Lithuanian Schools Research Articles

How Lithuanian language textbooks present language to gymnasium pupils

The article analyses, how the Lithuanian school education system teaches to understand language and evaluate linguistic phenomena (linguistic diversity, different language forms and varieties) as well as language functions (communicative and function of identity). Basis of the research are the newest Lithuanian language textbooks for the last two gymnasium grades (11-12th grades), published since year 2000. Using qualitative analysis method it is being investigated, what notion of language is presented to the pupils, how much the descriptive approach to language of contemporary linguistics and knowledge about language are present in the textbooks, and to what extent there still exist attitude of the so-called traditional (prescriptive) grammar and ideas of language corrections.
 Language teaching at school serves double function – on the one hand, school teaches literacy, where language is understood as a tool for creation and analysing of texts. On the other hand, language in itself is a study object, about which pupils at school receive a certain understanding. Therefore, the question arises, what notion of language is being formed in the Lithuanian education system on the gymnasium level through teaching material – Lithuanian (native) language textbooks. Does the teaching material for the last two – 11-12th – grades provide knowledge about language of contemporary science, as it might be expected in the education of the 21st century? Do the pupils get introduced to science-based notion of language, as it is accepted in current linguistics, which is a descriptive science, that seeks to study and describe all the aspects of a language descriptively, based on facts, without prejudices and evaluations. Or is it on the contrary being followed the notion of language, which is characteristic of normativity and prescriptivism and which is rejected by contemporary linguistics as not scientific.
 The research analyses five Lithuanian language textbooks for 11-12th grades, published after year 2000, which have been selected for the analysis using the database of textbooks and other teaching materials (https://www.emokykla.lt/bendrasis/mokykis/vadoveliu-db/naujausi-vadoveliai). The main question, that is being raised with this research, is whether and to what extent scientific or non-scientific notion of language is being formed in school language textbooks, what attitude is predominant, and which notion of language is prevalent, if different attitudes exist. The method of the research is qualitative discourse analysis of the textbooks, using the qualitative data analysis program NVivo.
 The results of the textbooks’ analysis show, that non-scientific notion of language is dominant in the Lithuanian education system. The majority of the analysed textbooks represent this notion. The main characteristics of this notion, visible in the textbooks, are prescriptivism, romantic images of language, ideology of linguistic nationalism. However, besides the dominant normative approach to language, the scientific, descriptive approach is also visible in the textbooks, though to a lesser extent than the normative approach. One of the analysed textbooks is different from the rest ones with its exceptionally descriptive approach to language as a study object.

Social Stratifications in Applications in Education Institutions: Lithuanian Case

The article analyses the contemporary problem of our society – manifestations of social stratification in educational institutions. This problem is getting worse as the education system itself is not fully capable of identifying it and thereby reducing the social tension between the members of the educational community. The article presents the research carried out in Lithuanian schools, during which socially disadvantaged pupils were interviewed. The results of the research and their interpretation are presented.

Implementing Inclusive Education in Lithuania: What are the main Challenges according to Teachers’ Experiences?

The purpose of this article was to analyse the challenges primary and subject teachers had experienced concerning the implementation of inclusive education in Lithuanian primary schools, progymnasiums and gymnasiums. In this study, 86 Lithuanian teachers reflected on their experiences of teaching in heterogeneous classes. The data were collected from 13 group interviews. The article highlights the challenges encountered by the primary and subject teachers in implementing inclusive teaching. The findings were arranged under four themes. Concerning teachers’ pedagogical competence, the teachers highlighted difficulties in differentiating their teaching and including the students with special educational needs in the classes’ social peer networks. Teachers also pointed out the need for multiprofessional collaboration and dialogue with parents. The themes were then interpreted in the theoretical frames of teachers’ professional competences. At a practical level, the study’s findings may help teacher educators understand the teacher competences needed to implement inclusive education and support them to develop existing teaching programs to target the successful implementation of inclusive education. At a conceptual level, this study presents evidence for preparing teachers to work in the conditions of striving towards inclusive education.

