Prakapas, Romas

Abstract: Objectives and Purpose. This study investigates how geopolitical crises—particularly the war in Ukraine—have affected students' sense of safety in schools in Lithuania and Poland. It highlights the implications of refugee integration, societal tensions, and emotional well-being in educational settings during times of regional instability. Research Questions. The research seeks to answer the following questions: 1. How has the geopolitical context influenced the educational environment in Lithuanian and Polish schools? 2. What are the key factors shaping refugee students’ sense of safety? 3. What systemic responses have proven effective or insufficient in ensuring safe and inclusive schools? Theoretical Framework. The analysis is based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and the concept of psychological safety. These frameworks support a multi-level understanding of student well-being, integrating micro-level (classroom), meso-level (school-family), and macro-level (socio-political) influences. Methods and Approach. A qualitative comparative approach was applied, using content and discourse analysis of national and international media reports, institutional documents, and policy records from 2022 to 2024. The study focused on media portrayals and school narratives about refugee student experiences, integration efforts, and challenges. Data Sources. Data included journalistic articles from Lithuania and Poland, government statistics, Ministry of Education reports, and NGO assessments related to school integration, bullying, psychological services, and education policy shifts during the crisis. Findings. Key findings reveal that language barriers, cultural differences, and trauma-related behavior have complicated refugee students’ integration and heightened their vulnerability to bullying and social isolation. Teachers reported feeling unsupported and underprepared, while schools lacked clear guidance and adequate resources. Instances of violence and discrimination, driven by societal polarization and wartime narratives, further undermined emotional safety. Nonetheless, some schools showed resilience by employing inclusive practices such as trauma-informed pedagogy, peer support programs, and targeted psychological assistance. Educational Importance. This research underscores the essential role of schools in responding to crisis-driven displacement. It contributes to the broader understanding of how educational systems can (or fail to) ensure equity and well-being under geopolitical pressure. The study calls for more systemic investment in teacher training, intercultural competence, and psychosocial services to support both refugee and local students in volatile contexts. Connection to Conference Theme. The paper directly aligns with the ICSEI 2026 theme “Crossing Boundaries in Education”, particularly the sub-theme “Mental Health and Well-being in Education”. It contributes to the Crisis Response in Education Network by offering comparative, evidence-based insights on how schools in different national systems respond to global emergencies while striving to remain inclusive, sustainable, and safe for all learners.

Objectives, purpose, problem of practice, or policy focus. This study examines how students’ subjective sense of safety at school relates to their emotional well-being, social relationships, academic behavior, and socio-economic background. The objective is to identify key factors that contribute to students’ feelings of safety and to highlight their implications for educational quality, equity, and policy. Research question(s) or focus of inquiry. (1) In what ways do safe and unsafe students differ across academic, emotional, social, environmental, and structural dimensions? (2) What systemic factors shape students’ perceptions of safety at school?. Perspective(s) or theoretical framework, or context. The study is grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, psychological safety theory, and social capital theory. Together, these frameworks support a holistic analysis of students’ sense of safety, emphasizing the influence of individual, relational, institutional, and structural factors. Methods, techniques, modes or approach to inquiry. The study uses data from all participating countries of the OECD PISA 2022 survey. Students were grouped into “safe” and “unsafe” clusters using K-means clustering based on their responses to safety-related items. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to compare these groups across multiple indicators. Data Sources/evidence. Data were derived from PISA 2022 student questionnaires, including measures of academic behavior (e.g., grade repetition, truancy), emotional well-being (e.g., stress resistance, bullying), social connections (e.g., teacher support, family support), perceptions of school climate, and socio-economic-cultural status. Results, findings, learning. Students who feel safe at school are less likely to skip classes, demonstrate higher emotional resilience, experience less bullying, report stronger teacher relationships, and tend to come from higher socio-economic backgrounds. The most pronounced differences were found in emotional and social domains. However, there were no meaningful differences in long-term academic expectations, such as career aspirations. Educational importance of this research or inquiry for theory, practice, and/or policy. The findings underscore that school safety is a multidimensional construct with significant consequences for students' day-to-day engagement and emotional health. Ensuring school safety requires more than physical measures; it involves nurturing positive relationships, supporting emotional well-being, and addressing structural inequalities through inclusive policies. Connection to the conference theme. By providing robust empirical evidence on the links between perceived safety and educational equity, this study contributes directly to the ICSEI 2026 theme of building fair and supportive education systems. It calls for systemic, evidence-informed strategies to create safe, inclusive, and equitable learning environments for all students.

