Forum for rectors of pedagogical universities closed on September 17 in Kyiv. It was the first forum of such kind ever conducted. The forum was attended by 20 rectors of European universities from 11 countries (Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Georgia, Slovakia, etc.) and also by over 50 rectors of Ukrainian universities, as well as by public and state representatives. The focus of the forum is in its title – “European School of the 21st Century: Kyiv Initiatives.” As Viktor Andrushchenko, rector of the Mykhailo Drahomanov National Pedagogical University said, complex processes of intensification and optimization of educational process arise on the way towards United Europe. “In course of historical development European education has formed an original values platform relevant for all the countries and peoples of the continent. The key values are person oriented approach, tolerance, environmental safety, peaceableness, and solidarity. The first step in this process should be creation of a consortium of European pedagogical universities. The second – concept development and appeal to governments of European countries with a proposal for its implementation. The third – transformation of the problem into practical dimension, taking into account all national and other peculiarities of the European space,” said Andrushchenko. Representatives of pedagogical science talked a lot about the mission of a teacher in society, its present low status, and about the fact that the level of spirituality in society is teacher’s total responsibility. The Day asked Professor Algirdas GAIZUTIS, rector of Vilnius Pedagogical University how it is possible to restore prestige of the profession of a teacher and make teachers authoritative figures for adults and children.
Mr. Gaizutis, the European Forum of Rectors is held under the title “European School of the 21st Century.” What is your idea of an image of a new teacher?
“The level of teachers’ training and their mission in society have changed nowadays; the social prestige of a teacher used to be much higher. My parents and grandparents, who, by the way, spoke about independent Lithuania long before World War II, always stressed that every man who respects himself and others always takes his hat off before three people – a teacher, a priest, and a doctor. The situation has changed not only in Lithuania or Ukraine, but also in other European countries. Thus, one of the most important tasks now both in a state and in society is to increase the social prestige of teachers, which basically means respect and special attitude towards a teacher. I can’t say that by now we have achieved some significant results that I could speak openly about and give examples. If we to look at the media, we can see that often many negative stories on the topic of school get into their attention. There is no positive vision of the school and the exclusivity of teachers’ missionary profession is not emphasized. There are also some interesting programs on the television but there are so very few of them. Those programs tell about teacher’s contribution to the development of some concrete talented student and about teachers working with smart, gifted children and with advanced students. You know that in Soviet times we were taught that all professions are equally important and respected. However, there was too much declaration about equality and respect and no real result for that. I am a rector of a specialized university and university specialization is a very significant component. Last year the European Conference of Rectors of Pedagogical Universities took place in Palermo, Sicily. It was devoted to this very topic – university specialization. When we joined the European Union, there appeared new standards in education, common criteria (Bologna Process, Lisbon Strategy) – this is very good. When you join the European Union it will all be waiting for you. However, there was time when we thought that there are way too many regulations. But as a person, who at some point was the president of all public organizations of Lithuania – the so-called Forum of the Future of Europe, I understand that all of that is an essential component of training teachers, who have to be ready to work in various institutions that deal with education (municipalities, different organizations, institutions). A teacher should be able not only to teacher math, Lithuanian, or history. Therefore, the main focus of the work of our university is the question of how to prepare such universal teacher, who would feel confident in various structures of social life, in structures where the teaching function is not the most important, but, at the same time, is not of secondary importance.
“The current name of our university is Vilnius Pedagogical University, but recently our parliament has issued a decree on renaming the university to Vilnius University of Educational Science. Pedagogy is the basis of the educational science, while educational science comprises in itself many other disciplines, professions related to education, and education of society as such. The school is the core of our work and the rest – administration and management – is all related to the educational system. For if there is no real educational system in a society, there will be no good, because everyone understands that our children are brought up in this system. Thus, the preschool, school and university education of our children will determine what kind of Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Germans and people of other nationalities there will be in the future and what kind of state they will have. The essence of educational science is based on the node of the modern society as such. I should say that now we have the undergoing process of school and university education restructuring. Therefore, there are many everyday problems, many discussions, psychological tension, and, I think, some mistakes.”
Are there enough young people willing to study at your university?
“Yes, there are. Two years ago legislative innovation of motivation examination was introduced. This kind of exam is conducted only in some cases, when a person is applying, for example, to an academy associated with creativity, or athletic department (physical parameters are checked). This is the second year that we have this kind of examination. By the way, it is quite a challenging experience. Imagine a young man coming from a remote place, who has to answer many questions of the committee members. Regular exams are conducted by associate professors or professors, but for this kind of exam there gathers a whole committee of doctors and professors. There are only four or five committees created in different universities in Lithuania. Of course, the number of representatives from our university is the highest: we cover 80 percent of all teachers and educators in Lithuania. We are not trying to take everything into our own hands – other universities also have programs for training teachers. I think that this motivation exam is very useful because two years in a row we get more motivated students.”
You said that the process of restructuring higher education is now underway in Lithuania. What does it mean for your university?
“The university becomes smaller due to demographic problems and the fact that many young people emigrate. I think we will benefit from this downsizing because big universities, in my opinion, are a tough case. Of course, university can earn more money from a greater number of students, but it is not all about money. When there is a large number of students, the relations between them become more formalized. Nowadays, the experts of higher education now have an opinion, and I declare it too, that the number of students should be within 10,000. University is the brain of nation and there should be an organic bond of this brain with the history and culture of the people. If this bond becomes formal, ‘brain’ won’t receive any power. I should note that brain receives information from the whole ‘body.’ That is why I think we shouldn’t be chasing neither for money, nor for the greater number of students. It is also unnecessary to achieve overproduction of specialists in certain fields. Today in Lithuania there is a situation when there are too many specialists of some professions, like: lawyers, managers, and economists. Many universities produce such ‘rubberstamps.’ But as a rector I have an opinion that if we have fewer students, it is for the better. Especially because now the teaching staff and professors are better selected and more united as a group. The relations between students also improved.”
One of the factors that make the profession of teacher less prestigious in Ukraine is low wages. What is the situation in Lithuania? Did you manage to make the profession more financially attractive for future teachers?
“We have long sought for the pay rise for teachers in Lithuania. I can’t name the exact numbers, but school teachers’ salary of some categories is higher than that of university professors. That is why we are now trying to obtain salaries for higher education workers that would be not lower than salaries for some categories of school teachers. Addressing the students, teachers and professors with a speech, I always stress that there are three forms of capital – financial, material, and symbolic (Karl Marx has long become outdated and we should already say good bye to him). What is the symbolic capital? I will try to explain using an example of a teacher. If educational system in the state is well organized, a teacher has a right for four months of vacation. This is the symbolic capital; a person can do what he wants, work on selfdevelopment, selfimprovement, etc. There are all the resources because it is life. Even a priest can not boast of something like that. I insist that the profession of teacher is the most significant achievement of all civilizations and his status as an educator has to be high.”
