Work purpose is to analyse the situation of waste sorting and management in Lithuania and accomplish the assessment of residents' opinion, identify trends in 2010 – 2012 years period. The research has been conducted on the ground of scientific literature, collected statistical data and the data of accomplished residents' interrogation. Nowadays when consumption and the number of packing is increasing, purchase and sale culture is turning to the usage of disposable packing of small items, when after the economic crisis construction and manufacture are reviving again, we inevitably face a huge amount of waste appearing in the country. Every year in all sectors of Lithuania about 4, 5 million tons of waste are accumulated: where domestic household waste work out slightly more than 1 million tons, whereas manufacturing, industrial, agricultural, transport and other waste work out about 3 million tons. The number of breaches of environment protection in waste management sector is increasing. In 2002 there were slightly more than a thousand of such breaches, whereas in 2009 the number exceeded two thousands. The number of domestic household domestic household domestic household domestic household waste which falls on one resident has increasing tendency and figures up to 300 kg per person in 2004 and 330 kg per person in 2012. Within eight years the amount increased by thirty kilos. Considering the emigration and real statistically undocumented decrease of the number of residents the number of domestic household waste per one person per year can be considerably higher. Detailed analysis of the data collected by questionnaire-based literary reveals the basic reasons why in Lithuanian society sort of municipal waste is not widespread and currently is intensely behind the European Union's Member States. Lithuania lags behind in management system of the collection of waste, infrastructure, taxation, education and information spreading through a poor promotion of waste sorting. Short after Lithuania regained independence consumer society began to develop. Still there was no parallel education of an eco-responsible society that could have encouraged responsibility in the area of waste sorting. This education process started in the subsequent period, and was still going during the 2010-2012 period. This work provides an overview of progress and change, examined whether two years period is enough to reach significant changes in the habits of society. Although the analysis revealed that two years period is too short to arrive at considerable changes, the positive trends still could be seen. People opinions on waste sorting were analysed according to different age groups, younger people are more susceptible to eco-ideas, but they lack the diligence to start the implementation of these ideas; elders are more focused on the goal and have enough diligence, but they are less inclined to accept eco-friendly (namely sorting) ideas as worth to be achieved. The group of average age is characterized by high employment; therefore even if they understand the importance of sorting they cannot spend enough time for that. By gender, women are more environmentally responsible and more inclined to sort waste. The location showed no significant connection. Education and the workplace had influence: people with higher education tend to be more environmentally aware. Income did not show significant influence on waste sorting, it only had influence on the effectiveness of waste sorting encouragement tools.
Work purpose is to analyse the situation of waste sorting and management in Lithuania and accomplish the assessment of residents' opinion, identify trends in 2010 – 2012 years period. The research has been conducted on the ground of scientific literature, collected statistical data and the data of accomplished residents' interrogation. Nowadays when consumption and the number of packing is increasing, purchase and sale culture is turning to the usage of disposable packing of small items, when after the economic crisis construction and manufacture are reviving again, we inevitably face a huge amount of waste appearing in the country. Every year in all sectors of Lithuania about 4, 5 million tons of waste are accumulated: where domestic household waste work out slightly more than 1 million tons, whereas manufacturing, industrial, agricultural, transport and other waste work out about 3 million tons. The number of breaches of environment protection in waste management sector is increasing. In 2002 there were slightly more than a thousand of such breaches, whereas in 2009 the number exceeded two thousands. The number of domestic household domestic household domestic household domestic household waste which falls on one resident has increasing tendency and figures up to 300 kg per person in 2004 and 330 kg per person in 2012. Within eight years the amount increased by thirty kilos. Considering the emigration and real statistically undocumented decrease of the number of residents the number of domestic household waste per one person per year can be considerably higher. Detailed analysis of the data collected by questionnaire-based literary reveals the basic reasons why in Lithuanian society sort of municipal waste is not widespread and currently is intensely behind the European Union's Member States. Lithuania lags behind in management system of the collection of waste, infrastructure, taxation, education and information spreading through a poor promotion of waste sorting. Short after Lithuania regained independence consumer society began to develop. Still there was no parallel education of an eco-responsible society that could have encouraged responsibility in the area of waste sorting. This education process started in the subsequent period, and was still going during the 2010-2012 period. This work provides an overview of progress and change, examined whether two years period is enough to reach significant changes in the habits of society. Although the analysis revealed that two years period is too short to arrive at considerable changes, the positive trends still could be seen. People opinions on waste sorting were analysed according to different age groups, younger people are more susceptible to eco-ideas, but they lack the diligence to start the implementation of these ideas; elders are more focused on the goal and have enough diligence, but they are less inclined to accept eco-friendly (namely sorting) ideas as worth to be achieved. The group of average age is characterized by high employment; therefore even if they understand the importance of sorting they cannot spend enough time for that. By gender, women are more environmentally responsible and more inclined to sort waste. The location showed no significant connection. Education and the workplace had influence: people with higher education tend to be more environmentally aware. Income did not show significant influence on waste sorting, it only had influence on the effectiveness of waste sorting encouragement tools.
