Civic participation, initiative and interest in current events can bridge the alienation felt towards national and municipal institutions, thereby enabling individuals to improve their quality of life and contribute to all-round sustainable development of their resident state. This paper reports on a participatory action research study into civic initiatives for securitability involving novice teachers and youngsters from the Latgale region of Latvia. Research participants evaluated national planning documents, enhanced their knowledge and devised civic initiatives to improve the quality of life. Focus group discussions and reasoned argumentative essays were employed to establish how novice teachers (n = 40) and youngsters (n = 58) make sense of the concept of ëhuman securitabilityí. Data analysis was accomplished by qualitative content analysis. The action research exposed an initial understanding of novice teachers and youngsters regarding the human securitability and the possibilities of improving the quality of life. Moreover, this study provided an environment for the research participants to deepen their understanding of said phenomena and participate in educational events envisioning practical engagement with securitability and civic initiatives. The action research study created initiatives for the development of civic securitability and the participation in setting developmental goals.
The article presents small-scale qualitative research that reveals the views of teacher education (TE) experts from different geographical regions of Europe on teacher education admission criteria (TEA) today and in the future world. This exploration would open the international debate on the future need to reinvent the TE, TEA, and rethink the qualities of the TE candidates in a sustainable TE framework for the wide diversity of European countries. Data were collected from ten experts using a qualitative questionnaire with eight open questions, including one multiple choice question. Inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis was performed on the qualitative data collected. This study gives voice to professionals in TE and TEA, allowing them to express concerns, perspectives, and visions of current and future TE and TEA. In light of the cultural, social, political, and educational context in several European countries, the findings illustrate the scope of similar and unique discourses that are considered crucial in educational politics and decision making on the national, regional and pan-European scale.
Career Education for Teachers: Reflections on ESF Project Implementation in Latvia
In Latvia, the issues of career education are most often addressed by school teachers. In 2003, the Standards of Teacher Profession adopted by the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia provided the list of teachers' duties, tasks, and specific skills. One of such skills is to help pupils to understand the professional activities and to teach them career planning. This issue is given insufficient attention in teacher professional education. The article aims to use the context of sustainable education to analyze the activities carried out within the National Program Project Career Education Activity Provision in the System of Education co-financed by the European Social Fund. The questionnaires were designed to determine the needs for teacher education in relation to learner's career education. The data were obtained from in-service teachers (N=228) involved in career advising activities for their pupils in all regions of Latvia and were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results approve and elaborate on a necessity of integrating career education issues in the teacher education curriculum.
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