PERCEPTIONS OF TODAY’S YOUNG GENERATION ABOUT MEANINGFUL LEARNING OF STEM

The necessity of STEM knowledge is being more widely acknowledged as the priority in the development of education; however, students lack sufficient knowledge and interest in the acquisition of STEM subjects. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the teaching and learning methods that would correspond to the contemporary young generation and that would facilitate meaningful learning of modern students. Performing the survey of 256 students in Grades 10 – 12 of Latvia, students’ perceptions on how they understand and interpret their STEM learning and methods used by teachers have been explored. The questionnaire in the QuestionPro e-environment was designed according to the criteria de…

PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP ASPECTS OF LATVIAN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS’ LEADERS

Leadership of vocational education institutions’ leaders is one of the leading resources in order to provide access, quality, competitiveness and sustainability of vocational education. The goal of the research is to analyse leadership of vocational education institutions’ leaders on the basis of the Charismatic, Emotional, Anticipatory, Professional, Participatory, Cultural, Formative and Administrative Dimensions (Gento & González, 2012) identified due to the analysis of scientific literature and normative documents in the context of the vocational education reform. The outcomes of the quantitative research testify that students assess the vocational education institution leaders’ lea…

Improvement of Media Competence within Cooperative Learning Process in a Vocational Education Institution

<p><em>Basing on the theoretical formulations concerning the functions and competence of media, as well as cooperative learning the authors developed a model aimed at improvement of media competence of the vocational education institutions’ students. The elaborated model offers teachers in various vocational educational institutions to generate and develop ideas for media competence perfection, ensuring an opportunity in an interdisciplinary project to use the multiform functions of media competence (information, technologies, computer, network, critical and visual) and cooperative learning to ensure efficient learning process. The aim of the article is to analyze the results ob…

Enhancing the Skill Sets for Increasing Youth Employability in Latvia

Globalization, the development of new technologies, an ageing population, and the economic situation will continue influencing the skills mix; therefore, special attention has to be paid to young people to develop a skilled workforce responding to the current and future labour market needs, as well as to promote lifelong learning. The present study explores different concepts of employability and analyses employability skills of young people (aged 15-29) focusing on the most significant skills and the possible ways of enhancing their development. A survey of 405 youngsters and 81 representatives of institutions conducted in Latvia resulted in developing certain recommendations on how to inc…

SOCIO-PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT TO YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN INTEGRATION PROCESS

The purpose of the article is on the basis of theoretical formulations to analyze participation and integration as pedagogical category and socio-pedagogical means, facilitating the participation of youth in integration process in two aspects – in educational system and labour market, linkages between participation and understanding the integration  as terminal (related to life goals), instrumental (means of reaching life goals) and opportune (related to opportunities) value as well as implicants of efficient participation.

PROPOSAL OF FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL EDUCATION FOR NEW GENERATION DIGITAL LEARNING DEMAND IN ENGINEERING

Millennial generation, starting from twelve-year-olds up to adolescents, is one of the most complicated generational cohorts; its ecosystem, beyond of formal and non-formal education boundaries, is more diverse than for any other previous generation. Digital learners prefer a digital learning environment, as the advantage of digital learning is the control over time, place, way and pace, enabling you to impersonate as an educational institution, applying smart personal network which consists of 3 domains: applied smart technologies; reflexive pedagogy for the digital century [1]; learning environment [2], thus without any confrontation of formal and non-formal education, but rather with con…

Technology as a Tool in STEM Teaching and Learning

Understandings of Character and Virtue Education in Riga: Main Findings

Case of Latvia in the Evaluation of Adult Education: Issues and Solutions

<p><em>In the context of research the evaluation of adult education is analyzed as a process and outcome, emphasizing the evaluation of performance; goals are related to the assurance of quality and sustainability according to learners' needs; competence indicators are methodology, motivation, communication and management; evaluation involves self-evaluation, external evaluation and consolidation.</em></p><p><em>The goal of the article is to analyze the experience of adult educators in the field of evaluation. Methods - analysis of literature and interviews with Latvia’s education policy makers and implementers in AQUAD environment.</em></p>&l…

Promoting youth entrepreneurship and employability through non-formal and informal learning: the Latvia case

This paper presents some results of the research on ‘Adult education resources to reduce youth unemployment’, which is a part of the project ‘Implementation of the European agenda for adult learning’. The research applies a mixed-method approach (quantitative and qualitative data analysis). The purpose of the paper is to identify the most/least-efficient non-formal and informal learning methods, forms, and initiatives to promote youth entrepreneurship and employability in Latvia as well as to show the relationship between the profile of young adults and their opinion on these methods, forms, and initiatives. The findings show that the young adults stressed the importance of cooperation with…

DESIGNING A TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR CHARACTER EDUCATION: AN INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP

There is a need of innovative teacher training programmes for character education. This paper addresses three research questions: What are the challenges that a teacher training programme for character education should address? What are the learning outcomes that the programme should achieve? How should the programme be structured for supporting the achievement of those learning outcomes? Two regional authorities, three schools, three universities and a centre of teacher training from Latvia, Estonia and Spain created a strategic partnership for answering these research questions, using design-based implementation research. The results include six domains of learning outcomes and a programm…

Impact of Plurilingualism on Learning Quality in Evening (Shift) Schools

<p><em>This paper presents the main findings of the second stage of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Lifelong Learning study (2011-2014) on identification of good practices that facilitate adult learning (aged 18-24) engagement in second chance education in evening (shift) schools. It analyses students’ perceptions of plurilingual learning processes and the impact of people’s plurilingualism on their learning. The methodology of early school leavers’ learning in working life research was used applying combined phenomenological semi-structured and narrative interviews. 116 people (72 early school leavers and 44 second chance education teachers) representing all geographical regions…