Assessment of Social Competencies, Coping Strategies, and Academic Achievement of First Year Students

The purpose of this research was to assess first year students’ social competency and coping strategies against their overall first semester academic achievement (GPA) at Arsi University. A sample (N = 360) of first year students was selected for the study. Slightly adapted versions of Social Competency Scale (Silvera, Martinussen, & Dahl, 2001) and Coping Strategy Scales (Carver, 1999) were used to assess these aspects. The results revealed that the majority students were good and some of them were identified as average on social competency dimensions. On the other hand, it was noted that majority of the students use avoidance coping strategies. Social competency has strong positive connection with student’s GPA but coping strategy has nonsignificant negative correlation with GPA. Both social competency and coping strategy slightly contributed to the variations in first semester GPA among first year students. Only college had a mediating role with partial mediation effect between social competency total and GPA. A significant difference was observed between male and female students in their GPA and social competency. Gender and religion had no mediation role between social competency, coping strategy, and first semester GPA of the students. In conclusion, it was implied that university students’ personnel should work on first year students’ adaptive coping strategies and social competencies.

Developmental Assets in South African Adolescents Exposed to Violence: a Qualitative Study on Resilience

Violence exposure is associated with psychological and behavioural maladjustment in adolescents. Yet, not all adolescents exposed to violence experience negative symptoms. Resilience is an outcome that is in part determined by multiple protective factors, or developmental assets, that protect adolescents from the negative influence of encountered stressors and allow them to attain positive developmental outcomes. A qualitative study was conducted to acquire an in-depth understanding of the developmental assets across different layers in the ecological system that promote positive psychological and behavioural functioning in South African adolescents exposed to violence. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with a multi-ethnic group (black, white, and people of mixed heritage) of South African adolescents (boy: n = 17; girl: n = 13; age: 14–19 years) from seven schools in Cape Town. Adolescents reported both internal and external assets that helped them adaptively cope with violence exposure. The internal assets entailed individual characteristics and skills, including commitment to learning, positive values, positive identity, social competencies, and emotional insight. The external assets were boundaries and expectations, social support from adolescents’ peers, family, school, and community, and adolescents’ constructive use of time. The findings of the study may inform strengths-based interventions to enhance emotional and behavioural skills in adolescents at risk for violence exposure. Moreover, involving key stakeholders in the interventions from major developmental domains can be particularly helpful to optimise the social support that are needed for adolescents to be resilient.

Assessment of Management Competencies According to Coherence with Managers’ Personalities

The objective of our investigation was to verify a questionnaire’s suitability in identifying managerial competencies concerning managers’ personality characteristics. Methods: For the content validity of the questionnaire assessment of managerial competencies (AMC23), we investigated its coherence with the appraisal of the management style methodology, i.e., managerial grid (MG), with correlation analysis. The existence of statistically significant relationships between the assessment of managerial competencies and managers’ personality characteristics was determined using Pearson’s correlation coefficient concerning the BIG-5 model. Results: In total, 573 managers participated in this study. Our examination concludes that motivational competencies correlated positively with the compromise and cooperative style; performance competencies with the competitive and cooperative style; and social competencies with the cooperative, adaptive, and compromise style. Not least, target competencies positively correlated with the competitive and cooperative style. Further, neuroticism negatively correlated with social managerial competence, extraversion, and openness to experience, which positively correlated with motivational and target competence. Friendliness was positively associated with social competence, and diligentness positively correlated with motivational, performance, and target competence. Conclusion: We determined significant correlations between managerial competencies (AMC23) and managerial style (MG). Our findings might have implications for further investigation and the development of more comprehensive instruments to assess managerial competencies in connection with managers’ personalities. We point out the need for further research to verify, improve, and constitute a model that further elucidates and explains managerial competencies.

Social Competencies as Predictive Factors of Employee Satisfaction with Life

The main goal of our research was to determine whether social competence predicts employee life satisfaction. The online survey involved 415 respondents from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina who work, regardless of employment status. Based on the conducted research, we obtained results that show that only certain components of social competence overlook the life satisfaction of employees. While concerning gender, the results show that social competencies are significantly less developed in men than in women.

TRAINING OF SOCIAL WORK SPECIALISTS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY ON SOCIAL SERVICES PROVISION

The problem of training of social work specialists for the professional activity on social services provision has been actualized in the article. The purpose of training social workers in Ukraine is to form a highly educated, highly humane, comprehensively developed personality, who have a high culture and generally meets the qualification characteristic of the profession. The purpose of the article is to characterize the content of professional activity of social work specialists in social services provision. Research methods applied: analysis of scientific literature, normative-legal documents in order to clarify the essence of key concepts of the research; synthesis, comparison and generalization – for determination of the areas of work of a social work specialist in the local community; system-generalizing method – for formulation of competencies and conclusions based on research results; prognostic – for determination of the prospects of improving the system of training social work specialists to provide the social services in the community. The professional activity of a social worker is based on international ethical standards, taking into account the uniqueness of each client, their capabilities and rights, awareness of responsibility for their behavior in a particular situation, the purpose of such activity should be restoring the ability of clients (citizens of the community) to overcome difficult life circumstances on their own. The training of future social work specialists in the higher educational institution is to be aimed at forming their readiness to realization of the functions of professional activity. This readiness is manifested in the formation of relevant competencies, which we will identify and analyze through the prism of the functions of the professional activity of social work specialist in the process of providing social services. It is determined that diagnostic, prognostic, transformative, designing, communicative, organizational, human rights, preventive, psychotherapeutic, promotional, social and pedagogical and social competencies should be formed for performing the functions of professional activity of social work specialists in providing social services. The list of presented functions with the relevant competencies of a social work specialist can be supplemented depending on the purpose, tasks, forms, methods of social work in the process of providing social services in the local community.