These days, the pursuit and implementation of goals is becoming increasingly important for everyone in the labor market. The successful implementation of the set goals is often based on the need for clarity and specificity in setting goals. The evaluation of the achieved results, the satisfaction of the efforts made is often determined by the personal traits available, one of which is perfectionism. It is understood that the well-being of employees at work depends not only on their personal qualities or available traits, but also on their well-being during work tasks. In order to bring together and maintain a cohesive and smooth-running team, employees' attitudes towards professional activities, job satisfaction together with individual factors determining satisfaction also become an important object of analysis. The object of the work is employee perfectionism and job satisfaction. The aim of the work is to analyze the interrelationships between perfectionism and employee job satisfaction. " The aim ofthe work is realized by setting the following tasks: to analyze the scientific literature in order to reveal the content of perfectionism and the concept and factors of satisfaction; to investigate the manifestations of employee perfectionism in AB Šiaulių bankas; to assess the factors of employee job satisfaction; to identify the links between employee perfectionism and job satisfaction. The methodology of the work, which helped to implement the set tasks, consists of the analysis of the scientific literature, the method of quantitative research (questionnaires) and the use of combined statistical analysis tools. Extensive scientific literature suggests that perfectionism is a multidimensional phenomenon that can be understood as: a personality trait; setting high standards; the pursuit of perfection and a lifestyle or way of life. The authors analyze perfectionism from different perspectives in their work, some distinguishing the dimensions of adaptive and non-adaptive perfectionism, others typologizing the phenomenon of perfectionism by dividing it into self-centered, other and socially attributed types of perfectionism. Analysis of the concept of job satisfaction reveals that this phenomenon is usually defined as: employee feelings; reaction / emotional state, totality of emotions; employee attitude; emotional response / cognitive satisfaction. From a scientific point of view, job satisfaction is analyzed by examining the internal and external factors of job satisfaction. In this work, outsiders include: leadership; relationships with colleagues; wage; organizational culture, politics; working conditions and career opportunities. Internal factors of job satisfaction were analyzed: recognition; opportunities for improvement; achievements in work activities; responsibility; age; gender and education. The results of the survey conducted by AB Šiaulių bankas reveal that after performing the factor analysis and interpreting the answers of the respondents, a more favorable assessment of the external factors of job satisfaction is observed, while analyzing the internal factors, a more even distribution of answers is observed. A review of trends in the expression of perfectionism revealed a favorable attitude of employees towards organization and personal standards. Correlation analysis (based on factors singled out by factor analysis) revealed a statistical relationship only between the internal components of job satisfaction and the subscales of the perfectionism questionnaire. In order to analyze the results of the study in more detail, separate statements of the scales were examined, where it is observed that the sub-scale organization of perfectionism differed in the evaluation of statistical relationships. Most of the correlations were found between the components of this category and the coding statements for external and internal
These days, the pursuit and implementation of goals is becoming increasingly important for everyone in the labor market. The successful implementation of the set goals is often based on the need for clarity and specificity in setting goals. The evaluation of the achieved results, the satisfaction of the efforts made is often determined by the personal traits available, one of which is perfectionism. It is understood that the well-being of employees at work depends not only on their personal qualities or available traits, but also on their well-being during work tasks. In order to bring together and maintain a cohesive and smooth-running team, employees' attitudes towards professional activities, job satisfaction together with individual factors determining satisfaction also become an important object of analysis. The object of the work is employee perfectionism and job satisfaction. The aim of the work is to analyze the interrelationships between perfectionism and employee job satisfaction. " The aim ofthe work is realized by setting the following tasks: to analyze the scientific literature in order to reveal the content of perfectionism and the concept and factors of satisfaction; to investigate the manifestations of employee perfectionism in AB Šiaulių bankas; to assess the factors of employee job satisfaction; to identify the links between employee perfectionism and job satisfaction. The methodology of the work, which helped to implement the set tasks, consists of the analysis of the scientific literature, the method of quantitative research (questionnaires) and the use of combined statistical analysis tools. Extensive scientific literature suggests that perfectionism is a multidimensional phenomenon that can be understood as: a personality trait; setting high standards; the pursuit of perfection and a lifestyle or way of life. The authors analyze perfectionism from different perspectives in their work, some distinguishing the dimensions of adaptive and non-adaptive perfectionism, others typologizing the phenomenon of perfectionism by dividing it into self-centered, other and socially attributed types of perfectionism. Analysis of the concept of job satisfaction reveals that this phenomenon is usually defined as: employee feelings; reaction / emotional state, totality of emotions; employee attitude; emotional response / cognitive satisfaction. From a scientific point of view, job satisfaction is analyzed by examining the internal and external factors of job satisfaction. In this work, outsiders include: leadership; relationships with colleagues; wage; organizational culture, politics; working conditions and career opportunities. Internal factors of job satisfaction were analyzed: recognition; opportunities for improvement; achievements in work activities; responsibility; age; gender and education. The results of the survey conducted by AB Šiaulių bankas reveal that after performing the factor analysis and interpreting the answers of the respondents, a more favorable assessment of the external factors of job satisfaction is observed, while analyzing the internal factors, a more even distribution of answers is observed. A review of trends in the expression of perfectionism revealed a favorable attitude of employees towards organization and personal standards. Correlation analysis (based on factors singled out by factor analysis) revealed a statistical relationship only between the internal components of job satisfaction and the subscales of the perfectionism questionnaire. In order to analyze the results of the study in more detail, separate statements of the scales were examined, where it is observed that the sub-scale organization of perfectionism differed in the evaluation of statistical relationships. Most of the correlations were found between the components of this category and the coding statements for external and internal
Women's Participation in Military Conflicts: a Case Study of Ukraine Women's participation in military conflicts is one of the phenomena of international politics, that is discussed in various academic discussions. It is often said that war is a matter for men and women are victims of war or perform insignificant and non-physical functions. This is commonly referred to as traditional or conventional thinking, that suggests that gender is an expression of power relations and war or its consequences are usually understood through a masculine trajectory. Yet historically in wars women have played many different roles, named different motivations to join and either contributed to the empowerment of stereotypes or broke them with their personal examples. The object of this research is Ukraine where a part of the society, as well as women and their organizations took an active part in the struggle for the preservation of the country after the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2014. The case of Ukraine was chosen for the study because it is a significant conflict on a European scale and close to us. It is also important that the conflict in Ukraine is a new one in the 21st century. It makes possible to understand how participation in war looks like here and now. In addition, analysis of women's participation in the Ukrainian war are very limited because the collection of empirical data in war zones is difficult, so this study aims to supplement the existing literature on the Ukrainian conflict and provide an empirical analysis of women's participation. The main goal of this study is to investigate the participation of women in the Ukrainian war and to understand why they joined the war, what roles they played and what the situation is due to traditional stereotypes. To achieve the set goal, interviews (in Russian) are conducted with women who took part in military operations on the pro-Ukrainian side. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women involved in the Ukrainian war and 5 with other external observers (journalist, 2 Lithuanian photographers, a representative of the Lithuanian Blue - Yellow organization and the Ukrainian Women's Guard). In total, this thesis is based on data collected during 25 interviews and secondary sources. The study was conducted in 2019 December - 2020 May. Ukrainian women said that one of the main motives to join military conflict is the desire to defend country and the future. Another interesting finding of this study is the fact that although Ukrainian society is traditional, women involved in war were not inclined to view the existence of stereotypes as a motive for joining the war. The categories of women's roles did not differ from the general context and global research, as it was seen that the main roles they held remained essentially the same - as a doctor, chef or working in headquarters and administration. On the other hand, Ukrainian women have not confirmed the basic conventional thesis that women are victims of war. It raises questions about the survey sample and the specificity of the profiles of the selected respondents. Perhaps the women who were interviewed did not want to expose this side of the war or did not actually experience it. Furthermore, in assessing the contribution of this study to the issue of women in war, most women did not attach particular importance to them in speaking or evaluating their roles because they either felt that the role was not important in defending the country or found it difficult to name. In general, in the context of war the roles overlap greatly. In conclusion, based on this study there can be two recommendations for future analysis: a) expand the sample of participants to construct more groups and categories; b) increase survey variables. For example, it could help to add more research questions and make more complex analysis.
