{"title":"Work-based Learning in Professional Education of Latvia: Historical Development","authors":"Ilze Briža, A. Pipere","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.65","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.65","url":null,"abstract":"The Latvian labor market has been facing the problem of a quality labor force shortage for several years now. The acquisition of demanded specialties in Latvia is possible in the framework of professional education, which is offered at three levels – the level of primary education, professional secondary education, and professional higher education. Since 2015, work-based learning has been introduced in the professional education of Latvia, serving as a measure for the economic enhancement for the entry of quality labor force into the labor market. As a part of this initiative, educational institutions in cooperation with employers develop curricula that match the requirements of the labor market. This learning model is based on an example of a higher professional education model, where practical skills are acquired mostly during the students’ field practice. To conduct the empirical research on work-based learning in higher professional education, at first, it is necessary to look at the historical aspects of this learning model. The given article provides historical evidence, describing the historical development of work-based learning in professional education in Latvia. The beginnings of work-based learning in Latvia date back to the 14-15th century, but for the first time given form of education in its contemporary meaning has been introduced in Soviet times, as historical sources show the calls for get to know work experience as an integral part of communist work schools. After the regaining of independence, Latvia focuses on building the democratic education system, and since 2015 work-based learning is explicit in the Law on Professional Education as a specific form of education. Since its inception, work-based learning has reflected the public’s perceptions of the necessary specialties in the labor market.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117127963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of Factors Promoting Financial Literacy on the Achievements of Financial Literacy of Students in Latvia","authors":"Linda Mihno","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.26","url":null,"abstract":"The literature suggests that financial literacy depends on factors such as socioeconomic status/sociodemographic status, psychosocial and psychological factors, experience, and access to financial education, language skills, mathematical literacy and other factors. The aim of this study was to identify the factors that influence the financial literacy achievements of students from Latvia, focusing on the possibility to improve these achievements. The data analysis was performed with PISA 2018 Latvian data, which there were selected 25% of the participating students whose financial literacy performance was lower than the mean performance in mathematical and reading literacy and 25% of students whose financial literacy performance was considerably higher than the mean performance in mathematical literacy and reading literacy. Differences between these two groups showed factors that impact financial literacy achievements, excluding the possibility that the financial literacy performance of these students was high due to the mathematical and reading literacy. It was concluded that the financial achievements of students in Latvia are positively influenced by such factors as the socioeconomic status/sociodemographic status, psychosocial factors, and psychological factors (students with higher financial literacy achievements have a more negative attitude towards school but a more positive attitude towards life, less fear of failure and more a positive attitude towards competition, and clear plans for the future), accessibility of the financial education, time devoted to financial education, an accessible wide range of financial topics in education, experience in the financial environment, parents’ involvement, feedback from teachers in reading lessons. Keywords: Achievements of financial literacy, Financial Literacy, Mathematic literacy, OECD PISA 2018, Reading literacy.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126296057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Self-Assessment of English Reading Skills in Grade 6","authors":"Evija Latkovska, Santa Aleksejeva","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.49","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.49","url":null,"abstract":"One of topicalities in the field of education in the 21st century is a necessity to share responsibility. Namely, students should learn to be more responsible for how and what they learn, whereas teachers should learn to share the ownership of the learning process with students, letting them be more involved in it as decision-makers. One way how teachers can encourage students become more conscious of the learning process is to engage them in self-assessment of their learning and learning outcomes. One of self-assessment tools in language education is the European Language Portfolio (the ELP). Apart from different ELPs for adults, there is a portfolio for students in Latvia: My Language Portfolio – The European Language Portfolio for young learners (age 7–12) in the paperback and digital versions. In the present study, the researchers explore how self-assessment can be incorporated in the English language lessons by offering self-assessment activities and the ELP to Grade 6 students to work on their reading skills. Reading skills make the basis