The Situation of Teaching History in Jewish Gymnasiums and Progymnasiums of Lithuania in the Period of 1919–1940

The aim of the present study is to explore the situation of teaching History in the Jewish gymnasiums and progymnasiums in the period under discussion, and alongside to reveal differences in the content of teaching history in Jewish and Lithuanian schools as stipulated by the country’s government. The study is based on the documents found in Lithuanian Central State Archives available in the collection of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Lithuania (f. 391), and in the collection of the Jewish society “Tarbut” (f. 552); use was made of the periodicals of that period, for instance, the Jewish newspaper Apžvalga (The Overview). The obtained findings revealed that after the First World War, in the newly established state of Lithuania, Jewish children could attend government-funded schools with Lithuanian as the language of instruction. The government allowed the Jews to find their own private gymnasiums and progymnasiums with Hebrew and Yiddish as the languages of instruction. That kind of schools soon appeared in different towns in Lithuania: in 1919 such schools were established in Kaunas, Marijampolė, Virbalis, and Vilkaviškis; in 1920 – in Skuodas, Kaunas, Ukmergė, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Telšiai, Kalvarija; in 1921 – in Jurbarkas and Raseiniai; in 1922 – in Ukmergė, Kėdainiai and Alytus. The number of those schools was steadily growing as new schools were established: in 1923 – in Kaunas, Šiauliai, Utena, Mažeikiai, and Kretinga; in 1925 – in Panevėžys, Kaunas, and Tauragė; in 1926 – two schools in Biržai and Kaunas. In the period under discussion, 30 new schools were founded. In later years, the situation was gradually changing as the number of newly founded schools decreased, and some existing schools had to close for certain reasons. All the afore-mentioned Jewish schools, both gymnasiums and progymnasiums, followed three different ideological directions, and thus three networks of Jewish schools had been formed: Tarbut (a worldwide network of schools with Hebrew as the language of instruction), Yavneh (orthodox school with instruction in Hebrew), and the Culture League network (secular school with instruction in Yiddish). To some extent, those different school networks pre-conditioned differences in the approaches to the teaching content in the school curriculum. The study has revealed that as the subjects taught in private Jewish gymnasiums and progymnasiums focused on Jewish identity, the mother tongue was given top priority. In most Jewish schools, Hebrew took this position, and only several schools chose Yiddish as the first language. There were cases of disagreement and even conflicts arising over the language of instruction and its influence. As religion played a very special role in Jewish identity, several Jewish identity-related subjects were taught at schools: “The Bible”, “The Talmud”, “Torah”, “Mishnah”, and the like. Subjects of religious education were given several weekly contact hours and occupied the key position among other subjects in the curriculum. Jewish history was the second in importance. The present study has revealed that the syllabus of history comprised three subjects: world history, the history of Lithuania, and Jewish history. Up to 1924, school head teachers were authorised to design school curricula independently and to assign a certain number of contact hours to each subject. Within the context of history teaching during that particular period, the greatest number of hours was allocated to the teaching of Jewish history. From 1924, school curricula did not distinguish Jewish history as a separate subject any longer. However, in reality, the segment of Jewish history remained strong, except that it came under the subjects of world history and the history of Lithuania. The findings of the present study suggest that the content of Jewish history included materials of the period from the end of the fifteenth century up to the beginning of the twentieth century. Most attention was given to the issues of Jewish history in Europe and the surrounding countries. Among the topics of the teaching content, the emphasis was placed on the issues of the study of the Judaic tradition, the most prominent rabbis, outstanding philosophers, and renowned figures of Jewish culture. In the 1930s, it became common to focus more on the issues of Jewish emigration of the end of the nineteenth century and issues of Zionism. Teachers Jews sought to achieve enhanced teaching of Jewish history in their gymnasiums and progymnasiums whereas education officers of Lithuania sought adequate teaching of the history of Lithuania to ensure an adequate education for the young Jews to become dedicated citizens of Lithuania, the country they belonged to.

Lithuanian Language Prestige: Pupils’ attitudes Towards the Lithuanian Language in the Context of Educational Policy

