Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education In the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education University of Zululand, 2009. / The aim of this investigation was to determine educators’ perceptions of the educational distress of children that live in a deprived milieu. An introductory literature review was provided of the characteristics of the child in educational distress. Educational distress surfaces when the quality of the occurring education is intrinsically bad. The child who finds himself within a situation of dysfunctional education thus experiences educational distress. The child’s education is impaired by affective neglect while factors in the social environment, such as a deprived milieu, compound the problem. Educational problems at home or in school affect the child adversely with regard to his meaningful experiences, knowledge, volition and behaviour, which results in a ‘deviate psychic structure.’ The child in educational distress experiences lack of security, an obscured future perspective, affective neglect, rejection and unfavourable comparisons. The life-world of the child in educational distress, which comprises the significant and meaningful physical and psychological environments of the child, was described. Besides the geographical world, the child’s life-world also includes his relationships with the self, other people, objects, ideas and religion. Actions of the child in educational distress, such as ascribing significance to matters, i.e. the formation of meaningful relationships, are of insufficient quality. This gives rise to inadequate actions of hoping, planning, gaining insight in his own life-world of never attaining freedom to be responsible. “The child in educational distress reveals signs of being unloved and left alone, a low self-esteem interpersonal distrust, anxiety and depression. For the purpose of the empirical investigation, a self-structured questionnaire was utilised. An analysis was undertaken of the questionnaires completed by the respondents, namely educators that are employed in schools situated in a deprived milieu. The data was processed, analysed and interpreted by means of descriptive and inferential statistics. In conclusion a summary of the study and findings emanating from the literature and empirical investigation were presented. Based on these findings the following recommendations were made:  To inculcate positive attitudes in children from a deprived milieu. Educators should be helped to develop ways of assisting these children to change their attitudes.  To develop and implement involvement programmes for the parents from a deprived milieu. Parental involvement in the child’s schooling is important for the effective education of the child.

Globėjų (rūpintojų) savipagalbos grupė yra grindžiama bendradarbiavimo ir dalijimosi patirtimi principu. Grupės nariai padeda vieni kitiems spręsti iškilusius sunkumus ne tik vaikų, bet ir asmeninius, patys gali sulaukti pagalbos iš grupės vadovų, pasimokyti vieni iš kitų.Atlikus tyrimą paaiškėjo, jog vaikai, globojami šeimose, turi galimybę mokytis savarankiškumo, formuoti įgūdžius, tačiau išlieka galimi sunkumai adaptacijos periodu, pasireiškia sunkiai suvaldoma vaikų agresija, skirtinga patirtis, kas nulemia pokyčius globėjų (rūpintojų) šeimose bei skirtingas socializacijos situacijas. Socialiniai darbuotojai ir globėjai (rūpintojai) savipagalbą traktuoja per panašių problemų sprendimą, norą padėti ne tik sau, bet ir kitiems. Socialinių darbuotojų nuomone, savipagalbos grupių kūrimas ir globėjams (rūpintojams) teikiama pagalba yra prasminga dėl tarpusavio santykių, gerosios patirties, problemų sprendimo mechanizmo. Globėjų (rūpintojų) nuomone, savipagalbos grupėse yra palaikomos jų kompetencijos, kas teigiamai veikia globėjo (rūpintojo) santykius su vaiku, padeda perprasti vaiko poreikius, padeda pagilinti žinias ir leidžia globėjui (rūpintojui) jaustis komandos dalimi globos (rūpybos) situacijoje. / Self-help groups in foster-parenting are based on collaboration and sharing of common experience. Group members help each other in solving not only child related but personal problems as well; they can attain help from the group leaders, and learn from each other. The research revealed that family- fostered children tend to be more independent, they are able to form certain skills. However, some difficulties during period of adaptation remain, including barely manageable aggression, differing life experiences that shape changes in foster families, and different paths of socialization. Social workers and foster parents understand self-help groups as a possibility to solve similar problems, helping oneself and each other. Social workers believe that self-help groups can offer significant improvement in relationships, problem solving, and exchange of good practices. Foster parents believe that in self-help groups they can enhance their competencies, which in turn can improve their relationships with a child, help understanding his/her needs, and enrich their knowledge, helping feel a part of the team in a foster- parenting situation.