for every person’s literacy as reading does not only concern reading itself, it is also about being able to master general knowledge of any other school subject and the world knowledge in general. Thus, the aim of the research is to find out how self-assessment can be used to improve reading skills in English in Grade 6. A case study was carried out for one month in one primary school in Riga, the research sample being two separate groups of Grade 6 students, in total – 26. The researchers analysed and interpreted data collected from assessment and self-assessment of reading activities, questionnaires filled out by students. The main findings of the research show that self-assessment can successfully be incorporated in lessons of English of Grade 6 students as it increases students’ motivation to learn and their reading skills improve. That could be based on the fact that self-assessment allows students to take more ownership of their learning process and learning outcomes, that way making students become more responsible. However, overall progress is not immense and for students who are more competent in English, improvement of their reading skills can barely be traced. It has to be highlighted that students, whose confidence in their English reading skills is lower, benefit from self-assessment more. It could be explained by students’ conscious work on particular problems with reading in English they discover while completing self-assessment activities.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125715022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Transformation of Education: Envisioning Post-Covid Education in Latvia","authors":"Z. Rubene, L. Daniela, Edīte Sarva, Arta Rūdolfa","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.13","url":null,"abstract":"The project “Life with COVID-19: Evaluation of overcoming the coronavirus crisis in Latvia and recommendations for societal resilience in the future” (CoLife) was launched in Latvia in the summer of 2020. In this project, researchers representing different fields of social sciences were involved; researchers of education sciences were aiming to find out how the COVID-19 crisis contributed to the digital transformation of education and which changes in education caused by the COVID-19 crisis situation should be maintained in the future. The results of the project are a scientific prognosis on future action scenarios related to the digital transformation of education in Latvia, scientifically backed recommendations for related competency transformation, and tools for evaluating proposed solutions from the perspective of education to conceptualize recommendations for policy-makers on the digital transformation of education in relation to the digitalization and use of digital solutions at all levels of education (preschool, general education, higher education), thus laying the foundation for establishing and implementing a flexible and student-focused education. This article is dedicated to conceptualizing the recommendations for policy-makers on the digital transformation of education using the Delphi method.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114406342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strengthening and Supporting the School Communities: A Case of Regional Schools in Lithuania","authors":"Lina Kaminskienė, V. Bortkevičienė","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.19","url":null,"abstract":"The paper discusses how the school microclimate could be improved within the school community, based on the results of a research carried out in 15 regional schools in Lithuania. The analysis is specifically focused on how the school community could be strengthened by improving the relationship between teachers and schools’ administration. Following the methodology of the thematic analysis, the paper highlights key issues which might be important to reconsider the formation of a positive relationship, internal communication, democratization of governance, reduction of competition between teachers, strengthening the confidence in the teacher, respect for each other as well as fostering an open, tolerant culture. The results of the research indicate the need to strengthen collaboration and engagement-based community: a need to develop a participatory culture, to develop teachers’ support systems, to rethink how to involve parents more actively into the school life, to ensure more effective feedback system (teachers-administration-parents). The paper also highlights a need to improve the emotional climate of schools, to develop clear guidelines for evaluating teachers’ activities, to ensure smooth internal communication, informing and involving teachers about planned changes, and allowing all members of the community to feel part of the organization, not only by informing about the activities being carried out, but also by enabling critical opinions to be expressed; to form different working groups involving different educators (e. g. primary school and subject teachers) on different issues of school performance development.