Training Of Social Pedagogues In Lithuania

KLAIPËDA UNIVERSITYRaimundas ÈepukasA NON-UNIVERSITY TRAININGTENDENCIES OF SOCIAL PEDAGOGUESAND THEIR EVALUATION IN LITHUANIASummary of doctoral dissertationSocial Sciences, Educology (07S)KLAIPËDA, 20051The dissertation was developed in the period of 1999–2003 at Vilnius PedagogicalUniversity.Scientific supervisors of the dissertation:Prof. Hab. Dr. Juozas Vaitkevièius (Vilnius Pedagogical University, SocialSciences, Educology – 07S) 1999–2002;Prof. Hab. Dr. Zenonas Bajoriûnas (Vilnius Pedagogical University, SocialSciences, Educology – 07S) 2002–2003.The dissertation is defended in the study committee of Educology sciencefield of Klaipeda University.ChairmanHab. Dr. Vilija Targamadzë (Klaipëda University, Social Sciences, Educology– 07S)Members:Prof. Hab. Dr. Marija Barkauskaitë (Vilnius Pedagogical University, SocialSciences, Educology – 07S)Doc. Dr. Liudmila Rupðienë (Klaipëda University, Social Sciences, Educology– 07S)Doc. Dr. Vanda Kavaliauskienë (Klaipëda University, Social Sciences,Educology – 07S)Doc. Dr. Giedrë Kvieskienë (Vilnius Pedagogical University, Social Sciences,Educology – 07S)Opponents:Prof. Hab. Dr. Kæstutis Kardelis (Academy of Physical Education, SocialSciences, Educology – 07S)Doc. Dr. Elvyra Giedraitienë (Klaipëda University, Social Sciences, Educology– 07S)The dissertation is defended in the study committee of Educology science field ofKlaipeda University. The dissertation is defended in a public sitting of the Educologyscience field study committee which is taking place , 13.00, February 10th, 2005, atKlaipeda University, the Faculty of Pedagogy, room 211.Address: S. Neries str. 5, LT–5800, Klaipeda, Lithuania.The summary of the dissertation was posted January 9th, 2005.The dissertation is available in the Library of Klaipeda University and library ofVilnius Pedagogical University.2KLAIPËDOS UNIVERSITETASRaimundas ÈepukasSOCIALINIØ PEDAGOGØNEUNIVERSITETINIO RENGIMOTENDENCIJOS IR JØ ÁVERTINIMASLIETUVOJEDaktaro disertacijos santraukaSocialiniai mokslai, edukologija 07SKLAIPËDA, 20053Disertacija rengta 1999–2003 metais Vilniaus pedagoginiame universiteteMoksliniai disertacinio darbo vadovai:prof. habil. dr. Juozas Vaitkevièius (Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas,socialiniai mokslai, edukologija – 07S) 1999– 2002;prof. habil. dr. Zenonas Bajoriûnas (Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas,socialiniai mokslai, edukologija – 07S) 2002– 2003.Disertacija ginama Klaipëdos universiteto Edukologijos mokslo kryptiestarybojePirmininkashabil. dr. Vilija Targamadzë (Klaipëdos universitetas, socialiniai mokslai,edukologija – 07S)Nariai:prof. habil. dr. Marija Barkauskaitë (Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas,socialiniai mokslai, edukologija – 07S)doc. dr. Liudmila Rupðienë (Klaipëdos universitetas, socialiniai mokslai,edukologija – 07S)doc. dr. Vanda Kavaliauskienë (Klaipëdos universitetas, socialiniai mokslai,edukologija – 07S)doc. dr. Giedrë Kvieskienë (Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas, socialiniaimokslai, edukologija – 07S)Oponentai:prof. habil. dr. Kæstutis Kardelis (Lietuvos kûno kultûros akademija, socialiniaimokslai, edukologija – 07S)doc. dr. Elvyra Giedraitienë (Klaipëdos universitetas, socialiniai mokslai,edukologija – 07S)Disertacija bus ginama vieðame Edukologijos mokslo krypties tarybos posëdyje2005 m. vasario 10 d. 13 val. Klaipëdos universiteto Pedagogikos fakulteto 211kabinete.Adresas: S.Neries g. 5, LT– 5800, Klaipëda, Lietuva.Disertacijos santrauka iðsiuntinëta 2005 m. sausio mën. 9 d.Disertacijà galima perþiûrëti Klaipëdos universiteto ir Vilniaus pedagoginiouniversiteto bibliotekose.4IntroductionThe scientific problem being analysed in the dissertation. The change of theLithuanian society, the processes of European Integration, economy reform, theestablishment of the society of information, the progress of science and technologystimulate the whole educational system of Lithuania to renovate. The changes inlabour market require from every member of society to reach for better education.Higher education is not a privilege of the favoured, it becomes a general phenomenonin most of the cases. The number of students in higher schools in Lithuania increasesthis way demanding for the creation of a flexible binary system of higher educationwhere higher non-university education (oriented towards the acquisition of aprofession) functions alongside with higher university (academic) education. Itsimprovement attracts much attention recently. 