Problems of Education in the 21st Century

5-12

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

The discussion about integration cannot dispense with antithesis (differentiation) which is also of high importance. The default of it is a fairly serious lack of comprehensive school. Both processes have to follow each other as this is the most plausible way of human understanding and knowledge improvement (Vaitkevičius, 1979). A public knowledge is always wider than personal information. Ipso facto human cognition and public experience are not differentiated. Teaching constricted by undivided educational drafts and curricula frequently ignored personal schoolchildren’s qualities. Pupils unable to satisfactorily adopt teaching material are overloaded while others state that such load is insufficient. This is why a general background of a number of learners recedes and the motivation of all pupils decreases. Research indicates that genetically all people differ. Genetic inequality most frequently determines the child’s abilities. Natural differences are highlighted by a different situation of upbringing and an environment.

19-24

Authors: Valentin Cosmin Blandul

Special Sport Olympics România is a non-governmental organization which wants to make a scholar, social and profesional integration by sport of the children with disabilities. This result could obtain by developing the physical and physical particularities at children with special needs (such as: their health, cognitive, emotional and volitive processes, their entire personality). The most important category of children, which is addressed Special Sport Olympics România is represented by menthal deficiency and the sport which is the most frequent practice is athletism. In this study, the principal aims are to identify the factors which transform a mental disorder child into a very good sportsman, the way in which sport can improve the quality of life for these persons and the most effective curriculum for scholar of the pupils with menthal disability. The research took place in 2008, at local and national leg of Special Sport Olympics România’s competition and the used method are observation, applying scale and questionary of personality and IQ tests. The results which are obtained prove that pupils which practice sport are more sociable, comunicative, have superior scholar results and they can integrate themselves in the society much better.

32-36

Authors: Manuel Fandos Igado

Companies use many different marketing strategies in order to make their products known and place their corporate image and branding in the market. Besides, nowadays, being on the Internet is a must for every company striving for success. A company devoted to open and distance learning such as Master-D Corporation is a clear example of how a proper and planned use of the different possibilities offered by the Web 2.0 –based on blogs- allows a company to achieve bigger market shares and brand positioning following the Win – Win Principle. Blogs are, undoubtedly, channels of communication that prove the power of attraction of good information.

44-53

Authors: Sofia Freire, Mónica Baptista, Carolina Carvalho, Ana Freire, Teresa Oliveira, Mário Azevedo

We live in a highly complex society that presents its citizens with many challenges and problems. In order to respond it, by making informed decisions, citizens have to appropriate certain key competencies, for instance, reasoning, communication, lifelong learning, among others. So education has never been seen such a central issue to promote individual growth as nowadays, and also a central issue to enact societal and economical growth. Despite education playing a central role in the international agenda, the failure of the school systems to teach all the students has never been so visible. Nowadays, one of the greatest challenges is to provide an answer to those students who have dropped out of school, or to those who have disengaged from it. Several actions have been developed, some of which concern pedagogic actions. Activities based on investigations in science classes are seen nowadays as a way to enact key competencies, but also to involve students with their own learning. But, what make these activities so successful in getting to all students and, even more, to those who have disengaged from the school system? In this paper, we will discuss the impact of activities based on investigation in secondary students’ involvement with school. Its efficacy seems to be related to identity issues. By changing classroom practices and relationships, not only among teachers and students, but also between students and school knowledge, this kind of activity allows the students to reconstruct new identities, where they can envisage new future paths.

66-73

Authors: Martina Manenova, Martin Skutil

Modern, constructive conception of teaching process presumes adequate choice of teaching methods and learning corresponding to pupil’s possibility in the first place. Also the university teachers have to conform with this trend. The contribution shows on the base of research investigation, how the teaching methods and processes are exploited by the teachers, who take part in the preparation of the students of the line Teaching for the 1st level at elementary (primary) at the Institute of primary and pre-primary education, Faculty of Education, University Hradec Králové. An interesting question seems to be perception of efficiency of the separate teaching methods and subsequently their utilization in teaching process. It could be stated that in teaching the students of teaching profession for the 1st level of primary school, the academic staff uses different teaching methods. Positive finding is that the lecture, even when it is placed among the most employed ones, does not have dominant position as it was in the past. On contrary, activating and complex teaching methods e.g. discussion and group teaching are coming forward. This phenomenon reveals in performance of the students during their pedagogical practice, which is confirmed by the feedback from the teachers at primary schools.

83-93

Authors: Josef Molnar, Slavomira Schubertova

The work looks for phenomena related to the development of spatial imagination. In the theoretical part, we define spatial imagination and the aim of finding factors which influence its development, e.g. schooling, sex, laterality or the role of the senses. Research investigation forms the practical part of the paper. In the individual investigations, we search for the relation between spatial imagination and general intelligence, between spatial imagination and imagination in plane. By means of the Top-view or bottom-view test, we search for the answer to the question how spatial imagination relates to laterality. Based on the findings obtained in the research investigations, we developed the worksheet Wire and cube that was checked during the class work at an elementary school. The benefit of the paper for the development of the scientific branch and pedagogical practice is the study of phenomena related to the performance and the results of the spatial imagination tests that can be influenced by these phenomena.

