Comparing Professional Self-Confidence: Opinions of Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Finnish Teachers

The current study reports findings of quantitative investigation of the opinions of Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Finnish teachers on their perceived professional self-confidence with a sample of 393 practicing teachers. Teachers’ self-esteem, self- and collective efficacy were examined as components of teachers’ professional self-confidence. Collective efficacy beliefs were measured in terms of teachers’ subjective perception of efficacy of school community members, namely, the principal, colleagues, students and their parents. The results indicated that Finnish teachers have a significantly higher level of professional self-esteem, while Lithuanian teachers indicated a lower level, and Ukrainian - the lowest. There is no significant difference between self- and collective efficacy of Lithuanian and Finnish teachers, while Ukrainian teachers scored significantly lower. Consequently, Finnish teachers have the highest level of professional selfconfidence, while Lithuanian teachers have an average level, and Ukrainian teachers have the lowest. Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Finnish teachers indicated different patterns of their perceptions of the extent to which members of the school community meet their obligations

INVESTIGATING TEACHER LEADERSHIP: FRACTIONS OF TEACHER LIFEWORLD EXPERIENCE

The phenomenon of teacher leadership has been investigated over the past few decades. The purpose of the current paper is to explore the phenomenon of teacher leadership through investigation of lifeworld experience of Lithuanian in-service teachers in terms of eight lifeworld experience fractions: selfhood, sociality, embodiment, temporality, spatiality, project, discourse and moodedness. The focus group interview method was applied in order to explore the opinions and experiences of teachers. In total, 5 focus group interviews with 12 teachers were conducted. The research results indicate that the fractions of selfhood, moodedness and sociality are the most salient for Lithuanian teachers. The interpersonal nature of teacher leadership, the need of social persuasion and capability to sustain a successful interaction with students are discussed.  

PROFESSORES DE COMPETÊNCIA E ATITUDE DE CI PARA A INTRODUÇÃO DAS TIC NO ENSINO À DISTÂNCIA DE FUTUROS PSICÓLOGOS DURANTE PERÍODOS DE RETRAÇÕES NA UNIVERSIDADE UCRÂNICA

In the developed countries of the world, IC-competence of higher education teachers has reached a high level. However, the level of IC-competence of teachers to teach higher education applicants for less developed countries, including Ukraine, is not high enough. There are many obstacles to the realization of distance learning. Therefore, the purpose of the study was the experimental determination of the levels of IC-competence and attitude of teachers of Ukrainian higher education to the introduction of ICT in the process of distance learning of future psychologists of during the COVID-19, as well as the main obstacles to the implementation of this process from the standpoint of teachers. The study, which was conducted online during the COVID-19 pandemic, was attended by 147 teachers of higher education institutions from different regions of Ukraine (84 – at the beginning of the pandemic and 63 – 2 years from its beginning). The data obtained were analyzed with SPSS 20. It was found that within two years of distance learning, the number of teachers with high and medium levels of IC-competence increased and decreased with low ones. The number of teachers with a positive and negative and ambivalent attitude towards the use of ICT in training future psychologists increased statistically significantly. A strong and direct link between IC-competence levels and teachers’ attitude to the use of ICT in the process of remote training of future psychologists is determined. From the standpoint of teachers, the main obstacles to the realization of distance learning of future psychologists are: lack of proper technical support, low level of IC-competence of teachers and students, unwillingness of teachers to use ICT, low level of cognitive activity of students. Teachers believe that to overcome these obstacles requires proper technical support, a high level of teachers’ motivation and a separate quality online platform for higher education. Therefore, we can conclude that strategies and incentives to increase the level of IC-competence and motivation of teachers, as well as providing ICT institutions of higher education institutions.Nos países desenvolvidos do mundo, a competência em IC dos professores do ensino superior atingiu um nível elevado. No entanto, o nível de competência IC dos professores para ensinar candidatos ao ensino superior para países menos desenvolvidos, incluindo a Ucrânia, não é alto o suficiente. Existem muitos obstáculos para a realização do ensino a distância. Portanto, o objetivo do estudo foi a determinação experimental dos níveis de competência em IC e atitude dos professores do ensino superior ucraniano em relação à introdução das TIC no processo de ensino à distância de futuros psicólogos durante o COVID-19, bem como os principais entraves para a implementação desse processo do ponto de vista dos professores. O estudo, realizado online durante a pandemia de COVID-19, contou com a participação de 147 professores de instituições de ensino superior de diferentes regiões da Ucrânia (84 – no início da pandemia e 63 – 2 anos desde o seu início). Os dados obtidos foram analisados com o SPSS 20. Verificou-se que em dois anos de ensino a distância, o número de professores com níveis alto e médio de competência em IC aumentou e diminuiu com os baixos. O número de professores com atitude positiva e negativa e ambivalente em relação ao uso das TIC na formação de futuros psicólogos aumentou de forma estatisticamente significativa. É determinada uma ligação forte e direta entre os níveis de competência em IC e a atitude dos professores em relação ao uso das TIC no processo de treinamento remoto de futuros psicólogos. Do ponto de vista dos professores, os principais obstáculos para a realização do ensino a distância dos futuros psicólogos são: falta de suporte técnico adequado, baixo nível de IC-competência dos professores e alunos, falta de vontade dos professores em usar as TIC, baixo nível de atividade cognitiva dos estudantes. Os professores acreditam que superar esses obstáculos requer suporte técnico adequado, alto nível de motivação dos professores e uma plataforma online de qualidade separada para o ensino superior. Portanto, podemos concluir que estratégias e incentivos para aumentar o nível de competência em IC e motivação dos professores, bem como fornecer TIC às instituições de ensino superior

