Volume 9 (2008): Issue 2008 (June 2008)

The goal of this article is to investigate the relationship between the contemporary humanistic ideology and the student roles as perceived by young people themselves. First, the traditional humanist ideas of education as a relational term and its contemporary features are analysed. Theoretically, a good education today offers young persons positive experiences for developing and is dialogical in nature. After this discussion, the interpretations of young people from different school types and age groups on their perceived role at school and their relations attributed to that role are described. These young people see their role in a very traditional way, meaning that the most important goal is to behave in manner that best insures their receiving good grades. This paper shows that there is no congruence between the currently desired image of education and the described role of student

This paper explores the present situation regarding the education policies and teacher education programs in Nigeria in light of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) cited in the 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration. The MDGs declaration helped awaken nations to the need for structural features that empower education policy makers and planners in creating effective educational systems. A survey was used to gather data from teachers and school administrators in Nigeria. The data suggested that both teachers and school administrators are discontented with the lethargic policies and implementation of programs in meeting global standards. In particular, the empiric data could be useful for education policymakers, planners, administrators, and researchers who need information that might help them to improve their activities and deal with the controversial issues.

The article discusses some aspects of the concept of sustainable development and its educational manifestation - education for sustainable development. The concept of education for sustainable development is broadly accepted, but less attention has been paid to the extent to which innovations or changes are sustained over time, what characteristics or factors support their sustainability. The article introduces a model of six characteristics of sustainable changes in schools and changes concerning sustainable development in Estonian schools have been analyzed using qualitative research methods. The model consists of the following characteristics: depth, endurance, justice, diversity, conservation, and capital. According to the model, the positive changes in Estonian schools have been about the national curriculum, internal evaluation system as the basis for autonomy and self-management. The areas requiring greater change are justice or interdependence, diversity - respect for other people and the connections between formal and non-formal education as well as between schools and teacher training institutions.

The main aspects of democratic system of education are a humanistic approach, individualization, and differentiation. Ongoing discussions focus on the best way to teach natural sciences for pupils in humanitarian, social or vocational education programs in the context of sustainable development. For these types of programs, the natural science curriculum should provide all learners with the opportunity to achieve scientific and technological literacy (STL) that is to develop pupils' capacities to function as responsible citizens in the world increasingly affected by science and technologies. This paper highlights specific guidelines for the development of science curricula that are both interdisciplinary and socially relevant. The author emphasizes the context of interaction between human beings, society, and environment. These aspects are introduced in the new school science curriculum of Latvia. The survey of teachers' attitudes towards integrated natural science curriculum and study of pupils' achievements reflects the possibility of promoting scientific literacy of pupils.

At the primary school level, can children distinguished by their skills/abilities be sure that by acknowledging their differences they can be guaranteed a sustainable education? To what extent are they given equal treatment? The goal of this study was to identify the number of left-handed pupils in different classes of Estonian primary school and to discover what knowledge and skills are needed to teach the left-handed children. Results show that a significant number of elementary school children (9%) are left-handed, justifying a need to pay more attention to their uniqueness. In contrast, 46% of surveyed teachers report not having the necessary knowledge and skills to teach this population. While left-handedness has not been researched much throughout the world, including Estonia, it is necessary to recognize that a significant number of students are left handed and teacher knowledge about how to anticipate and prevent their difficulties in a school setting should be taken into consideration to guarantee the success of these children at school and in everyday life.

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.