Nepriklausomybės atgavimas ir pasitraukimas iš planinės ekonomikos, sąlygojo ir permainų būtinumą. Lietuvoje buvo pradėtos svarbios ūkinės reformos, kuriomis buvo siekiama sukurti laisvos rinkos ūkį, gamintojų konkurenciją, skatinti paklausą turinčios produkcijos gamybą, užmegzti tiesioginius ekonominius ryšius su užsienio šalimis, pakelti žmonių gyvenimo lygį. Visa tai atsispindėjo šalies pagrindinių makroekonominių rodiklių raidoje, kurios nagrinėjimui ir skirtas šis magistro baigiamasis darbas. Baigiamąjį darbą sudaro 3 dalys. Pirmoji dalis skirta pagrindinių makroekonominių rodiklių teoriniam vertinimui. Ją sudaro 4 skyriai: Bendrasis vidaus produktas; Investicijos; Nedarbas; Infliacija. / The theme of the Master’s Thesis is Changes in the Main Macroeconomic Indices of Lithuania after the Restoration of Independence. The Thesis is composed of 67 pages, 4 tables and 15 images. Restoration of independence and abandoning of the central planning economy determined the necessity for changes. Important economic reforms were launched in Lithuania with the aim of establishing a free-market economy, competitiveness of producers, enhancing the manufacture of marketable products, contracting direct economic ties with foreign countries, boosting the standard of living. All these factors reflected in the macroeconomic indices and their changes, which are the subject matter of this Master’s Thesis.

Darbe atlikta teorinė bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų veikla pokyčių sąlygomis analizė. Supažindinama su pokyčių realizavimo kliūtimis ir kaip mažinamas pasipriešinimas pokyčiams. Iškelta hipotezė : tikėtina, jog vadovų pastangas mažinti pasipriešinimą bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose lemia mokytojų asmeninės savybės, pasitvirtino. Norimi pokyčiai mokykloje bus intensyviai diegiami, sėkmingai valdomi ir duos rezultatą, jei patys jų veikėjai – mokytojai norės keistis ir pritars kaitos kryptims. Jei daugelis mokytojų sutiktų su būtinybe keistis ir manytų, kad vykdomi pokyčiai yra reikšmingi, tada vadovai sulauktų mažesnio pasipriešinimo vykdydami pokyčius mokykloje ir jų rezultatas būtų artimas laukiamam. Tyrime dalyvavo 100 vadovų iš įvairių Lietuvos bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų (darželiai, pradinės mokyklos, vidurinės mokyklos ir gimnazijos). Tyrimas vyko 2008 – 2009 metais. Svarbiausios tyrimo išvados : 1. Mokytojai edukaciniams pokyčiams šiandieninėje mokykloje dažniausiai priešinasi dėl pačių mokytojų asmeninių savybių. Vadovai įvardija mokytojų neapibrėžtumo grėsmę, baimę rizikuoti, per siaurą požiūrį į problemą, negebėjimą identifikuoti problemos, nepasirengimą numatomiems pokyčiams, jų kompetencijos trūkumą, mokytojų konservatyvumą. 2. Vadovai supranta, kad sėkmingas pokyčių vadovas taip pat turi teikti kuo daugiau informacijos apie galimus rezultatus. Taip pat sėkmingas pokyčių vadovas, jų nuomone, yra tas, kuris jau sėkmingai įgyvendinęs ne vieną reformą. 3. Vertinant geras... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Summary The theoretical analysis of the activity of basic education schools acting under the conditions of reforms has been carried out in this research. The obstacles of the realization of reforms and the decrease of the resistance for changes have been presented. The following hypothesis: it is expected that the struggle of the directors in decreasing resistance for changes in basic education schools are resulted by the personal features of teachers has been approved. The desirable changes in schools will be intensively established, successively managed and will give results if their agents – teachers wish to change and accept the directions of changes. If most of teachers would agree with the necessity for changes and think that reforms are meaningful, the directors then would attain less resistance in implementing changes at schools, and the results would be approximate for those expected. 100 directors from various basic education schools in Lithuania had participated in this research (kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and gymnasiums). The research was performed in 2008-2009. The most important findings of this research: 1. Teachers at present usually resist reforms in schools because of their personal features. Among those features of teacher directors name the threat of uncertainty, fear of risk, narrow approach toward the problem, failure to identify problems, failure to get ready for future changes, the lack of competences and the sense of... [to full text]