THE EFFECT OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING ON TEACHER EDUCATION: EXPERIENCES OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Digital storytelling (DST) has emerged as a powerful tool in teacher education. However, in Lithuania the effect of this method on pre-service teachers’ education has been poorly investigated. The purpose of the current paper is to explore the experience of pre-service teachers in implementing DST method: from idea generation to the final product creation. The novelty of the current research is the usage of DST as a mean for development pre-service teachers’ ICT skills together with cooperation skills and creativity. The focus group interview method was implemented in order to collect the data and explore the opinions and experiences of perspective teachers. The research findings demonstrate that the usage of DST contributes to reveal student’ insights of future work, familiarizes students with future profession peculiarities, enhances their ability to cooperate, teamwork skills, and facilitates their ICT skills. The results highlight the importance of DST usage in developing perspective teacher’s creative personality and capability to interact.  

Banking security of Ukraine: current state and ways to improve

Ukrainian banking institutions conduct their activity under the influence of various risks, which create critical situations for them. In this context, banks should pay more attention to their own security. The article analyzes the theoretical approaches to the concept of “banking security”, examines the level of banking security as a component of the financial and economic security of the state, and determines the ways to improve it. Banking security was analyzed based on the data of the National Bank of Ukraine and other banks that are part of the banking system of the country.The current state of the banking system shows a decrease in the security since 2014 to the “danger zone”. This is facilitated by a great number of problem loans and foreign capital in the authorized capital of banks; the predominance of short-term lending over long-term one; continued unprofitableness and low liquidity of bank assets. Banking security was the guarantor of achieving financial security of the state. Therefore, the article outlines directions for improving the operation of banking institutions and the banking system as a whole, which will allow to improve banking security in the short term. This is, first of all, the legislative consolidation of the creditor rights protection, the expansion of the lending process, including in foreign currency, with the predomi-nance of long-term loans, the banks’ work in the direction of increasing their assets profitability, optimizing administrative costs, developing and using the latest informa¬tion technology to ensure the effective operation and information security of banks

Strategic planning in universities: a case of Ukraine

The effective management core principles include the obligatory approval of the orga¬nization’s mission and its strategic plan availability. This also applies to specific organizations such as universities. The purpose of the article is to test the hypothesis that to date, most Ukrainian universities do not care about the presence of such attributes of effective performance (at least, they do not publish them on their sites). The site analysis was carried out in the top 50 out of 289 universities in Ukraine. It turned out that 29 out of these 50 have no mission (do not publish it on the site), and eight universities do not have a strategy. It is established that the most common mistakes in the strategy development are the lack of quantitative indicators, giving a special attention to the coverage of the results achieved; inclusion in the text of the document the thematic sections, which do not concern the prospects of university development, etc