The aim of the Diploma Thesis about the Integration of an adopted child into a family is to analyse a process of integrating of an adopted child into a new family and identify areas with problems with adaptation on a new educational background. The main emphasis is put on an area of family relationship and educational problems. This Thesis is divided into the theoretical and the practical part. The theoretical part contains three chapters and the practical part includes a methodology of a research and a research report. The first chapter of the theoretical part is dedicated to a family as a basic supportive surround. A family is defined there, various conceptions of family workings and family functions are described there. The next subheads deal with family malfunction, psychical needs of children and parents and a psychic deprivation arising from unfilled needs. The second chapter explains basic terms of an alternative care. There are also characteristics of children suitable for an adoption and a description of an adoption process from a decision to an adoption. The third chapter deals with an integration of an adopted child into a family. The first subhead refers an attachment and relationships. There are described types of attachment between a mother and her child, an influence of a trauma on...

This diploma thesis deals with teaching English to children with specific learning disabilities and educational problems. The theoretical part describes the most frequent educational problems of children and adolescents. Further attention is paid to the problems of specific learning difficulties, the causes of their origin and their manifestations in teaching English at middle school. Finally, the thesis deals with the methodological principles for foreign language teaching of children with specific learning disabilities. The research part is based on the case studies of children placed in specialized facilities due to their educational problems. I participated in individual assistance to two concrete children and I worked out case studies based on our cooperation. The aim of the empirical part is to choose a suitable individual approach to two concrete children, realize it, and reflect it in depth.

Emigracija iš Lietuvos įtakoja ne tik šalies socialinę ir ūkio raidą, tačiau daro ypatingą žalą šeimoms bei vaikams dėl šios priežasties gyvenantiems skyrium. Problemos, su kuriomis yra susiduriama, vaikų tėvams laikinai ar nuolatinai išvykus į užsienį, yra kompleksinės, susijusios su vaiko juridinio atstovavimo aspektais, kuomet vaikas paliekamas kitų asmenų priežiūrai, su vaiko emocine, moraline būsena, jo ugdymo procesu ir panašiai. Šiame darbe tiriamos vaikų, kurių tėvai emigravę į užsienį, edukacinės problemos, jų teisių ir teisėtų interesų, gyvenimo sąlygų užtikrinimas. Aptariamas tėvų migracijos procesas ir jo padariniai, Lietuvoje likusio vaiko edukacinės problemos, vaikų teisių ir teisėtų interesų, gyvenimo sąlygų užtikrinimas ir pateikiami įvertintos problemos preliminarūs sprendimo būdai ir rekomendacijos.. Aiškinamasi, kokia šveitimo vadybos vieta bei socialinio pedagogo vaidmuo sprendžiant šių vaikų edukacines problemas. / Emigration from Lithuania has an impact not only on social and economic development of the country but also causes particular harm to families and children residing separately due to this reason. The problems that are encountered, when parents move abroad temporarily or permanently, are complex, related to juridical representation aspects or a child, when the child is left for other persons` supervision, whit emotional, moral condition of the child, his/ her development process, etc. The present thesis analyses educational problems and assurance of rights, legal interests and living conditions for the children whose parent had emigrated abroad. Parents` migration process and its consequences along whit educational problems of the child left in Lithuania, assurance of children`s rights, legal interests and living conditions are discussed as well as preliminary methods with regard to the resolution of the estimated problem and recommendations are provided. Importance of educational management and role of a social pedagogue are discussed when resolving educational problems of children.

