The article points to new competencies required from basic school teachers, reinforced by the reform processes in the educational system in Latvia, the quality assurance of educational process, and modernisation and critical re-evaluation of educational materials and standards. The authors view sustainability as an integral part of reform processes in the country.The aim of the study is to evaluate the perspective of basic education teachers from the diverse regions of Latvia on the use of holistic approach for shaping the content of basic education. The authors have analysed basic school teachersí understanding of a holistic approach towards teaching and a learner. By means of a survey the authors have explored the features of teachersí perception of a holistic approach to their teaching. The authors conclude that sustainability cannot be left to the initiative of individual teachers but should be implemented as a whole-school policy.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced regular patters of career guidance. Globally everything has stopped: projects were postponed, and workplaces were closed but this situation has pushed career counselors to search for new opportunities about how career guidance could be carried out. The pandemic has intensified existing challenges in society, adding complexity for the processes of a transition of educational systems towards digitalization and have intensified the need for remote career guidance. Young people become particularly vulnerable to the digital divide. Career development support has been at risk with the emergence of an unpredictable future. However, career guidance during the pandemic can serve as a tool for understanding the situation in depth and searching for new opportunities that exist, by helping individuals to overcome anxiety. While practicing physical distancing, career counselors have kept active professional networks in assisting their clients with their needs. The operation of career guidance has been transferred mainly to the online format and has required the counselors to develop new skills and competencies. The methodology employed in this study included interviews with individual career counselors about the main challenges and solutions discovered during the lockdown. Career counselors were questioned also about how they shaped a more sustainable and flexible online career guidance system. They revealed details about their struggles and hopes encountered in the situation of crises. The authors point to critical areas for improvement that career counselor can provide to their clients during the lockdown.

The relationship between gender and managers' innovation capability is not thoroughly investigated, and the innovator's contribution and men and women's impact on innovation management is not clearly stated in the research literature. Although recent studies have shown a positive impact of gender on organizational innovations, women managers are still considered less innovative compared to their male counterparts. The paper examines an under-researched role of innovators and their genders in managing innovations in organizations and aims at identifying women and men managers' innovation capability in the context of newly emerging economy of Central Asia. The quantitative research method (a multivariate closed questionnaire) was utilized among 224 respondents from Kazakhstani private organizations functioning in extraction, construction, production, energy, service, trade, and education industries. Subordinates assessed their supervisors' (first-line, middle-level, and top managers) innovation capability: stance on innovations, support of subordinates for innovative ideas and activity, and adopting innovations. Linear regression analysis was used for the hypotheses testing and further data assaying. The findings define that women and men managers demonstrate an equally positive attitude towards innovations in organizations but the former outperform the latter in adopting innovations and encouraging employees to innovate. The work lays the ground for further research in the region of Central Asia and emerging countries with dynamic but unstable economic development. The involvement of more women managers in innovations will further a long-term impact on subordinates' satisfaction, dedication to organization and performance. The social implication of the present work lies in increasing executives and senior officials' awareness of the positive effect of gender diversity on organization innovative capability.

To date, the various female and male social characteristics and social roles existing in different societies have been researched. Some aspects of gender similarities and differences have also been studied in Latvia, in the branches of family, legal, judicial psychology and management. Yet, the issue of gender peculiarities at a specific stage of personality development has not been sufficiently addressed, especially with regard to similarities and differences of gender behaviour in the youth, early and mid-maturity age groups. Hence, a study of this issue ought to be considered as justified and necessary. Consequently, the main aim of this research is to explore gender-specific behaviours of Latvian males and females in the youth, early and mid-maturity age groups. The theoretical grounds of this study, based on both classical theories and current research results, triggered the authors' scientific curiosity and contributed to the formulation of three research questions about gender similarities and differences in the behaviours of Latvian males and females at the ages of youth, early and mid-maturity. Quantitative methodology was used to conduct the present research. 168 respondents (N = 168) from different regions of Latvia aged 18 to 60 took part in Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) survey. Statistical methods for data analysis: Cronbach's Alpha coefficient to determine the credibility and consistency of the indicators, NPar Test to determine the distribution of the obtained results, linear regression to analyse the differences in Enter results, descriptive statistics. On the basis of survey results, gender-specific behaviours of Latvian males and females in the youth, early and mid-maturity age groups were defined, and their dynamics were explored. In the course of the present research, it was concluded that resulting from the construction of social models for male and female gender-specific behaviours, the system of values, which is defined by the social culture and the accepted social norms, becomes the determinant.

Teachers are being identified as key actors for ensuring quality education, therefore they need to receive a proper professional support during their first years of work in overcoming initial challenges. As the preliminary research indicates, support that they gain is systemic and fragmentary. The aim of the study is to explore the sustainability and unsustainability aspects of integration of novice teachers in the secondary school system. The research methods employ are semi-structured interviews with fourteen teachers on their adaptation experience in the school system, considering both obstacles and factors of success. Research indicates that novice teachers leave their work within the first three years of teaching by finding demands too high and workload sometimes unmanageable. The authors offer suggestions for a more efficient and coherent process of mentoring and professional development of novice teachers.