Recent geopolitical developments, particularly the war in Ukraine, have significantly affected educational systems across Europe. Schools increasingly face the challenge of ensuring a safe learning environment while integrating students displaced by conflict. This study examines how geopolitical tensions influence perceptions of safety and inclusion in schools in Lithuania and Poland, two countries that have received a large number of Ukrainian refugee students since 2022. The research is based on qualitative analysis of media discourse and education policy documents published between 2022 and 2024. The study explores how public narratives, institutional responses, and policy measures frame issues of student security, integration, and school climate during a period of crisis. A comparative perspective highlights similarities and differences in national approaches to addressing these challenges. The findings contribute to understanding how education systems respond to geopolitical instability and identify factors that may strengthen inclusive and secure school environments in times of uncertainty.

Students’ sense of safety at school is an important dimension of school climate and student well-being; however, the factors shaping perceived safety remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the extent to which social, emotional, and contextual factors predict students’ sense of safety at school using data from the OECD PISA 2022 assessment in Lithuania (N = 7257). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships between students’ sense of safety and school belonging, teacher–student relationships, bullying, school safety risks, stress resistance, life satisfaction, socio-economic status, and gender. The findings suggest that students’ sense of belonging was the strongest predictor of perceived safety. Positive teacher–student relationships, higher life satisfaction, and greater stress resistance were also positively associated with students’ sense of safety, whereas bullying and school safety risks were negatively associated with perceived safety. Socio-economic status and gender demonstrated comparatively weaker effects. Overall, the findings suggest that students’ sense of safety is shaped primarily by relational and psychosocial experiences rather than by background characteristics or the mere absence of risk. The study provides preliminary evidence supporting the importance of fostering inclusive and supportive school environments to strengthen students’ perceived safety.

Although school safety is widely addressed in international education reports, it isoften framed primarily through visible indicators such as bullying, violence, and schoolclimate. Less attention has been paid to how psychological unsafety emerges acrossboth student and teacher experiences, particularly through relational, emotional, andorganisational pressures such as exclusion, excessive workload, stress, and limited pro-fessional recognition. To address this gap, this study explores the multifaceted phe-nomenon of the sense of (un)safety of students and teachers in schools through ascoping review of English-language peer-reviewed studies drawing on internationallarge-scale assessment data from PISA, TALIS and HBSC. Following the PRISMA 2020guidelines, systematic searches in Scopus and Web of Science identified 48 relevantstudies published from 2018 onward. The data were thematically analysed followingthe Braun and Clarke framework to identify the main factors influencing perceivedsafety in school environments. The findings reveal two primary domains: bullying andviolence and the broader dimension of the school microclimate. Students’ sense ofunsafety is associated with peer aggression, social isolation, and competitive schoolenvironments, while teachers’ experiences of feeling unsafe are due to excessive work-load, emotional stress, and limited professional recognition. A supportive, collabora-tive, and participatory school climate consistently correlates with higher well-beingand academic outcomes. The review emphasizes the need for evidence-based sys-temic measures that integrate emotional education, professional development, andpolicy-level interventions. Strengthening emotional safety and fostering inclusive andrespectful school cultures are critical to improving both learning and teaching quality.

Introduction: Teacher victimization is an important occupational stressor that can undermine educators' psychological functioning and professional sustainability. Guided by stress–coping theory, this study examined the relationships among multiple forms of victimization, coping strategies, and psychological well-being.Methods: A nationwide sample of Lithuanian teachers (N = 1,044) completed validated measures assessing exposure to victimization, coping responses, and psychological well-being, including indicators of flourishing and emotional experiences. Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect relationships among variables.Results: Victimization was associated with poorer psychological well-being, particularly reduced flourishing and increased negative emotional experiences. Adaptive coping strategies–such as active coping, positive reframing, and religious coping–were related to higher well-being, whereas maladaptive strategies, including self-blame, behavioral disengagement, and substance use, were associated with poorer outcomes. Structural equation modeling indicated a small but significant indirect effect (β ≈ .02), suggesting that coping partially mediated the relationship between victimization and well-being. A substantial direct association between victimization and well-being remained (β ≈ −.25, p < .001).Discussion: These findings suggest that strengthening teachers' coping skills may help mitigate the emotional consequences of victimization; however, individual coping alone is insufficient. Supporting teacher well-being requires not only individual-level interventions but also organizational and policy-level efforts aimed at preventing workplace victimization in educational settings.

