Opportunities for Improving the Legal and Institutional Framework Aimed at the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Romania

Author(s): Maria HANYECZ-DEBELKA / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

This paper is focusing on the current legal and institutional settings promoting the social and educational inclusion of children living with disabilities in Romania. The research is based on the analysis of relevant statistical and legal documents, in addition to the outcome of a focus group interview conducted by the author with representatives of institutions providing educational and social services aimed at various categories of disabled children. The study tackles issues which are important for the success of inclusive social policies aimed at children and young people living with disabilities. The research is discussing the following dimensions: support infrastructure and legal framework for children and young people with disabilities the system of social services,; accessibility and efficiency of services; human resources and issues related to professional development, curriculum of individualized child development programs, career orientation. The underlying hypothesis is that in order to be successful, the educational and social service system should provide personalized services and individualized development and career paths driven by the particular needs and conditions of each child. The paper concludes that in order to alleviate or eliminate possible disadvantaging effects, social actions and policies undertaken by the family, school, civil society and community should be linked as parts of a coherent action strategy.

Прекумерна регулација како средство за контрола: Задушување на слободата на медиумите и образовниот систем во Македонија1

Author(s): Jordan Šišovski ,Kalina Lechevska / Language(s): English,Macedonian Issue: 1-2/2015

This paper is adaptation of the policy paper: Jordan Shishovski, Kalina Lechevska, Technology of State Capture: Overregulation in Macedonian Media and Academia, (Skopje: ISSHS, 2015) The Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje analyzed the executive branch’s use of administrative fines under laws covering the media and the educational system from 1995 to 2014. The analysis found that existing regulations allow the government through its ministries and regulatory bodies to impose excessive sanctions that exert pressure on the media and the educational system. The exceptionally detailed regulations that the executive branch is empowered to enforce, result in suspension of media and academic freedom in ways that are empirically measurable. Through excessive administrative fining the executive branch can establish total control over the media and education, and even decide on their existence within a legal, but not legitimate, framework.

Размышления о пенитенциарной педагогике в Германии

Author(s): Philipp Walkenhorst / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

Both, the German Prison Act and the Youth Courts Law empower a life in freedom without committing offence as well as social responsibility. In particular the employees of the General Penal Service accompanying the detainees in their everyday life are granted an essential peda-gogical role with regard to the basic forms of educational activities and the perpetual life-long development of each human. Being officials, they are required to represent the basic values of democracy and human rights. In many cases the employees´ occupational choice cannot be at-tributed to a pedagogical motivation as it runs the risk of pedagogy and encouragement fading into the background. This is why the prison practice has to be enriched with professional ethics.

THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL COUNSELLOR IN SCHOOL–COMMUNITY COLLABORATION: THE CASE OF SLOVENIA

Author(s): Petra Gregorčič Mrvar,Jasna Mažgoň / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

The article presents some essential characteristics of collaboration between the school counselling service and individuals or institutions in the community. The role of school counselling in Slovenia is not limited merely to counselling and providing direct assistance to students with learning and their personal development. Rather, it includes the encouragement of all participants in the educational process to create adequate learning environments. The role, however, should also be understood in broader terms as organizational and content collaboration with external environments, institutions and individuals in the community. The authors begin by proposing some starting points for collaboration between the school counselling service and the local community and, in the second part of the article, they move on to the findings of their empirical research study, conducted on a representative sample of school counsellors working in Slovenian primary schools. The results prove the need for collaboration between the school counselling service and different institutions or individuals in the community. The authors primarily focus on examining the obstacles and drawbacks to the collaboration, while they simultaneously highlight examples of good practice that enable constructive collaboration, without which schools and school-based counselling would not be able to contribute to educational processes. The described examples demonstrate that collaboration between schools/school counsellors and institutions/individuals in the community is crucial to solving the problems that students and their families face.