The family, school, and the general field of public culture affect the formation of pupils’ attitudes towards the value of the Lithuanian language. Studies into linguistic attitudes of different age pupils allow observing the trends of pupils’ values regarding the Lithuanian language and the factors affecting them. The aim of the article is (1) to analyse the prestige of the Lithuanian language in groups of schoolchildren and teenagers based on the 2018–2019 survey of pupils’ language and attitudes towards the Lithuanian language in Lithuanian schools and (2) discuss the trends in the policy of Lithuanian language teaching as one of important factors shaping the language prestige. In order to analyse the attitudes of Lithuanian schoolchildren and teenagers towards the Lithuanian language, a comparative study was carried out in the 2018–2019 academic year. In order to guarantee the reliability of the data, the study involved the major part of Lithuania; schools from six municipalities – those of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, and Druskininkai – took part in the survey. The article presents the analysis of questionnaire data obtained from 360 respondents: 105 third-formers, 128 fifth-formers, and 127 eighth-formers. Respondents of these particular ages were not selected randomly: they were primary school pupils, pupils in the first year of the basic school, and pupils completing the progymnasium. Responses obtained from the representatives of different age groups allowed observing shifts in their attitudes towards the Lithuanian language. Thus, the study material consisted of questionnaires completed by pupils in 2018–2019 and of the legal acts forming the Lithuanian language education policy. The survey was based on qualitative analysis, while the trends, correlations, and interfaces of the survey results were assessed using the quantitative method. The work is synchronic, analytical-descriptive. The study into the pupils’ attitudes towards the Lithuanian language and its prestige shows that as a deep motivating belief, the perception of language as a value is formed at younger school age. The third-formers already demonstrate a strong attitude towards the Lithuanian language concerning its usage and social value, and the impact of family, school, and teachers on the prestige of the Lithuanian language. The family has the strongest impact on the attitudes of primary school pupils’ towards the Lithuanian language, the general cultural field influences the attitudes among basic school pupils, and school influences pupils of all ages. The study revealed that the older the pupils were, the more dominant the English language they use online was. As for the after-school activities, reading books fills the major part of the Lithuanian language experience – regardless of their age, the majority of the respondents read books in Lithuanian. Thus, literature has a great impact on the development of pupils’ language and their linguistic sense. The survey results suggest that positive attitudes towards the value of the Lithuanian language of most of the pupils, especially the younger ones, are formed by parents: in the opinion of over a half of the third-formers and fifth-formers, families pay attention to the Lithuanian language used for communication. The survey results show that the pupils’ most sustainable linguistic attitude is the relationship of identity with the language: the majority of the pupils (three-fourths of the survey participants) are proud of the Lithuanian language and consider it a part of their identity regardless of their age. The comparison of the data of different-age respondents shows that the social prestige of the Lithuanian language decreases with the respondents’ age – the higher the form is, the fewer pupils think that it is necessary to know the Lithuanian language in order to enter a good gymnasium, university, or to find a good job. The analysis of educational documents regulating the process of education, the assessment of academic achievements, and the requirements for teachers’ qualification and competences shows that the provisions of the Law on Education to guarantee the quality of Lithuanian language education are not implemented through the legal acts that regulate Lithuanian language education, assessment of academic achievements, and the requirements for teachers. To sum up, it is evident that the state’s attitude to the sustainability of the Lithuanian language, the guarantee of its continuity, and the enhancement of its prestige is insufficient. It is worth noting that the pupils’ attitudes towards the Lithuanian language are influenced not only by education policy but also by the attitude of the society. Their linguistic attitudes reflect those of their families and the general public. Thus, the prestige of the language also reveals society’s attitude to itself: the status of a linguistic community closely correlates with the prestige of its language.

School Students’ Motivation for Learning Sciences: How is it Influenced by Self-confidence in Science and Inquiry-based Teaching Approach?

The article deals with the Lithuanian school students’ motivation for learning science on the basis of TIMSS 2015 data. This article analyses the influence of two factors on motivation for learning science: the self-confidence in science of school students’ and teaching science using inquiry-based approach. The purpose of the research is to analyze the influence of self-confidence in science and the influence of teaching science by inquiry approach on students’ motivation for learning science.

Links between the Aesthetic Education Environment of Schools and Pupils’ Artistic Self-Expression

Links between the Aesthetic Education Environment of Schools and Pupils’ Artistic Self-Expression

Mečislovo Reinio pedagogikos idėjos ir jų reikšmė šiandienos dorinio ugdymo programose

Straipsnyje pristatomas Thomo Groome’o modelis, pagal kurį parengtos dorinio ugdymo (tikybos) programos Lietuvos bendrojo ugdymo pradinėse ir pagrindinėse mokyklose. Šiame modelyje krikščioniškosios vertybės atpažįstamos sprendžiant gyvenimiškas problemas. Galimybė apsispręsti ir būti atsakingam už savo sprendimus, mokymasis daryti argumentuotas išvadas matant dabarties problemas – pagrindinis dorinio ugdymo tikslas. Vertybės neturi būti atsietos nuo gyvenimo. Atvirkščiai, jos turi atsispindėti problemų sprendimuose. Tam reikalingas platus, visuminis požiūris.Dorinio ugdymo siekinys – visapusiškai ugdyti asmenybę, todėl pats procesas pasižymi interdiscipliniškumu. Visa tai akcentavo viena intelektualiausių tarpukario Lietuvos asmenybių – arkivyskupas Mečislovas Reinys.Antroje straipsnio dalyje apžvelgiama keletas arkivyskupo M. Reinio straipsnių, kuriuose gvildenama visapusiška asmenybės ugdymo svarba. Savo mintis apie ugdymo svarbą arkivyskupas publikavo tiek moksliniuose, tiek periodiniuose leidiniuose, pats iš karto grįžęs po studijų į Lietuvą, matė žmogaus, kaip asmenybės, ugdymo svarbą.