103-109

Authors: Inge Raudsepp, Maie Vikat

The recent decades have been revolutionary in Estonia and in all spheres of life including education, quests and changes have taken place. In the period of globalisation it is the time to find out whether and to what extent Estonia manages to maintain its cultural values and national identity in the process of those dynamic changes. In the Estonian context joint singing can be viewed as a representative of cultural transmission. Joint singing originates from the so-called older folk song, Lutheran hymns and, most recently, powerfully emerged choral singing. Joint singing has developed into an important cultural metaphor of the identity of Estonian nation – song festivals. The current article focuses on the nature of joint singing and its development in the music education of Estonian comprehensive schools, what was founded by the pedagogue, composer, publicist and researcher Riho Päts in 1930s. The methodological basis of the research is the concept of joint singing, one type of which is choral singing, in the cultural transmission of the new generation of Estonians today. In the study participation of pupils in youth song festivals (1962-2007) is analysed to investigate the tendencies of development of joint singing. The results of the study prove that in contemporary Estonia choral singing is the most powerful type of joint singing and carries a phenomenon of cultural transmission based on innovative-traditional approach in music education.

115-126

Authors: Katri-Liis Vainio

Considerable research has been done concerning the prevalence of vocal problems and disorders among teacher students and teachers. All research shows that voice disorders are very typical and are mostly connected to external factors such as environmental factors associated with vocal loading, health-related factors and stress-related factors. How voice disorders are connected to speakers posture, use of resonance and registers has not yet been studied. The primary prevention of voice disorders refers to elimination of circumstances that might cause a voice disorder, involving also teaching vocal hygiene strategies, while secondary prevention involves early detection and treatment of voice disorders. This article shows how teachers´ attitudes towards their voice in field condition can be changed by giving them new models of (1) vocal hygiene strategies and (2) vocal exercises, combined to the Eerola ABC and balance-method and the Pilates-method. The article also gives a model to incorporate such training for all new teachers, for example in Tallinn University.

138-152

Authors: Tamara A. Artashkina

The conducted research is devoted to the issue of target-setting in the system of higher education. The stated issue was initially solved as a development of models of specialists. In the late 1960s there formed two directions that researchers followed. The first one represented by E. Smirnova’s works focused on two separate objects: humans and their activity. The second direction is connected with the name of N.F. Talyzina who proposed a special language to describe the goals of learning – the language of professional tasks. However, “a model of specialist” in all its aspects used in the late 1960s – early 1980s contained regulatory characteristics, that is, standard (etalon) attributes, thus not being a model proper. The analysis of professional activity proper requires methodological framework suitable for this activity. Activity approach and psychological activity theory become such a universal framework but remain the matter of scholarly and philosophic discussions. Within this approach the author analyzes the structure of creative activity and singles out the structure of humanitarian activity and the structure of professional activity of PR specialist. Based on the analysis of the stated structures the conclusion is made that humanitarian training is not only capable of but bound to perform professional functions to educate non-humanitarian specialists. Activity approach is also employed by the author to analyze the concept of professional goal. Based on this concept two ways to train generalists are proposed. In the first case generalist mode is maintained by the system of professional goals of a certain personnel “module”. The second way is based on the usage of general methods to solve professional goals of different personnel modules. Finally, the conclusion is made that competence approach is not applicable to distinguish activity structures but it can be extensively applied to distinguish professional goals.

161-169

Authors: Ekaterina V. Gapanovich-Kajdalova

The requirement for experts, quickly and flexibly adapting to the changing conditions, constantly raising the qualification and level of professional skill assumes presence of steady motivation to mastering by new kinds of activity. Retraining on a speciality «Practical psychology» frequently is means of the decision of personal problems. As the motivation of reception of the second speciality in many respects defines efficiency of educational process, its research gets a special urgency. A methodological basis of our research are Z.A.Barsukovoj, T.V.Vasilevoj, E.A.Guzjuk's works, etc. in which the motivation of listeners ИПК and the personal computer is considered as the factor of efficiency of retraining. In article results of research of motivation of the teachers, passing retraining on a speciality «Practical psychology» in ГГУ of F.Skoriny are presented. The comparative analysis of self-estimations of respondents with the various pedagogical experience on a number of indicators is carried out: self-realisation in pedagogical activity; the general professional readiness; theoretical preparation on pedagogics and psychology; the motivation to work as the psychologist; aspiration to self-improvement in a trade; the general satisfaction a trade of the teacher. Representations of teachers about professionally important qualities, features of work, the basic difficulties of the psychologist are studied; the factors influencing a choice of a trade of the teacher-psychologist as the second speciality are analysed. Respondents in большей degrees are focused on social motives, motives of self-improvement and personal growth. Reception of the second speciality is considered not only as possibility to guarantee to itself stability in labour relations, but also to raise level of the профмастерства, to deepen and expand knowledge on psychology, to be engaged in scientific researches in the field of psychology, самореализоваться as the person.

183-191

Authors: Olga Logashenko, Lyudmila Lomakina

In the paper a problem of the pedagogical support of students’ health maintenance during the period of their professional training at higher school is studied. On the stage of the educational-introductory practice an innovative pedagogical technique of psychological-pedagogical accompaniment (PPA) of the scientific-practical activity (SPA) was elaborated to ascertain the influence of this technique on the characteristics of mental-physiological health of students. The main elements of PPA and SPA are: normative-legal, psycho-diagnostic, methodological, organizational, psychosomatic maintenance and phased monitoring. The psychosomatic maintenance is to influence the psychological health, personal and physical health of a student. In our research the strengthening and maintenance of health means: • for psychological health – the development of a creative way of thinking, attention, memory and volitional sphere; the growth of emotional resistance; • for social health – the formation of social adaptation; the development of responsibility, empathy, active position in life; the correction of self-concept and self-control; the focus on self-development; • for physical health – the teaching of self-control methods for the state of adaptive potential of the cardiovascular system; the prevention of neuropsychic disorders. The elaboration of psycho-pedagogical bases for maintaining and strengthening of health and the application of PPA and SPA is aimed at maintaining and strengthening of health due to reducing the state of neuropsychic tension, the stimulation of the professional interest and the satisfaction of students’ needs to acquire knowledge in the atmosphere of psychological comfort.