1st September, 2000 the Law ofHigher Education of the Republic of Lithuania (2000) validated the binary systemof higher education in which two levels are stressed: university and non-university.Then the training of social pedagogues on a non-university level was started.The science of social pedagogy that has been initiated in the interwar Lithuaniaby J.Vabalas-Gudaitis, S. Ðalkauskis, J. Lauþikas and developed in the last decades ofthe XX century by J. Vaikevièius has acquired new meaning. The relevance of socialpedagogy in today’s Lithuania is highlighted due to the consequences of theestablishment of industrial, post-industrial and knowledge society. The dynamiccharacter of society life points out many problems of youth education. School finds itdifficult to deal with those problems. According to J. Vaitkevièius (1995) the solutionof the problems ask for social pedagogues having broad understanding and knowledgein the areas of general pedagogy, education theory, psychology, history, literature,economics, ecology, ethics, aesthetics, law, art, applied medicine, family science,sociology, public and other sciences and arts.Taking into consideration the changing social situation, the state of the wholeeducational system and the theoretical and practical experience of foreign countriesin social area, Lithuania has started solving theoretical and practical issues of socialpedagogy. Under the initiative of professor B. Bitinas, in 1990, Vilnius PedagogicalUniversity has started the training of social pedagogues. In 1989 the first people wereemployed to work in this position in the following schools: Kaunas Palemonassecondary school (the director Dr. I. Leliûgienë) and Këdainiai district Akademijasecondary school (the director Dr. R. Lengvinas).There are two models of the training of social pedagogues prevailing in the world– applied (professional non-university) and university. The first model makes theemphasis on the subject training of a social pedagogue and pays less attention towardsgeneral (fundamental) and pedagogical training. The second model (university)acknowledges the priority of the fundamental sciences (Miðkinis, 2001). The Law of5Higher Education of the Republic of Lithuania validates the realisation of thementioned training models of social pedagogues on a non-university level as well.The training of social pedagogues on a non-university level that started in 2000determined the problem: what should be a non-university training of social pedagoguesand what should be the possibilities for its practical realisation?The formulation of the problem allows defining the research object – the trainingof social pedagogues on a non-university level. The scientific solution of the research objectthat corresponds the subject of cognitive activity (the solution of the research object) isorientated towards the theoretical reasoning of a social pedagogues’ training model on anon-university level and the assessment of the consequences of its practical realisation.A non-university training model of social pedagogues has been chosen as anindependent variable for the scientific analysis of the research object in order to assessthe possibilities of its practical realisation and its relevance in the training of socialpedagogues in a higher non-university school. The following components of theconstruct under research (a non-university training model of social pedagogues) arechosen to act as dependent variables of the research – professional competences of socialpedagogues, areas of their activity, the attitude of the students and teachers towardsprofessional competences, study aims, the attitude of the working social pedagoguestowards the areas of professional activity and professional competences.The selection of the variables for the solution of the problem issue aimed at thetheoretical reasoning of a non-university training of social pedagogues and theevaluation of the possibilities for its practical realisation.To achieve the foreseen aim the following research objectives were sighted inthe dissertation:1. To analyse non-university training of social pedagogues in theoretical andpractical terms.2. To develop an empirical testing of the professional standard for the trainingof social pedagogues.3. Develop a non-university study program of social pedagogy and assess it inthe context of the future professional competences of social pedagogues andgoal realisation.The logics for solution of the research aim, objectives and epistemology is basedon a nomotetive (normative) and ideographical (interpretative) paradigm of socialsciences, reasoning itself on quantitative and qualitative attitude towards research. Itsscientific value is described by quantitative (an attempt to make an insight into theregularity of the characters under research) and qualitative (connected to thecompetences of a social pedagogue) indexes.6Theoretical significance and scientific novelty of the dissertation research.The theory of the development of professional competences has been reasoned andnon-university training of social pedagogues has been tested empirically.The areas of professional activity and professional competences of socialpedagogues identified.Professional competences of the future social pedagogues in the realisation ofstudy goals assessed.Theoretical novelty of the research is created by the transition of fundamentaltheoretical personal competences and the problems of his/her system of professionalactivity into reality when the interaction between the activity of social pedagoguesand professional competences is assured, when the processes of change become typicaland overall paradigms of public life and education.Practical