Women's Participation in Military Conflicts: a Case Study of Ukraine Women's participation in military conflicts is one of the phenomena of international politics, that is discussed in various academic discussions. It is often said that war is a matter for men and women are victims of war or perform insignificant and non-physical functions. This is commonly referred to as traditional or conventional thinking, that suggests that gender is an expression of power relations and war or its consequences are usually understood through a masculine trajectory. Yet historically in wars women have played many different roles, named different motivations to join and either contributed to the empowerment of stereotypes or broke them with their personal examples. The object of this research is Ukraine where a part of the society, as well as women and their organizations took an active part in the struggle for the preservation of the country after the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2014. The case of Ukraine was chosen for the study because it is a significant conflict on a European scale and close to us. It is also important that the conflict in Ukraine is a new one in the 21st century. It makes possible to understand how participation in war looks like here and now. In addition, analysis of women's participation in the Ukrainian war are very limited because the collection of empirical data in war zones is difficult, so this study aims to supplement the existing literature on the Ukrainian conflict and provide an empirical analysis of women's participation. The main goal of this study is to investigate the participation of women in the Ukrainian war and to understand why they joined the war, what roles they played and what the situation is due to traditional stereotypes. To achieve the set goal, interviews (in Russian) are conducted with women who took part in military operations on the pro-Ukrainian side. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women involved in the Ukrainian war and 5 with other external observers (journalist, 2 Lithuanian photographers, a representative of the Lithuanian Blue - Yellow organization and the Ukrainian Women's Guard). In total, this thesis is based on data collected during 25 interviews and secondary sources. The study was conducted in 2019 December - 2020 May. Ukrainian women said that one of the main motives to join military conflict is the desire to defend country and the future. Another interesting finding of this study is the fact that although Ukrainian society is traditional, women involved in war were not inclined to view the existence of stereotypes as a motive for joining the war. The categories of women's roles did not differ from the general context and global research, as it was seen that the main roles they held remained essentially the same - as a doctor, chef or working in headquarters and administration. On the other hand, Ukrainian women have not confirmed the basic conventional thesis that women are victims of war. It raises questions about the survey sample and the specificity of the profiles of the selected respondents. Perhaps the women who were interviewed did not want to expose this side of the war or did not actually experience it. Furthermore, in assessing the contribution of this study to the issue of women in war, most women did not attach particular importance to them in speaking or evaluating their roles because they either felt that the role was not important in defending the country or found it difficult to name. In general, in the context of war the roles overlap greatly. In conclusion, based on this study there can be two recommendations for future analysis: a) expand the sample of participants to construct more groups and categories; b) increase survey variables. For example, it could help to add more research questions and make more complex analysis.
Women's Participation in Military Conflicts: a Case Study of Ukraine Women's participation in military conflicts is one of the phenomena of international politics, that is discussed in various academic discussions. It is often said that war is a matter for men and women are victims of war or perform insignificant and non-physical functions. This is commonly referred to as traditional or conventional thinking, that suggests that gender is an expression of power relations and war or its consequences are usually understood through a masculine trajectory. Yet historically in wars women have played many different roles, named different motivations to join and either contributed to the empowerment of stereotypes or broke them with their personal examples. The object of this research is Ukraine where a part of the society, as well as women and their organizations took an active part in the struggle for the preservation of the country after the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2014. The case of Ukraine was chosen for the study because it is a significant conflict on a European scale and close to us. It is also important that the conflict in Ukraine is a new one in the 21st century. It makes possible to understand how participation in war looks like here and now. In addition, analysis of women's participation in the Ukrainian war are very limited because the collection of empirical data in war zones is difficult, so this study aims to supplement the existing literature on the Ukrainian conflict and provide an empirical analysis of women's participation. The main goal of this study is to investigate the participation of women in the Ukrainian war and to understand why they joined the war, what roles they played and what the situation is due to traditional stereotypes. To achieve the set goal, interviews (in Russian) are conducted with women who took part in military operations on the pro-Ukrainian side. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women involved in the Ukrainian war and 5 with other external observers (journalist, 2 Lithuanian photographers, a representative of the Lithuanian Blue - Yellow organization and the Ukrainian Women's Guard). In total, this thesis is based on data collected during 25 interviews and secondary sources. The study was conducted in 2019 December - 2020 May. Ukrainian women said that one of the main motives to join military conflict is the desire to defend country and the future. Another interesting finding of this study is the fact that although Ukrainian society is traditional, women involved in war were not inclined to view the existence of stereotypes as a motive for joining the war. The categories of women's roles did not differ from the general context and global research, as it was seen that the main roles they held remained essentially the same - as a doctor, chef or working in headquarters and administration. On the other hand, Ukrainian women have not confirmed the basic conventional thesis that women are victims of war. It raises questions about the survey sample and the specificity of the profiles of the selected respondents. Perhaps the women who were interviewed did not want to expose this side of the war or did not actually experience it. Furthermore, in assessing the contribution of this study to the issue of women in war, most women did not attach particular importance to them in speaking or evaluating their roles because they either felt that the role was not important in defending the country or found it difficult to name. In general, in the context of war the roles overlap greatly. In conclusion, based on this study there can be two recommendations for future analysis: a) expand the sample of participants to construct more groups and categories; b) increase survey variables. For example, it could help to add more research questions and make more complex analysis.
