Academic literature on the topic 'National Program of Civic-Military Schools'

This is a study on the policy of militarization of public schools in Brazil. The National Civic-Military Schools Program, established in 2019 and revoked in 2023, continues to be implemented in the country through agreements, mainly at the state level. The Program aims to implement a shared management model with the military in civilian public basic education schools. The research aimed to map scientific articles about militarized/civic-military schools from 1999 to 2024, aiming to provide an overview of the discussion of militarized education in literature. The methodology adopted was the Systematic Literature Review followed by Bardin's content analysis. Of the 129 texts found, 56 were included in the study after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The tabulation of the selected articles was made available in Mendeley Data and included data extracted from the texts (title, authorship, magazine, theoretical magnifying glass, methodology), other information obtained (Qualis of the journal, citation indexes, validation links), as well as its analytical consolidation, which incorporated 8 categories, materialized from thematic clusters. The research found a lack of works that discuss the topic, few positions in favor of the policy of militarization of basic education, criticism of the teaching and learning process and possible social control, and questions about the legality of these schools in light of the 1988 federal constitution.

This article examines the National Program of Civic-Military Schools in Brazil, a public policy initiative led by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Defense. The program proposes the educational and administrative management of regular educational units with the participation of teaching staff and the support of retired military personnel, following a management model based on Military Schools. Using John Kingdon Multiple Streams model, the analysis aims to illustrate how Civic-Military Schools have emerged as one of the main public education policies of the federal government. The Multiple Streams model aids in understanding decision-making dynamics, considering variables such as power, rationality, and priority choices, simplifying complex realities and facilitating the comprehension of decisions and pivotal moments in the Brazilian education landscape. A critical analysis grounded in this well-established theoretical model is essential to enhance the debate and inform decision-making in the educational field.

Continuous changes in the global geopolitical space are highlighting our national interests in security matters, when thinking about the sustainability of our society and country. Both civic readiness to act in crisis situations and civic participation in strengthening national security are important. Therefore, following the introduction of a comprehensive National defense conception in Latvia, the acquisition of the subject of National defence training in secondary education programs will be compulsory from the academic year 2024/2025. The aim of the research was to substantiate the implementation of National defense traning in Latvian schools as a topicality of modern education. The new curriculum is included in the following areas of study: Health, Safety and Physical Activity and Social and Civic Learning. Nowadays, in the framework of pilot project, the new curriculum in the field of national defense is already being experimentally tested in 69 educational institutions: secondary schools, gymnasiums, vocational schools, colleges. The results of the research allow to conclude that: 1) the concept of comprehensive national defense has four dimensions (military, informative, psychological and civic dimensions); 2) all these dimensions were respected in the development of the National Defense Training curriculum. The content of education in the field of national defense will serve as a means of patriotic upbringing, but the training process itself will have an upbringing function. The implementation of National defense training must also be based on an ecological approach in providing an appropriate educational environment, paying attention to the contexts of indoor and outdoor environments.

This study explores educators' understanding of the rationale for Civic Education to be taught as a compulsory subject to learners in secondary schools in Zambia,  as enshrined in the national policy on education. The study was conducted in all secondary schools of Kabwe district, guided by the Advocacy Coalition Framework Theory (ACF). Using a mixed-method approach within a pragmatic research paradigm, data were collected from 239 participants. Quantitative insights were derived from 215 respondents across 32 selected schools, including head teachers, heads of Social Science departments, heads of Civic Education sections, and Civic Education teachers who completed an online questionnaire. Qualitative data involved interviews with 24 educators and 2 Ministry of Education officials, supplemented by document analysis of national policy and curriculum frameworks. Findings underscore a robust awareness among educators of Civic Education's role in fostering informed citizenship and preparing learners for democratic engagement, focusing on four themes: (1) cultivating informed learners, (2) promoting good citizenship and social cohesion, (3) preparing learners for political engagement, and (4) enhancing critical thinking skills. Additionally, findings may inform policy and practice. Recommendations include enhancing professional development through targeted training programs, ensuring curriculum alignment with national policy frameworks, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration among departments, and establishing mechanisms for ongoing program evaluation to ensure effectiveness and continuous improvement. These recommendations aim to strengthen compulsory Civic Education implementation in Kabwe District, Zambia, fostering a knowledgeable and engaged citizenry capable of contributing positively to society.

