Fostering School Engagement in Children from Disadvantaged Communities

In the last two decades, most of the Romanian mitigate programs aimed at reducing school dropout, have often focused only on remedial activities. However, keeping students in school for as long as possible involves increasing their school engagement, and therefore developing dimensions that target social and emotional skills is strongly recommended. In the present study, 130 primary and secondary school students from disadvantaged backgrounds, participated for 8 months in remedial and personal development activities, whose medium-term goal is to reduce school dropout. Using scales from the BASC3 and ASEBA4 psychological test batteries, we were able to capture significant effects of the intervention in reducing emotional problems and increasing students' adaptability to school-specific tasks, even though the pandemic imposed several restrictions on activities. The collected data revealed two important outcomes. First, they confirmed the effectiveness of a complex, multilevel program, which can develop the socio-emotional abilities of children at risk of dropping out of school. Second, they help us to highlight several factors that can predict its effectiveness. We consider that these empirical data constitute a solid foundation based on which similar future programs can be designed and implemented.

Social and Psychological Correlates of the Major Sources of Discomfort Perceived by Students in the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study on a Romanian Sample

"The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the physical and psychological functioning of the entire world’s population. Our study has had three major aims: (1) to identify the major sources of discomfort related to COVID-19 pandemic in third year psychology students, (2) to establish a hierarchy of the major sources of discomfort, and (3) to identify possible vulnerabilities for different sources of discomfort. We used a cross-sectional study to explore more accurately the individual reactions and possible vulnerabilities, also including open-ended questions to explore perceived sources of discomfort. Our study included 289 third-year psychology students from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (M=24.39 years, SD=7.12). All participants were assessed regarding their levels of: depression, narcissistic traits, perfectionism, perceived stress, self-esteem, intolerance of uncertainty, subjective well-being, and emotion regulation strategies. Our results indicate significant gender and age differences: male participants reported mobility restrictions as a source of discomfort more frequently than female participants, and younger students are less concerned with restrictions regarding social relations, while older students report less emotional problems and less concern with educational problems. Students living in urban areas report less emotional problems than students from rural areas. The results generated by our research point out certain social and psychological vulnerabilities for each perceived source of discomfort (emotion-regulation strategies, perfectionism, narcissism), can bring a valuable input in counselling and therapy for individuals who are maximally affected by the pandemic of COVID-19."

Online Teaching. Opportunities, Challenges and Recommendations to Improve Collaboration and Quality of Learning

Remote learning, also known as distance education, can be defined as teaching the students with no face-to-face contact with the teacher in class. Once the Coronavirus spread, globally imposed measures became more and more restrictive leading to a major difficulty for the educational systems: identifying fast solutions to the issue of suspending the classes and lectures in-person. The techniques of online and distance learning also needed changes to fulfill the needs of teachers and students, such as presentation, communication, asking questions and formulating answers, practicing the theory through various exercises, testing and feedback. There are several good practices popular now in online education, some of which are described throughout this article. Developing a complete set of skills in students is fundamental for facilitating the educational process and integrating them in the study and/or working groups, but also for preparing them for real life. This article presents some of the most important abilities to take into account by the educational system. However, most recommendations from instructors teaching online are presence-themed. Establishing a strong connection and feeling part of a supportive community is vital for students. Using video or Skype, video announcements instead of text, using the phone are all ways to a faster connection whenever doubts or questions arise. In addition, training and agility are on top of the priorities list: using technologies that help in achieving teaching objectives; teaching online does not mean that materials once used face-to-face are uploaded on an online platform; training is key whereas technology cannot work and there is a need for a back-up plan.

Exploring Age and Gender Differences in Narcissism and Perfectionism and Their Mental-Health Correlates

"The changes occurring in modern society can significantly influence individuals’ well-being, mental health and even personality traits such as narcissism and perfectionism. Since studies investigating age and gender differences in narcissism and perfectionism have produced mixed results, and the number of studies conducted in Romanian population is scarce, the main aims of this study were to investigate possible age and gender differences in narcissism, perfectionism and several mental-health indicators in a sample of healthy participants, as well as specific association patterns between these variables within each group of participants. Our sample included 465 millennials and 149 participants over 35 years of age. The results indicate that millennials reported significantly lower levels of narcissism and self-oriented perfectionism than the older generations, higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Female millennials reported lower levels of narcissistic traits and higher levels of socially-prescribed perfectionism, depressive symptoms, personal growth, and positive relations with others than male participants. Older females indicated significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness than male participants. Regarding association patterns, in the group of millennial women narcissism was positively correlated with self-oriented, socially-prescribed perfectionism and subjective well-being, and negatively with loneliness, environmental mastery and purpose in life. In millennial males, we found significant positive correlations only between narcissism and subjective well-being and environmental mastery. Our findings may have important implications for the literature regarding millennials and can contribute to the interventions and prevention programs designed to improve their well-being. Keywords: millennials, narcissism, perfectionism, mental health indicators, age and gender differences "

Characteristics of Online Learning in Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

"In the context in which the teaching, learning, and assessment processes take place in the online environment, the question arises whether the currently organized learning situations are as effective as the learning situations carried out in the classroom, before the beginning of the pandemic. One of the disadvantages of online learning is related to the teacher’s low control over students’ activity. Factors such as initiative, creativity, efficient time management, intrinsic motivation, responsibility, and intellectual curiosity play an important role in students’ success in learning activities. Attendance at courses should not be formal and superficial and should be a process that involves the active and interactive participation of the students in the learning process. Providing high-quality educational opportunities to all students is a goal that is increasingly difficult to achieve in the context of the absence of face-to-face interactions. Also, applying a curriculum focused on the needs of the learner is becoming hard to achieve. Through this research, we aim to investigate issues related to how online learning takes place and to establish ways in which we can increase the efficiency of current teaching and learning processes. The study revealed that in the opinion of most of the students, the current epidemiological context has influenced in a negative way the quality of teaching and the student-teacher educational relationship. Keywords: Interactive learning, eLearning, independence in learning, higher education, efficient strategies "