Women's Participation in Military Conflicts: a Case Study of Ukraine Women's participation in military conflicts is one of the phenomena of international politics, that is discussed in various academic discussions. It is often said that war is a matter for men and women are victims of war or perform insignificant and non-physical functions. This is commonly referred to as traditional or conventional thinking, that suggests that gender is an expression of power relations and war or its consequences are usually understood through a masculine trajectory. Yet historically in wars women have played many different roles, named different motivations to join and either contributed to the empowerment of stereotypes or broke them with their personal examples. The object of this research is Ukraine where a part of the society, as well as women and their organizations took an active part in the struggle for the preservation of the country after the beginning of the conflict with Russia in 2014. The case of Ukraine was chosen for the study because it is a significant conflict on a European scale and close to us. It is also important that the conflict in Ukraine is a new one in the 21st century. It makes possible to understand how participation in war looks like here and now. In addition, analysis of women's participation in the Ukrainian war are very limited because the collection of empirical data in war zones is difficult, so this study aims to supplement the existing literature on the Ukrainian conflict and provide an empirical analysis of women's participation. The main goal of this study is to investigate the participation of women in the Ukrainian war and to understand why they joined the war, what roles they played and what the situation is due to traditional stereotypes. To achieve the set goal, interviews (in Russian) are conducted with women who took part in military operations on the pro-Ukrainian side. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women involved in the Ukrainian war and 5 with other external observers (journalist, 2 Lithuanian photographers, a representative of the Lithuanian Blue - Yellow organization and the Ukrainian Women's Guard). In total, this thesis is based on data collected during 25 interviews and secondary sources. The study was conducted in 2019 December - 2020 May. Ukrainian women said that one of the main motives to join military conflict is the desire to defend country and the future. Another interesting finding of this study is the fact that although Ukrainian society is traditional, women involved in war were not inclined to view the existence of stereotypes as a motive for joining the war. The categories of women's roles did not differ from the general context and global research, as it was seen that the main roles they held remained essentially the same - as a doctor, chef or working in headquarters and administration. On the other hand, Ukrainian women have not confirmed the basic conventional thesis that women are victims of war. It raises questions about the survey sample and the specificity of the profiles of the selected respondents. Perhaps the women who were interviewed did not want to expose this side of the war or did not actually experience it. Furthermore, in assessing the contribution of this study to the issue of women in war, most women did not attach particular importance to them in speaking or evaluating their roles because they either felt that the role was not important in defending the country or found it difficult to name. In general, in the context of war the roles overlap greatly. In conclusion, based on this study there can be two recommendations for future analysis: a) expand the sample of participants to construct more groups and categories; b) increase survey variables. For example, it could help to add more research questions and make more complex analysis.
The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.
The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.
The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.
The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.
Relevance of the research. Recognition and education of children and teenagers gifted in sporting activity is an important part of the attainment of particular results in sports. Identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports is a process, when athletes are recognised at the early stage of their development and have a possibility to attain high results in adulthood (Williams, Reilly, 2000; Vaeyens, Lenoir, Williams, Philippaerts, 2008). It means that individually or in combination, their physical, physiological, psychological and social features, as well as technical capabilities can help to predict their potential in the future (Williams, Reilly, 2000). Some scientists maintain that aiming to achieve high results in sports gifted athletes should be selected by appropriate methods at an early age and involved into a long and systematically planned training (Sevim, 2007; Bompa, Haff, 2009). However, recognition of young gifted athletes is a complex process, since the results of teenagers' physical development, as well as their value-based provisions, attitudes and motives change in the process of growing and development (Callender, 2010; Gonçalves, Rama, Figueriredo, 2012). According to some scientists (Byrne, Davenport, Mazanov, 2007), adolescence is a specific and rather complicated age period, when rapid and big changes occur not only in physical development, but also in psycho-social maturity. Therefore, recognition and selection of children and teenagers gifted for sports is a multi-faceted process, when it is important not only to evaluate an athlete's present appearance considering their physical, physiological, psychological, cognitive and sociological features, and technical capacities, but also evacuating such important aspects as social, emotional, motivational and temperamental factors (Pruna, Tribaldos, Bahdur, 2018). Whether the talents will be disclosed depends not only on an athlete's innate capabilities, but also on the educational factors affecting them. A great influence is made by the coach and educational environment created by the school, which allows developing and growing an athlete's personality (Williams, Reilly, 2000; Pensgaard, Roberts, 2002). However, it is not the school that affects the educational environment and motivational climate. The attitude of family members towards physical activity, their support for an athlete, the coach and his/her ability to appropriately plan the training content, teammates, facilities, attention from the media and other people, as well as values and social provisions also contribute to this process (Hassandra, Goudas, Chroni, 2003; Lenzen, Brouwers, Dejardin et al., 2004). An effective programme of the identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports can help to recognize talents at an early stage, which can become a vitally important element when trying to enhance successful competitiveness of the country (Vaeyens, Gullich, Warr, Philippaerts, 2009). The programmes of the identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports facilitate the process of athlete selection, which maximizes the number of gifted persons (Anshel, Lidor, 2012). Early recognition of gifted athletes can attract funding and training opportunities for athletes having the greatest potential for success (Durand-Bush, Salmela, 2001). Countries are concerned with creating research-based methods to select the most gifted athletes that could successfully compete on the international sports arena. Over the past two decades, the increasing number of studies have been accomplished trying to understand the issues concerning experience in the identification and education of children and teenagers gifted for sports (Williams, Reilly, 2000; Abbott, Button, Pepping et al., 2005; De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, Shibli, 2006; Pearson, Naughton, Torode, 2006; Lidor, Cote, Hackfort, 2009; Anshel, Lidor, 2012; Roth, 2012; Brouwers, De Bosscher, Sotiriadou, 2012; Nijs, Gallardo-Gallardo, Dries, Sels, 2014; Swann, Moran, Piggott, 2015). However, despite considerable achievements in the process of identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports, a universally recognized model of the identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports does not exist Hohmann, 2001; Abbott, Collins, 2004; Vaeyens, Lenoir, Williams, Philippaerts, 2008; Davids, Araujo, Vilar, Pinder, 2013; Louzada, Maiorano, Ara, 2016). There are cases when decisions concerning the selection of athletes are made subjectively, without scientific validation (Regnier, Salmela, Russell, 1993; Williams, Franks, 1998; Abbott, Button, Pepping, Collins, 2005), whereas a lot of potentially gifted athletes are not selected due to inappropriate selection criteria or applying no selection criteria at all, as well as due to athletes changing a sports branch or a large number of drop-outs from sports (Abbott, Collins, 2004; MacNamara, Collins, 2011; Tranckle, Cushion, 2006; Winfried, 2001). It is important that children and teenagers get interested in sports, are selected to appropriate sport branches, as well as attempts are made so that they do not break their sporting career too early (Schiffer, 2013); every year approximately 35% of young athletes quit sports and it is not clear if they ever resume their sporting activity again (Purcell, 2005; Breunner, 2012). Therefore, the application of these selection criteria and a large drop-out of athletes from sports can be partly justified in countries with high population. The principle of natural selection can have a greater influence. In the case of a small country (for instance, Lithuania), such a selection is not suitable. Trying to avoid subjectivity, the majority of the latest scientific studies in sports science are related to the investigation of the influence of innate (natural) and acquired (educated) features on sporting results (Baker, Bagats, Büsch, Schorer, 2012; Coutinho, Mesquita, Fonseca, De Martin-Silva, 2014; Davids, Baker, 2007). With the increasing competition among athletes over the past period (De Bosscher et al., 2006) and sports becoming a political and commercial phenomenon (Green, Oakley, 2001), there appears a necessity for timely and appropriate choice of a specific branch of sports, which would help to achieve good results in the future. Different methods and programmes of selecting the most capable athletes are applied all over the world. In the majority of countries, selection models consisting of several stages are applied, which rely on a coach's competence, test results and analysis of competition results, whereas the selected athletes are invited to learn and do sports in specialised schools. Similarly to some other countries, in Lithuania concern about (self-) education of children gifted for sports has led to the emergence of sports gymnasiums. Panevėžys Raimundas Sargūnas Sports Gymnasium is one of the three general education schools of Lithuania that implement basic and general education alongside with sports education, and in which a part of sports education in the field of specialized education aims at training students that have special educational needs due to their giftedness in sports for high excellence and results (Order No. V-1010 of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, 24 October 2014). The programme outlines the knowledge, abilities and attitudes that athletes should acquire to comply with physical, technical, tactical requirements, as well as requirements for fitness and achievements. The purpose of Panevėžys Raimundas Sargūnas Sports Gymnasium gives a possibility to analyse the gymnasium as a case revealing the aspects of the selection of teenagers gifted for sports, which can help to better understand what educational preconditions are created and how to select teenagers gifted for sports and to disclose their talents, as well as to help create and improve practical models for schools educating teenagers gifted for sports. Therefore, the research question was formulated: how does the selection of teenagers gifted for sports occur and how are the educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports created? The problem-based question and the fact that a universal and effective model of the selection of children and teenagers gifted for sports does not exist, highlight the research object, i. e. the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. The aim of the research is to reveal the educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. The research objectives: 1. To theoretically validate the educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. 2. To identify the educational factors and notice of the choice of sporting activity by athletes. 3. To explore the physical and functional fitness of athletes and its dynamics. 4. To determine the attitudes of athletes as educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. 5. To determine the attitudes of coaches as educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. Scientific novelty and practical significance of the doctoral research ● The validated educational factors that influence the selection of teenagers gifted for sports allow better understanding of the factors of choosing a sporting activity and survival in sports as educational preconditions for the development of capabilities. ● The determined dynamics of physical and functional fitness of teenage athletes in an educational environment beneficial to the development of their innate capabilities for sports helps to understand the dynamics and multi-dimensionality of the selection of teenagers gifted for sports as a process, as well as problematic control of its components when identifying and developing their capabilities. The case of one of the three sports gymnasiums of Lithuania has been explored in terms of the selection of teenagers gifted for sports – such studies have not been performed in Lithuania so far. ● The results of the theoretical and empirical research complement the theory of sports science with innovative and original data on the expression of the educational preconditions