This study explores educators' understanding of the rationale for Civic Education to be taught as a compulsory subject to learners in secondary schools in Zambia, as enshrined in the national policy on education. The study was conducted in all secondary schools of Kabwe district, guided by the Advocacy Coalition Framework Theory (ACF). Using a mixed-method approach within a pragmatic research paradigm, data were collected from 239 participants. Quantitative insights were derived from 215 respondents across 32 selected schools, including head teachers, heads of Social Science departments, heads of Civic Education sections, and Civic Education teachers who completed an online questionnaire. Qualitative data involved interviews with 24 educators and 2 Ministry of Education officials, supplemented by document analysis of national policy and curriculum frameworks. Findings underscore a robust awareness among educators of Civic Education's role in fostering informed citizenship and preparing learners for democratic engagement, focusing on four themes: (1) cultivating informed learners, (2) promoting good citizenship and social cohesion, (3) preparing learners for political engagement, and (4) enhancing critical thinking skills. Additionally, findings may inform policy and practice. Recommendations include enhancing professional development through targeted training programs, ensuring curriculum alignment with national policy frameworks, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration among departments, and establishing mechanisms for ongoing program evaluation to ensure effectiveness and continuous improvement. These recommendations aim to strengthen compulsory Civic Education implementation in Kabwe District, Zambia, fostering a knowledgeable and engaged citizenry capable of contributing positively to society.

Character degradation affects the personality of the nation and has the potential for regression. Therefore, strengthening the character of citizenship is an important study with an integration strategy in various activities (samaptaan, local culture) at SMAN 1 Giri Banyuwangi. The use of various activities in schools to strengthen civic character is the right step for the next generation to be globally intelligent and have a national character. Using a qualitative approach of case studies, this study produced the following findings: (1) activities of equality and local culture, strengthening civic character based on the PPK program, as a harmonization of ethics, aesthetics, and kinesthetics; school culture and extracurricular approaches to form civic virtue of the nation's successors in accordance with the national pillars (Pancasila, 1945 Constitution, NKRI, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika); (2) supporters: the care of the Police, the Indonesian Army/Navy, the Battalion organization; mandatory enforcement; funding from schools, students, business funds, sponsors; Health Protocols

In the 1960s Australia experienced a decline in the teaching of Civics Education. Some problems in civic education in Australia such as national identity, too much weight on Civics learning and the most serious is the lack of youth participation in citizenship. In the 1990s civic education experienced a revival, this was marked by the emergence of the Discovering Democracy program which was created to overcome existing problems. Using the literature study method, researchers examined the role of the Discovering Democracy program in Australia. Deficiencies in the understanding and skills of some teachers in the field of civic education are the focus of revamping this program. The aim is to equip young people with the necessary skills to better participate through education in schools. One way to achieve this goal is to involve students in their everyday environment. This program has a large contribution in citizenship education in Australia. Many schools report that, after this program teachers feel much more confident to teach citizenship and citizenship than before.

Like education for sustainable development, human rights education is one of the strategic directions of modern education, acting as one of the leading mechanisms for solving socio-ecological and economic problems at the global, national, regional, institutional and individual levels. The article reveals the historical background of human rights education, shows its importance both in general and, in particular, for the Republic of Indonesia, one of the largest countries in the world and Southeast Asia. The study of human rights in Indonesia is presented in the context of the formation and development of statehood and the education system since prehistoric times, during the colonial era, the period of growth of national consciousness, the military regime and modern democratic reforms. The pedagogical features of the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan (from 2004 to the present) are characterized. A number of educational programs (2013 program, emergency program, Merdeka program) and courses (“Civic Education”, “Religion”, “Geography”, “Social Studies”, “Citizenship”, “Citizenship and Human Rights”, “Human Rights”, etc.) are presented, as well as pedagogical technologies, methods and techniques used in the process of their implementation in secondary schools and universities. A number of problems related to the traditions of the national education system have been identified, and possible solutions have been proposed. In general, it seems advisable to integrate education for sustainable development and in the field of human rights, which will lead to a synergistic effect that increases mutual effectiveness in the realization of the universal right of every human being – the right to development.

