Rupšienė, Liudmila

I was born in 1962 in Silute. I graduated from Silute secondary school number 2 (now Vydunas gymnasium). After graduation I entered the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University, graduating in 1984 with a professional qualification as a philologist, teacher of Russian language and literature. After graduating from the University, I worked for several years in Klaipeda schools, the longest at Kristijonas Donelaitis School (later to be renamed Vytautas the Great). My work as a teacher made me interested in the phenomenon of education, and I began to dream of doing research work in the field of education. In 1992 I started teaching pedagogical subjects at the Departments of Education and Childhood Pedagogy of Klaipeda University. A couple of years later, when Klaipeda University, together with a few other universities, started to have a PhD programme in education, I applied for a doctoral programme, but I was not accepted. Not wanting to wait any longer, I decided to write my dissertation and defend it externally. Professor Bronislovas Bitinas, habilitated doctor, agreed to be my informal supervisor. In 1996, I defended my doctoral dissertation "Pedagogical correction of adolescents' learning motivation". In 2000, I was awarded the title of associate professor of education. In 2007 I passed the habilitation procedure at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, and in 2008 I was awarded the pedagogical title of professor at the Klaipeda University. Recently, I have been working mainly with doctoral students: teaching research methodology to doctoral students of the VU-MRU-KU Doctoral Consortium in Educational Sciences, supervising doctoral dissertations, and participating in doctoral dissertation defence boards. My research work is carried out in close collaboration with colleagues at university, national and international level. Since 2017, I am the President of the Lithuanian Educational Research Association.