<p>Provincial governors constituted an important part of the decentralization package unveiled in Zimbabwe in 1984 and 1985. The President appoints provincial governors among other duties, to coordinate development planning and implementation at the provincial level. This paper seeks to examine the appointment and role of a provincial governor and in that way establish the extent to which such appointment and role hinder or enhance representative and participatory democracy, accountability, devolution and empowerment, as ideals of decentralization. This contribution examines provincial governance in Zimbabwe as part of the local government system.</p>

A new curriculum, the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was during 2012-2014 introduced in South African schools. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how the implementation process of the curriculum was perceived by teachers. The study examined what the teachers’ general opinions about CAPS were, what experiences they had from the training in relation to the implementation, what strategies they used to further their understanding about CAPS and which factors affected their ability to implement the curriculum. Eleven teachers were interviewed in order to answer the research questions. Findings from the interviews showed that a majority of the teachers believed that the training that was supposed to prepare them for the implementation of CAPS had several faults.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjamas Joniškio rajono savivaldybės administracijos Švietimo ir sporto skyriaus vaidmuo įgyvendinant švietimo reformas. Bakalauro baigiamojo darbo tyrimo tikslas - identifikuoti Švietimo skyriaus vaidmenį įgyvendinant švietimo reformas, remiantis Joniškio rajono Savivaldybės administracijos Švietimo ir sporto skyriaus atvejo analizė. Baigiamojo darbo teorinėje dalyje analizuojama švietimo reformos įgyvendinimo samprata vietos savivaldos lygmeniu, t.y. viešojo valdymo reformos samprata pokyčių valdymo kontekste, švietimo reformos samprata (sąsajos su kaitos procesais, inovacijomis, užsienio šalių reformų lyginamoji analizė), taip pat vietos savivaldos institucijų veikla reformų įgyvendinimo kontekste. Baigiamojo bakalauro darbo empirinėje dalyje tiriamas Švietimo skyriaus darbuotojų požiūris apie Švietimo reformų įgyvendinimą bei tai kokį vaidmenį reformų įgyvendinime atlieka Joniškio rajono administracijos Švietimo ir sporto skyrius. Taip pat tyrimo metu paaiškėjo ir darbuotojų nuomonė dėl galimų švietimo sistemos pokyčių, t.y. kokių lūkesčių darbuotojai turi būtent švietimo sistemai. Empirinėje dalyje pateikiama ir teisės aktų reglamentuojančių Švietimo skyriaus veiklą analizė (darbuotojų pareigybių aprašai, švietimo strategijos, nuostatai, švietimo gairės). Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad švietimo skyriaus darbuotojai Švietimo skyriaus veiklą reformų įgyvendinimo procese vertina teigiamai ir mano, kad švietimo politikos įgyvendinimas vietos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The role of Department of Education in implementing education reforms in Joniskis municipality administration is being analyzed in the final thesis. The research objectives of the Bachelor thesis is to identify the role of Department of Education in implementing education reforms, based on case study of the Department of Education and Sports of Joniskis municipality administration. In the theoretical part of the final thesis the concept of education reform implementation is being analyzed within the level of local self-government, that is the concept of public management reform within the context of change management, the concept of educational reform (the interface with the processes of change, innovations, comparative analysis of reforms of foreign countries), as well as the activities of local self-government within the context of reform implementation. In the empirical part of the final thesis the attitudes of the employees working at the Department of Education regarding the implementation of educational reform and what role is undertaken by the Department of Education and Sports of Joniskis municipality administration in the implementation of the reforms are being analyzed. Also the researched revealed what is the employees’ position on the possible changes in the education system, which is what expectations the employees have towards the education system. The empirical part also presents the analysis of legislation regulating the activities of the Department of... [to full text]

Australia's tertiary educational environment is changing; in the past decade, it has faced a new set of challenges and pressures (Cunningham et al., 1998) that are encroaching on the traditional definitions of what higher education is. These challenges often dictate the directions in which the tertiary education environment evolves into. Within the framework of institutional reforms, the adopted policies are often the best indicators of that transition. Flexible delivery or learning has been espoused as a means of meeting and mediating some of those challenges. With their emphasis on catering to the needs and expectations of the consumer in a consumerist society, flexible policies are becoming the norm in most institutes of higher learning. However, of interest within the structure of the flexible delivery approach is the development of learner management systems (LMS). The question is what are learner management systems? What do they represent and what do they offer to the learner that differentiates it from the traditional forms of learning? In its basic form, a learner management system is essentially a series of processes that are developed and organised so as to efficiently provide the learner with the required access and interaction required to facilitate his or her learning. However, what are the benefits of being aware of the capabilities and limitations afforded by such approaches? How does it contribute to the process of teaching and learning in the context of higher education? The effectiveness of how these learner management systems are used in context to its application in multimedia programmes is of importance. Institutions are progressively introducing similar learning systems into their delivery framework. The question as to whether a singular adaptive system or a customised option remains to be tested.