Background. The description of the qualification levels in the National Framework of Qualifications contains certain requirements for the results of bachelor's and master's learning. However, the state and military administration bodies do not provide a classification of educational goals (programmatic learning outcomes), on which these requirements could be projected in the case of the training of future tactical level officers. At the same time, there is a long-standing global practice of using Bloom's taxonomy as a hierarchy of educational goals, which can be considered as a methodological basis for determining program learning outcomes. In view of this, the purpose of the study is to project the requirements of the National Framework of Qualifications for bachelors and masters to Bloom's taxonomy and to provide appropriate recommendations to the developers of educational and professional programs to determine the programmatic learning outcomes of higher military education seekers. Methods. The study is based on the analysis, synthesis – for determining the problem, goal and objectives of the research; content analysis – for studying sources on the research topic; concretization – for the selection of examples of educational goals of different levels regarding to Bloom's taxonomy; generalization and systematization – for working out examples of defining educational goals and providing appropriate recommendations to developers of educational and professional programs. Results. It has been established that the National Framework of Qualifications defines the requirements for the training of bachelors and masters, which find their projection on the 4th, 5th and 6th levels of educational objectives of Bloom's taxonomy, at the same time, some educational objectives of the training of tactical level officers can be defined at lower levels. The accordance of the definition of program learning outcomes to certain levels can be achieved through the use of certain words and phrases that create the base for the necessary phraseological constructions and give the necessary semantic content for the learning outcomes. Conclusions. The first edition of Bloom's taxonomy (1956) is still relevant today and appropriate for use as a methodological basis for determining the programmatic results of the training of future officers of the tactical level. The provisions of the National Framework of Qualifications for Bachelors and Masters have projection on the three higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy (analysis, synthesis, evaluation). The affiliation of program learning outcomes to the specified levels can be determined by certain phraseological constructions, which are outlined in the study and recommended for use by developers of educational and professional programs.

The continuing education program for military personnel aims to provide mission execution abilities that correspond to their rank and position, as well as equip them with specialized knowledge and job performance abilities at an advanced level. This is a critical educational process for cultivating professional personnel. However, there are areas that require improvement. Therefore, this study conducted surveys, on-site inspections, expert interviews, and literature reviews to identify problems in the continuing education program for military personnel and propose solutions to address them. The issues identified and the corresponding solutions are as follows: First, education programs that have not been developed should be established in consideration of the capabilities of military schools, or external education agencies should be commissioned to provide proper education. Second, the educational period problem can be addressed by shortening the current period or strengthening remote education to reduce in-person education sessions. Third, the curriculum should be developed by periodically calculating the educational effects, importance, and understanding of each subject, and the decision to include one subject in the next education program should be made based on this analysis. Finally, remote education should be converted into a participatory, two-way learning approach that emphasizes learner-centered education and expanded through Internet-based remote education. In addition to these proposed solutions, further research is needed to compare the continuing education systems for military personnel in the army, navy, air force, and Ministry of National Defense, as well as to compare military personnel education systems in the United States. Further research is also needed to conduct detailed analytical studies on continuing education programs for each military personnel rank, considering the military education environment, and develop an education evaluation model.

This article presents a vision of the current project in the educational field called the Civic-Military Schools Program (PECIM) in the Legal Amazon (AL), taking as a reference the State's actions investing in shared management with the armed and auxiliary forces to serve schools classified as areas of social vulnerability. PECIM was implemented in 2020 and reached a significant number of school institutions on the national scene that decided to adopt the model. By the end of 2022, 49 schools were recorded in AL. The pedagogical conception that favors militarized indoctrination in areas considered to be socially vulnerable is an educational proposal from the national State that exposes political-ideological interests in the region. Document analysis was the proposal used to extract information from the legal documents that guide PECIM within a qualitative methodological approach to reference the historical milestones that contextualize the role of the National State in a critical-reflexive perspective on combating violence in school communities and the rise of the military narrative as a political educational project from a hegemonic perspective. The region, which lives with environmental crimes and the rise of organized crime, sees military participation expand its functions, establishing a power project with education as its pillar.

Sunshine Week is a national effort to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information. Although originally begun as a news media initiative, it has grown to include community groups, libraries, schools, governments, and others who are committed to civic engagement and access to information. For academic libraries, Sunshine Week offers opportunities to forge collaborations with campus and community partners, and to connect programming with broader student learning goals. This chapter makes the case for Sunshine Week as a mechanism for bringing together campus and community groups around issues of common concern, either as a standalone effort or part of a broader program focusing on civic engagement. It features a partnership between the library, journalism program, and donors at New Mexico State University but includes ideas and resources that are transferable to other settings.

The chapter discusses the rationale and contents of the Chinese government's contemporary Patriotic Education campaign and National Defence Education program. Focusing on a central component of these programs - the promotion of "patriotic sentiments" and "national defence" values - the chapter considers whether and how China's education system seeks to foster belligerent attitudes and appreciation for the military through the school curriculum. Drawing on thematic analysis of modern history textbooks used in PRC high schools of the 2000s-2010s, the analysis reveals a key tension in the books' articulation of war, peace, and the military. It shows that although contemporary school materials highlight the "cruelty of war" and promote the image of China as a "pacifist" country, history textbooks also justify the country's past military interventions while glorifying the role of armed conflict in the construction of the modern Chinese national collectivity. The textbooks further underscore the importance of maintaining a strong army to guarantee China's domestic stability, protect the country's national dignity, and ensure its leading international standing in the future.