significance and application prospects of the research. Scientificallyreasoned and empirically tested a non-university training standard of social pedagoguesis significant in the analysis of the binary system of higher education in Lithuania.The mentioned standard highlights interactive tendencies between competence andactivity context. In addition, it presents the description of the areas of activity andcompetences of social pedagogues that allow developing new study programs.The competences typical to the profession of social pedagogues have been revealedin the dissertation. They serve as general aims of a study program that are taken intoaccount when formulating subject study aims.The standard for the professional training of social pedagogues has beendeveloped. This standard is vital for the development of non-university study programsof social pedagogy and in-service training. Its general attitudes may be applied in thetraining of pedagogues of different areas.The defended statements of the dissertation:Non-university training of social pedagogues is a new phenomenon in Lithuaniathat reflects the tendencies of education development of modern society and indicatesthat professional non-university studies are typical for the training of social pedagoguesand which belong to the level 5b (according to ISCED, 1997), i.e. more practicalstudy programs and of professional orientation are attributed there.The developed professional standard for the training of a social pedagogue definesthe areas of his/her professional activity, professional competences, study aims andthe final evaluation.The highlighted interactive tendencies between competence and activity context,defined areas of activity and competences of social pedagogues allow developingstudy programs that aim at the development of professional competences.7The research methodologyThe second part of the dissertation presents the research methodology. Theanalysis of the Lithuanian references on the training of social pedagogues on a non-university level and the reasoning of the research problem indicates that the constructunder research in Lithuania created by the author of the dissertation is an educationalphenomenon that merely lacks any attention and discussion. Thus, it requires formore consistent and thorough research, asks for the reasoning of the instrumentationof its dependent variables and their assessment criteria.Conceptual ideas of the research are based on the following:• A concept of competence, as a measure for reasoning the content of educationalprograms (Mertens, 1974; Bowden, 1997);• The theoretical outline of the study programmers based on the professionalcompetencies (Barnet, 1995);• Cognitive constructive attitude towards competence. It makes a stresses academicteaching, there arises a relation problem between the profoundness ofunderstanding and long-term activity (Eraut, 1990);• Consistency of the theories of the foreign countries’ experience modernisation anddependence (Postlethwaite, 1998).The methods of the research. The research on the training of social pedagogueson non-university level in Lithuania is reasoned by the principle of triangulation, i.e.the attitude that one research method is insufficient to receive a deep understandingof a phenomenon under research, reveal its peculiarities and in an empirical way(method) reason the model of non-university training of social pedagogue. Thus,basing on the nomotetive (normative) and ideographical (interpretative) paradigms ofsocial sciences which serve as the basis for the triangulation principle (Kardelis, 2002),quantitave and qualitative methods have been selected for the research on the non-university training model of social pedagogues: a questionnaire based analysis of theattitudes of social pedagogues, students and teachers ( a quantitative research) andthe identification of the professional competences of social pedagogues and the analysisof the content of documents (qualitative research).A questionnaire based inquiry method on the attitudes of social pedagogues aimedto analyse the professional competences of social pedagogues and the areas of theirpractical activity. The questionnaire addressed the teachers and students from highernon-university educational institutions that are training social pedagogues and aimedto find out their attitude towards the professional competences of non-universitysocial pedagogy study programs, study aims and the activity areas of a social pedagogue.The questionnaires for social pedagogues, teachers and students are reasoned in the8subchapters 2.4.1. – 2.4.3. of the dissertation and their examples are presented in theannexes No 9, 10 and 11.Professional competences of social pedagogues have been identified by anobservation method. A questionnaire based analysis served to find out the attitudes ofthe respondents but the author of the dissertation found it insufficient for the questionof the research. Thus he employed observation which helped to reveal deeply thevariables of the construct under research. The reasoning of the application of themethod mentioned above