Abstract: The information provided to students regarding their performance or comprehension of a particular task or idea is referred to as feedback in the educational context. It can be expressed in various ways, including through written feedback, conversational exchanges, grades, or assessments. Feedback’s primary goal is to help students reach their learning objectives by pointing out their strengths and recommending areas for development. Additionally, feedback encourages active learning, which raises student engagement. Students are motivated to review their assignments and make corrections when they receive quick and constructive feedback. Thanks to this iterative approach, they can take an active role in their learning process, which results in greater comprehension and memory retention. In this paper, the researcher discussed how essential it is to integrate feedback into the educational process and reviewed prior research on using it to enhance students’ learning abilities. The present article aims to offer a systematic literature review based on the limited empirical research to identify the effects of feedback on students’ performance and development. This information shows that while feedback is one of the most important elements, the type and manner in which it is given can affect its success. The article also proposes to offer a model of feedback that defines the specific characteristics and conditions that make it effective. Furthermore, specific commonly disputed issues are addressed, including the timeliness and the results of positive and negative feedback on the practical development of the students’ competence/ competencies.

Keywords: educational context, feedback model, learning process, negative feedback, positive feedback

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Abstract: In the current landscape of restructuring early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for children under three years old in Romania, this article aims to delve into the concept of child agency. It emphasizes children’s learning for life as a complementary aspect to prevailing discourses that view ECEC solely as a foundation for lifelong learning. Through an exploratory study employing a case study approach within early childhood institutions (crèches), the article scrutinizes the agency of young children. It is immersed in interpreting the agentic child within Romania’s multifaceted national ECEC context, seeking to answer the question: How can the perspective of child agency contribute to the development of ECEC institutions and staff?
The authors’ understanding of agency draws inspiration from recent discussions on agential realism, marking an ontological shift within education and sociology (Barad, 2007). Agency, entwined within relationships, navigates between the child’s intentions, daily routines, structures, materiality (Spyrou, 2018), and interactions with staff and peers. Empirical data, presented as vignettes, offer glimpses into the child’s agency during play, meals, and other activities.
Insights into how children utilize their bodies, indoor and outdoor spaces, sounds, and materials possess the potential to guide further research in the realm of early childhood education. Additionally, these insights may inform professional development within the ECEC field.

Keywords: agency, early childhood education, nursery, sociology of childhood

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Abstract: This paper is an empirical descriptive and at the same time exploratory case study of using Google Forms (GF) with integrated video listening as part of an online formative assessment (FA) in English for Medical Purposes (EMP), with a group of 74 first-year undergraduate students in medicine (N = 74), to engage students and facilitate constant autonomous learning. The online FA was based on a segment of the movie entitled A-word – standing for Autism – and it checked the students’ application of medical vocabulary, language functions, doctor-patient interviewing, and symptoms of autism. The online formative assessment was compared with a traditional onsite listening FA in terms of administration and results. The onsite FA had a similar degree of complexity and was conducted with the same group of students – a segment from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a classic on life in a psychiatric institution, within the same scope of neuropsychiatric conditions. The impact of online FA on students was measured with Mentimeter (https://www.mentimeter.com/). The results of this case study demonstrate that the GF-based FA of listening in EMP is an enhanced version of the traditional one. In traditional FA feedback was general and approximate while overall statistics were not automatically generated. Reaching a more refined picture of the overall and individual student performance with question breakdown in onsite FA required additional time investment, and consequently, remedial teaching could not take place immediately. Online FA was low-anxiety, highly participative, and user-friendly. It offered students timely feedback on their learning and teachers a faithful, automatic picture of individual and group performance for further remedial strategies. Likewise, the impact and attitude to online FA measured by Mentimeter were positive and were associated with increased autonomy, online delivery, engagement through professionally relevant content, and focus on learning rather than testing and grading.

Keywords: formative assessment, Google Forms, impact assessment with Mentimeter, listening in English for Medical Purposes

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Abstract: School anxiety belongs to the category of social anxiety disorders and has broader consequences on emotional development. If a student’s academic self-concept does not align with their academic goals (such as success on an assessment), this can cause anxiety. Students may then try to use strategies to reduce the level of anxiety they feel. The ability to cope adequately with difficult academic assessment situations plays a major role in emotional regulation and increasing students’ psychological well-being. Our objectives for the study were to assess the level of test anxiety and level of worry of 12th-grade students, the level of communication between the school and the families of students taking the Baccalaureate Examination, to identify associations between students’ test anxiety and family involvement in students’ preparation and emotional regulation.