Abstract Aim. The aim of this study is to reveal the victimisation of Lithuanian teachers in educational institutions. In order to achieve the aim of the study, the following hypotheses were put forward: traumatic experiences as a student are related to experiences of bullying and violence as a teacher; different forms of violence are interrelated; and teachers who have experienced one form of violence are more likely to experience others. Methods. A quantitative study was conducted, and a questionnaire was developed for data collection using validated scales: Multidimensional Teacher Victimisation Scale (MT-VS-2); Teacher Bullying Experience Scale; Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory – PTCI-9; Brief COPE. A probabilistic multistage sampling method was used, involving systematic and cluster sampling, with 1,044 teachers participating. Results. Teachers most often experience psychological and verbal abuse (e.g., the incitement of students to disobey, swearing, gossip, etc.), and less often experience physical abuse, damage to property, sexual harassment, and cyber-attacks. Significant correlations were found between early trauma and current bullying by students, parents, colleagues, and administrative staff. Strong links were also found between physical violence and sexual and cyber harassment, as well as between property damage and psychological violence. Conclusions. Teacher victimisation is a complex phenomenon determined by traumatic experiences, interpersonal relationships, and the overall school climate. Teachers most often experience psychological and verbal violence. The different forms of violence experienced by teachers are interrelated. Originality. The study found that trauma experienced by teachers in childhood is positively associated with current experiences of violence and greater visibility of violence.

Teacher victimization is a growing concern with well-documented implications for educators’ psychological well-being. However, less is known about how such experiences relate not only to emotional outcomes but also to critical thinking. This study aimed to examine the associations between different forms of teacher victimization (e.g., physical, social, verbal, and cyber), psychological well-being (flourishing, positive and negative emotions), and critical thinking.

There is a lack of research analyzing how teachers themselves define violence and what patterns of behavior they personally consider to be violent. It is precisely this subjective perception of violence that may explain why some situations remain invisible at the institutional level: they are not named and reported, or they are normalized as part of a teacher’s job, even though, in the long run, they can negatively affect a teacher’s professional identity and well-being. A phenomenographic perspective was applied in this research. It has been found that teachers understand violence in the workplace as pressure to obey, aggressive behavior, insults, public humiliation, and non-transparent decisions, which are characterized by verbal, physical, written, and visual expressions. The scope of the research results shows that the teachers’ perception of violence is not limited to incidents but is revealed as a process of constructing meaning that combines the form of violence, structural features, and orientation toward the teacher as a professional or as a person. The study broadens not only the concept of violence in the school environment but also the field of analysis of the teacher as an object of violence, and it reveals that the teachers’ understanding of violence is more related to administrative power practices.

Straipsnyje analizuojamos visos dienos mokyklos ir įtraukiojo ugdymo sąsajos Suomijos švietimo sistemos kontekste. Tyrimo aktualumą lemia tai, kad šiuolaikinėje edukologijoje vis didesnis dėmesys skiriamas ne tik ugdymo prieinamumui, bet ir tokiam mokyklos organizavimui, kuris sudarytų prielaidas visapusiškai mokinio raidai, socialiniam dalyvavimui ir gerovei. Suomijos atvejis šiuo aspektu yra reikšmingas, nes, nors šioje šalyje oficialiai nevartojama sąvoka „visos dienos mokykla“, praktiniu ir politikos lygmenimis veikia keli tarpusavyje susiję sprendiniai, atliepiantys šios idėjos turinį. Straipsnio problema formuluojama klausimu: kaip Suomijos švietimo sistemoje organizuojami sprendiniai, susiję su išplėsta mokyklos diena, siejasi su įtraukiojo ugdymo įgyvendinimu? Tyrimo objektas – visos dienos mokyklos ir įtraukiojo ugdymo sąsajos Suomijos švietimo sistemoje. Straipsnio tikslas – atskleisti, kaip Suomijos švietimo praktikoje ir savivaldybės lygmens sprendimuose atsiskleidžia visos dienos mokyklos ir įtraukiojo ugdymo ryšys. Tyrimo metodai – mokslinės literatūros, teisės aktų, politikos dokumentų ir viešai prieinamų institucinių šaltinių analizė ir atvejo analizė. Analizė parodė, kad Suomijoje visos dienos mokyklos idėja realizuojama per rytinę ir popietinę veiklą, buvusio nacionalinio MUKAVA integruotos mokyklos dienos eksperimento idėjų perkėlimą į šiandienines ugdymo praktikas, lanksčios mokyklos dienos principus ir nacionalinį mokinių laisvalaikio (hobio) modelį. Šie sprendiniai siejami su vaiko gerove, lygiomis galimybėmis, socialine integracija ir prasmingu užimtumu. Įtraukusis ugdymas Suomijoje grindžiamas žmogaus teisių, laiku teikiamos paramos, pedagoginio lankstumo ir skirtingų specialistų tarpusavio bendradarbiavimo principais. Juveskiulės savivaldybės ir konkrečių mokyklų pavyzdžiai rodo, kad išplėsta mokyklos dienos struktūra ir įtraukties priemonės veikia kaip tarpusavyje susijusių elementų sistema. Daroma išvada, kad Suomijos atvejis leidžia visos dienos mokyklą interpretuoti ne kaip vieną formalų modelį, bet kaip savivaldybės, mokyklos ir bendruomenės lygmenimis organizuojamą ugdymo, priežiūros, paramos ir gerovės priemonių visumą.