affecting the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. Practical significance. The educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports that affect athletes' decision to choose a sporting activity from other spheres of supplementary education have been analysed and generalised. The determined peculiarities of motivation will help coaches to select appropriate pedagogical and psychological tools to motivate athletes to seek for high results in sports. The educational factors stimulating and aggravating athletes' selection and motivation to seek for high results in sports have been distinguished during the research, the role of a coach as one of educational factors has been revealed in the process of selecting and training athletes – these findings will allow a more purposeful planning of the (self-) development of coaches' competences and provision of all the necessary support concerning the selection of athletes to them. The analysis of the changes in the results of athletes' physical and functional fitness will give a possibility to make a more thorough selection of teenagers gifted for sports to 12 sports branches, as well as to train them more purposefully and effectively for national and international competitions. The research data can be applied in compiling model characteristics of different age periods and different sports branches by specifying training programmes and evaluating the changes in athletes' individual fitness. The research results can be used by the administration, coaches and other employees of athletes' educational centres, federations and sports schools. CONCLUSIONS 1. The search and selection of gifted children is a complex, dynamic, long-lasting, and special educational process that depends on a variety of factors interacting and constantly changing in the process. The factors influencing the selection and results in the sporting activity can be divided into four groups: genetic-physiological, psychological, social, and educational factors. The genetic potential, anthropometric data and physical abilities are essential indicators for the identification and selection of teenagers gifted for sports. Psychological features, such as perseverance, self-confidence, positive attitude, devotion, dedication, strong intrinsic motivation, concentration, attentiveness, and emotional control, are important in selecting gifted teenagers. Social factors include sports policy, culture, natural conditions, geographical location of the country, various opportunities, specific tendencies in the development of modern sports, and support rendered to the participants of the educational process. Educational factors – educational environments, parent support, practice, the coach and teammates, have an educational impact on athletes and can influence their decision making, motivation, habits, training and skills.Therefore, the selection of gifted teenagers should be specific to each sports branch and include a multi-disciplinary approach when clearing out athletes' motives, the attitudes of athletes and coaches, as well as implementing the monitoring athletes. 2. Regardless of gender and a group of sports branches, the main factors that motivate the choice of sports activities include educational (motivation of the coach, parents and friends) and internal cognitive motives (desire to master a sports technique). The least important motives involve material (possession of own inventory, good facilities for training), geographical (a sports school close to home), not being admitted into another sports branch, or lack of other choices. The choice of a sport from other areas of supplementary education is determined by a desire to be physically fit and a desire to engage in leisure activities. The least important motives are the desire to become famous and the desire to be attractive. Intrinsic motivation is more pronounced than extrinsic.The boys' external motivation is stronger than that of girls. Amotivation is more characteristic of the girls. The internal and external motivation is more expressed by the athletes of team sports; external motivation in individual sports appears to be the weakest, whereas the weakest intrinsic motivation and the strongest amotivation is revealed in duelling sports. 3. The results of physical development, physical fitness and functional capacity of stronger athletes are not always statistically significantly different from those of other athletes or control group athletes. A part of the indicators of stronger athletes are better, which leads to an assumption that alongside with psychosocial abilities, social factors, educational factors, and high motivation, they are essential to achieve high results. The correlation study reveals which indicators need to be taken into account and developed when selecting teenagers gifted for sports and achieving high results. 4. The most important factors for teenagers' decision to start doing sports and choose a sports branch include the surrounding environment, where the most important roles are ascribed to the coach, family members and friends. The genetic-physiological and psychological factors that are affected by the coaching and environmental factors are considered as the main factors determining success in sports. The coach is identified as the most important educational factor in the selection of gifted teenagers, whereas a favourable climate, motivating influence of the coach, his/her competence and ideal conditions help to disclose the athletes' talents and achieve high results. While choosing a sport and training, the self-educational factor is distinguished seeking to change oneself, as well as to change own or others' future relating it to sports. The factors that reduce the motivation of athletes and thus prevent the full potential of talented athletes, as well as leading them to end their sporting careers are highlighted: stabilisation of their progress in the results, injuries and high loads of physical activity. 5. The coaches distinguish the importance of psychological and physiological factors in selecting teenagers gifted for sports. The coaches consider the teenagers to be prospective athletes who have a strong internal and external motivation to train, innate capabilities, and physical abilities that are influenced by environmental factors, coaching competence, and practice. The role of the coach as the most important educational factor is highlighted in the search for gifted athletes among those already in the sport or referring to the competence of other coaches, recommending athletes who can achieve higher results in other sports branches. Identifying gifted teenagers-athletes, the coaches look for dedicated, hardworking and goal-seeking athletes with strong motivation. Family members and peers are recognised as educational factors that have a significant impact on athlete selection. The research also highlights the problems faced by coaches in the selection process. These are physiological and psychological changes in the body and the priorities of teenage athletes, which are influenced by their surrounding environment.