is presented in the subchapter 2.3. of the dissertation.An expert method was employed to assess the professional standard for the trainingof social pedagogues. It is described in the subchapter 2.5. Its application allowedreceiving not only essential information about the activity areas, professionalcompetences of social pedagogues, study aims but also to supplement by other methodsapplied the received analogical data collected within the research.The method of documentation analysis was employed to assess the professionalcompetences of social pedagogues, study aims and the objectives of study subjects(the method is described in the subchapter 2.2. of the dissertation).The participants of the research.Five independent sets of respondents were constructed within the research. Theactivity of 52 social pedagogues, selected randomly, was observed to identify theprofessional competences of social pedagogues.To find out the attitude of the students towards professional competences andstudy aims the research involved 308 1st–4th year students of a social pedagogy studyprogram at non-university level (42 male respondents and 276 female respondents)from Utena, Marijampolë, Klaipëda and Vilnius colleges. The representative setmade 84,61% of the total general set.Analogical teacher survey involved 55 teachers teaching the subjects of theprofession that aim at the acquisition of professional competences within non-universitystudy program of social pedagogy, selected randomly from Utena, Marijampolë,Klaipëda and Vilnius colleges. The total number of teachers that teach the subjectsmentioned above is 82. The chosen set covered 67% of the total number of teachers.A questionnaire based survey was employed to interview 80 social pedagogues,selected randomly from various educational institutions. The total number of socialpedagogues working in Lithuania at the moment of the survey was 365. The set ofthis research involved 22% of all the working social pedagogues.The application of expert assessment method involved 9 teachers of SocialPedagogy Department at Vilnius Pedagogical University, who got acquainted withthe project of the standard for the professional training of social pedagogues andpresented their comments and recommendations for its improvement during the9meeting of the Social Pedagogy Department. The project has also been discussed by11 members of the working group from the Ministry of Science and Education thatinitiated the introduction of a social pedagogue’s position. 3 scientific readers of thedissertation (prof. I. Leliûgienë, prof. A. Bagdonas, the director of Baltupiai secondaryschool V. Blinovas) have written their reviews (Annex 2). The project has also beendiscussed and evaluated in a qualified way by the workers of Professional TrainingCentre Standard Department and 8 people expert group from the economy branch“Health Care, Social Work” (Annex 3) and was presented for approval by the Ministerof Science and Education (Annex 4).The organisation of the researchThe research was carried out in the period between 1999–2003. It was performedin five stages.The first stage (1999–2000) involved the analysis of scientific references anddocuments. A non-university training of social pedagogues was analysed in theoreticaland practical terms, a non-university study program of social pedagogy was developed.The second stage (2000–2001) involved the development of the professionaltraining standard for social pedagogues. The activity of 52 social pedagogues wasobserved for five days according to a beforehand developed observation plan; 260observation protocols were written in total.The third stage (2001–2002) involved the empirical assessment of the professionalstandard of the training of social pedagogues. A questionnaire based inquiry was employedto find out the attitude of the students and teachers from higher non-university schoolsand social pedagogues towards the professional competences of non-university studiesof social pedagogy, study aims and the areas of activity of a social pedagogue.The fourth stage (2002–2003) covered an expert method that was employed toassess the professional standard for the training of social pedagogues. The opinion ofthe experts on the areas of activity of social pedagogues, professional competencesand study aims was generalised. The data on the professional competences of socialpedagogues was collected by observing social pedagogues in action and discussingwith them. The generalised opinion was evaluated by the following experts: theteachers of Social Pedagogy Department at Vilnius Pedagogical University and themembers of the working group from the Ministry of Science and Education thatinitiated the introduction of a social pedagogue’s position. The set was made of 9teachers of Social Pedagogy Department of Vilnius Pedagogical University, 11members of the working group from the Ministry of Science and Education thatinitiated the introduction of a social pedagogue’s position and the workers ofProfessional Training Centre Standard Department and 8 people expert group fromthe economy branch “Health Care, Social Work”.10