Juškienė, Vaiva

This paper explores the barriers to collaboration between educators and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The child's engagement in education and further social life depends on the cooperation between the child's parents and the kindergarten teacher. However, this fundamental cooperation is hampered by the difficult working conditions of the teacher. Another obstacle is the stress experienced by the parents of a child with ASD. In order to describe and investigate the experiences of pre-school teachers in the face of an ASD child's tantrum, a phenomenological research was conducted. The research aimed to 'capture' the phenomenon in the 'here and now', asking what it means for an educator to experience a rage attack in the presence of a child. The question allows us to discover what an educator experiences when confronted with a child's behaviour that harms himself or others? These questions were inspired by a review of research literature and sources, which shows that the main barriers to collaboration between educators and parents of a pre-school child with ASD are (a) the lack of preparation of educators for working with a child with ASD. The findings of the research reveal that the cooperation between educators and parents is stagnating due to the difficult working conditions of the educator: the educator is working alone with an overcrowded group, does not receive financial support to ensure adequate competence, does not have the necessary assistant, does not have the competence to cooperate with parents of a child with ASD, and is working contact time with the children overtime, which makes him/her incapable of establishing a cooperative relationship with the parents of the children. Another barrier to parent-teacher collaboration is the apparent lack of preparation of teachers to work with children with ASD and their families. Despite the recent renewal of the curricula for pre-school and pre-primary education in higher education institutions, more emphasis has been placed on knowledge of ASD, the specificities of educating children with ASD, and strengthening competences in working with the family. The phenomenological research on the experiences of the under-blanket revealed that (a) the participants experienced a loss of power (susitisation), often saying that they could not do anything, that they did not know how to act in this situation. Also common to the stories is that the children's fit of rage starts suddenly, unexpectedly, and the educator was unable to take any action for a few moments; (b) sensory fear and insecurity is revealed when, after the stagnation (shock), the educator's actions are directed towards defending the children around him/her and him/her. The participants in the research also experience insecurity because they are practically unprepared to deal with children's sudden fits of rage.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed people’s lives around the world, causing restrictions and deviations from everyday habits. The restrictions applied and social isolation as means of stopping the spread of the disease have led to social, cognitive, and psychosomatic consequences, especially in the student world. This is not only because the learning process has been replaced by distance learning, but also because the social activities and social life of students have fundamentally changed. The study aims to examine the academic and social life of Lithuanian students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was conducted by 300 respondents, of which: 47% of health sciences, 44% of social sciences, 9% of students of technological sciences. Mainly professional bachelor’s and bachelor’s students. The results of the study showed that almost all of the participants in the study (92%) experienced the cancellation or replacement of contact classes with a hybrid form. Only a few (8%) were able to continue their activities in the usual way. Older students rated their motivation to study higher (r=0.3; p=0.001) than lower-rate students, statistically significant differences (x2=3.33; p<0.05) Avoidance of health sciences students from touching their face during the pandemic than in students of other fields of science. Conclusions. The study revealed that the motivation of students in higher education institutions to study during the COVID-19 pandemic did not decrease. There was no significant difference between the time spent on studies and the increased learning load during the pandemic. Analyzing the changes in students' social lives in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it turned out that most often students solve their problems in a close environment. Comparing the frequency of students’ habits before and during the pandemic, it turned out that during the pandemic they wash their hands more often, wear masks outdoors, avoid public transport, more often avoid large gatherings.

In Lithuania, the differences in tolerance, citizenship, and respectful communication are becoming more and more acute (radical statements towards other people, other ethnic groups, other religions, persons of different sexual orientation, etc. are becoming more and more active). This makes it necessary to rethink and raise questions about the development of cultural literacy in the country's society. Lithuanian education documents such as the Law on Education (1991, new version 2021), the State Education Strategy 2013-2022 (2013), the Lithuanian Strategy for Progress 2030 (2019), the Good School Concept (2015), as well as the draft general curricula being updated (2021), all highlight the importance of cultural literacy education, but international and national research shows that good intentions cannot be overcome. In Lithuania, cultural literacy is still referred to as cultural competence. For a long time, the new concepts of cultural literacy (according to F. Meine et al. (2020), Flavell, H. et al. (2013)), and nowadays the updated general education curricula distinguish this competence separately, but it is formulated basically according to the concept of cultural literacy defined by E. D. Hirsch in 1988. The question naturally arises: what is dialogic education for us, and what does its success depend on? How do we understand cultural literacy? Are we following the latest global trends in defining cultural literacy, or are we still stuck in our own knowledge, even though the change in the educational paradigm implies a shift from a focus on subject matter and knowledge to a focus on the child. It is becoming important not only to develop cultural literacy, but to develop it not in any way, not by indoctrinating pupils, but by creating and sustaining dialogic education. It is impossible to expect child-centred education without dialogicity. In addition to highlighting the importance of cultural literacy and dialogic education in pre-school, the article analyses data collected during observations in Lithuanian pre-school groups in 2019-2021 and provides insights into how dialogic education is being implemented in Lithuania's pre-school education in order to strengthen students' cultural literacy. The results of the study suggest that Lithuanian children in pre-school age do not tend to communicate a lot and openly, they try to predict the response expected by the teacher. Children need inspiration (e.g. wordless texts), a teacher who asks targeted questions and encourages dialogue between children is very important. However, it is clear that teachers' formulation of questions and facilitation of dialogue often fails to move away from their own prejudices and preconceived notions of what the right answer is.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas pedagogo pirmojo susitikimo su autizmo spektro sutrikimą turinčiu (toliau – ASD) vaiku fenomenas. Ką išgyvena pedagogas, kai pirmą kartą susitinka ASD turintį vaiką? Mokslinės literatūros analizė atskleidė, kad Lietuvoje ASD turinčių vaikų daugėja. Straipsnyje aprašoma situacija, kurioje susitinka ikimokyk­linio ir priešmokyklinio ugdymo specialistas ir ASD turintis vaikas. Atliktas tyrimas atveria konkrečių pedagogų išgyvenimus (pirmąsyk susidūrus su ASD turinčiu vaiku bendroje ikimokyklinėje ugdymo grupėje). Atlikto hermeneutinio fenomenologinio tyrimo metu pedagogų išgyvenimai susitelkė ties dviem egzistencinėmis temomis: išgyventas santykis ir išgyventas kūnas. Pirmojo susitikimo su ASD turinčiu vaiku metu pedagogai stengėsi užmegzti santykį su vaiku. Kiek­vienas tyrimo dalyvis savitai išgyveno šią pradžią, tačiau patirtims bendra yra tai, kad užmezgant santykį susiduriama su komunikacijos iššūkiu. ASD turintys vaikai vengė priimti pedagogams įprastas santykio užmezgimo priemones. Kai pedagogai susidūrė su ASD turinčiu vaiku, jų išgyvenimai atsiskleidė ir per vaiko kūno patirtį (išvaizdą ir elgseną).