No abstract

Students’ well-being and life satisfaction have been the crucial trends in research and practice over the last decades. Often students, who come to study to another country encounter several challenges in the process of integration in the new host country environment. The article deals with the part of the broader research which aimed at fostering international students’ integration in the environment of the host country – Latvia. The aim of this article is to explore international students’ satisfaction as well as the problems they have encountered in Latvian higher education institutions and thus find out the level of their subjective well-being according to Ryff’s (1989) stated indicators: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The data reveal the average score 5.6 out of highest score 7 and the highest scores are for self-acceptance and positive relations with others. The research also coincided with the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, thus influencing the number of respondents and representation of the countries in the research sample. The research was conducted in the framework of the project “Multilingual and Multicultural University: Preparation Platform for Prospective International Students” (No. 1.1.1.2/ VIAA/1/16/019) co-funded by ERDF.

Due to the shortage of teachers at schools, the Ministry of Education and Science in Latvia has devoted special attention to fast track of teachers to teaching starting new teacher education project to attract capable and motivated professionals from various fields to the work of a teacher. This also raised the necessity for the development of programme and training competent teachers to act as mentors in school-based teacher education programme. The study aimed to explore and evaluate mentor education in the context of work-based (school-based) initial teacher education. The research sample consisted of 55 participants of mentor professional development programme and 2 mentor trainers. The data analysis of participants’ questionnaires, reflections, mentor trainers’ self-evaluations and feedback on participants’ assignments led to the guidelines for building partnership between schools and universities to promote a common understanding of school-based teacher education.   Keywords: mentor education; school-based teacher education; student teacher; university-school partnership

The article addresses comparative qualitative content analysis as a part of the grounded theory research to explore the relationship between English language proficiency of economically active adults and their quality of life. Using comparative qualitative content analysis of the policy documents in respect of lifelong learning as main data collection method, the authors of the article aim to identify the relationship between the 21st century skills and indicators of life quality by comparing the sources that define the 21st century skills and analysing them in the context of the “8+1” dimensions of life quality offered by the European Union. The following research questions have been proposed: how 21st century skills are defined in the policy documents and how they relate to the quality of human life. The analysis of European Parliament, Council of the European Union, Word Economic Forum and Eurostat policies, models, strategies and their implementation in respect of lifelong learning reveals existing gaps and points at the urgent need in profiling the development of human skills to enhance human well-being and life quality in Europe. Besides, developing new skills and improving existing ones can be a tool for improving the quality of life in the future, whereas the dimensions of life quality can serve as a prerequisite for skills development.

The article aims to attract the attention of policymakers, educators, business-affiliated bodies, and community to the psychological well-being of such prison staff members as chaplains whose job satisfaction will directly influence inmates’ rehabilitation and the health of the society in general. A phenomenological research was carried out in a non-profit organization Good News Jail and Prison Ministry whose mission is to provide spiritually mature, equipped, and motivated chaplains serving in 22 states, one American territory and 25 countries. The research sample was the participants of six Eurasian regions. The data were collected using interviews, diary notes and reports of stakeholder and problem tree analysis. The literature review and the gained data reveal a clear profile of what and who prison chaplains should be to guide prisoners towards their integration into society. It exposes both sides of the same system, known as penitentiary, as well as indicates problem solution strategies as well as requirements to maintain the work in line with trends in the branch. The research has brought repeatedly proved evidence that the complicity of “state of the art” calls for more attention from policymakers, educators, business-affiliated bodies, and states clearly that more research is necessary.