Legislative Changes and Contemporary Trends in Human Resources Training in Education

Author(s): Simona Marin / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2011

At European level, the changes that have occurred in recent years have generated a unified approach at least in regards with the teachers’ training, which brought about changes in the Romanian educational system as well. Therefore, all syllabi regarding the training of future teachers were brought under regulation in order to function only at the level of higher education, regardless of the specialization conferred by the diploma. At the same time, the desire to align national standards to the international ones in the teacher training field has generated a phenomenon contrary to the university’s autonomy policy, all higher education institutions choosing their own management of the psychopedagogical studies syllabus, without changing the specific curriculum imposed by the Ministry. All these legislative changes would have been considered major changes unless the enactment of the National Education Law no. 1 of 2011, which brings the most profound and comprehensive restructuring of the education system in the last 20 years. Reforming initiatives are being implemented and will be supplemented by other measures and their effects will be noticed in time, when the expected increase in the quality of education will be conclusive.

Oktatáspolitikai reformirányzatok az OECD-országokban

Author(s): Gabriella Kelemen / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2017

OECD: Education Policy Outlook 2015: Making Reforms Happen. Paris, 2015. OECD Publishing. 312 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264225442-en

EDUCAȚIA FAMILIEI – PRIORITATE NAȚIONALĂ

Author(s): Manuela Cazan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 31/2017

Particular concern for family education in Romania (insufficiently addressed as an object of strategic policies, although increasingly more important as educational impact) is done by cultural institutions and organisations, which dedicates the work in the manner stated needs additional, complementary or continue education.Family education constitutes an essential way of achieving the informal education and exhibit its main characteristics: it is done by way of systematic, through life experiences lived in a concrete way, directly; manifest diffuse into the conduct of individuals and groups; its specific personality pervades through default, and influence continues.

ABUZURI ÎN SPATELE UŞILOR ÎNCHISE ALE MINISTERULUI EDUCAŢIEI ŞI CERCETĂRII

Author(s): I. Gabriel Năstase / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 21/2015

Since 1990, over 25 years the scientific research, technological development and innovationhas deteriorated due to incompetence of those who coordinated this area, and corruption.

RULES OF ETHICS AND DEONTOLOGY IN THE ROMANIAN CONTEMPORARY ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT

Author(s): Luciana Bezeriță (Tomescu) / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Starting from the significance of the notion of “ethics”, which has been consecrated since antiquity, we will present in this article some aspects developed in the current legislation on rules of ethics and deontology in the Romanian contemporary academic environment. The law on national education contains detailed provisions on university ethics and enshrines the obligation to adopt the Code of University Ethics and Deontology. An example in this respect is the Code of University Ethics and Deontology of the “Athenaeum” University in Bucharest, which provides a set of acknowledged values ​​and principles that underlie the rules of academic conduct. At the level of higher education institutions, Ethics and Deontology Committees are established, which draw up Annual Ethics Reports, but no centralized analysis of cases and causes of violation of university ethics has not been identified at national level to mitigate the negative impact on the quality of the educational act. In the application of the provisions of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, 2016 - 2020, university and postgraduate training programs on ethics and integrity were set up, with an optional and mandatory character, but we cannot yet speak of a centralized comparative evaluation of the results of these programs. Current approaches to the development of academic ethics promoted by academic community members should be seen as good practices that require support and sustained efforts, including from civil society, to effectively contribute to the general public welfare.

REFLECTIONS OF ENDURING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: VILLAGE INSTITUTES

Author(s): Yasemin Çiftçi,Timuçin TUNÇ / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

The Village Institutes are a major step forward in the Republican era for the development of the community as well as the education system. The students were educated in ways of vocational and technical aspects in mentioned institutions. For example; student haven’t been only taking some theoretical lessons as it is today; it has been working in the school’s field, beekeeping, raising chickens, and female students have been cooking. These lessons were given in the school curriculum have been doing as practical. In this way, both students have been fully being trained and the village's needs have been being provided and thus, these activities, which were carried out simultaneously, also have been serving social development.It is seen that today's education system is formed in the following form: in the framework of a standard education program, independent of the students' abilities, it is based on a theory and based examination system and in the form of an institutional structuring which prevents them from thinking and pushing to rote learning. Comparing the educational level of the Village Institutes with today's education level as much as possible and identifying the missing aspects of the current education system are the aims of this paper. At this point, one graduates from the Village Institutes was contacted directly and his opinions were consulted.