Našlaitystė, kaip socialinis reiškinys, egzistuoja tiek pat, kiek pati visuomenė, ir yra neatsiejama civilizacijos dalis. Šio magistro darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti su kokiomis psichosocialinėmis ir mokymosi problemomis, ugdytojų bendruomenės nuomone, susiduria vaikai, gyvenantys globos namuose. Tyrimo objektas – vaikų, gyvenančių globos namuose, psichosocialinės (elgesio, prisitaikymo prie aplinkos, sąveikos su aplinka) ir mokymosi problemos. Teorinėje darbo dalyje aptariami darbo su vaikais, likusiais be tėvų globos, atsiradimo priežastys ir vystymasis, trumpai apžvelgiama likusių be tėvų globos vaikų problemą Lietuvoje; remiantis moksline literatūra pateikiami vaikų gyvenančių globos institucijose ugdymo ypatumai; didelis dėmesys skiriamas socialinio darbuotojo veiklos tikslų bei krypčių atskleidimui, dirbant su vaikais likusiais be tėvų globos. Praktinėje darbo dalyje pristatytas kiekybinis vaikų, gyvenančių globos namuose, psichosocialinių ir mokymosi problemų empirinis tyrimas. Tyrimas buvo atliktas 2008 metų kovo – balandžio mėnesiais. Tyrime dalyvavo 100 respondentų (50 mokyklos ugdomosios bendruomenės atstovų ir 50 vaikų globos namų ugdomosios bendruomenės atstovų). Išanalizavus esamą padėtį paaiškėjo, kad dažniausios vaikų globos namų auklėtinių elgesio ir emocinės problemos, ugdomosios bendruomenės požiūriu yra: nerimastingumas/depresiškumas, pasyvumas, dėmesio sutrikimas. Didžiausi mokymosi sunkumai globos namų auklėtiniams kyla atliekant užduotis, kurių atlikimui... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Kids-orphans - is a well-known social fact that exists as long as the society exists. It is the integral part of civilization. The aim of this master‘s Thesis is to reveal psychosocial and educational problems of children living in sheltered housing face with. The subject of the Thesis – are psychosocial (behaviour, adaptation to the environment, interaction with the environment) and educational problems of children of sheltered housing. In the theoretical part of the Thesis we analysed the reasons of appearance of stray children and the development of this term, we viewed the problems of stray children in Lithuania. After analysing the scientific literature we made a sketch of care of children of sheltered housing. We also paid a lot of attention to the place of social worker in the shelter housing, his aims and ways towards successful work with stray children. In practical part of the Thesis we presented the research of psychosocial and educational problems of children living in sheltered housing face with through the prism of educators’ community. This research was made in March and April 2008. One hundred respondents took part in the research (50 persons from school educators’ community, and 50 persons from shelter housing educators’ community). After we analysed the whole situation we found out that the most popular behaviour and emotional problems of children of sheltered housing (from the point of view of educators’ community) are: anxiety/depression, passivity... [to full text]

This diploma thesis deals with the free time of children attending Tomáš Šobr´s primary school. The thesis is conceived in two parts. The theoretical part deals with the free time of children and youth, about factors influencing leisure time, such as family, education, school, peer groups. It also deals with the specifics of leisure time in children with educational problems. This is followed by a separate chapter on risk behaviour, which is most noticeable at the ZŠTŠ. The practical part constitutes a research that examines how the 2nd grade students from Tomáš Šobr's primary school spend their free time. And whether the mentioned pupils have experience with risk behaviour.

This thesis deals with the education of children after a separation of their parents. It focuses on the fact how the parents handle education of children even after such a difficult situation that all the family members have passed. The theoretical part is divided into five main chapters. This part focuses on family, education and family problems arising in connection with the disintegration of the family. The practical part of the thesis deals with the research itself. Interview and document analysis were chosen as the main research methods. Interview was conducted with parents with underage children. The interview was focused on coping of the situation in the family after the parents' separation, how separation of parents can impact the further development of minor children, child behavioral problems at school or at home. Subsequently, an evaluation of the above materials was made.

The aim of this thesis is to describe appropriate and threatening educational strategies that have arisen as a result of parental divorce, and based on the theoretical recommendations and research conducted among a selected group of respondents to formulate educational recommendations that minimizes problems of children from divorced families. The survey seeks to answer questions about what respondents selected as their options to manage a period around parents divorce and what made the situation worse. To achieve the objectivity of this thesis were to set partial goals: 1. To find out how the respondent assessed with hindsight suitability and unsuitability of educational strategies used by parents during divorce 2. compare their opinions with the strategies formulated in the theoretical part. The focus of this work is qualitative research, processed by using content analysis of the interview. Semi-structured interviews with selected respondents from single-parent families aged between 19 and 25 years old, reversely maps their view on the appropriate educational strategies of their parents. The interviews were analyzed based on criteria described in theoretical part. Then I individual analyse interviews and match them to accordingly. Most helpful for respondents were supportive persons which they...

The aim of the thesis is to present the roles of the pedagogical consultant at primary school. The theoretical part is focused on specification of the consultant´s duties and powers according to the specialized literature. Furthermore, it concerns the specification of requirements, which the teacher should meet in order to be a pedagogical consultant. Next topic is the cooperation with the legal representatives of pupils and with organizations dealing with consulting. The practical part follows up six pedagogical consultants at primary schools in České Budějovice and Vysočina. The research consists of the dialogues with them and it studies their job duties, the most common topics and difficulties they are faced to.