ПІДВИЩЕННЯ ЕНЕРГОЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ ПРОЦЕСУ РЕКТИФІКАЦІЇ СУМІШІ АЦЕТОН-БЕНЗОЛ

Modern approaches to energy saving in chemical-technological systems are considered. The rectifier for separation of the acetone-benzene mixture was examined, and the process streams data extraction was performed. Using the methods of pinch analysis, it was shown that the organization of energy recovery is not enough effective, and the minimum temperature difference in the regenerative heat exchanger is lower than necessary one, which indicates an overestimation of the required heat transfer surface area. The choice of DTmin was justified. For this value, the target energy values of external utilities and recovery were found by the method of composite curves. Using the rules of pinch analysis, a grid diagram was obtained and two options for the placement of heat exchange equipment were proposed that ensure the achievement of energy targets. The modern plate heat-exchange equipment was selected and the option offering a lower volume of capital investments was chosen. For the best option, an economic assessment was carried out, showing the payback period of the project no more than one year. Energy recovery will increase by more than two times and energy saving will be 5% approximately.Рассмотрены современные подходы к энергосбережению в химико-технологических системах. Обследована ректификационная установка для разделения смеси ацетон-бензол, произведена экстракция данных технологических потоков исследуемого процесса. С помощью методов пинч-анализа была показана недостаточная эффективность организации рекуперации энергии, занижение необходимой минимальной температурной разницы в рекуперативном теплообменнике, что указывает на завышение требуемой площади поверхности теплообмена. Был обоснован выбор значения DTmin. Для этого значения методом составных кривых найдены целевые значения мощности внешних утилит и рекуперации. Используя правила пинч-анализа, была получена сеточная диаграмма и предложены два варианта размещения теплообменного оборудования, обеспечивающие достижение энергетических целей. Подобрано современное пластинчатое теплообменное оборудование и выбран вариант, предлагающий меньший объем капитальных вложений. Для лучшего варианта была проведена экономическая оценка, показавшая срок окупаемости проекта не более одного года.Розглянуто сучасні підходи до енергозбереження в хіміко-технологічних системах. Обстежено ректифікаційну установку для розділення суміші ацетон-бензол, зроблено екстракцію даних технологічних потоків процесу, що досліджувався. За допомогою методів пінч-аналізу було показано недостатню ефективність організації рекуперації енергії, заниження необхідної мінімальної температурної різниці в рекуперативному теплообміннику, яка вказує на завищення площі поверхні теплообміну за потребою. Обґрунтовано вибір значення DTmin – для цього значення за методом складених кривих, знайдено цільові потужності зовнішніх утиліт та рекуперації. Використовуючи правила пінч-аналізу, отримано сіткову діаграму і запропоновано два варіанти розташування теплообмінного обладнання, що забезпечують досягнення енергетичних цілей. Підібрано сучасне пластинчате теплообмінне обладнання та обрано варіант, що пропонує менший об’єм капітальних вкладень – для нього проведено економічну оцінку: термін окупності не більше одного року

Competitiveness of the information economy industry in Ukraine

Information economy, being the newest type, in the course of formation acquires its distinctive features, which include a significant change in the needs of investors, producers, consumers and other economic relation participants. In order to achieve a competitive information economy, state support for high-tech industries is needed. It is crucial to create a clear legal framework, give boost to the formation of intellectual capital based on other countries' experience. Implementation of the strategy for high-tech industries development in Ukraine is a decisive step in creating a platform for information technology dissemination, creation of new competitive products with high added value. The purpose of the article is to investigate the transformation to the information economy, to analyze the industry competitiveness, to define the opportunities for information sphere improvement. The theoretical aspect of the emergence and formation of the information economy category is studied, the approaches to the defining this economic category and its derivatives have been studied and generalized, essential features of the information type of economic relations have been investigated, and their main components have been determined. In the article, the relationship between the level of information economy development and the competitiveness of domestic enterprises' products has been described, the factors influencing high-tech industries development in Ukraine are considered, and suggestions as for increasing the assistance to the development of knowledge-intensive sectors, including information technology, are proposed

Formation of the investment environment in Ukraine in the context of European integration: an example of Poland

In the period of Ukraine’s integration into the European economic space, one of the basic conditions for achieving compliance with the European community requirements is the formation of favorable investment environment. In view of this, the aim of the article is to analyze the economic preconditions for the unification and adaptation of the investment mechanism in the period of Ukraine’s integration into the economic euro area, and to develop recommendations for unification of institutional support for the formation of the investment environment in Ukraine. In the course of the study, the system approach and the method of system analysis and synthesis are the basis. Based on the analysis of the activities in Poland, it is outlined that the conditions for their achievement of high rating indicators are the legally regulated mechanism for promoting investment, which includes relevant institutions, low tax rates, transparency and ease of doing business. The comparison made on this basis has made it possible to determine key differences and problems between approaches of European countries and Ukraine, namely: the lack of correspondence between the actual measures legally declared, the monetary unit instability, the unpredictability of the political and economic situation, the complexity of doing business. Approaches to unification of institutional support for the formation of the investment environment in Ukraine and measures aimed at increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of investment activity are proposed

Digitization of education as a key characteristic of modernity

The article identifies the features of the digital culture of modern society in the dynamics of its impact on the education sector, identifies the main directions of digitalization education, an objective analysis is presented, the possibilities of examination as a scientific assessment are determined "Digital reforms" of education, the role of traditional values of educational culture in expertise and improvement digital innovations in the education system, identified the main contradictions in the development of digital culture, to determine the directions of its improvement