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117311520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"COVID-19 Difficulties in the Remote Learning Process and Opportunities to Overcome Them: The Perspective of Future Teachers","authors":"Dita Nīmante","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.12","url":null,"abstract":"The study explores the difficulties experienced by second-year students of the professional bachelor’s study program “Teacher” at the Faculty of Education, Psychology, and Art of the University of Latvia during the remote learning in three courses in the first and second COVID-19 wave, in 2020, spring and autumn. The research provides students’, future teachers’ perspectives on both – experienced difficulties during remote learning in COVID-19 circumstances and possible solutions to overcome challenges. Data were obtained from students’ self-reflections which were filled in at the end of the spring semester in June 2020 at the end of autumn semester in January 2021. Totally 230 students completed self-reflection, 223 statements (97 in June and 126 in December) were selected and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, as result 9 themes emerged: technology related, physical, cognitive, social-emotional, motivation related, mental health-related, lack of recourses, insufficient learning skills, difficulties to apply professional knowledge and skills in educational praxis. In the first COVID-19 wave, there were identified two themes (extra additional workload and insufficient digital skills) that were not present in the second. However, the second added another theme – health problems due to COVID-19. There were students both in the first and second COVID-19 wave who did not consider this time and remote learning as a difficult one.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115136366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Ābele, Agrita Tauriņa, T. Zīriņa, Dace Rutkovska
{"title":"Promotion of Children’s Cooperation and Physical Development in the Pre-School Outdoor Space","authors":"A. Ābele, Agrita Tauriņa, T. Zīriņa, Dace Rutkovska","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.44","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.44","url":null,"abstract":"In order to follow advice of epidemiologists on measures for limiting the spread of COVID-19 in Latvia, employees of pre-school educational establishments are increasingly paying attention to ensuring the availability of a safe outdoor setting. Children’s transferrable skills and a healthy lifestyle are a topical matter within educational reform and the competency approach in pre-school. Observations by teachers indicate that children’s cooperation skills at the age of five and six years are insufficiently developed, and adults struggle to promote them, especially in the outdoor environment where it’s often associated with new challenges, and the work of organizing activities is more involved. Teachers have difficulties ensuring the availability of materials necessary for children’s cooperation and physical development and directing attention towards promoting dialogic speech and cognitive interests. To purposefully promote children’s cooperation in various outdoors activities, improve dialogic speech, and make examples of pedagogical work experiences more widely available to teachers, it would be important to promote the points recognized in the project “Teaching learning spaces competence from early childhood education” [TELESPA] (2018-1-RO01_KA201_049545, PVS_ID_3910), which was done in collaboration between Riga 275th pre-school “Austrina” and the EU education, learning, youth and sports program ERASMUS. We discovered during research that children of the oldest pre-school age group tend to be interested in determining characteristic traits of objects, looking for causality, and doing practical work. However, their abilities to come to an agreement, justify intentions, think critically, and ask questions are insufficiently developed. We have noticed that good pronunciation of sounds, learning of grammar, and broadening of vocabulary improve children’s relationships with peers and grown-ups, they also make it easier to enact cooperation and various physical education activities outdoors. Purposefully made sensory gardens in the pre-school outdoor setting, available thanks to the EU education, learning, youth and sports program ERASMUS+ project “TELESPA” achieving its goals, provide an opportunity to evaluate children’s cooperation and opportunities for physical development promotion, and determine teachers’ experience in evaluating children’s achievements. It is important to find out the given children’s needs, interests, and abilities during the planning stage of pedagogical work – points recognized during this project’s trial runs should help with this task.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129507643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Linguistic Landscape Signs in E-Textbooks: Teaching Language as a Compass for Exploring Multimodal Texts, Multilingualism, and Digital Resources","authors":"Solvita Burr","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.74","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.74","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid technological development and the growth of educators’ and students’ digital skills have allowed e-textbooks to take root in different school subjects’ pedagogical practices. This article’s aim is to compare two e-textbooks – A Guide for Exploring City Texts (Berra (Burr), 2020) and Linguistic Landscapes in English Language Teaching: A Pedagogical Guidebook (Solmaz & Przymus, 2021) – in terms of their technological and pedagogical frameworks and to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of using a language e-textbook which heavily utilizes linguistic landscape signs. The comparison shows that the e-textbooks’ main technological advantages are hyperlinking, bookmarking, highlighting, annotating, and searching. Their content uncovers pedagogical concepts they both share: (1) authenticity, (2) resourcefulness, (3) connectivism, (4) a focus on text genres. Language in both textbooks is understood in the context of semiotic resources, so knowledge and skills in one language are inextricably linked to awareness of other languages, semiotic consciousness, and multiliteracies. The learning process in both e-textbooks is designed in a way that students interactively create and contribute knowledge and apply them in various real-life situations. There are a few drawbacks of the e-textbooks. First, their current technological do not allow for changing the order, length, or content of chapters, subchapters, or sections. Second, a lack of space for writing answers in e-textbooks, which can be frustrating for students. Third, none of the e-textbooks provides content for the entire study year/course, language level, or national subject standard.