Research Learning in Lithuania: Historical, National, and International Influences

• In Event: 72.018 - Research Knowledge and a Vision of Equal Scholarly Participation: International Perspectives and Opportunities for Collaboration

Abstract

Since regaining independence in 1990, Lithuania advanced not only economically and socio-politically, but also in science and education. As the country gained access to international networks, Lithuanian scholars have been exploring varied epistemologies and methods, deepening their understandings of statistical methods and embracing qualitative approaches, which were previously unavailable. However, catching up with and entering an epistemologically diverse international research community poses a range of challenges.

The goal of this paper is to examine how Lithuania’s historical, national, institutional, and international contexts impact research learning, from the perspective of faculty and graduate students.

Conceptual framing
This study is guided by the Carnegie Initiative’s on the Doctorate concept of doctoral education as preparation of scholars (Walker, Golde, Jones, Bueschel, & Hutchins, 2008). Golde (2006) argues that a scholar becomes a steward of the discipline, and stewardship involves generating new knowledge, evaluating and preserving important ideas from the past, and transforming knowledge through dissemination and implementation. A steward-scholar is responsible “for the quality and integrity of their own work and that of colleagues” and is accountable to “the larger public for the standards of practice associated with the profession” (p.10). From this perspective, a Ph.D. scholar must be a life-long learner and teacher of conceptual and methodological innovations.

Modes of inquiry and Data Sources
The study is guided by interactional ethnographic principles (Green, Skukauskaite, & Baker, 2012), which enable our focus on people’s perspectives by analyzing how discourse inscribes particular societal contexts. What counts as context is identified by tracing references marked in participant discourse.
Primary data sources are 10 open-ended interview-conversations (1.5-hour average) with Lithuanian faculty and graduate students engaged in the teaching, learning, and/or conduct of educational research. Secondary data are documents guiding research training in Lithuania. Data were analyzed using Spradley’s (1979) Developmental Research Sequence to identify contextual aspects of research. Discourse analysis was used to make visible how participants see and represent their research in these contexts.

Overview of Results
Institutional, national, and international contexts influence research learning in Lithuania. Participants revealed that the 50-year soviet occupation had shaped research and interaction patterns among researchers. Economic realities and expectations on faculty play a key role in producing research locally, while access to international databases provides new opportunities for learning. Lithuanian scholars highly value international academic exchanges, yet struggle to enter international publishing venues. Our analyses indicated, that despite the historical, national, and institutional challenges, the Lithuanian scholar resilience and a “burning desire for knowledge” is guiding them toward their goals to publish and participate in research internationally.

Significance
Given the importance of research knowledge and training (Pallas, 2001), it is important to examine layered contexts that impact scholar development into stewards of their disciplines. While the long-standing easy access to varied information in the U.S. can make these contexts invisible, examining researcher learning in a fast developing country such as Lithuania sheds light on the contextual aspects that are rarely considered in societies with long and rich research histories.

Authors

• Liudmila Rupsiene, Klaipeda University

• Audra Skukauskaite, Academic Research Consulting

• Ingrida Baranauskiene, Klaipeda University