Tiltai

The authors of this article examine the evaluation of education service quality from parents’ perspective, since parents as well as their children are the consumers of these service. Often there is a trend in Lithuania that education services are provided to children; even though, the service provision contract is signed between the education institution and parents. On the other hand, a part of services of specialists of education assistance are dedicated to parents. Moreover, parent education, cooperation and communication process is between the education institution and parents. The education institution is not able to solve most of the problems without the assistance of parents. Therefore, the authors present the point of view of 400 parents towards the quality of the provided education services.

A changing socio-economic situation, constant stress at work and in personal life, receding retirement age and increasing tension in the world in general highly influence well-being of people. Secondary analysis of literary sources revealed that well-being of elderly women was impacted by the following factors: low social and economic status; stress caused by physical or psychological load at work, unfavourable interaction between work and family, genetic and biological factors, women’s participation in the system of health care, influence of family circumstances, lifestyle and personal self-expression. The narrative research (a narration created on the ground of the life stories of five women) does not contradict the factors found in the scientific study, but rather complements them, it is revealed in new aspects, with a different content. The interaction of the factors is emphasised.

The article analyses the independence of children with mental and behavioural disorders, and the importance of its development and background, which creates the preconditions for a better quality of life. Psychomotor development and building up the independence of children with disabilities basically predetermine better conditions for the child’s integration into the community, the reduction of stress and dependence on family members, and better harmony in the family. The child’s psychomotor development covers major areas of child development: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, cognition, perception of language, verbal expression, self-regulation, and social and emotional development. But in terms of mental and behavioural disorders, the formation of skills proceeds in a more complex way. This disorder often manifests itself together with sensory problems: too high/low response, high stress felt, anxiety, and detachment from specific activities/measures, which may result in the delayed formation of independence skills. The development of the independence of a child with a disability is very important when individually selecting a suitable environment and factors that increase the motivation to learn, seek and interiorise newly acquired skills. These skills predetermine the possibilities for a person with a disability to feel independent in their daily activities in the future. Engagement in social interaction is an inevitable and important element of a high-quality daily life. Children with a disability face increased difficulties in their daily routines. Children with poorer social skills undergo social exclusion, and experience more difficulties in perceiving the feelings of other people, recognising and expressing emotions, complying with regulations and norms, and respecting themselves and others.

An analysis of Lithuanian legislation has shown that documents regulating the development of teachers’ qualifications provides the teacher with an opportunity to improve personal, institutional and national educational needs for development, and defines requirements for educators and qualification development opportunities. However, research conducted in Lithuania shows that this process is frequently characterised as fragmentary, and that it lacks research on the needs of the development and planning of teachers’ qualifications, the connection with the educational process, and its practical application. In the meantime, teachers commonly disregarding the significance of the subsidiarity principle to the effectiveness of the development of teachers’ qualifications desire direct cooperation and the coordination of the need for the development of personal qualifications with the andragogue organiser, while ignoring the people responsible for it in educational institutions. The perception that the andragogue organiser’s activities must be designed taking into account not only the personal expectations of teachers but also the objectives and priorities of educational institutions and of the development of teachers’ qualifications raises a scientific issue: what type of andragogue organiser’s activity is effective for achieving the main goals (quality) in the development of teachers’ qualifications? The qualitative research conducted revealed the andragogue organiser’s role and the effectiveness of the activity and direction of improvement with respect to the performed functions, activity areas and competences, and justified the fundamental principles of the development of teachers’ qualifications. In the practical approach, empirical data presented in this article can be significant in: 1) seeking the effectiveness and improvement of activity of the andragogue organising teachers’ qualification development services in the Klaipėda district; 2) identifying the roles and responsibilities of the participants’ process in ensuring its quality.

Internet users using digital diplomacy techniques can generate state soft power on social networks through the promotion of traditional power resources – culture, values and behaviour. In this way, the digital dissemination of information by states becomes an instrument of their power policy. This article analyses the concept of digital diplomacy, the transformation of its characteristics and activities in the digital space. The text examines the interaction between digital diplomacy and soft power, also focuses on the European Union’s digital diplomacy, which has become an important part of the EU’s foreign policy. Due to the novelty of the topic and the lack of research in the public discourse, the article is relevant to research in order to find out what digital diplomacy methods the EU institutions, diplomats, individual Internet users are and how it forms the European information geopolitics.