Sunshine Week is a national effort to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information. Although originally begun as a news media initiative, it has grown to include community groups, libraries, schools, governments, and others who are committed to civic engagement and access to information. For academic libraries, Sunshine Week offers opportunities to forge collaborations with campus and community partners, and to connect programming with broader student learning goals. This chapter makes the case for Sunshine Week as a mechanism for bringing together campus and community groups around issues of common concern, either as a standalone effort or part of a broader program focusing on civic engagement. It features a partnership between the library, journalism program, and donors at New Mexico State University but includes ideas and resources that are transferable to other settings.

Much like any organization’s training program, military training schools train in technical skills, values, and common tasks. In this chapter’s project management endeavor, implementing simulator training to facilitate learning is described in general terms from an Army context. This case narrative provides a general awareness of the aspects of project management that contribute to typical project risks, cost, and quality of technology-based learning projects within a military training environment. The case is presented using fictional characters as an approach to capture real-world challenges while remaining consistent with the Department of Defense’s Principles of Information policy. In carrying out the policy, the case discloses only information that does not adversely affect national security or threaten the safety or privacy of the men and women of the Department of Defense.

Educators, advocacy groups, and policymakers are mobilizing to strengthen civic education across the nation. These renewed commitments must be designed and implemented in ways that ensure today's graduates are ready to effectively engage in modern civic life. Since civic education is key to effective participation in our democracy, ensuring a quality civic education is also an equity issue. Students must have foundational knowledge about our nation's values and government, effectively evaluate the validity of claims in digital media, take and defend positions across multiple platforms, and leverage technology to inform and mobilize their community around ideas they care about. This chapter explores proven practices in civic education and technology-enhanced instructional approaches that schools can leverage to modernize their civic education programs.

Educators, advocacy groups, and policymakers are mobilizing to strengthen civic education across the nation. These renewed commitments must be designed and implemented in ways that ensure today's graduates are ready to effectively engage in modern civic life. Since civic education is key to effective participation in our democracy, ensuring a quality civic education is also an equity issue. Students must have foundational knowledge about our nation's values and government, effectively evaluate the validity of claims in digital media, take and defend positions across multiple platforms, and leverage technology to inform and mobilize their community around ideas they care about. This chapter explores proven practices in civic education and technology-enhanced instructional approaches that schools can leverage to modernize their civic education programs.

Educators, advocacy groups, and policymakers are mobilizing to strengthen civic education across the nation. These renewed commitments must be designed and implemented in ways that ensure today's graduates are ready to effectively engage in modern civic life. Since civic education is key to effective participation in our democracy, ensuring a quality civic education is also an equity issue. Students must have foundational knowledge about our nation's values and government, effectively evaluate the validity of claims in digital media, take and defend positions across multiple platforms, and leverage technology to inform and mobilize their community around ideas they care about. This chapter explores proven practices in civic education and technology-enhanced instructional approaches that schools can leverage to modernize their civic education programs.

This chapter presents an example of a diversity educational change initiative at a medical school. A novel premedical program for enlisted members of the U.S. military services was implemented based on mission requirements, analysis of existing data, and evidence-based strategies. The U.S. physician population suffers from a lack of diversity. This has been a long-standing problem which has a significant impact on the health of the nation. Educational leaders have been given a mandate to address this challenge, and efforts have been made over the past decades – with varying levels of success. This chapter discusses the realities of the diversity challenges facing the health professions workforce and highlights elements of programs which have produced successful diversity outcomes. The military's premedical program is described in detail, including the theoretical perspectives for student persistence and how leaders collaborated to create the conditions for student success.

The chapter discusses a key element of the Chinese government's contemporary Patriotic Education campaign and National Defence Education program: the military training that all youths must undergo while attending junior and senior high school as well as in college. Drawing on analysis of government, military, media, and academic sources published in China from the 1980s to the 2020s, the discussion describes the goals, contents, and techniques of the courses. It further considers the intersection between the expansion and consolidation of government-mandated military training, and the rise and proliferation of martial pedagogies and military-style therapeutics in privately-owned educational and care facilities catering to "deviant" and "problematic" youth. Highlighting the distinct class and gender aspects of these various programs and therapeutics, the chapter identifies central themes within Chinese public discourse surrounding the uses—and, significantly, also abuses—of these interventions while demonstrating that the use of military-style methods in educating and caring for youth constitutes a controversial issue in present-day China.