The current study attempted to identify conditions that affect the manner in which Western Australian primary school teachers perceive recent curriculum changes; the types of support they access; and the relative usefulness of this support. Based on preliminary findings in the first phase of this study and the research literature it was expected that teacher self-efficacy, teacher characteristics such as age and years of teaching, and school context such as the level of 'innovativeness' would prove to be influential in the process of implementing new initiatives. A model expressing the relationships between these concepts was developed and evaluated in the second phase of this study. This study is important for two reasons. It focused on Western Australian primary school teachers, whereas most previous research focused on high school teachers, and it explored ways to help teachers deal with future changes instead of simply identifying their responses to changes. It is therefore hoped that the education system will be more informed and better able to provide appropriate support for teachers when faced with future reforms. The study was conducted in two parts. The purpose of phase one was to become familiar with the current circumstances of teachers in relation to curriculum change. By focusing on the attitudes and behaviours of teachers from 'innovative' schools it was thought more could be learned than in schools that maintain the status quo. Qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews, informal observations and the analysis of websites and school documents were utilised throughout this phase. The second phase of the study employed a quantitative approach, based on the findings of the first phase, specifically a process of questionnaire construction and distribution throughout the defined population. A number of cautious conclusions have been made within the limits of this study. Firstly, the most useful type of professional development for teachers involves teachers interacting with each other. Teachers need time to discuss issues and share their successes. However, Action Research as a means of professional development is currently under utilised. It was discovered that most teachers were positive towards curriculum change, yet an overwhelming workload has proved a formidable barrier to new initiatives. In addition, most teachers will modify initiatives to meet the needs of their students and to fit in with their existing orientations. Consequently, school structures need to become more flexible to encourage teachers to engage in innovative practices. Interestingly, the self-efficacy of a teacher influences the way they perceive and cope with curriculum change, however teacher characteristics, such as age and the number of years teaching, did not yield substantially different results when teachers were categorised along these dimensions. School context, as defined by the level of 'innovativeness', did produce differential results in terms of teacher attitudes and responses to curriculum change, and the type of professional development accessed. Finally, schools may need to involve parents and the wider school community in the school level decision-making processes if they truly are to become ' learning communities'.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Este trabalho tem por objetivo estudar, tendo como objeto a Comissão de Melhoramentos da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, a construção do discurso da higiene e urbanização que se delineou no Rio de Janeiro a partir da epidemia de 1849 e construiu ao longo do século XIX um discurso de cidade civilizada e moderna a partir de planos de melhoramentos urbanos e sanitários, em um movimento liderado por engenheiros e sanitaristas, em sua maioria, ligados ao poder público, discurso este que irá se materializar, efetivamente, no início do século XX com o Prefeito Francisco Pereira Passos. / This present work has the objective, upon the study of the Comissão de Melhoramentos da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, the building of the discourse on the hygiene and urbanism on the city of Rio de Janeiro since the first epidemic of 1849 and aware the beginning of the speech about civilization and modernism on XIX century, leading by engineers and doctors, mostly member of the state. That speech will effectively became reality with Francisco Pereira Passos on XX century.

Placing politics in time can greatly enrich our understanding of complex social dynamics. The question this thesis tries to answer is which mechanism led to the change in attitudes of the German Social Democratic Party and the British Labour Party towards the welfare state during the period from 1990 to 2010 and which effects in consequence these changes had on the existing welfare states. This thesis builds on the welfare state categorization work done by the Danish sociologist Gosta Esping-Andersen ("Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism"). However, the thesis focuses its in- depth analysis on Germany and the United Kingdom as prototypical conservative and liberal states. The heuristic text analysis, as well as the discourse analysis of party leader speeches, party manifestos and programmes, as well as the conducted expert interviews reveal that social, political, technological and economic changes during the given time period radically challenged and changed the norms and values of the welfare providers and with it the given welfare state, as well as the meaning, function and value of work. While many may argue that it was mainly the neo-liberal political and economic style that changed the attitude towards the welfare state, it was in fact just the trigger for a radical change in the interpretation of the basic social democratic values of freedom, justice and solidarity. This change made significant welfare state reforms inevitable and only with further changes can a balance and satisfaction within the welfare state system and within all welfare providing sectors (the state, the market, households and the third sector) be achieved. A new balanced social democratic approach for the 21st century is a ‘symmetrical welfare state’ that stands for mirror-image equality.