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127049749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Executive Functions in Connection with the Development of Bilingual Speech of Senior Pre-schoolers","authors":"V. Khotinets, O. Kozhevnikova","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.43","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.43","url":null,"abstract":"The paper analyzes the topical problems of bilingualism effects and its benefits in cognitive control of speech activity in two or more languages. In psychological science, there is insufficient research on the cognitive regulation of bilinguals in connection with speech development in the first and the second languages especially of children in the pre-school period that is characterized by a leap in speech development, functional restructuring, and expansion of regulatory resources. There is scarcity of works related to the specifics of cognitive control of speech activity of bilingual children with different levels of language proficiency and usage. The research aim was to examine the regulatory functions coordinative and subordinative preschool bilinguals in actualization of speech activity in their native and Russian languages. The study involved 65 bilingual children (Udmurt/Russian) aged 5.7 to 7.5 from preschool institutions of the Udmurt Republic: children with coordinative bilingualism (n = 32, 15 boys, 17 girls) equally speaking both languages and subordinative bilingualism with significant interference of the dominant language (mother tongue) while using the other (n = 33, 17 boys, 16 girls). Data collection materials were presented to the subjects in two versions: in the native and Russian languages. Theresearch techniques used in the study included: the Stroop Color and Word Test, “The Classification of Geometric Figures” “Verbal memory” “Visual Memory” “Verbal antonyms,” “Verbal classifications,” “Speech development (correction, restoration, completion of statements)” tests. The methods of mathematical statistics – descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U-test, the Spearman correlation coefficient were used in data analysis. Based on the results of the empirical study, the fact of the absence of significant differences in the cognitive regulation of speech activity in the native language of preschoolers with coordinative and subordinative bilingualism was established. The obtained research results confirm astatement of Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory that speech development causes changes in the development of regulatory functions. The practical significance of the findings is reinforced by the escalation of emigration processes in most countries increasing the professional responsibility of educators in supporting diversity and preserving the uniqueness of the childhood as an important stage in the general development of a person.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129449404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ona Monkevičienė, Birutė Autukevičienė, Kristina Stankevičienė
{"title":"The Impact of Reading Self-Made Personalised Books on Two- to Four-Year-Old Children’s Linguistic Expressions When Speaking about Themselves","authors":"Ona Monkevičienė, Birutė Autukevičienė, Kristina Stankevičienė","doi":"10.22364/htqe.2021.47","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2021.47","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to analyse the impact of reading personalised books on the linguistic expression of two-to four-year-old children when speaking spontaneously about themselves during the sensitive period of self-identification. A natural experiment was carried out using self-made books, which consisted of personalised and non-personalised parts. The personal parts of the books, which reflected each child’s home environment and what they liked, were specially designed for each child. Thirty-six children aged between two and four years who attended an early childhood education institution participated in the study. The study sessions were recorded. The data analysis was conducted by applying a case study method, and the collected data were analysed qualitatively by assessing the content of the children’s speech, emotions and gestures. Five typical cases were identified and described. They substantiated that the personalised parts of the books consisting of pictures from each child’s environment encouraged them to use more words when speaking about themselves, to use more varied and complex means of linguistic expression when talking about familiar things, to choose appropriate linguistic means when referring to the self in the first person and/or to speak about themselves from the perspective of the other. The influence of the personalised parts of the books was not observed until the children started identifying themselves as separate subjects.","PeriodicalId":173607,"journal":{"name":"Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125716615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}