Abstract The law mandating the DoD Corrosion Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) includes a long-term strategy requirement to “collect, review, validate, and distribute information on proven methods and products that are relevant to the prevention of corrosion.” The DoD CPCP has responded with an overarching strategy to transcend traditional methods of corrosion prevention and control and to change the prevailing corrosion culture of “wait, find, and fix.” And the pathway to culture change includes outreach to all levels and segments of the affected population through corrosion education, training and information sharing. The CPCP established working integrated product teams – particularly the Communications and Outreach WIPT and the Training and Certification WIPT – to develop and implement that strategy and pathway to culture change. Training programs have been established with the help of SSPC and NACE. Corrosion education has been developed and expanded through creation of a Bachelor of Science degree in corrosion engineering and establishment of a National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Material Performance. Numerous high-quality corrosion education and training videos have been produced, along with corrosion video games. And the CorrDefense and CorrConnect websites are established to make corrosion information, education and training available worldwide. Other educational endeavors include the Technical Corrosion Collaboration of universities and laboratories dedicated to groundbreaking corrosion research, corrosion training for the Allies at the NATO School, and science center corrosion exhibits aimed at corrosion education of middle school and high school students. SSPC has played a pivotal role in changing the corrosion culture of a wide range of military and civilian institutions through their training programs, influencing professional performance in the coatings industry, involvement in the development of high quality coatings products and application systems, and broad support of the Department of Defense Corrosion Prevention and Control Program.

Continuous changes in the world’s political and geographical space are highlighting our national interests in security issues, when thinking about the sustainability of our society and country. Both civic preparedness to act in crisis situations and civic participation in strengthening national security are important. This is a duty of every citizen of our country. Therefore, following the introduction of a comprehensive National defence system in Latvia, the acquisition of the subject of National Defence Training in secondary education programs will be compulsory in Grades 10 and 11 of secondary schools starting from the academic year 2024/2025, but by 31 August 2024, National Defence Training in secondary education will be implemented within the framework of a pilot project. The aim of the research is to analyse the content of the curriculum of the subject National Defence Training from the point of view of curricular didactics, civic education and patriotic upbringing. The research results show that the content of National Defence Training is highly multidimensional and important in the context of the promotion of comprehensive national defence and versatile development of young people as well as in supporting their career development. The concept of comprehensive national defence has four dimensions: military, informational, psychological and civilian. All four of these basic dimensions have been taken into consideration when developing the content of National Defence Training. This has been ensured by integrating the content of military education, civic education and career education into the unified curriculum National Defence Training. The content of military education, civic education and career education has a scientific basis, formed by the results of theoretical and empirical research obtained from the research activities of both Latvian and foreign scientists.

Nowadays, in Serbia, in all public spheres, there is a generally positive atmosphere towards the use of new digital technologies, while digital technology and user training for ICT industries are set as one of the national priorities of economic development. The City of Novi Sad already has a centralized position in national IT industry and particularly important data points for present research are two facts: the first one, practical, is that the largest Serbian companies specializing in the production of video games are set up in Novi Sad, and the second one, academic, is that the Academy of Arts, as a part of the University of Novi Sad, established The Video games design program - the first-ever study program of its kind in the Western Balkan region. For a while, video games had stopped being viewed as entertainment for children and teenagers only, but are instead also used in different public spheres. A new academic discipline - games studies - is using the term "serious games", which describes video games intended for education, military training, medical treatment, political, religious and corporate propaganda, and according to some authors, it also describes artistic video games. The focus of this research is in the field of educational video games, so-called edutainment - the concept of education through fun activities, and in this particular case through the use of video games in the educational process. At the point when a new method is about to be introduced in the education process, it is teachers attitude towards the change that will impact the success of this novelty. Therefore, this study should be considered as a probing study which deals with the conditions and possibilities of implementing a video games as a new tool in teaching. The main aim of our study was to explore the teachers' attitude towards the use of the serious game-based learning (ASGBL). Also included was a relationship between teachers' ASGBL with employment length, the use of the computer in teaching and playing digital games. The research included 182 teachers from elementary and secondary schools in Novi Sad, 86,3% females, aged between 25 and 63 years. For attitude towards the use of the serious game-based learning assessment, we used 25 items questionnaire. The results show that teachers don't have extremely positive or extremely negative attitude towards the use of serious game-based learning. We found no differences between employment length and ASGBL. There are differences between teachers who use the computer in teaching and teachers who do not - teachers who already use the computer in classes have a more positive attitude than those who don't use it. Also, there were no differences in ASGBL between teachers playing games in their leisure times and teachers who do not. In conclusion, elementary and secondary school teachers in Novi Sad have a slightly positive attitude towards the use of the serious game-based learning.

