Palmira Jucevičienė (Republic of Lithuania) – professor, habilitated doctor of social sciences.
Prof. habil. dr. Palmira Jucevičienė is a scientist with 48 years of scientific and pedagogical experience, who has worked continuously at Kaunas University of Technology (hereinafter – KTU) for 31 years. Her academic career began in 1973, when, after graduating from the Faculty of Chemical Technology of Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (KPI) and obtaining the qualification of a chemical engineer (diploma with honours) and a certificate attesting to her pedagogical qualifications, she was invited to the Department of Pedagogy and Aesthetic Education at KPI to work as a senior laboratory assistant, then a year later as an assistant, then as a senior lecturer, and then as an associate professor. While there, she carried out research, which she summarised by enrolling (in 1980) in the one-year postgraduate course in pedagogy at Vilnius University and, a year later, defending her dissertation at the same university, for which she was awarded the degree of Candidate of Pedagogy. In 1986, she moved to the People’s Economy Specialist Improvement Institute (later – Lithuanian Academy of Management), where she worked as an associate professor until 1990, when she moved to the re-established Vytautas Magnus University, where she worked as an associate professor in the Department of Management for one year. In the same year, she defended her doctoral dissertation in pedagogy at Vilnius University, which she wrote on the basis of the theory of modular teaching and for which she was awarded a doctorate in pedagogy (awarded a habilitated doctorate in the social sciences (education) by the LMU). Her uninterrupted career at KTU began in 1991, when, invited by the management of the newly created Faculty of Administration, she moved to KTU as an associate professor, where she headed the Department of Social Systems Management from 1992, and was awarded the pedagogical title of professor. In the course of the changes at the University, academic structures have changed: from 1999 to 2014, Ms Jucevičienė was Head of the Department of Educational Systems, Professor; from 2014 to 2017, she was Professor of the Department of Educational Sciences; from 2018 to 31 October 2022, she was Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. In 1999-2011, Prof. Jucevičienė was the Head of the Institute of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, KTU. P. Jucevičienė held the position of Professor at KTU until 31 October 2022.
Prof. Jucevičienė’s academic life has encompassed a wide field of scientific problems – methodological issues of educational science, modern education systems, educational and learning environments, higher education modernisation, educational management, organisational behaviour, human resource development and knowledge management. All of these issues are united by the common goal of empowering people to improve themselves. Professor P. Jucevičienė has harmoniously combined the insights of traditional pedagogy and modern educationology to assess and analyse educational processes, and is the founder of the concept of transforming pedagogy into educationology in Lithuania. Prof. P. Jucevičienė has made a fundamental contribution to the development of modern educationology as a scientific discipline and interdisciplinary research in Lithuania, and she has done so by mobilising the academic community of educationology. Prof. Jucevičienė’s publication “The Development of the Science of Education: from Pedagogy to Contemporary Educational Science” (1996) was of fundamental importance for the development of the understanding of contemporary educational science in Lithuania. Jucevičienė’s fundamental and most significant contribution to the theoretical knowledge of education is her development and justification of the theories of Modular Teaching and Educational and Learning Environments, which are of great importance not only for the science of education, but also for educational practice.
Jucevičienė has published about 250 papers. Among the most fundamental ones: monographs – The Educational Power of the University (with co-authors, 2010), The Learning City (2007), and, working together with Cambridge researchers, the monograph Higher Education and National Development (2007, Routledge Palmer Press), The Theory and Practice of Modular Teaching (1989). P. Jucevičienė is the compiler, publisher and co-author of the monograph “Comparative Education”, the collection of fundamental research papers “Educological Ideas for the Modernisation of the Lithuanian Education System”, Dr. T. H. Co-author of the internationally published books “Education, Autonomy and Democratic Citizenship: Philosophy in a Changing World” (1997, Routledge), “Women in a Country Experiencing Change.