Célok és következmények: tanügyirányításunk átalakítása

Author(s): Zoltán Györgyi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

The study highlights, on the one hand, the extent to which changes in education governance after 2010 were in line with EU expectations and, on the other hand, the extent to which elements of the new governance system helped or hindered these governmental education policy efforts. The author sees that Hungarian education management has signs of a self-locking system, instead of a modern, responsive and reflective education that cares for the disadvantage region and disadvantage people. It barely takes EU objectives into account, and instead of cooperation of the stakeholders of the education, rather works without them. All this contributes to the decline in the performance of Hungarian education.

A hazai tanügyigazgatás jogszabályi keretei

Author(s): Zoltán Rónay / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

There is a lack of consistent and accepted compulsory definition of educational administration in the Hungarian science and the special provisions among the Hungarian legal norms. Therefore, the role of legal frameworks is more important. Firstly, the legislative intent can be reconstruction on the ground of the legal norms; secondly, they can help for them are working in the administration, to know their rights and obligatory; and if their activity is educational administration. The study tries to construct the term of educational administration and surveys the components of it from the level of government down to the schools, offering a horizontal and vertical presentation of this process. Furthermore, it was recognised that the educational administration without clear legislative definition makes possible a direct influence of state on all level of educational administration.

Magániskolák a tanügyirányítás változó rendszerében

Author(s): Eszter Szegedi / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

The central question of the study is whether there are any significant changes in the functioning of private educational institutions as a consequence of the centralizing measures after 2010, compared to the regulatory conditions at the Hungarian system change. The study explores the essential elements of the change in the regulation of the foundation and operation of schools, the trends of the proportion of private schools within the education system through the past 20 years, and the relevant funding and control system, with particular reference to indirect regulatory instruments, led to a reduction of private schools in vocational education.

Oktatási reformok és tanügyigazgatás Lengyelországban

Author(s): Kristóf Velkey / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

The study presents the various changes in the governance of the Polish education system. It focuses on how the division of responsibilities between the state and local governments changed and what factors have shaped it over the past thirty years. After 1990 the local governments gradually took over the maintenance of elementary and secondary schools from the state, while the role of the regional public education management body, the kuratorium oświaty, which was responsible for the maintenance before was transformed parallelly. During the 1999 whole system education reform the relationship and responsibilities of the kuratoriums and local governments were not defined clearly. The local governments, which were initially responsible mainly for maintenance tasks, became increasingly responsible for the quality of education, which was originally the responsibility of the kuratoriums. At the same time the authority and responsibilities of the latter were further reduced in the 2000s, their dissolution came up as well. In 2015, however, another systemic education reform was launched, revolutionizing the process. The current government is strengthening the role of the state in educational governance by broadening the responsibilities of kuratoriums.

A svéd tanügyigazgatás változásai: egy radikális modellváltás

Author(s): András Semjén / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

Sweden used to have one of the most centralised education administrations in Europe, and had good results with it concerning academic performance, educational attainment, employment and economic growth. However, the centralised system was criticised for being inefficient and expensive, and not successful in eliminating social inequalities. At the beginning of the nineties, in accordance with the then prevailing neoliberal trends, there came a radical reform. All responsibility for basic, secondary and upper secondary education was given to municipalities, and the regional education boards lost their role in transmitting governmental intentions. There was also a gradual reform of school finance, allowing municipalities to allocate government grants freely. Parents got the right to choose among schools freely. Education remained free for students not only in the public sector, but in the growing independent school sector as well. Free (or independent) schools became eligible for public funding using a voucher scheme. Although the successive governments wanted to maintain equal opportunities, the marketization of education is often criticised for the increasing signs of segregation and deteriorating student performance.