The Managerial Experience and Postgraduate University Training of School Principals: A Comparison of Two Post-Socialist Countries Using TIMSS 2015 and PIRLS 2016 Data

Contemporary research on education policies and practices of post-socialist countries is not expansive. According to our understanding, there are at least several reasons for a rather limited interest of researchers. There is no single, universally accepted theoretical approach to post-socialist development; territorial disputes pose problems to statistical data analysis; some countries with authoritarian regimes tend to play with the data and improve the numbers; there are difficulties of finding the data about non-EU countries. One of the possibilities of conducting comparative studies is the usage of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs). The aim of our study was to highlight the different attitudes toward the training of school principals in Lithuania and Kazakhstan on the basis of a secondary analysis of TIMSS 2015 and PISA 2016 data. Results indicate that there are essential differences between the two countries. The percentage of students in schools where Lithuanian school principals have undergone postgraduate university training exceed the percentage of students in Kazakhstani schools 4 to 5 times. Lithuanian school principals also have, on average, 1.5 times longer professional experience than Kazakhstani school principals. However, data of TIMSS 2015 and PIRLS 2016 show no direct relationship between the level of education and work experience of school principals and student achievement. We assume that higher professionalism and experience of school principals may contribute to the efficiency of school management, while the effectiveness of student learning may be determined by a variety of other factors.

Primary school students’ argumentation skills: expression of arguments

This study was conducted to analyze the fourth grade students’ linguistic abilities allowing them to express their arguments in oral and written texts: to determine both the number of presented arguments as well as the level of their elaboration, to characterize the expression of the arguments. The recorded number of participants was 117 fourth-graders from 15 Lithuanian schools. Oral and written texts created by the students were explored in the study. The obtained results revealed that the fourth grade students were able to voice their opinion on at least one argument when they cre-ated an oral or written text on a familiar topic and context. Approximately one-quarter of the study participants were able to present more than three arguments. No significant differences were found between oral and written argumentations with regard to quantity of the arguments. A qualitative analysis of the spoken and written texts indicates that the fourth grade students can use generalized statements (unelaborated secondary statements), they rely on examples and sources. It has also been observed that the study participants’ abilities to develop arguments differ considerably. Their very diverse, even contrasting abilities demonstrate the necessity for developing/updating the curriculum content that would focus more on argumentation.

Teacher leadership for organizational change

The aim of this article is to test the teacher leadership initiated by teacher professional development abroad, as a factor of organisational change in a structural equation model. Structural equation modelling was employed to analyse survey data collected from 218 teachers who participated in professional development activities abroad under Erasmus+ KA1 in 32 Lithuanian schools. The model expresses the relationship between teacher leadership and organizational change, where teacher professional development abroad is treated as an initial (self-development) dimension of teacher leadership. Results revealed the positive and significant relationship between teacher leadership and organizational change, where leadership is conceptualized as an ongoing relational process of selfdevelopment, dispersing ideas, involving others and gaining commitment. Findings of the study also depicted a positive and significant relationship of didactic competence (the dimension of self-development phase of leadership) with one of the dimensions of organizational change - learning in the classroom.

Does learning-related social competence in the 1st grade predict academic achievement in the 3rd grade?

This longitudinal study investigated the links between school anxiety, social competence, and teacher–student relationship in the 1st grade and academic achievement in the 3rd grade. The sample consisted of 389 Lithuanian school children who at the time of the study started their 1st year in elementary school. Regression analyses indicated that while the learning-related aspect of social competence at the 1st grade strongly predicted academic achievement in the 3rd grade, interpersonal aspect of social competence did not add any extra variance to the prediction. Both teacher–student conflict and social school anxiety at school entry made small but significant contributions towards prediction of academic achievement in the 3rd grade.

