Editorial

The first issue of the DCSE consists of ten papers. The first paper by Gerretson and her colleagues provides the research data that describe practical self-regulated learning strategies for students and documents outcomes and impacts related to teacher professional development. The research was carried out in Latvia using the global curricular topic – patterns in nature.
The paper by Skrinda determines the effectiveness of the direct acquisition of vocabulary (through memorisation) and the indirect acquisition of vocabulary (through context) and suggests a meaningful context-based approach to foreign language vocabulary acquisition which is aimed at achieving an adequate balance between the direct and the indirect acquisition of foreign language vocabulary. The author acknowledges that it has to be a holistic process in which the learners both as individuals and in groups can receive maximum opportunity to develop.
The paper by Hogan and English on breastfeeding examines adult learning enhanced by intervention of health care workers and availability of information on breastfeeding. Barriers to learning include a notable lack of support from health professionals and family, as well as societal and workplace barriers. The authors urge lactation consultants to examine informal adult learning more closely given its importance to sustaining the family.
The paper by Grišāne focuses on increasing teachers and pupils‟ understanding of sustainable education, which can be achieved under favourable conditions – creating a school environment where the teacher becomes involved as a researcher of the process and the pupils acquire knowledge, develop skills of its application, gain practical experience and manage to unite knowledge and skills, thus obtaining life-wisdom that is grounded in the application of the principles of sustainability.
The paper by Makrakis distinguishes a newly advanced concept of WikiQuESD, which could be used as a scaffolding hypermedia tool to enhance pre-service teacher education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of project-based learning. WikiQuESD allowes pre-service teachers to design and upload interactive ESD projects online through collecting, assessing and integrating digital material available on the Web.
The paper by Bakutytė and Ušeckienė focuses on in-service training of pedagogues. The objective of the research is to analyse the motives and needs satisfaction in in-service training of pre-school pedagogues in Lithuania. The research methods used are both qualitative and quantitative: analysis of literature, questionnaires for pre-school pedagogues, interviews and statistical analysis.
The paper by Kravale-Pauliņa and Kokina provides the results of research within the project “Inspire School Education by Non-formal Learning”. The paper dwells upon an evaluation of out-of-school learning places and their integration perspectives into school curricula in the context of sustainable education. The paper is concerned with the part of the project related to the integration of formal and non-formal education in out-of-school learning places and teacher training for work within non-formal education.
The paper by Zakrajšek and Purg provides an overview on the possibilities of sustainable development in relation to information and communication technologies in primary and secondary schools in Slovenia from the perspective of media ecology. The study analyses the reasons for a reorientation of the educational system and new programmes towards sustainability and relates these developments to the activities of Eco-schools in Slovenia.
The paper by Zariņa examines the methods of reading acquisition frequently applied in pre-school, discusses teachers‟ views on reading acquisition in pre-school in Latvia and provides suggestions for reading literacy development of 5–6 years old children based on the keystones of sustainable development. The article is a contribution in the construction of a theoretically grounded and sustainable model of reading acquisition for 5–6 year-old children meeting global educational challenges and Latvian local needs.
The paper by Belousa and Stakle focuses on the issues of intercultural and media literacy as a metacontent of teacher education. The paper introduces teachers‟ views and experience of intercultural and media education in Latvia and comes up with several suggestions to implement intercultural and media literacy in teacher education curriculum.
Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission, should be addressed to Astrīda Skrinda, Institute of Sustainable Education, Faculty of Education and Management, Daugavpils University, Parādes Street 1–432, Daugavpils, LV–5401, Latvia. Email: astrida.skrinda@du.lv

Astrīda Skrinda