon. This term is the most lucid equivalent of education/erziehung, which was formally anchored in Lithuania in 1773, but forgotten due to Russification. With it the concept of educare returns to Lithuania. Maybe the time has come to return to edukacija as the Lithuanian equivalent of education/erziehung and the object of educational science? The Ministry might be called Edukacijos ir Mokslo ministerija, and the term švietimas could retain its figurative meaning.
The Mediterranean region has not been very interesting for a long time not only for Lithuania, but also for others Middle and East Europe countries. In the era of globalization, while EU is constantly building new connections with international organizations (UN, NATO, EC, WTO) and local neighboring regions, the role of strategic Mediterranean has recently became a very important topic. At a conference in Barcelona on November 27 – 28, 1995 a new revival between the Mediterranean and the EU was attempted. However, the desired results were not reached. As a result of this failure in 2004 a new European neighborhood policy was started. This step was very important since it opened a new stage of regional collaborations. All Mediterranean countries have always tried and are still trying to get into EKP and to use integration advantages. At the same time, the EU started to apply not only traditional political diplomacy and international marketing actions, but also began to build new initiatives. One of those new initiatives -- "Collaboration in education and higher education" -- is the subject of the analysis of this masters degree. The main point of this work is to reveal the collaboration between the EU and the Mediterranean region, as well as to analyze the influence of the EU on the Mediterranean region's education and explore the efficiency of the programs and projects related to higher education. For this research we used literature analysis, halfway structure interviews, and comparison methods. First we study the process of collaboration between the EU and the Mediterranean region and we discuss the importance of the Barcelona conference and its influence for multi-regional communication and the EU neighborhood policy. Second, we analyze the EU policy of education and its development in the Mediterranean region, highlighting the research of two high-schools programs related to the UN Erasmus Mundus and Tempus programs. We also discuss the new initiatives of education in the Mediterranean region. By performing this research we find that an uplifted hypothesis is not fully predictable: while strong collaboration groundshave been built in the area of education and programs, and the projects strongly affect the growing up quality of higher education in the Mediterranean region, the spheres of education and higher education always collide with various difficulties. The solution is not simple not only for the third world Mediterranean countries, but also for the EU. By assessing the EU and the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in education, we find that a sustainable framework for cooperation in education has been created. The development and further evolution depends on the activity of the parties, their objectives and speed of implementation of new initiatives such as the Euro-Mediterranean University in the establishment and success.