Challenges and visions in school music education: Focusing on Chinese and Lithuanian realities

This article focuses on music education in Chinese and Lithuanian schools, especially on the latest reforms of the national music curriculum for basic and general education. Due to the original reasons and historical development in the east and west, the philosophies of educations are different, resulting in differences in concepts of education, goals of education, methods of education, roles of teachers and students. The process of collecting information for music education in Lithuania and China will be explained in order to gain insight into specific issues related to each country. The resulting similarities and differences between Chinese and Lithuanian school music education are reported, and suggestions for basic and teacher education improvement are discussed. Most importantly, the findings of this study have highlighted that the notions of school music education in Lithuania and China are insignificantly different.
 Keywords: Chinese general music education, music curriculum, music activities, Lithuanian general music education.

GAMTAMOKSLINIS UGDYMAS PRADINĖJE MOKYKLOJE: MOKYTOJŲ KOMPETENCIJA IR RENGIMAS

Schoolchildren’s natural science competence development is inseparable from teachers’ natural science competence, the integral part of which are subject, didactic and managerial abilities. Competence (es) acquisition during the studies at university is not a final process. Competence improvement, enrichment continues during the whole period of active pedagogical work. In the months of January-February 2018, a qualitative, limited amount research was carried out. 60 primary school teachers from more than 25 Lithuanian schools participated in the research. Research data were analysed using a content analysis method. Research results revealed that most primary school teachers value their knowledge in natural science field as sufficient. Teachers accentuate that their competences are proper and emphasize their lifelike and long work experience importance. Part of the teachers accentuate constant natural science education subject knowledge renewal. Only a small part of teachers notice that they lack knowledge in natural science field. Research result analysis showed that most of primary school teachers develop natural science competence independently using various information sources. A big part of teachers develop natural science competence participating in formal specially organised activities. Not a small part of teachers accentuate practical natural science competence development. Research results revealed that most primary school teachers give average evaluation to their competence in teaching natural science (world cognition). Only a small part of teachers attribute a high value to this competence of theirs. Research result analysis showed that primary school teachers teaching students natural sciences (world cognition), encounter various problems. The bigger part of teachers experience problems, related to the teaching process: lack of devices, low students’ teaching motivation, teaching content shortcomings. A big part of teachers teaching natural science subjects (world cognition) experience social – organisational problems: a lack of time, unfavourable conditions, a lack of support. Teacher opinion analysis of what needs to be changed /improved in natural science primary school teacher training/preparation revealed that the biggest part of teachers offer to improve future teachers’ practical abilities/skills. Part of teachers offer to better develop special competences, related to natural science education, to improve material supply of the study process. Keywords: content analysis, primary school, science education, subject knowledge.

Social competence in the 1st grade predicts school adjustment two years later

ABSTRACT This study examined whether social competence at the time of entrance to elementary school predicted school adjustment two years later. The sample consisted of 389 children followed from the 1st to the 3rd grade in Lithuanian urban schools. In the 3rd-grade school adjustment was measured by assessing popularity in class, student-teacher relationships, involvement in bullying, school anxiety, and academic achievement. All school adjustment variables assessed in the 3rd grade were linked to learning-related social competence, while the interpersonal aspect of social competence was related to all indicators of school adjustment except for involvement in bullying in the 3rd grade. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that learning-related social competence measured during the 1st year of schooling was the strongest predictor for academic achievement and teacher-student conflict in the 3rd grade, while interpersonal social competence was the strongest predictor of student-teacher closeness and social school anxiety two years later.

Pastabos apie Balio Sruogos laiškų rašybą ir kalbą

[full article and abstract in Lithuanian; abstract in English] The language and spelling of fiction, scientific literature, journalism and other literature are usually edited in an exemplary manner. The true language of writers is well illustrated by the letters they wrote. The language of the letters of the Lithuanian literary classic Balys Sruoga is incredibly distant from the language of the works published. The letters are full of various types of mistakes. Long and short vowels are confused, nasal letters are very often left out in accusative singular and genitive plural cases, in singular and plural endings of nominative cases of active participles, in the roots of verbs, as well as there are incorrectly written forms where there is consonant assimilation. The causes of mistakes are different. At the beginning of the 20th century, the spelling of the Lithuanian language was not yet properly standardized. But the main reason was that B. Sruoga did not study at any Lithuanian school. The writer graduated from Panevėžys Realschool, where all the subjects were taught in Russian. Later on, he studied at the universities of Petrograd, Moscow, and Munich. Mistakes are made due to his inaccuracy, as well as for psychological reasons. In the letters where the author complains of a bad mood, tells about disasters or failures he has experienced, there are usually numerous mistakes. B. Sruoga’s letters contain poems or their insertions, some letters exist as separate texts of fiction. The writer is much more focused on the intense search for stylistic variants rather than on spelling. Lithuanian writers often use dialect forms and words from their native dialects. B. Sruoga is unique in this regard. He uses not only his own, but also other forms of Lithuanian dialectal words, such as the illative case, the supine, the dual form of predicates and verbs, infinitive forms of dialect verbs, subjunctive and imperative mood forms, and others. The letters in question employ a large number of foreign words (mainly Slavisms), especially literally translated Slavic constructions. Keywords: Balys Sruoga, ego documents, orthography, dialectal elements, barbarisms, neologisms. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15823/zz.2018.12

