Sustainable Development and the Practice of Spatial Planning: a Proposal of Criteria for Measuring the Overall Sustainability of Planning Actions in Open Public Urban Spaces

The sustainable city debate is gaining ground in recent years, featuring as a prominent issue in several policy documents of the European Commission, and enjoying support by the main organisations and institutions at international level. At the same time, improving local governance standards by involving citizens in local decision-making is a recurring issue in the debate on local democracy and enhancement of community cohesion. This paper presents an analysis of the European experience and best practice relating sustainable development to the day-to-day practice of spatial planning. The overall purpose is creating a proposal of indicators for measuring the sustainability of planning actions in urban environments

Editorial Note

Editorial Not

HOSPITAL CHOICE IN LITHUANIA: PATIENTS’ATTITUDE

The article presents the research that reveals the complexity of the patient hospital choice process and, in the context of the research data, enables the evaluation of the patient hospital choice factors influencing their decision. The problem of hospital choice is topical both in Lithuania and other EU and world countries. It is a complex process that requires the evaluation of the poly-functionality of the choice factors: the character of the patient disease and their state of health, the characteristics of the hospital, the interactive relationship between the hospital staff, the patient’s relatives, and Internet access. The research sample consisted of 477 participants aged between 18 and 89, treated in various hospitals throughout the country. Based on the results of the research presented in the article, one can argue that the factors having the greatest impact on patients’ choice of hospital include the advice of friends and significant others, personal experience, and the advice of their family doctor. The main prerequisites for choosing a hospital named by the patient respondents were the qualification of the medical staff, the quality of health care, communication between doctors and patients, the geographical location of the hospital, and its accessibility.KEYWORDS: hospital choice, evaluation of the state of health, patient characteristics, hospital characteristics.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/tbb.v82i1.196

IMPLEMENTATION OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN A PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION: PEDAGOGUES' POINT OF VIEW

Children's rights and responsibilities are equally important; each right of the child is related to a responsibility and the state is responsible for the determination and implementation thereof. Today children's rights are protected by laws, regulated in various documents; public educational programmes are being created, institutions are being established not only in Lithuania but also abroad. The objective of this article is to disclose possibilities of implementation of children's rights in a preschool educational institution. Theoretic aspects of implementation of children's rights in a preschool educational institution are discussed, peculiarities of children's rights implementation possibilities in preschool educational institutions are analysed in the article. A research is presented in the article wherein 240 preschool education pedagogues participated. The research results show that possibilities of implementation of the rights of the child in a preschool education institution are maximum: application of proper measures; cooperation of parents whose children attend preschool educational institutions and pedagogues; solution of problems emerged by using the help of children's rights experts. It was discovered that implementation of children's rights in preschool educational institutions is taking place smoothly, no major problems and violations are noticed and the problems emerged are being solved. KEYWORDS: child, rights of the hild, a preschool educational institution, implementation, possibilities

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OPTIMIZED TRACK AND FIELD CLASSES ON 5-6 GRADERS’ PHYSICAL FITNESS IMPROVEMENT

One of the educational directions included in the curriculums (2008) of Lithuanian schools for general education is development and promotion of movement culture embracing the athletics. The present article analyses effectiveness of track and field classes with optimized content and an increased number of such on pupils’ physical fitness performance results. The pedagogical experiment was conducted at Klaipeda “Versme” basic school in Lithuania, introducing the experimental program of optimized track and field classes to 5-6 grades with a total number of 107 pupils making the sample. The experimental group had a higher number of track and field classes and a different distribution of hours for individual practical track and field events. Obtained results allowed to conclude that a developed program for classes with optimized track and field content and an extended duration of its implementation among 5-6 grades improved physical fitness results of pupils, falling into the experimental group. The greatest effect among research participants of the experimental group was noticed on boys’ balance (p<0.001), stamina (p<0.001), explosive power (p<0.001), and static arm strength (p<0.001) results, while for girls – on balance (p<0.001), stamina (p<0.05), explosive power (p<0.05), and static arm strength (p<0.01) results. KEYWORDS: track and field, physical education class, physical fitness, Eurofit test.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/atee.v1i0.67

THE SYSTEM OF MIDDLE LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LITHUANIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

This paper explores the system of middle leadership in English schools and its implications for the Lithuanian education system. The paper draws on the findings from original research investigated three areas relating to educational middle leadership positions in education system of England including: the formal organizational role of middle leaders; their school responsibilities and the training and professional development of middle leaders. The paper is sought to use the case of middle leadership in English secondary schools to raise questions and identify implications for Lithuania where choices about the future of education policy and schools and are being considered. KEYWORDS: middle leaders, secondary schools, England, Lithuania.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/atee.v1i0.66

LEXICAL RELATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

Language offers a structure that allows the author an individual option of relational linguistic means in order to establish a desired degree of informal relation to the target audience or to assume a more subjective stand towards the subject matter. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate the role of the lexical relational structure in creating the English academic discourse and the relation achieved. The study has revealed that it is not only the first person pronoun which is getting more popular in the academic discourse that may establish a relation between the scientist and the audience, but language possesses a far more diversified and complex lexical and syntactic relational structure which allows a broad scale of desired degree of interactivity. The article is oriented towards those who are writing course and bachelor’s degree papers and scientific articles in English.KEY WORDS: academic discourse, persuasiveness, emphasis, relational lexical linguistic means, clichés, transitions

Lithuania and the Lithuanians in the First World War. Bibliography, 1914–1945

BIBLIOGRAPH

Some Comments on the Formation of Medieval Warriors in Baltic and Finnish societies (in the 12th and Early 13th Centuries)

The first part of the article presents historiographical problems relating to the warrior classes in Baltic and Finnish societies. In the second and third parts, it analyses Balt and Finnish societies relating to the formation of the warrior classes, with regard to the relationship between the chief/nobleman and the warriors, the meaning of the management of property and inheritance, and the vertical formation of relationships between noblemen and warriors. The written sources presented in the article show that at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, there was a stable institution of management and inheritance of property, which enabled noblemen and the warriors subordinate to them to increase their power with regard to other members of the community. This provided conditions for the formation of a ‘military democracy’, where the most important decisions concerning the community are approved not by all free members of the community, but by the noblemen and warriors subordinate to them. The basic idea of the article is that the ‘inheritance’ of the power/status of the noblemen is related to the right to inherit property (the castle and the surrounding territory, the homeland). It should be noted that by relating the management and inheritance of property to ‘inherited’ and acquired power, a vertical relationship appears between the nobleman and the warrior, which is based on subordination, not on consensus.Key words: Baltic and Finnish societies, warriors, vertical power/subordination relationships, real estate, hill-fort/castle

Introduction: Sit venia verbo

Introductio