Relevance of the research. Recognition and education of children and teenagers gifted in sporting activity is an important part of the attainment of particular results in sports. Identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports is a process, when athletes are recognised at the early stage of their development and have a possibility to attain high results in adulthood (Williams, Reilly, 2000; Vaeyens, Lenoir, Williams, Philippaerts, 2008). It means that individually or in combination, their physical, physiological, psychological and social features, as well as technical capabilities can help to predict their potential in the future (Williams, Reilly, 2000). Some scientists maintain that aiming to achieve high results in sports gifted athletes should be selected by appropriate methods at an early age and involved into a long and systematically planned training (Sevim, 2007; Bompa, Haff, 2009). However, recognition of young gifted athletes is a complex process, since the results of teenagers' physical development, as well as their value-based provisions, attitudes and motives change in the process of growing and development (Callender, 2010; Gonçalves, Rama, Figueriredo, 2012). According to some scientists (Byrne, Davenport, Mazanov, 2007), adolescence is a specific and rather complicated age period, when rapid and big changes occur not only in physical development, but also in psycho-social maturity. Therefore, recognition and selection of children and teenagers gifted for sports is a multi-faceted process, when it is important not only to evaluate an athlete's present appearance considering their physical, physiological, psychological, cognitive and sociological features, and technical capacities, but also evacuating such important aspects as social, emotional, motivational and temperamental factors (Pruna, Tribaldos, Bahdur, 2018). Whether the talents will be disclosed depends not only on an athlete's innate capabilities, but also on the educational factors affecting them. A great influence is made by the coach and educational environment created by the school, which allows developing and growing an athlete's personality (Williams, Reilly, 2000; Pensgaard, Roberts, 2002). However, it is not the school that affects the educational environment and motivational climate. The attitude of family members towards physical activity, their support for an athlete, the coach and his/her ability to appropriately plan the training content, teammates, facilities, attention from the media and other people, as well as values and social provisions also contribute to this process (Hassandra, Goudas, Chroni, 2003; Lenzen, Brouwers, Dejardin et al., 2004). An effective programme of the identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports can help to recognize talents at an early stage, which can become a vitally important element when trying to enhance successful competitiveness of the country (Vaeyens, Gullich, Warr, Philippaerts, 2009). The programmes of the identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports facilitate the process of athlete selection, which maximizes the number of gifted persons (Anshel, Lidor, 2012). Early recognition of gifted athletes can attract funding and training opportunities for athletes having the greatest potential for success (Durand-Bush, Salmela, 2001). Countries are concerned with creating research-based methods to select the most gifted athletes that could successfully compete on the international sports arena. Over the past two decades, the increasing number of studies have been accomplished trying to understand the issues concerning experience in the identification and education of children and teenagers gifted for sports (Williams, Reilly, 2000; Abbott, Button, Pepping et al., 2005; De Bosscher, De Knop, Van Bottenburg, Shibli, 2006; Pearson, Naughton, Torode, 2006; Lidor, Cote, Hackfort, 2009; Anshel, Lidor, 2012; Roth, 2012; Brouwers, De Bosscher, Sotiriadou, 2012; Nijs, Gallardo-Gallardo, Dries, Sels, 2014; Swann, Moran, Piggott, 2015). However, despite considerable achievements in the process of identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports, a universally recognized model of the identification of children and teenagers gifted for sports does not exist Hohmann, 2001; Abbott, Collins, 2004; Vaeyens, Lenoir, Williams, Philippaerts, 2008; Davids, Araujo, Vilar, Pinder, 2013; Louzada, Maiorano, Ara, 2016). There are cases when decisions concerning the selection of athletes are made subjectively, without scientific validation (Regnier, Salmela, Russell, 1993; Williams, Franks, 1998; Abbott, Button, Pepping, Collins, 2005), whereas a lot of potentially gifted athletes are not selected due to inappropriate selection criteria or applying no selection criteria at all, as well as due to athletes changing a sports branch or a large number of drop-outs from sports (Abbott, Collins, 2004; MacNamara, Collins, 2011; Tranckle, Cushion, 2006; Winfried, 2001). It is important that children and teenagers get interested in sports, are selected to appropriate sport branches, as well as attempts are made so that they do not break their sporting career too early (Schiffer, 2013); every year approximately 35% of young athletes quit sports and it is not clear if they ever resume their sporting activity again (Purcell, 2005; Breunner, 2012). Therefore, the application of these selection criteria and a large drop-out of athletes from sports can be partly justified in countries with high population. The principle of natural selection can have a greater influence. In the case of a small country (for instance, Lithuania), such a selection is not suitable. Trying to avoid subjectivity, the majority of the latest scientific studies in sports science are related to the investigation of the influence of innate (natural) and acquired (educated) features on sporting results (Baker, Bagats, Büsch, Schorer, 2012; Coutinho, Mesquita, Fonseca, De Martin-Silva, 2014; Davids, Baker, 2007). With the increasing competition among athletes over the past period (De Bosscher et al., 2006) and sports becoming a political and commercial phenomenon (Green, Oakley, 2001), there appears a necessity for timely and appropriate choice of a specific branch of sports, which would help to achieve good results in the future. Different methods and programmes of selecting the most capable athletes are applied all over the world. In the majority of countries, selection models consisting of several stages are applied, which rely on a coach's competence, test results and analysis of competition results, whereas the selected athletes are invited to learn and do sports in specialised schools. Similarly to some other countries, in Lithuania concern about (self-) education of children gifted for sports has led to the emergence of sports gymnasiums. Panevėžys Raimundas Sargūnas Sports Gymnasium is one of the three general education schools of Lithuania that implement basic and general education alongside with sports education, and in which a part of sports education in the field of specialized education aims at training students that have special educational needs due to their giftedness in sports for high excellence and results (Order No. V-1010 of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, 24 October 2014). The programme outlines the knowledge, abilities and attitudes that athletes should acquire to comply with physical, technical, tactical requirements, as well as requirements for fitness and achievements. The purpose of Panevėžys Raimundas Sargūnas Sports Gymnasium gives a possibility to analyse the gymnasium as a case revealing the aspects of the selection of teenagers gifted for sports, which can help to better understand what educational preconditions are created and how to select teenagers gifted for sports and to disclose their talents, as well as to help create and improve practical models for schools educating teenagers gifted for sports. Therefore, the research question was formulated: how does the selection of teenagers gifted for sports occur and how are the educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports created? The problem-based question and the fact that a universal and effective model of the selection of children and teenagers gifted for sports does not exist, highlight the research object, i. e. the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. The aim of the research is to reveal the educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. The research objectives: 1. To theoretically validate the educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. 