Tiltai

Creativity is increasingly emphasised as a crucial competence in contemporary higher education. However, little is known about how international students experience its development in classroom contexts, especially in Lithuania. This article analyses the perceptions of 15 international students at VIKO University of Applied Sciences in Lithuania regarding creativity and its role in learning during the course. The study applies a qualitative methodology, drawing on three focus group discussions, and employing a reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were identified: creativity as a personal and boundless phenomenon; creativity as learnable but dependent on the environment; pedagogical scaffolding and assessment as factors that either encourage or constrain creativity; cultural and linguistic influences shaping expression; and personal growth and confidence gained through creative tasks. These findings highlight the importance of transparent assessments, supportive new teaching strategies, and intercultural collaboration in fostering creativity among diverse student cohorts. The study contributes to discussions on how to enhance creativity-oriented pedagogy in higher education.

The situation of families in children disability situation is very complex affected by many factors and their integral interaction. The families often feel balancing between the reveal and ideal discourse of reality, between life before and after disability fact. Therefore, researches constantly face a methodological challenge transferring families’ life into the scientific research. According to Smith (2010, p. 33), a researcher is always at least one-step is distinct from the picture that (s)he needs to draw. Potentially method is very helpful to reveal family life as reality, however we have to be creative in applying a method, because the method is not a collection of neither a learned nor repeated procedures that was done by another masters. Research of family in disability situation is perceived as sensitive therefore in this variable process social reality is created in a “sense of family”. The article introduces analysis of different epistemological approaches towards qualitative research in social sciences and in particular in the field for families of children with disabilities.

The article deals with the political and spiritual characteristics of Kristijonas Donelaitis’ epoch that affected the formation of the pioneer of the Lithuanian secular literature and made an impact on the content of his literary works. The significance of the political and spiritual reforms for the preservation of the language and culture of Prussian Lithuanians via the church and school is highlighted; attention is drawn to the fact the the modernization of the state had a positive effect on the linguistic and educational situation of ethnic minorities due to which the intellectuals of the Enlightenment epoch paid attention to the cultural and linguistic situation of the ethnic group of Lithuanians.