Misiūnienė, Giedrė

Solving the problem of insufficient quality of educational services, their availability and accessibility in rural areas, multifunctional centres have been established in Lithuania, which aim at satisfying educational, cultural and social needs of rural communities and consolidating state and private financial and intellectual resources. The article aims to reveal the links between a multifunctional centre and a full-day school as well as to justify possibilities for activities of a full-day school in a multifunctional centre. The experience in organising activities of multifunctional centres and similar institutions in foreign countries, theoretical prerequisites for modelling a full-day school are analysed. Applying the method of participatory research, on the basis of discussions of heads of multifunctional centres and analysis of experience in activities of multifunctional centres, the directions of organising activities of full-day school within multifunctional centres are highlighted.

The article discusses the intellectual heritage of Professor Bronislovas Bitinas in the context of contemporary education and social situation in Lithuania. Prof. B. Bitinas is one of the most prominent contemporary educology scholars who holds the degrees in humanities, social sciences and mathematics and has a wide scientific interest in multi-ethnicity, his scientific activity was mainly related to diagnostics and methodology of educational research, education theory and education, deep analytical and systematic thought. His contribution both to the training of pedagogues and to the field of science of pedagogy is not only prominent, but also special. This is revealed by abundant and original fundamental works, which consolidate the basic ideas of mathematical statistics and methodology in educational science. Based on the results of many years of theoretical and empirical research, the works define the fundamentals of scientific knowledge and scientific research of educational objects, which describe specific aspects of educational reality and help to establish the science of education in the modern system of sciences.

The article deals with the hypothetical model of socio-educational activity carried out at a multifunctional centre of a rural community. The author of the article built the proposed model after studying a variety of scientific sources. The activity of the hypothetical model of a multifunctional centre is based on the principles of managerial activity: accessibility, contextuality, complexity, inter-institutional collaboration, complementarity, flexibility, subsidiarity, openness to changes, creativity, excellent execution, renewal, preservation. The crucial factor for a successful implementation of the effective activity of the model is participation of the very members of the community and their involvement in the activity at the places of their residence.

The increasing need for communities and sociality is evidenced by more and more attention paid to them: on both political levels of the European Union and also on each of its member states the development of communities and the necessity to bring social services closer to local communities are emphasized. For this purpose it is necessary to reconsider the roles of social services providers, their functions and the competences required for this activity. Scientists state that the potential of social workers is not fully used for the purpose of activation, concentration and development of local communities. The purpose of the article is, based on the analysis of scientific literature, to highlight the elements of the competence of social workers for acting in a rural community. Based on the performed analysis of scientific literature, the article deals with the preconditions for formation of communities in rural areas, the specifics of social work in rural communities is analysed, the definition of the competence of the social workers for acting in a rural community is presented. The competence of a social worker for acting in a community consists of knowledge, skills and value attitudes. It is important for a social worker acting in a rural community to know potential models for solutions of community problems, the cultural context of the country community, the identity, and the strengths of the community and the specifics of facilitation process. For successful activity in a rural community the social worker shall have social skills, i.e., skills for establishment and maintenance of relationships, keeping the cultural dialog, analytical and technical skills, research performance, facilitation, activating people as well as community organization and mobilisation skills.

In order to solve the lack of quality, supply and accessibility of educational services in Lithuanian rural areas there are universal multifunctional centres being developed with the purpose to meet educational, social and cultural needs of local communities accumulating public and private financial and intelectual resources. These multifunctional centers should help to design, implement and develop the modern concept of education covering different age groups and their needs. The article analyzes socio-educational experiences of foreign multifunctional centers and institutions that are similar to them; it also outlines tendencies and potential activities of Lithuanian multifunctional centers. The article also presents a theoretical analysis of the international experience of multifunctional centers. It is based on a qualitative research approach with experts’ interviews. The analysis of the results of the research highlights the causes and incentives for the establishment of universal multifunction centers in Lithuania, possible directions of activities (areas), purposes and perspectives.

The article analyses the accessibility and diversity of pre-school education and care services. The documents under analysis reveal the aspects of organising education services to children in universal multifunctional centres and operational possibilities of universal multifunctional centres.