Švietimas: politika, vadyba, kokybė /Education Policy, Management and Quality

8-38

Authors: Aušrinė Jarutienė, Vincentas Lamanauskas

Education quality questions become urgent for all educational institutions regardless of their type, the kind, size of provided services and so on. Thus, it is natural, that quality questions become more urgent for comprehensive schools as well. In the latter years, quite a lot of attention has been devoted to comprehensive school internal audit thematic. We can state, that internal audit is only a tiny sphere of quality management. Such type of examining of institution activity (internal state) in any case is only partial, insufficiently objective and so on. However, internal audit (IA) carried out in an appropriate way, without doubt, helps to improve school’s activity, if educational institution is interested in this itself. The results obtained during the research revealed that schools before presenting internal audit data on their website, both during the processing the received results and later on face difficulties. Also, there is, ob-viously, lack of concrete directions on how this process has to be carried out. It is obvious, that internal audit methodics are being applied not effectively, it is not clear what information presentation form has to be and what information should be announced in public. The research showed that the presented information content is not exhaustive, does not reflect school assessment process, schools tend not to show on their website at what level they evaluated their activity, usually only the weakest, the strongest and improvement requiring school activity sides are pointed out. This article presents research results which reveal comprehensive school internal audit information content aspects. Activity sphere evaluation based on concrete evaluation indicators: on average, both in the old IA methodics and in the updated IA methodics, activity spheres are evaluated 2.5, i.e, as an intermediate variant between 2nd and 3rd evaluation level: there are more strong features than shortcomings, however, the activity is adequate, but has to be improved. The highest quality having assessed school activity sphere in the old IA methodics – learning achie-vements – is evaluated at level 3, in the updated methodics – educability and learning and student support. Both in the old and in the updated IA methodics these activity spheres are evaluated equally (2,6) – school management, learning and education, student support, resources; (2,8) – school culture, achievements, ethos. The evaluation of advantages, disadvantages and activity spheres that need improvement: In both IA metodics the most frequently assessed activity sphere is related with the applicability of the education content to the learner. These spheres were the least evaluated: in the old IA methodics the fifth sphere – ethos, in the updated IA methodics – also the fifth activity sphere, however, it is related with the strategic management of the school. Gymnasiums, comparing the results of both IA methodics analyses, tend not to evaluate activity spheres, pointing out advantages, disadvantages and activity aspects requiring improvement in the way basic, secondary and special schools do. The old IA methodics was applied more in secondary schools; the updated IA is most frequently applied in basic and secondary schools.

50-59

Authors: Janis Gedrovics

Ergonomics as a science about a human or a group of humans in the process of work is gaining its im-portance in environments like schools. The reason for this is the importance of suitable working environment in ensuring any teacher as well as learners’ health, welfare and comfort, which guarantee good results in teaching/ learning process, as well as to train the future employee who share responsibility for his/ her working place and environment. In this situation a teacher who has been well prepared and educated is of greatest help to learners. Apart from that the teacher’s own example is of greatest importance. For the young teacher to acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills, Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy (RTTEMA) has introduced a special course - Ergonomics and school hygiene- in all teacher training curricula, and course “Pedagogical Ergonomics” for Master study program “School management”. The new courses are designed to introduce students of pedagogy with modern views on the designing and functioning of working environment in school, including the general issues of work safety and occupational health, with practical application of ergonomics in educational institutions in order to maintain health and working capabilities of both students and teachers as well as with the teacher’s duties and responsibilities in order to ensure work safety as a part of general safety in schools. We have to bear in mind that, unlike in classical cases, educational institutions have a specific contingent: on the one hand there are employees (teachers, administration, technical personnel) and on the other hand – students. For each group there are different normative documents regulating their working life which provides for the special position of ergonomics in educational institution in the context of school hygiene and valeology (science of healthy lifestyle). Besides, the great age difference between teachers and learners, makes school community a unique group from the point of view of ergonomics frequently taking totally opposite approaches to various issues including views on work and working environment and having specific, often objectively well grounded, demands regarding this environment. Among the factors most strongly affecting learners’ health we should mention unsuitable furniture and heavy school-bags, and some organisational problems. But every pupil, just as every teacher has the right to learn and work in ergonomically well organized environment. It requires that every teacher and every head of educational institution, as well as their learners would have up-to-date ergonomic literacy of the modern working environment.