In recent years the European Union has experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees and asylum seekers that has continued up until now. This issue is relevant to Lithuania as well, since the country has committed to host 1105 asylum seekers from Greece and Turkey, and their successful integration to large extent depends on legislation adopted by the Government. The present article analyses the concept of the international asylum law and the peculiarities of legal regulation of the refugee integration system in Lithuania. Both the analysis of legislative documents and experience in working with refugees has disclosed a gap between the existing theoretical system and its implementation in practice. The author discloses the problems of the refugee integration, when regulation of the social relationships is required; however there is no relevant legal norm that could be applicable in a particular case. The article also discusses the priorities and regulatory documents of the Lithuanian policy on integration; however the main focus is made on the theoretical analysis of the Description of the Procedure for Providing State Support for the Refugee Integration and – referring to the practical experience – on insights into its implementation measures. The analysis has disclosed that implementation of the refugee integration measures is hindered due to lack of a long-term policy on the refugee integration in Lithuania, lack of collaboration between the state and private sector and prevalent negative attitudes in the society; the above factors result in loss of interrelation between the legal norms and the social relationships that are to be regulated.

Straipsnyje, taikant naratyvinę tyrimo strategiją, atskleidžiama Lietuvos interneto piratų subkultūra per socialinio dalyvavimo skaitmeninėje erdvėje prizmę. Stengiantis atsiriboti nuo teisinio šios veiklos vertinimo keliami šie esminiai klausimai: kokie socialinio dalyvavimo internete ypatumai, galima veiklos raiška ir nauda potencialiai veikiančiajam.

The article addresses the problem of uncertainty in social work. The problem is analyzed in the context of domination of postmodern worldviews. Three types of uncertainty are distinguished: ontological, epistemological and procedural. Resting on various literature critical thinking, human rights discourse and client strengths perspective are presented as possible alternatives for decision making in a complex world.

The article analyses the most relevant anthropological and transformative tasks of social work supervision in the context of today’s risk society, promoted by the process of globalisation with its instrumental rationality, which devalues the significance of the personality in the social system. The article provides the ontological grounds of the transformative function of supervision based on synergic patristic anthropology, and describes the simultaneous vectors of the transformative function in the supervision process: 1) experiential (experience-based) transformative learning, or acquisition of ‘practical wisdom’; and 2) anthropological transformation as a process of recreation of true self-identity. The article conceptually emphasises the decisive influence of the intrinsic quality of the supervisor’s personality in the performance of the transformative tasks of supervision, as well as the supervisor’s ability to form reciprocity relations with supervisees in the supervision process.

Siekiant užtikrinti sklandų suaugusiųjų mokymosi procesą ir tinkamai juos motyvuoti, pastarąją išlaikant bei užtikrinant teigiamą jos kaitą, andragogui svarbu išmanyti pozityviosios tėvystės mokymo grupių dalyvius motyvuojančius mokytis veiksnius ir priemones, aktuali mokslinė problema, kokie vidiniai ir išoriniai veiksniai motyvuoja suaugusiuosius mokytis ir kokias veiksmingas priemones andragogas turėtų taikyti, siekdamas motyvuoti besimokančiuosius pozityviosios tėvystės mokymo grupėse ir taip palaikyti teigiamą jų mokymosi motyvaciją per visą mokymosi procesą? Straipsnyje siekiama atskleisti ir pagrįsti suaugusiuosius motyvuojančius mokytis veiksnius ir veiksmingas motyvuojančias mokytis priemones pozityviosios tėvystės mokymo grupėse. Atlikto tyrimo aktualumą ir originalumą atskleidžia autorių siekis parodyti, kad motyvuojančių mokytis veiksnių bei priemonių išmanymas gali būti praktiškai naudingas andragogui motyvuojant tėvus mokytis pozityviosios tėvystės mokymo grupėse. Praktiniu požiūriu gauti tyrimo duomenys gali būti reikšmingi siekiant veiksmingai motyvuoti tėvus, išlaikant ir stiprinant jų mokymosi motyvaciją per visą mokymosi procesą. Remiantis tyrimo rezultatais nustatyta, kad suaugusiųjų mokymosi motyvacija turi būti palaikoma ir stiprinama per visą pozityviosios tėvystės mokymo procesą, o jos teigiama kaita priklauso nuo andragogų taikomų priemonių veiksmingumo bei suaugusiuosius motyvuojančių mokytis veiksnių išmanymo. Straipsnyje pateikiami tyrimo rezultatai atskleidžia suaugusiuosius mokytis pozityviosios tėvystės motyvuojančius vidinius ir išorinius veiksnius bei, respondentų požiūriu, veiksmingas juos mokytis motyvuojančias priemones.