After returning to KTU in 1991, the professor began to actively develop a research group in education, the beginnings of which were in the Department of Pedagogy and Aesthetic Education established at KPI in 1962, initiated by Prof. A. Novodvorskis and led by Assoc. Prof. L. Steponaitiene (later Prof. L. Šiaučiukėnienė), which brought together scholars of didactics of higher education. Until the restoration of Lithuanian independence, these were separate initiatives. Prof. P. Jucevičienė developed the Educational Science Group into the Educational Science School, which in 2007 was recognised by the experts of the Lithuanian Science Council as an outstanding research centre – the best in Lithuania in the field of educational science.
The development of the School of Education was especially helped by the fact that in 1992, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, KTU, KU and VMU were granted the right to joint doctoral studies in the field of education (the first in Lithuania in the field of education); Prof. P. Jucevičienė was entrusted with the management of this doctoral study. In 1992-2022, over a hundred Doctors of Education were trained at Kaunas University of Technology alone. Prof. Jucevičienė invited seminars for doctoral students in education and their supervisors from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), Lund University (Sweden) and the University of Quebec (Canada), and Professor T. H. McLaughlin of the University of Cambridge, who for eight years from 1996 onwards has been running the KTU Doctorate of Education module on “Contemporary Philosophy of Education”, a module which has been of great significance in the development of KTU education scholars. Prof. P. Jucevičienė’s thirty-year module “Philosophy, Systems and Didactics of Higher Education” was also of particular importance not only for KTU doctoral students, but also for doctoral students from other universities, most of whom have chosen to follow an academic career path.
During her two decades as head of the KTU Educational Science Group, several hundred Masters students were also trained in the fields of educational management, educational technology and social education. KTU Masters of Education are successfully working as heads of general education schools, education centres and are innovative educators.
Prof. Palmira Jucevičienė was the supervisor of 40 defended dissertations (3 – Candidate of Pedagogy, 35 – Doctor of Education, 2 – Doctor of Management (Knowledge Management)). Most of the doctoral students she supervised have worked and/or are working in Lithuanian universities as academics, including Professors M. Teresevičienė, B. Janiūnaitė, V. Targamadze (currently a member of the Seimas).
Prof. Palmira Jucevičienė is an internationally recognised scholar who has participated in research and study programmes in the European Union and the Americas. She has established and maintained long-term academic relations with the professorships of the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), the University of Haifa (Israel), the University of Lund (Sweden) and universities in other countries (Canada, Italy, Norway), and has worked on joint projects, conferences, and publications; she has been a member of the scientific committees of the international conferences “European Conference on Knowledge Management”, “Internationational Conference on Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Management” and has been a reviewer of the articles in the scientific journals published by these institutions. Prof. P. Jucevičienė initiated the KTU scientific journal “Social Sciences”, was its editor-in-chief, as well as a member of the editorial boards of foreign scientific journals. Currently, she is a member of the editorial boards of the VMU scientific journal “Pedagogika” and Vilnius scientific journal “Acta pedagogica Vilnensia”. Professor P. Jucevičienė has been elected as a Visiting Fellow of St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, by the Academic Council of the University of Cambridge. Prof. P Jucevičienė has been invited by universities in Norway, Australia and Finland to participate in their doctoral studies: to conduct seminars for doctoral students, to examine them, to participate in their thesis defence.
Prof. P. Jucevičienė was a member of the first Senate of KTU, was elected to the Senate of KTU for four terms (1992-1996, 1996-2000, 2007-2011, 2011-2016), and contributed significantly to the development of the University’s self-government and academic activities. Particularly noteworthy are her activities in the Senate during the first term, contributing to the development of university studies and university culture with her knowledge of educational science, as well as serving as the Chair of the Senate Committee on Studies and Academic Culture (SAKK) during the 2011-2016 term, and in particular leading the Senate working group on the project of promoting the university’s internal culture, values and traditions.
Prof. P. Jucevičienė actively participated in the Faculty’s self-government activities: she was a member of the Council of the Faculty of Administration (1990-1999), the Chair of the Council of the Faculty of Administration (1992-1994), the Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences (1999-2014), the Chair of the Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences (2011-2014), the Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (2014-2019).