The doctoral thesis’s theme, “Contemporary Stoicism and Civic Values”, highlights the potential of an interface between the philosophy of Stoicism and the functioning of the country by strengthening civic values. The aim of the thesis is to offer a vision of how the philosophy of Stoicism, in its contemporary interpretation, can be applied to address topical issues at the national level – strengthening civic values in Latvia. The research (1) identifies the current country’s needs and challenges regarding strengthening civic values; (2) examines the formation and variations of Stoic philosophy and ethics over time, including the most significant criticism of Stoicism, from the origins of the teaching (ancient Stoicism) to the present day (contemporary Stoicism); (3) formulates the interpretation of Stoic philosophy and ethics used in the thesis: what is the ultimate goal of the teaching and the main components of the strategy to achieve it. Based on this understanding of contemporary Stoicism and the identified issues regarding civic values, the thesis (4) explores the potential and limitations of applying contemporary Stoicism to strengthening two core civic values – autonomy and solidarity – in Latvia. However, Stoicism as a philosophical teaching offers a more fundamental transformation and impact on the person than just the cultivation of these two civic values. Stoicism affects the whole personality (character), a person’s worldview and way of thinking, as well as the understanding of the country’s role in a person’s beliefs and actions. These aspects reinforce the effectiveness of Stoicism and, thus, its usefulness to the country in the context of strengthening civic values. The final chapter of the thesis (5) analyzes three case studies that illustrate the applicability of Stoicism in specific areas: regarding care for nature, military service, and character education in schools.

The hypothesis I start from is that education, training, exercises, standardisation and technical support are basic "pillars" of NATO interoperability. Historically, NATO education has been focused on ensuring that military forces from member countries can work together effectively in operations and humanitarian assistance missions, construction and post-conflict reconstruction missions. Today, NATO education functions have expanded significantly. NATO has a network of schools and institutions, conducts regular exercises and runs training missions as far away as Afghanistan. The main purpose is to enhance the interoperability and effectiveness of NATO-led multinational forces. Military experts have repeatedly stressed the absolute importance of education and training considering interoperability as a mind-set that needs to be acquired as soon as possible in an educational training programme for military personnel or in the guide of their military career development. Interoperability remains a challenge for NATO due to the complex involvement of its 28 member nations having diverging political and economic interests. Nations try to support some of the ideas developed by the Alliance on the increase in "connectivity" but it seems that not all of them will have the same promising support. To be achieved, interoperability needs time to mature and it should be executed bottom-up and top-down, namely by national governments and NATO command structures. That the main reason why the educational system must be in line with all these changes and to be designed taking in account the new geopolitical trends. The continuous transformation is the constant of our times, we have to create agile systems and resilient to respond to the newest needs of education.

he ability of the society of the future to develop itself, to ensure the sovereignty of its country, to strengthen the economy, to raise the level of prosperity, to preserve and enrich its culture is being shaped and developed in today’s schools and universities as the future generations study / and learn there. Therefore, innovations in the content of general secondary education are needed in Latvia by introducing a new subject National Defence Studies in schools. Model programs for general secondary education and the Youth Guard have been developed. The theoretical basis of the performed research is formed by scientific publications that represent several research directions in human ecology, incl. educational ecology. The aim of the study was to substantiate the diversity of ecological approaches in the education of young people in the field of national defence. The results of the research show that an ecological approach is visible in the development of the national defence content and the provision. One of the manifestations of the ecological approach in education is ´environmental education´ (education about the environment; education in the environment; education for the environment). Studies show that the content of national defence training has several dimensions: civil, military, informative and psychological, which many authors also call environmental contexts. Latvia’s youth for national defense is being formed, which consists of two inseparable or closely related structural parts: 1) psychological readiness (I want) and 2) competence-based readiness (I am able).

The pandemic crisis started in the middle of the last academic year and disrupted timetables and programs designed months in advance. This forced all Schools and Universities to re-organize quickly all the didactic activities in a different way according to the new needs. Also, in the field of Security and Defence Higher Education it was necessary to design new models of teaching and training. Officers, in order to be able to operate in national and international very complex contexts, cannot postpone some training and could not lose, in terms of quality, their specialized education. This change was more difficult because their preparation includes theoretical and practical activities. In this paper, we analyze the measures assumed by the University of Turin in cooperation with IT-Army Education and Training Command and School of Applied Studies, for military and civilian students of the Bachelor Degree and Master Degree in Strategic Sciences. The presence of a Digital Learning Environment, already used as support to the face-to-face teaching, was very important and allowed to adopt quite easily flexible digital methodologies in distance, blended and hybrid teaching and learning. Despite this, it was fundamental to support and train teachers for developing more digital competences and producing new interactive materials and to strengthen the infrastructures in terms of hardware, software and updating of the classrooms. We discuss this transition by using students' and teachers' answers to two questionnaires and through the analysis of students' activities, difficulties encountered and solutions found. The outcomes in such a challenging and demanding context are generally positive and offer new opportunities and new perspectives for the future of Security and Defence Higher Education.