The association between the level of physical activity with spinal posture and physical fitness parameters in early adolescence

Background/Aim. A low level of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle affects the body posture in adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess the core relation between the level of physical activity and spinal posture as well as physical fitness parameters in 11?14 years old teenagers. Methods. The cross-sectional study included 532 children, aged from 11 to 14 years. The study was carried out at three Lithuanian schools in 2011?2013. The Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire (YPAQ) was used to assess physical activity. Spinal posture was assessed according to the Hoeger visual posture assessment method. Physical capacity was evaluated using a 6-min walking test (6 MWT) and by calculating maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max). Other physical fitness such as the general balance, flexibility, explosive leg power and abdominal muscle endurance were evaluated by applying the European Fitness Test (Eurofit). According to time spent doing moderate to vigorous intensity physical activities (MVPA), the sample was divided into 2 groups ? a low activity level group and moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity level group. We compared the spinal posture evaluation results and physical fitness parameters between groups as well as correlations between the duration of MVPA, spinal posture evaluation results and physical fitness parameters. Results. The study showed that 22.2% of teenagers had a low physical activity level and 16% of teenagers had an incorrect posture. The teenagers of low physical activity group were less physically fit and had the poorer posture than teenagers in the MVPA group. During the 6MWT, the teenagers in the low physical activity group walked on average 63.2 m less (p = 0.002), and their VO2max was 0.8 mL/kg/min lower (p = 0.006) than that of teenagers in the MVPA group. The teenagers in the low physical activity group also did not perform as well in the explosive leg power and abdominal muscle endurance tests compared to teenagers in the MVPA group. Correlations between the duration of MVPA and spinal posture evaluation results as well as some physical fitness parameters were very weak. Conclusion. The teenagers of low physical activity were less physically capable and had poorer posture than the teenagers in the MVPA group.

Religious education in Lithuanian schools from 1918 to 1941

Religious education in Lithuanian schools from 1918 to 1941

Adolescent Social Emotional Health, Empathy, and Self-esteem: Preliminary Validation of the Lithuanian Version of the SEHS-S Questionnaire

Background. Thepriority for today's educational psychologists in Lithuanian schools is to promote psycho-educational activities aimed at fostering children’s well-being. School psychologists are to provide services for, and consult with, children and adolescents with mental health challenges, in order to facilitate their transitions to positive developmental trajectories. Therefore, it is important to test the construct validity of the adolescent social emotional health survey (SEHS-S) in a Lithuanian sample.

The Era of Book Smugglers in Lithuania in the Second Half of the 19th Century and Its Contribution to the Creation of the Modern Lithuanian Nation

The defeat of the Polish-Lithuanian uprising in 1863–1864 was followed by a new repressive policy. Its primary objectives were to suppress any ideas of the Polish-Lithuanian state and to establish the Russian system at any cost. The Russian government tried to remove Lithuanian and Polish languages from public life, limit the influence of the Catholic Church, spread Orthodoxy, support the Russian education system and prohibit the printing of Lithuanian publications. The Catholic Church, headed by the bishop of Samogitia, Motiejus Valančius, joined the quiet opposition to the Russian Empire. Valančius organised the printing of Lithuanian books in Prussia – he established a secret organisation that smuggled books to Lithuania and distributed them there. Thanks to him, the foundations of the new Lithuanian national movement were laid. It supported the creation of national literature, the establishment of secret Lithuanian schools and the strengthening of the position of the Lithuanian language in the Church. The Lithuanian national revival opposed not only Russification efforts but also Polonisation in both ethnic and political sense. The era of book smugglers in Lithuania between 1865 and 1904 played a crucial role in the process of the formation of the modern Lithuanian nation. This is the main reason why the national movement of the Lithuanians also became a subject of political discussions in the early 20th century.