2. To identify the educational factors and notice of the choice of sporting activity by athletes. 3. To explore the physical and functional fitness of athletes and its dynamics. 4. To determine the attitudes of athletes as educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. 5. To determine the attitudes of coaches as educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. Scientific novelty and practical significance of the doctoral research ● The validated educational factors that influence the selection of teenagers gifted for sports allow better understanding of the factors of choosing a sporting activity and survival in sports as educational preconditions for the development of capabilities. ● The determined dynamics of physical and functional fitness of teenage athletes in an educational environment beneficial to the development of their innate capabilities for sports helps to understand the dynamics and multi-dimensionality of the selection of teenagers gifted for sports as a process, as well as problematic control of its components when identifying and developing their capabilities. The case of one of the three sports gymnasiums of Lithuania has been explored in terms of the selection of teenagers gifted for sports – such studies have not been performed in Lithuania so far. ● The results of the theoretical and empirical research complement the theory of sports science with innovative and original data on the expression of the educational preconditions affecting the selection of teenagers gifted for sports. Practical significance. The educational preconditions for the selection of teenagers gifted for sports that affect athletes' decision to choose a sporting activity from other spheres of supplementary education have been analysed and generalised. The determined peculiarities of motivation will help coaches to select appropriate pedagogical and psychological tools to motivate athletes to seek for high results in sports. The educational factors stimulating and aggravating athletes' selection and motivation to seek for high results in sports have been distinguished during the research, the role of a coach as one of educational factors has been revealed in the process of selecting and training athletes – these findings will allow a more purposeful planning of the (self-) development of coaches' competences and provision of all the necessary support concerning the selection of athletes to them. The analysis of the changes in the results of athletes' physical and functional fitness will give a possibility to make a more thorough selection of teenagers gifted for sports to 12 sports branches, as well as to train them more purposefully and effectively for national and international competitions. The research data can be applied in compiling model characteristics of different age periods and different sports branches by specifying training programmes and evaluating the changes in athletes' individual fitness. The research results can be used by the administration, coaches and other employees of athletes' educational centres, federations and sports schools. CONCLUSIONS 1. The search and selection of gifted children is a complex, dynamic, long-lasting, and special educational process that depends on a variety of factors interacting and constantly changing in the process. The factors influencing the selection and results in the sporting activity can be divided into four groups: genetic-physiological, psychological, social, and educational factors. The genetic potential, anthropometric data and physical abilities are essential indicators for the identification and selection of teenagers gifted for sports. Psychological features, such as perseverance, self-confidence, positive attitude, devotion, dedication, strong intrinsic motivation, concentration, attentiveness, and emotional control, are important in selecting gifted teenagers. Social factors include sports policy, culture, natural conditions, geographical location of the country, various opportunities, specific tendencies in the development of modern sports, and support rendered to the participants of the educational process. Educational factors – educational environments, parent support, practice, the coach and teammates, have an educational impact on athletes and can influence their decision making, motivation, habits, training and skills.Therefore, the selection of gifted teenagers should be specific to each sports branch and include a multi-disciplinary approach when clearing out athletes' motives, the attitudes of athletes and coaches, as well as implementing the monitoring athletes. 2. Regardless of gender and a group of sports branches, the main factors that motivate the choice of sports activities include educational (motivation of the coach, parents and friends) and internal cognitive motives (desire to master a sports technique). The least important motives involve material (possession of own inventory, good facilities for training), geographical (a sports school close to home), not being admitted into another sports branch, or lack of other choices. The choice of a sport from other areas of supplementary education is determined by a desire to be physically fit and a desire to engage in leisure activities. The least important motives are the desire to become famous and the desire to be attractive. Intrinsic motivation is more pronounced than extrinsic.The boys' external motivation is stronger than that of girls. Amotivation is more characteristic of the girls. The internal and external motivation is more expressed by the athletes of team sports; external motivation in individual sports appears to be the weakest, whereas the weakest intrinsic motivation and the strongest amotivation is revealed in duelling sports. 3. The results of physical development, physical fitness and functional capacity of stronger athletes are not always statistically significantly different from those of other athletes or control group athletes. A part of the indicators of stronger athletes are better, which leads to an assumption that alongside with psychosocial abilities, social factors, educational factors, and high motivation, they are essential to achieve high results. The correlation study reveals which indicators need to be taken into account and developed when selecting teenagers gifted for sports and achieving high results. 4. The most important factors for teenagers' decision to start doing sports and choose a sports branch include the surrounding environment, where the most important roles are ascribed to the coach, family members and friends. The genetic-physiological and psychological factors that are affected by the coaching and environmental factors are considered as the main factors determining success in sports. The coach is identified as the most important educational factor in the selection of gifted teenagers, whereas a favourable climate, motivating influence of the coach, his/her competence and ideal conditions help to disclose the athletes' talents and achieve high results. While choosing a sport and training, the self-educational factor is distinguished seeking to change oneself, as well as to change own or others' future relating it to sports. The factors that reduce the motivation of athletes and thus prevent the full potential of talented athletes, as well as leading them to end their sporting careers are highlighted: stabilisation of their progress in the results, injuries and high loads of physical activity. 5. The coaches distinguish the importance of psychological and physiological factors in selecting teenagers gifted for sports. The coaches consider the teenagers to be prospective athletes who have a strong internal and external motivation to train, innate capabilities, and physical abilities that are influenced by environmental factors, coaching competence, and practice. The role of the coach as the most important educational factor is highlighted in the search for gifted athletes among those already in the sport or referring to the competence of other coaches, recommending athletes who can achieve higher results in other sports branches. Identifying gifted teenagers-athletes, the coaches look for dedicated, hardworking and goal-seeking athletes with strong motivation. Family members and peers are recognised as educational factors that have a significant impact on athlete selection. The research also highlights the problems faced by coaches in the selection process. These are physiological and psychological changes in the body and the priorities of teenage athletes, which are influenced by their surrounding environment.