A pedagógusok szakmai fejlődését, tanulását meghatározó rendszerszabályozási környezet

Author(s): Judit Szivák,Zoltán Rónay,Judit Saad,Ágnes Fazekas / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

In this study we are attempting to investigate how the existing national regulations of the educational system influence the constant professional development of teachers. This research was conducted in the Educational Institute of ELTE PPK as part of an OTKA project aiming to describe the constant professional development of teachers and was organized to uncover the effects of strategic and legal regulating documents on the goals and expectations of teacher’s professional learning, on the support given to achieve these goals and on the supervisory functions. The study revealed that in the regulating documents the basic context of professional development is built much more on the requirements and their supervision, rather than on the image of a state-supported autonomous profession. Rarely could we identify coherent and clear concept of development, but the standardized mechanisms controlling the responsibilities of state employees.

‘TO IB OR NOT TO IB’

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Author(s): John McKEOWN / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

This localized small-scale ethnographic study addresses issues associated with students’ choices to study in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBO: IBDP, 2020), rather than following a Ministry of Education (MEB) curriculum, at a mixed-gender secular high school in Turkey. This study examines the implications that curriculum choices have on students’ pedagogic identity (Bernstein, 2000). Students’ curriculum decisions are based on academic results, on a future they envision for themselves, teacher feedback, and school participation. Student commentaries provide evidence of factors involved in how students make the choice to study the IBDP and what personal effects those decisions may have. Teaching faculty anecdotal evidence offers background information to contextualize the students’ choices. Dilts’ Logical Levels model (1986) is used to deconstruct the decisions that students make within a wider cultural context. An argument is made that acceptance into the IBDP leads to an awareness of social differences and hierarchies, and that the logic of students’ choices induces a positive selection of the more talented individuals into a group with a superior reputation, and how members of that group ‘exert control over their perceived identity’ (Kim & Loury, 2019).

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF EDUCATION IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE

Author(s): Goran Popović,Ognjen Erić,Jelena Bjelić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

This research covers an evaluation of the impact of education system, educational, scientific and other institutions on the economic growth in nine countries of Southeast Europe (SEE). The main hypothesis is the following: GDP pc growth is significant and positively correlates with the indicators of the state of education system. In addition to educational institutions, there are other social and economic indicators on which education and science depend, namely the budget and fiscal system, corruption and protection of intellectual property rights, which also have positive and significant impact on GDP pc. The stated fields are interactive. Besides GDP pc, the analysis includes another 11 variables. Factor analysis for the variables grouped into two factors shows high significance. The F-test result shows significance of the regression model. ANOVA test, too, confirms the aforementioned significance. Both variables (the first and second factor) have positive direction with GDP pc. The results show significance of the institutional-educational variable, while the impact of educational population in the model is not sufficiently significant. Econometric analysis has mainly confirmed the initial hypotheses.

Crisis of democracy and education reforms in Poland after 30 years of political transformation

Author(s): Bogusław Śliwerski / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

In this article I explain the reasons for betrayal of elites in the context of fundamental assumptions of the “Solidarity” movement in the years of 1980-1989. As a result, Polish society abandoned the deliberative and participatory democracy. I look at how education as a science and practice of education fits into democratization of the Polish state and society. The key meaning for me has the perception of education as a common good, as environments and entities, institutions or management practices which participate in the democratic society. In the transition period in Poland from 1989 till 2019 education did not become a source of ongoing changes in the country. I make a critical analysis of educational policy in Poland during the 30 years of the political transformation.

Development of Ukrainian and Global Online Education

Author(s): Sergiy Kvitka,Valentyna S. Yehorova,Tetiana O. Chepulchenko,Mykola M. Taranenko,Ivan S. Bakhov,Elena L. Feshchenko / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

The article enlightens the activities of the main public online educational platforms in Ukraine, their role in the modernization of education and their socio-political influence on changes in the state. Interdependence is observed between the specificity, inherent in different stages of distance education progress. Problematic issues in the field of innovative educational technologies are highlighted: socialization of students, difficulties in control of their knowledge, metacognitive monitoring of mastering the material by them etc. The degree of organization in operation of electronic cabinets is examined and other measures supposed to introduce the telecommunicative teaching means in Ukrainian higher education.