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Instructive-educational Process in Kindergarten

"We are all going through a difficult period, called into question by so many questions: the COVID 19 pandemic. Without a doubt, this pandemic has had and still has many implications both in the personal life of each of us and in our professional life. In addition to the fact that this virus affects our health, professional life has also been put to the test. The education system was not bypassed by challenges, therefore this period proved to be extremely demanding, with many implications on the instructive-educational activity. Preschool education has not been exempted from the impact of the changes that have occurred as a result of the outbreak of the pandemic. Teachers in the preschool education system have faced many difficulties in terms of teaching in the group. The instructive-educational process suffered in the context of the pandemic, being many variables to consider: the age peculiarities of preschoolers, the ways in which the teaching activities can be carried out through the platforms, the quality of the educational act through them, the lack of training of the teachers in this respect, the availability of parents to be able to supervise the preschooler during the synchronous online activities, etc. The present study presents the results of the application of a questionnaire addressed to teachers in preschool education, on the territory of Romania, which highlights the implications of the pandemic on the instructive-educational process in kindergarten. Keywords: “COVID 19 pandemic”, “instructive-educational process”, “kindergarten” "

The Role of Gender in the Relationship Between Narcissism and Perfectionism in Hungarian Physical Education Students

"Literature indicates a strong relationship between narcissism and perfectionism, however, there is little information about this relationship in sports, and even less regarding the way gender affects this relationship. Our paper aims to answer the following questions, in a sample of 202 Hungarian physical education students: (i) are there gender differences in narcissism and perfectionism and how large are these differences?, (ii) how strong is the relationship between narcissism and perfectionism?, (iii) does this relationship vary as a function of perfectionism's components?, and (iv) are there any gender differences in the relationship between narcissism and perfectionism? Our results indicate that the male participants attained significantly higher levels of narcissism than the female participants. Furthermore, we found no significant gender differences in any of the three components of perfectionism a low to moderate association between narcissism and Self-oriented perfectionism and Other-oriented perfectionism, while on the entire sample, narcissism did not correlate with Socially-prescribed perfectionism. Analyzing this relationship separately in the two genders, our investigation indicates a moderate association between narcissism and all the three components of perfectionism only in the case of male participants, these relationships being non-significant for the female participants. These findings indicate that narcissism, in this specific population, is just one of the predictors of perfectionism (and maybe not even the most relevant one). We propose that future studies should focus on exploring other predictive factors of perfectionisms. Keywords: narcissism, perfectionism, gender, sports "

Group Development Stages. A Brief Comparative Analysis of Various Models

"Group Development is one of the most important cornerstones of social life. It dictates how our work and social circles develop and influences the relationships in our lives, and in turn, these relationships dictate the levels of satisfaction we report in our lives. Teamwork is also important in our experiences as it is strongly related to group development and is linked with many aspects, such as professionalism and efficiency in teams. In this paper, we discuss the importance of group development for any forming teams and analyze the concept within nine models (Bass and Ryterband, Tubb, Cog’s Ladder, Homan, Woodcock, Fisher, Jones, Tuckman and Wheelan), with a particular accent on the last two (Tuckman and Wheelan). Keywords: groups, teams, development, model, work, stages "

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS, MOTIVATION AND SELF-EFFICACY IN A SAMPLE OF SECONDARY AND HIGH-SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM CLUJ-NAPOCA, ROMANIA.

"Motivation is the key force that drives the individual. According to Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), human motivation is regulated by the degree to which personal intentions are autonomous or controlled. On the other hand, human behaviour is determined by three basic needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness) which contribute to intrinsic motivation and psychological health. This study has investigated the relationship between basic psychological needs and different types of motivation in an educational context. The research included a large sample of school students from 5th to 12th grade, enrolled in two schools from Cluj-Napoca, Romania (N = 363). All participants completed an online survey aimed to evaluate student’s fulfilment of their basic psychological needs, their motivation and self-efficacy regarding Romanian literature lessons. Results showed that autonomy, competence and relatedness correlated with intrinsic motivation. Moreover, the regression results showed that basic psychological needs predicted half of the variance in intrinsic motivation. The outcomes of this study also revealed that girls displayed higher scores on self-efficacy, autonomy and identified regulation as compared to boys. Keywords: self-determination theory, self-regulated learning, intrinsic motivation, basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence, relatedness, self-efficacy "

A Methodological Approach to the Investigation of Language Flexibility in Preschoolers: the Role of Toys and Parental Beliefs

"The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of the toy-type and parental beliefs about play in the development and use of language in a flexible manner by preschool children. Namely, we defined language flexibility as the ability to use multiple labels for the same object, in response to a particular verbal context. Children’s language flexibility was evaluated with a newly-designed task that comprised several story-like situations in which the main character needed the child’s help to solve a problem. The main results failed to prove a statistically significant difference between the two groups of children in the language flexibility task. But the performance on the language flexibility task was positively and significantly associated with some free time activities that children are frequently involved in and with parent’s willingness to let their children play with a toy in a different way than its prescribed mode. In contrast, the frequency and time spent by the child watching TV or playing on the computer was negatively and significantly associated with the performance on the language flexibility task. As a conclusion, we discussed the current results side by side with some proposals regarding both methodological improvements on the current experimental procedure and future research attempts at investigating language development and language flexibility of preschoolers. Keywords: play, toy type, language flexibility, parental beliefs, preschoolers "