Aim/Purpose: This paper provides the results of the preliminary analysis of the findings of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the social media use, cultural and political awareness, civic engagement, issue prioritization, and social activism of Gen Z students enrolled at four different institutional types located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The aim of this study is to look at the group as a whole as well as compare findings across populations. The institutional types under consideration include a mid-sized majority serving or otherwise referred to as a traditionally white institution (TWI) located in a small coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean, a small Historically Black University (HBCU) located in a rural area, a large community college located in a county that is a mixture of rural and suburban and which sits on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and graduating high school students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in a large urban area. This exploration is purposed to examine the behaviors and expectations of Gen Z students within a representative American region during a time of tremendous turmoil and civil unrest in the United States. Background: Over 74 million strong, Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. They already outnumber any current living generation and are the first true digital natives. Born after 1996 and through 2012, they are known for their short attention spans and heightened ability to multi-task. Raised in the age of the smart phone, they have been tethered to digital devices from a young age with most having the preponderance of their childhood milestones commemorated online. Often called Zoomers, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are on track to be the most well-educated generation in history. Gen Zers in the United States have been found in the research to be progressive and pro-government and viewing increasing racial and ethnic diversity as positive change. Finally, they are less likely to hold xenophobic beliefs such as the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority that have been popular with by prior generations. The United States has been in a period of social and civil unrest in recent years with concerns over systematic racism, rampant inequalities, political polarization, xenophobia, police violence, sexual assault and harassment, and the growing epidemic of gun violence. Anxieties stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic further compounded these issues resulting in a powder keg explosion occurring throughout the summer of 2020 and leading well into 2021. As a result, the United States has deteriorated significantly in the Civil Unrest Index falling from 91st to 34th. The vitriol, polarization, protests, murders, and shootings have all occurred during Gen Z’s formative years, and the limited research available indicates that it has shaped their values and political views. Methodology: The Mid-Atlantic region is a portion of the United States that exists as the overlap between the northeastern and southeastern portions of the country. It includes the nation’s capital, as well as large urban centers, small cities, suburbs, and rural enclaves. It is one of the most socially, economically, racially, and culturally diverse parts of the United States and is often referred to as the “typically American region.” An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2021 attending a high school dual enrollment program, a minority serving institution, a majority serving institution, and a community college all located within the larger mid-Atlantic region. The survey included a combination of multiple response, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by several content and methodological experts in order to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. Finally, the survey was pilot tested prior to implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly prior to widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Over 800 individuals completed the survey with just over 700 usable results, after partial completes and the responses of individuals outside of the 18-24 age range were removed. Findings: Participants in this study overwhelmingly were users of social media. In descending order, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Tik Tok were the most popular social media services reported as being used. When volume of use was considered, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter were the most cited with most participants reporting using Instagram and Snapchat multiple times a day. When asked to select which social media service they would use if forced to choose just one, the number one choice was YouTube followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, more than half of participants responded that they have uploaded a video to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Tik Tok. When asked about their familiarity with different technologies, participants overwhelmingly responded that they are “very familiar” with smart phones, searching the Web, social media, and email. About half the respondents said that they were “very familiar” with common computer applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Suite with another third saying that they were “somewhat familiar.” When asked about Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Course Compass, Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, Course Sites, Google Classroom, Mindtap, Schoology, Absorb, D2L, itslearning, Otus, PowerSchool, or WizIQ, only 43% said they were “very familiar” with 31% responding that they were “somewhat familiar.” Finally, about half the students were either “very” or “somewhat” familiar with operating systems such as Windows. A few preferences with respect to technology in the teaching and learning process were explored in the survey. Most students (85%) responded that they want course announcements and reminders sent to their phones, 76% expect their courses to incorporate the use of technology, 71% want their courses to have course websites, and 71% said that they would rather watch a video than read a book chapter. When asked to consider the future, over 81% or respondents reported that technology will play a major role in their future career. Most participants considered themselves “informed” or “well informed” about current events although few considered themselves “very informed” or “well informed” about politics. When asked how they get their news, the most common forum reported for getting news and information about current events and politics was social media with 81% of respondents reporting. Gen Z is known to be an engaged generation and the participants in this study were not an exception. As such, it came as no surprise to discover that, in the past year more than 78% of respondents had educated friends or family