爱沙尼亚职前教师教育课程建设的价值嬗变、架构及特征——以塔尔图大学为例

被誉为“爱沙尼亚的启蒙圣母”的塔尔图大学是爱沙尼亚最早开展师范教育的高校,既反映了本国职前教师教育发展的需求,也是职前教师教育课程发展的缩影。塔尔图大学职前教师教育课程建设的价值经历了从通过技能提升获得教师职业身份、培养理论基础夯实的从教人员到实现教师专业发展的终身性嬗变。在职前教师教育课程建设中,构建了以培养教师候选人的综合素养的课程目标,依托主题将教师教育知识统整为课程内容,推行“反思—探究”教学策略,优化课程实施方式及依托信息技术,完善课程评估手段,彰显出课程内容注重时代性、课程设置以学习者中心、课程谱系理论与实践有机交融以及课程制定与实施利益相关者共同参与的典型特征。     

The impact of water supply and sanitation on infant mortality: Individual-level evidence from Tartu,Estonia, 1897–1900

Evidence from a number of historical studies has demonstrated a strong impact of the provision of clean water on mortality risks, while no clear effect has been reported in others. We investigated the relationship between water supply, sanitation, and infant survival in Tartu, a university town in Estonia, 1897–1900. Based on data from parish registers, which were linked to the first census of the Russian Empire, the analysis reveals a clear disadvantage for infants in households using surface water, compared with families that acquired water from groundwater or artesian wells. The impact is stronger in the later stages of infancy. Competing-risk analysis shows that the effect is more pronounced for deaths caused by diseases of the digestive system. Our findings suggest that it may have been possible to improve the water supply, and consequently reduce infant mortality, before the introduction of piped water and sewage systems.     

Family engagement within the context of assessment in child protection practice: The case of Estonia

Engagement in the context of child protection is of significant international interest, as the participation of family is a central notion in child and family social work. Drawing on in‐depth, semistructured interviews with a sample of 26 child protection workers in 1 region in Estonia, this article reports the findings of the participants' perspectives on family engagement in the context of child protection assessment. Child protection workers perceive the engagement related to 3 aspects: first, it is associated to the acts of the worker; second, it is associated to parental part of actions—depending on parents themselves; and third, engagement was seen as “doing together” with the family, referring to partnership. The aim of the engagement was mainly considered in the terms of empowerment—empowering family to cope on their own and to take charge of their lives. The negative image of child protection was recognised as one of the main barriers to the family engagement. Understanding the family and their situation was seen as the basis for a trusting relationship, being the most crucial factor to promoting family engagement.     

从英雄传说到民族史诗——爱沙尼亚《卡列维波埃格》简论

爱沙尼亚是东波罗的海国家,其民族史诗《卡列维波埃格》世界闻名。这是一部诞生于浪漫主义时代,典型的“以传统为导向”的英雄史诗,它由F.R.克列茨瓦尔德根据民俗资料,用古老诗体形式写成。史诗的主人公形象在编写过程中也经历了从森林巨人到文化英雄的转变。本文试图通过对这部史诗的产生时代、搜集整理过程以及文本内容与主题等方面加以概述,来揭示英雄传说史诗化的历程,并讨论史诗对于族群认同的重要意义。     

Compulsory intergenerational family solidarity shaping choices between work and care: Perceptions of informal female carers and local policymakers in Estonia

Estonians are obliged by law to provide maintenance for family members who are unable to cope by themselves. As a result, 80% of fragile older people receive informal care. Whether this is because the carers themselves feel solidarity and choose informal caring or because they lack alternatives is the question. We applied the cultural approach for explaining the construction of compulsory family solidarity in care provision to older people through the perceptions of informal carers and policy actors. Our interest is in how filial norms framed by individual responsibilities of care provision required by law can influence (i) informal carers’ perceptions concerning their choices between work and care and (ii) impact policy actors’ perceptions concerning eldercare service provision. Analysing the empirical data produced during focus groups with female carers and interviews with policy actors, we demonstrate the triple‐fold pressure to informal caregiving as an expression of compulsory family solidarity. Key Practitioner Message: ? The article demonstrates how the national Family Law Act constitutes a compulsory requirement of family solidarity in society; ? The compulsory family solidarity norm influences local‐level policymaking and inhibits the development of formal care services for older people; ? Informal carers’ choices between work and care are shaped by their personal filial norms, familialistic policymaking, and pressure exerted by older people.     