Le contexte professionnel dans lequel se déroule la carrière des universitaires français a connu ces dernières années de profondes mutations incarnées par la réforme dite LRU (loi relative aux libertés et responsabilités des universités), la réforme du statut des enseignants-chercheurs ainsi que la réforme touchant à l'évaluation de la recherche (LOI de programme n° 2006-450 du 18 avril 2006 pour la recherche). Les règles de gestion de carrière imposées aux établissements ont changé et le cadre s'est complexifié. L'université a été replacée au centre de cette gestion, se voyant attribuer un rôle plus important dans la gestion des parcours professionnels des individus. Une injonction à l'excellence scientifique est apparue plus clairement et une menace de modulation s'est mise à peser sur les individus qui n'auraient pas une production scientifique suffisante. Il semble alors que le poids de l'environnement professionnel se soit renforcé par l'intermédiaire de règles plus exigeantes pesant sur les individus. Ces règles comportent cependant des contradictions et des ambiguïtés ayant pour effet une transformation de la relation entre les enseignants-chercheurs et leur employeur, relation qui se distend. L'ensemble de ces éléments nous a conduite à travailler sur la problématique suivante : « L'évolution du contexte professionnel (légal et réglementaire) de ces dernières années agit-il sur les parcours professionnels des universitaires français aujourd'hui ? » que nous avons traitée par l'intermédiaire d'une démarche qualitative fondée sur la méthode de recueil de données des récits de vie. La thèse que nous défendons grâce à notre travail est la suivante : L'environnement professionnel est pourvoyeur de règles et de normes suffisamment contraignantes pour pouvoir exercer une influence sur les parcours de carrière des universitaires français à travers des mécanismes d'isomorphisme que nous mettons en exergue, qu'ils soient de nature coercitive, normative ou mimétique. Cependant, l'existence de contradictions et/ou d'ambigüités dans les règles offre aux individus la possibilité d'interpréter ces dernières et leur donne la liberté de les suivre ou non. C'est le positionnement des individus, selon qu'ils soient dans une recherche de légitimité vis-à-vis de l'environnement professionnel ou plutôt dans une recherche de plaisir qui va décider de la construction du parcours. Nous défendons enfin l'idée que les réformes sont venues bouleverser les priorités des enseignants-chercheurs pouvant ainsi créer une rupture dans leur parcours de carrière. / The professional environment of French academics is moving. Indeed, reforms implemented in the French public higher education system since the 2000's have been numerous. Three main reforms are taken into account in our work. The first reform centers on organizations and is called LRU (Law n° 2007-1199 - 10th of August 2007 relative to liberty and responsibility of universities). The second reform impacts the evolution of the academics' status (Statutory order n° 2009-460 - 23th of April 2009). The third reform concerns the research evaluation process (Law of program for research n° 2006-450 - 18th of April 2006). The system underwent transformations touching universities: its autonomy was widened; and academics: the possible paths of career were modified; individual and collective practices: the accountability was strengthened. As we met a lot of academics who seemed disrupted by the evolution of the context in which their career took place, we decided to try to understand what happening. It is consequently to the influence of the professional environment on the career pathways of individuals that we dedicate our Phd work. More precisely, we analyze if this environment influences the behavior of academics in terms of careers, and if yes how does this influence play. To do so, we study the behavior regarding mobility, three types of mobilities being studied: the functional mobility (Evolution of the contents of the professional tasks and the basket of activity), the vertical mobility (Promotion) and the geographical mobility (national and international). The thesis that we defend through our work is: The professional environment is a provider of rules and standards sufficiently stringent to influence the career paths of French academics through isomorphism mechanisms that we highlight, whether coercive, normative and mimetic. However, the presence of contradictions and / or ambiguities in rules offer individuals the opportunity to interpret them and gives them the freedom to follow them or not. It is the position of individuals, whether they aim at conforming to the professional environment or rather in search of fun that will decide the path of career. Finally, we support the idea that reforms have come to upset the priorities of academics that can create a break in their career paths.