The Situation and Prospects for Youth Policy in Lithuania in the Context of European Solidarity

The aim of the article is to give a social portrait of Lithuanian youth in the context of youth policy, and to consider such unsettled segments as unemployment, emigration (migration), the attitude towards family, social participation in societal possibilities, and the strengthening of intergenerational solidarity. These problematic segments cause the social exclusion of young people, thus requiring an appropriate strategy for training professionals who work with young people and who can develop models for the positive (skilful) socialisation of young people. The article evaluates Lithuanian and European youth policy guidelines and success in solving problems, as well as the response to public expectations regarding participation in future life. It provides an analysis of existing feasibility studies that reveal the current situation, and insights into the question. The results obtained foster the formulation of a strategy for training social professionals focused on youth work. The article concentrates on a new European Union programme, the ‘European Solidarity Corps’, which aims to give young people opportunities to contribute to local and global problem-solving within the framework of personal and professional career design for youth. It has been prepared within the framework of the project ‘Social Professions for Youth Education in the Context of European Solidarity’*, with the participation of Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Swedish universities that deliver programmes for training social professionals.Key words: youth, youth policy, positive (smart) youth socialisation, work with young people, social professions, problematic segments of youth life (unemployment, emigration (migration), attitude towards family, opportunities for social participation of young people in society, strengthening intergenerational solidarity).DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/tbb.v83i2.206

SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S MANAGEMENT COMPETENCES FOR SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT

The authors of this article argue that work in the 21st century is more complex instead of being routine. Solution of education management problems in the Baltic Region is greatly affected by system approach ideas that treat actions as a unified system that consists of mutually related elements with constant interaction of internal and external environment factors. The evolving nature of school environment has placed new demands on educational leaders. Where knowledge of school management, finance, legal issue and state mandates was once the primary focus for the preparation of school leaders, education reform has created an urgent need for a strong emphasis on development of instructional leadership skills to promote good teaching and high level learning. Educational leaders must recognize and assume a shared responsibility not only for students’ intellectual and educational development, but also for their personal, social, emotional and physical development. In the article was discovered that school principals need to improve their management competences in personnel management, financial and communication management for successful school leadership.KEY WORDS: leadership, management, professional development, competences.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/tbb.v78i1.175

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels may attenuate the detrimental association between weight status, metabolic phenotype and C-reactive protein in adolescents - a multi-Cohort study

Results from several studies show that only obese, unfit subjects, but not obese, fit subjects, are at higher mortality risk than are normal-weight fit subjects. The aim of the study was two-fold: (1) to examine the differences in C-reactive protein levels across different metabolic phenotypes (healthy and unhealthy) of weight status and (2) ascertain whether high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) attenuate the association of C-reactive protein and metabolic phenotypes of weight status. This was a pooled study, which included data from three cross-sectional projects (1706 youth (921 girls) aged 12–18 years). We used a Shuttle run test to assess CRF. Adolescents were classified into six metabolic phenotypes (healthy and unhealthy) of weight status (non-overweight, overweight and obese), based on age- and sex-specific cutoff points for triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol, glucose and body mass index. High-sensitivity assays were used to obtain the C-reactive protein as inflammatory biomarker. After adjustment for potential confounders (age, sex, pubertal stage and country), the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) shows that C-reactive protein is directly associated with metabolic phenotypes of weight status. Subjects with obesity, regardless of their metabolic profile, had higher levels of C-reactive protein Z-score. In addition, (after adjustments for potential confounders) a two-way ANCOVA showed that high levels of CRF attenuated the associations of C-reactive protein levels in metabolic healthy non-overweight and in adolescents with obesity. In conclusion, higher CRF levels may attenuate the detrimental association between obesity and C-reactive protein independently of metabolic phenotype. Findings from this study are important for prevention, clinical practice on issues associated with adiposity and metabolic disorders.The Research Centre on Physical Activity Health and Leisure (CIAFEL) is supported by UID/DTP/00617/2013 (FCT). R.S. has a Discovery Early Career Research Award from the Australian Research Council (DE150101921). The FUPRECOL Study was carried out with the financial support of Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología “Francisco José de Caldas” COLCIENCIAS (Contract Nº 671-2014 Code 122265743978). The authors are grateful to the Bogota District Education Secretary for the data used in this study. The authors also thank the participating Bogota District students, teachers, schools and staff. This study was funded by the Department of Education (Grand number: CENEDUCA1/2019) of the Government of Navarra (Spain). A.G.-H. is a Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III—CP18/0150). R.R.-V. is funded in part by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Resolution ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Pública de Navarra

The Situation and prospects for youth policy in Lithuania in the context of European solidarity

The aim of the article is to give a social portrait of Lithuanian youth in the context of youth policy, and to consider such unsettled segments as unemployment, emigration (migration), the attitude towards family, social participation in societal possibilities, and the strengthening of intergenerational solidarity. These problematic segments cause the social exclusion of young people, thus requiring an appropriate strategy for training professionals who work with young people and who can develop models for the positive (skilful) socialisation of young people. The article evaluates Lithuanian and European youth policy guidelines and success in solving problems, as well as the response to public expectations regarding participation in future life. It provides an analysis of existing feasibility studies that reveal the current situation, and insights into the question. The results obtained foster the formulation of a strategy for training social professionals focused on youth work. The article concentrates on a new European Union programme, the ‘European Solidarity Corps’, which aims to give young people opportunities to contribute to local and global problem-solving within the framework of personal and professional career design for youth. It has been prepared within the framework of the project ‘Social Professions for Youth Education in the Context of European Solidarity’*, with the participation of Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Swedish universities that deliver programmes for training social professionals

Employment and entrepreneurship

The general decline in labor market engagement among young people has continued in the past years. That is partly because young people are spending more time in education, which is helping ensure that the future labor force will be better skilled and able to cope with the transformations in the world of work brought about by new technologies. However, it also reflects a significant degree of labor under utilization as approximately one-fifth of young people worldwide are not in employment, education, or training. Other challenges requiring a strong policy response include persisting gender gaps in the labor market, the prevalence of informal employment, which affects more than three-quarters of young workers, and working poverty, which affects almost one-third. The fact that millions of young people worldwide would emigrate permanently, if they had a chance, highlights the urgent need for policy-makers to tackle the labor market barriers and precarious conditions at work faced by young people in many countries

The need for transforming the learning environment and the andragogue’s general competences: the view of health-care professionals

With the changing and expanding approach to the creation of a learning environment as one of the essential factors in the quality of the organisation of the learning process, the article reveals the links that underpin the importance of an andragogue’s general competencies for the development of a transformative learning environment. The relevance of the scientific problem is highlighted by the theoretical and empirical search for the general competencies of the andragogue, which creates favourable preconditions for the transformation of the learner’s empowerment personality. The participants in the research were employees of health-care institutions in various regions of Lithuania who have participated in in-service training events at the Centre for Continuing Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Klaipėda University. The analysis of the need for health-care professionals due to the importance of an andragogue’s general competencies in creating a transformative learning environment has highlighted the direct impact of age on different needs. The results of the research show that an andragogue’s general competencies help to create a transformative learning environment, in which the totality of intellectual, emotional and practical dynamics enables the learner’s transformation, focusing on personal qualities, abilities, skills, attitudes and positive attitudes, and the development of a mindset for continuous improvement. Suggestions are provided to andragogues on how to streamline changes in adult learning that focus on personality change by creating a transformative learning environment