Child-centered approach in the context of the assessment of children in need: Reflections of child protection workers in Estonia

Objective

This article describes empirical results on how practitioners understand the concept of child-centered approach and how it is applied in practice, extending knowledge of the unresearched phenomena in Estonian child protection practice.

Method

A small-scale study included twenty child protection workers from different regions in Estonia, exploring the child-centered approach in assessment practices through in-depth semi-structured interviews.

Results

Results indicate that child-centered approach in the child protection workers' practice is characterized, firstly, by doing work for the child, and less by working with the child, including the fact that some practitioners are somewhat unclear about the meaning of child-centered principle. Majority of the participants underscored the importance of child involvement and partnership in the decision-making process, nevertheless, their case reflections showed that most of them did not include the child in the assessment.

Conclusions and implication for practice

Findings highlight several challenges in Estonian child protection system and suggest a need to find ways to support child protection workers' competence and confidence to conduct comprehensive assessments based on the child-centered approach, including the child in the assessment process.     

Some principles of cost-benefit analysis of family planning services in developing countries

A number of controversial issues are discussed, relating to the assessment of both costs and benefits of family planning services. All costs and benefits, whether accruing to society or the parents of the child whose birth is averted, and the child itself, should be included in the analysis, even if they cannot easily be measured or appear as externalities. Different rates of interest to be used in discounting to obtain present values apply to various items; these rates may vary between the commercial rates of interest and negative values. It is also shown that the costs of running a service include, in addition to current expenditure, not only basic investments, but also that the benefit accruing to society by averting births comprises a kind of investment, namely the amount spent on the subsistence of the child whose birth is averted before he would have started producing. Marginal values are to be preferred to average values for the calculation of costs and benefits. Thus, the costs of a family planning service should be expressed as the amount of money needed to avert one additional birth and the benefits as the amount saved by one additional averted birth. The latter cannot be measured by comparing the GNP per head when the birth is averted, with the situation when it is not. This can only be done by computing the excess of the child’s life-time consumption over his life-time production.     

The Transferability of Welfare Models: A Comparison of the Scandinavian and State Socialist Models in Relation to Finland and Estonia

In this paper, two examples of the close relationship between a national social welfare system, and explicit transnational influences are discussed. Both the state socialist and Scandinavian models have a recognized structure independent of the particular countries in which they have been implemented, although they are both associated with a home base, Russia and Sweden respectively. Our examples, Estonia and Finland, faced both common and specific national problems following 1991, which led to rapid change in each country's economic situation and pressure on their respective welfare systems. There were elements of continuity and discontinuity with the main tenets of their respective welfare models, and both structural factors and cultural diffusion will be explored to understand the origin of these changes. The paper could be seen as a case study of welfare changes in the "borderlands" where "old empires meet". The countries were chosen because they are peripheral to what were rival spheres of influence and because they see themselves as having much in common. We also expect changes to occur more rapidly in peripheral areas.     

Minimum wage violation in central and eastern Europe

This article analyses minimum wage violations over the period 2003–12 in ten central and eastern European countries which all have national statutory minimum wages. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‐SILC) data and the methodology proposed by Bhorat, Kanbur and Mayet (2013), the authors measure the incidence and depth of violation. In addition, they conduct regression analyses on individual, workplace and macro‐level determinants of non‐compliance. While the incidence of violation remains relatively low, the workers that minimum wage policies seek to protect appear to be the most likely to be affected by non‐compliance. Over time, higher minimum to average wage ratios are related to a higher incidence of violation.     

Research Note: The Future of Third-Sector Teaching and Research in Central and Eastern Europe

This research note addresses issues, concerns, and opportunities for teachers and researchers of the third sector in Central and Eastern Europe, drawing on experiences in Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, and Hungary. The paper briefly outlines the development of the third sector in the aforementioned countries, and describes the current state of third sector teaching and research there. It then frames the challenges for the region's teachers and researchers, and proposes an appropriate role for the West, commenting upon the West's relevance within Central and Eastern Europe.