Mokslo ir tikėjimo dialogai

Parenthood is quite rare among physically disabled adults in Finland, and becoming a parent can be labelled as a taboo act. In this paper, we shed a light on this salient topic by scrutinising the experiences of Finnish mothers and fathers with physical disabilities. The research questions are: (1) How do mothers and fathers describe their agency as parents? and (2) How is their agency constructed within social structures and relations? The analysis is based on qualitative teller-focused interviews with 17 mothers and fathers. The results reveal their agencies as multidimensional, and demonstrate how parenthood is constructed through interaction within institutional spaces. Personal support, peers and NGOs also play an important role in the construction of agency. Interaction can either limit, question or support the agency of disabled people as parents. The results show that the parents have strong agency in using their knowledge, and flexible resources when meeting the demands.

During the soviet times pedagogy in Latvia develops in difficult and controversial conditions. It becomes a specific area of influence and a propaganda tool, in which ideologised guidelines of soviet pedagogy prevail. So far Soviet experience in education theory and practice (1940–1941, 1944–1990) has not been fully identified and evaluated because it is “recent” history. People living during the soviet times have developed self-experience, based on which conclusions can be made. At the same time young people develop this experience in their daily life (communicating with people, watching and reading in the mass media), thus based on other people’s experience. One of the sources promoting teachers’ historical experience is study courses The History of Pedagogy and Literature Didactics, in which future teachers gain knowledge about the historical development of pedagogy, learn different ideas proposed by famous educators, acquire skill in analysing pedagogical ideas in the context of a particular historical period, assess different offerings of pedagogy and their application in nowadays pedagogical situations. At the same time in the study course Literature Didactics future teachers enrich their knowledge about the development of Didactics of Latvian Literature during the soviet period, master their skills in critical evaluation of study contents, study programs, materials, additional materials, study aims, methods and approaches as well as teacher student interaction during the lesson.