COLLABORATIVE ENGINEERING AND ITS IMPLICATION IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL ENGAGEMENT IN THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR

As suggested by several previous studies, employee and managerial engagement is a key factor in an organization's productivity and performance. Positive leadership styles, social support and autonomy, among others, have been proposed as predictors of engagement. Collaborative learning has multiple advantages over learning in competitive and individual situations, including the development of high-skill social competencies, and collaboration and teamwork per se. This paper analyses the correlation between the level of engagement, employees' perception of collaboration and other common predictors of organizational commitment over a seven-year period of field analysis (2014-2020) in multinational companies in the industrial sector. The study shows that the perception of collaboration is significantly positively correlated with engagement and can be a good predictor of engagement. This suggests the suitability of both the adoption of collaborative learning methodologies to middle and higher degrees linked to industry, as well as the promotion by industrial organizations of the application of collaborative engineering and other methods and means for collaborative work. KEY WORDS: Work engagement; employee engagement; industrial organization; leadership; collaborative learning; cooperative learning; distance learning; collaborative engineering.

THE INFLUENCE OF FICTION ON SOCIALIZATION OF STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

The views aimed at the stability of socialization are analyzed, paying attention to the peculiarities of psychophysical development of students with intellectual disabilities, which leads to a weakening of socialization. Difficulty in socialization depends on the presence of a navigator of mispersonal communication, unformed needs in such communication, inadequacy of self-esteem, negative perception of other people. It is noted that the effectiveness of primary socialization of students with intellectual disabilities affects the formation of its components: socio-psychological adaptation and empathy. In this regard, the research of scientists on the essence of socio-psychological adaptation and empathy is taken into account. It is pointed out that the process of socialization includes not only adaptation, but also maladaptation. It is stressed on the role of empathy as a component of socio-psychological adaptation and its impact on the formation of socialization of students with intellectual disabilities in the future with works of art, since the components of empathy are sympathy and compassion. Adolescents with intellectual disabilities perceive the information better during the Ukrainian literature lessons, where they work with fiction literature. It has been substantiated, that works of fiction, studied by students at the lessons of the Ukrainian literature serve as particularly important means of teaching, correction and socialization of students with intellectual disabilities. Fiction is the only art form promoting the development of visual thinking. While studying at the lessons of the Ukrainian literature on fiction texts, students with intellectual disabilities intellectual develop thinking, connected speech, overcome communicative phobia, master social competencies, become socialized. The expediency of using interactive teaching methods for the formation of social skills in students with intellectual disabilities in the process of working with works of art during the Ukrainian literature lessons, in particular: discussion, ethical conversation, role play; such methods as «microphone», «chain of thoughts», «unfinished sentence». While working with works of art during the Ukrainian literature lessons, adolescents with intellectual disabilities learn basic morals through interactive teaching methods, learn to disseminate information, emotions, thoughts about the read and the environment learn to evaluate behavior and teach people who pay attention to other problems. The lessons create appropriate conditions for optimizing the socialization of students with intellectual disabilities and social maladaptation, which threaten to subordinate adolescents to the content and meaning of the artists with whom they work.

The lapbook as an innovative way to organize learning activities in elementary schools

The article analyzes the views of scientists on the use of lapbooking in elementary schools. It is found that the methodology of lapbooking allows you to unlock the potential of each student in the process of creating individual or more often collective work. In particular, the lapbook forms key skills and abilities, which are required by the educational vector of the New Ukrainian School. In addition, it takes into account cross-curricular learning and social competencies, which help each individual to become successful and adapt in society. The article proves that the use of Lapbooks is reasonable not only when studying a single topic, but also as a complex, systemic type of work, as close to the project and research activities as possible. It was found out that the introduction of lapbooking at different stages of studying subjects is effective, as it covers different types of activity: pair and group work; search methods and work with information (ability to work with sources, generalize and systematize, draw conclusions, formulate own statements concisely and informatively). It is noted that the technique of lapbooking can be applied as early as preschool age with a gradual complication of high school. Consequently, the general essence of lapbooking is systematized with the help of integrative diagrams and charts. It is determined that the educational industry must be flexible to timely respond to changes in society and provide the professional market with specialists, successful and active citizens who are able not only to adapt, but also to realize themselves. The innovativeness of the lapbooking method is that it combines different areas of activity simultaneously: informational, research, design, communicative, creative, technological, aesthetic. The results of the study allow us to recommend lapbooking as the main method of work in elementary school (when studying any topic or academic subject).

Ko nipa Africa! – Teach about Africa! Challenging stereotypes about Africa

Designed for three age groups, Ko Nipa Africa! – Teach about Africa! awareness-raising and sensitization education program is aimed at developing social competencies, especially empathy, social sensitivity, and tolerance in childhood. In addition, its main task is to transform the misconceptions and prejudices about Africa present in Hungary with active learning. The series of programs seeks to bring the diverse cultural, natural, and historical values of the African continent closer to the younger generation using the approach of global education, and the method, and tools of experiential pedagogy. Since the founding of the program series in 2012, it has been tested, implemented, and reworked in dozens of educational institutions, and several studies have demonstrated positive changes in students' thinking as the result of sensitization.