Republic of Lithuania Law on Education (2011) indicates that one of the school's goals -to ensure a safe environment for its pupils. However, the number of bullying at schools remains quite high. Regarding the number of pupils, experiencing bullying, Lithuania is in first place (HBSC 2014) among other countries. The purpose of the article -to reveal teachers' competence as a factor, ensuring the prevention of bullying among peers at school. The results of qualitative research, which reflects the teachers' attitude to their competence to deal with cases of bullying among peers at school, are presented in the article. The results of qualitative research reveal the attitudes of social pedagogues and class masters towards teachers' ability to carry out the prevention of bullying at school. The results of the survey show that the majority of teachers have the knowledge about bullying, its expression, however, some teachers state that they lack the ability to deal with cases of bullying among peers at school. Teachers experience difficulties mostly when they try to interfere in bullying situations among peers. The results of the research allow to make an assumption that seeking for the quality in preventing the bullying among peers, it is necessary to improve teachers' competences.

The article reveals primary school teachers’ approach towards advantages and disadvantages of information and communication technologies, their influence to children education as well as teacher experience in the application of ICT technologies in primary education and opportunities of teachers in the development of professional competence. Qualitative study (structured interview) was carried out which involved the teachers of 1 – 4 forms more than four years actively using ICT in the classroom. According to the teachers, Content analysis of the study results revealed essential  factors and potential ways of more efficient use of ICT in primary education, i. e .improvement of teachers’ special professional competence (knowledge, skills and ability to use various ICT tools in the classroom, identification of special needs of primary school children, linking the development of formal and informal needs, etc.), personal viewpoint to ICT in social life, the shortage of ICT tools in primary school.

This paper analyzes teaching and learning in the context of the implementation of digital technology in educational practices. On the basis of the data obtained from focus group discussions and creative workshops with primary school teachers, ways are identified to recognize and strengthen student engagement in learning through the use of digital tools, based on artificial intelligence and integrating learning analytics. As evidenced by the analysis of the research data, students’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in learning increases due to the use of digital learning tools. To support and strengthen student engagement, teachers need to rethink their habitual educational practices, anticipate the barriers to engagement caused by digital technologies and the ways of coping with them, make use of digital tools for personalized and in-depth learning, and apply effective means to manage classrooms and interactions between students.

Innovations in social pedagogical assistance in schools are important for ensuring equal opportunities in education for all social groups, especially for children from disadvantaged social, economic and cultural (SEC) backgrounds, to address the issue of quality and accessible teaching and learning. National school quality reports point to the insufficient implementation and diffusion of innovations in schools. Scientific literature indicates that educators-innovators are important for the diffusion of educational innovations in schools, so they need appropriate conditions created for them to disseminate the innovations in communities. The aim of this research is to identify preconditions for the diffusion of social pedagogical assistance (SPA) innovations in secondary schools. The qualitative research (interviews with social pedagogues) has identified preconditions for the diffusion of SPA innovations in schools: the constant self-reflection of social pedagogues, an enabling (creative) environment, the opportunity to experiment and see the value of innovation, with sufficient time allowed for this collegial support as well as constructive and timely feedback from the school administration.

STEAM education is named as one of the priorities of Lithuanian education, responding to the need to promote a culture of innovation at school and to develop students' creative and critical thinking. The search for opportunities of integration of the subjects of arts and sciences into teaching / learning processes involve researchers and practitioners from various fields (engineering, education, arts, culture, and technological innovation). The numbers of scientific publications on the concept of STEAM education and on the role of arts in it that have been increasing over the last decade testify to the scientific community's attention to the issue, however, they also raise so far unanswered questions about the integration of arts into STEAM theory and practice. Researchers address several problematic areas in STEAM education: insufficient analysis of practical cases, limited preparedness of teachers to implement STEAM projects, and one-sided interpretation of the purpose of arts. Not much is known about how teachers’ value personal experiences in arts integration, how effective the inclusion of arts in the context of STEAM education is, and what the dynamics of STEAM discipline integration is. The aim of this study is to find out why and how primary school teachers integrate arts into STEAM projects, what challenges they face, and how they assess their competencies to ensure arts integration. To achieve the aim of the research, a focus group discussion with teachers working at two Lithuanian primary schools and implementing STEAM projects was chosen as the main data gathering method. The results of the focus group discussion revealed that the teachers preferred an arts-enhanced model of STEAM subject integration mostly through visual arts (drawing, photography, collage, and sculptural elements by gluing). Arts were applied with the aim of diversifying students' academic activities and enriching them with emotional experiences. The research participants saw the following advantages of including arts in STEAM projects: increasing the choice of activities and tools, enhancing students' engagement in learning processes, developing leadership and cooperation skills, maintaining learning motivation, improving critical and creative thinking skills, and linking learning to life. The limitations of teachers' competence to integrate arts into STEAM projects became apparent as well: insufficient knowledge of forms and ways of artistic expression, distrust of their own artistic abilities, and a lack of experience in cooperation with art teachers and artists. Based on the research findings, the directions of further research were formulated, the most relevant ones being an analysis of specific STEAM projects and the modelling of multidimensional STEAM projects. Keywords: STEAM projects, arts integration, primary school teachers