In addition to her research and study activities, Prof. Jucevičienė has carried out a great deal of scientific knowledge dissemination, consultancy and expert work at the international, Lithuanian and city levels, and has actively participated in public activities as a scientist and citizen.
Prof. P. Jucevičienė initiated the establishment of the Lithuanian Educational Research Association, served as the President of the Association for many years, made efforts for this national association to become a collective member of the European Educational Research Association, and served as a member of the Board of the European Association. She is currently a member of the Board of the Lithuanian Educational Research Association and the head of the Lifelong Learning Network.
Prof. P. Jucevičienė has represented KTU at the Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning at the University of Glasgow, UK, as an Associate Researcher (since 2013), and at the Joint Council of Professors of Rezekne Academy of Technology, Latvia, and KTU Professors of Education, as its Vice-Chair (since 2020).
As a member of the Lithuanian Science Council (1991-1999) and as an expert member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (1999-2009), she has been particularly concerned with ensuring that the reform of Lithuanian education, especially higher education, is based on the most up-to-date knowledge of educational science. In 1998, she was awarded the Comenius Diploma by UNESCO and the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for her achievements in educational science and the implementation of her research results into practical educational activities.
As a Fulbright Scholar, Prof. Jucevičienė has received recognition from the J. William Fulbright Foreign Research Fellowship Board and the U.S. Information Agency for her active, productive participation in the Fulbright Programme (in 1995, Prof. Jucevičienė interned as a Fulbright Scholar at Purdue University in Calumet, USA).
Since 1996 she has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, and in 2004 she was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of St. She has been a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge since 2004.
She has actively assisted Lithuanian educational institutions, business organisations and public authorities in their efforts to become innovative, learning organisations. In 2010, the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists awarded P. Jucevičienė the “Knight of the Profession” label for her achievements.
Prof. Jucevičienė initiated the development of Kaunas into a learning city and actively participated in this process. She was a member of the Council of Kaunas Learning City. As an expert, she represented Lithuania at UNESCO in the creation of the Global Network of Learning Cities, of which Kaunas is now a member. The Kaunas Municipality awarded Ms Jucevičienė with the Santaka Badge of Honour (2009), and the silver-plated medal of Kaunas City Mayor Jonas Vileišis (2010). In 2016, Professor Palmira Jucevičienė was awarded the Kaunas City Scientist Prize for her many years of active and significant scientific activity and achievements in the field of humanities and social sciences.
Continuing the ideas of Kaunas-as-a-learning-city, together with Prof. J. Brėdikis (LSMU) and A. Astrauskas, the owner and manager of UAB “Pirmas žingsnis”, she founded the association “Šviesuva” (which has performed the mission of the “Žinija”), she was its vice-president and an active lecturer.
She is a member of many commissions and project development groups; her recent work as a professor at KTU – in the working group for the project on education research, which was set up in May 2022 by order of the Minister of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania – is of particular importance, as this project will determine the development of education research in Lithuania until 2030.
For her academic achievements, the professor has been awarded letters of appreciation from the Minister of Education and Science of Lithuania, the Rector of KTU, the KTU Badge of Honour, the Commemorative Medal of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania (2010), and the Badge of Honour of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania (2020). The latter award is given for lifetime achievements in Lithuanian educational science, for introducing innovative ideas into the practice of Lithuanian educational institutions and organisations. Prof. P. Jucevičienė 5 July 2022 By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Lithuania “On the awarding of Lithuanian State Orders and Medals”, she was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania. The award was given for innovative scientific ideas, development of education science, mobilisation of the scientific community and establishment of the Lithuanian Educational Research Association, education of young scientists and for constant concern for the strengthening of education science.
The title of Professor Emeritus was conferred for the development of educational thought at the University and in Lithuania and for opening the door to international recognition for colleagues.