about an important social or political issue, about half (48%) had donated to a cause of importance to them, more than a quarter (26%) had participated in a march or rally, and a quarter (26%) had actively boycotted a product or company. Further, about 37% consider themselves to be a social activist with another 41% responding that aren’t sure if they would consider themselves an activist and only 22% saying that they would not consider themselves an activist. When asked what issues were important to them, the most frequently cited were Black Lives Matter (75%), human trafficking (68%), sexual assault/harassment/Me Too (66.49%), gun violence (65.82%), women’s rights (65.15%), climate change (55.4%), immigration reform/deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) (48.8%), and LGBTQ+ rights (47.39%). When the schools were compared, there were only minor differences in social media use with the high school students indicating slightly more use of Tik Tok than the other participants. All groups were virtually equal when it came to how informed they perceived themselves about current events and politics. Consensus among groups existed with respect to how they get their news, and the community college and high school students were slightly more likely to have participated in a march, protest, or rally in the last 12 months than the university students. The community college and high school students were also slightly more likely to consider themselves social activists than the participants from either of the universities. When the importance of the issues was considered, significant differences based on institutional type were noted. Black Lives Matter (BLM) was identified as important by the largest portion of students attending the HBCU followed by the community college students and high school students. Less than half of the students attending the TWI considered BLM an important issue. Human trafficking was cited as important by a higher percentage of students attending the HBCU and urban high school than at the suburban and rural community college or the TWI. Sexual assault was considered important by the majority of students at all the schools with the percentage a bit smaller from the majority serving institution. About two thirds of the students at the high school, community college, and HBCU considered gun violence important versus about half the students at the majority serving institution. Women’s rights were reported as being important by more of the high school and HBCU participants than the community college or TWI. Climate change was considered important by about half the students at all schools with a slightly smaller portion reporting out the HBCU. Immigration reform/DACA was reported as important by half the high school, community college, and HBCU participants with only a third of the students from the majority serving institution citing it as an important issue. With respect to LGBTQ rights approximately half of the high school and community college participants cited it as important, 44.53% of the HBCU students, and only about a quarter of the students attending the majority serving institution. Contribution and Conclusion: This paper provides a timely investigation into the mindset of generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. This insight is useful to educators who should be informed about the generation of students that is currently populating higher education. The findings of this study are consistent with public opinion polls by Pew Research Center. According to the findings, the Gen Z students participating in this study are heavy users of multiple social media, expect technology to be integrated into teaching and learning, anticipate a future career where technology will play an important role, informed about current and political events, use social media as their main source for getting news and information, and fairly engaged in social activism. When institutional type was compared the students from the university with the more affluent and less diverse population were less likely to find social justice issues important than the other groups. Recommendations for Practitioners: During disruptive and contentious times, it is negligent to think that the abounding issues plaguing society are not important to our students. Gauging the issues of importance and levels of civic engagement provides us crucial information towards understanding the attitudes of students. Further, knowing how our students gain information, their social media usage, as well as how informed they are about current events and political issues can be used to more effectively communicate and educate. Recommendations for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. Additionally, in other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Impact on Society: During a highly contentious period replete with a large volume of civil unrest and compounded by a global pandemic, understanding the behaviors and attitudes of students can help us as higher education faculty be more attuned when it comes to the design and delivery of curriculum. Future Research This presentation presents preliminary findings. Data is still being collected and much more extensive statistical analyses will be performed.

The article elucidates the situation of children in educational institutions in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in the context of the reoccupation of Bessarabia and the restoration of the Soviet-type educational system. Following the analysis of the archive documents, we found that the general schooling of the children was carried out in precarious socio-economic conditions, in the absence of appropriate buildings, furniture and adequate teaching inventory. It also happened in situations of poverty, when a large part of the population did not have enough resources to dress and feed children properly. The unsatisfactory conditions in schools have led to poor results in studies, the spread of diseases and epidemics among children. The situation in the educational institutions of the Moldavian SSR in the academic year 1944–1945 clearly illustrates that schooling had a compulsory character being motivated by the interest of the Soviet authorities to install administrative, political and ideological control over the young generation. After the occupation of Bessarabia, given the continuation of military operations to the countries of Western Europe and the need of restoration following them, resources were insufficient and political and ideological objectives were achieved in circumstances of poverty. The 1944–1945 academic year was a turning point for the young generation in the Moldovan SSR. It began to be subjected to ideological training through ideological study programs and involvement in communist organizations for children and youth. Also, the “convert” of children to the communist ideology, to the detriment of national traditions and values, began.