Keywords: school-family collaboration, teenagers, test anxiety

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Abstract: Many countries face the challenge of inclusion to provide all children with an equitable education. Inclusive education involves a continuous process of meeting the needs of students by providing quality education for all. Research in the field of inclusive education showed the essential role the principal of a school has in developing educational practices and cultures favorable to school inclusion. Studies highlight that the attitude of school principals is related to the commitment of school teachers to implement inclusive education. In this direction, the aim of this paper was to investigate the attitudes of Romanian school principals towards inclusive education. The Multidimensional Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education Scale – MATIES was translated and distributed online, between September-October 2022. It measured the teachers’ attitudes on three dimensions: affective, cognitive, and behavioral. 1040 teaching staff, of which 115 were school principals from the entire country offered valid answers to the questionnaire. The research design was quantitative, non-experimental, correlational, and comparative. The results show that principals are willing to implement inclusive education. They have a more open attitude towards inclusive education compared to teachers, and this is not predicted by seniority in teaching but by experience of working with students with special needs.

Keywords: attitude of school principals, inclusive education, teachers’ attitude

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Abstract: State anxiety, as well as social anxiety, are portrayed as common phenomena experienced by students. However, the mechanisms which lead to their development are not yet fully known. Student mental health has become a global public health issue, thus understanding its potential underlying factors is particularly relevant. As anxiety is closely connected to the way students interpret information, cognitive biases are thought to play a key role in the development and maintenance of both state and social anxiety. Therefore, the first objective of this study was to examine the relationships between cognitive biases of interpretation, state anxiety, and social anxiety. The second objective was to test a mediation model, more specifically, to test whether the relationship between state anxiety and social anxiety can be explained by cognitive biases of interpretation. 127 students (M = 21.8, SD = 3.15, 84.3% women) enrolled at the University of Bucharest completed two online scales measuring state and social anxiety, over two months, between January and February 2021. Additionally, they completed the Scrambled Sentences Test, a computerized task that assesses cognitive biases of interpretation. Results indicated a positive association between all variables, more precisely, a significant positive correlation between social anxiety and cognitive biases of interpretation (r = .512, p < .001), social anxiety and state anxiety (r = .482, p < .001), and a significant positive correlation between cognitive biases of interpretation and state anxiety (r = .348, p < .001). The mediation analysis indicated that cognitive biases partly explain the relationship between state anxiety and social anxiety. These preliminary findings have significant theoretical and practical significance regarding the importance of student mental health. Keywords: cognitive biases of interpretation, mediation model, social anxiety, state anxiety

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Abstract: Teamwork skills are considered essential for all areas of a person’s life, so universities take them into account when designing their curricula. These skills are especially important if we are talking about humanities fields. However, little is known about how students’ factors can affect the process of developing teamwork skills. Consequently, our study proposes to fill this gap and to analyze the mastery of teamwork skills by higher education students, measured by the efficiency of working in a team, in relation to teamwork styles, but also with the number of courses whose content allows the development of these skills. One Hundred Ninety-Five female students participated in this study, with an average age of M = 31.5, a standard deviation of SD = 9.2. The participants filled out a questionnaire that measured the efficiency of teamwork and the styles of teamwork based on specialized literature. Also, the questionnaires were first applied in a pilot study in which 50 female students participated and the Cronbach’s internal consistency index was 0.8 for the first questionnaire and 0.77 for the second. The results showed that there are statistically significant correlations between teamwork efficiency, teamwork styles, and the number of courses in which the development of these skills is encouraged, p < 0.01. Moreover, we also noticed that the number of courses in which the development of these skills is encouraged has a mediating effect on the relationship between working styles in a team and the efficiency of working in a team, p < 0.01. These results can support teaching staff in higher education to adopt the most suitable educational methods for the development of teamwork skills, essential skills, especially for students in the humanities domains. Keywords: courses, students, teamwork efficiency, teamwork style

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Abstract: This article highlights the need to redefine teacher-student relationships according to the generations of students’ characteristics (Generation Z, Generation Alpha). Each generation has a specific way of learning and interacting with peers or adults. The theoretical premises of the study are to be found in the recent work of psychologists, sociologists, and specialists in educational sciences on how social characteristics influence the life style of people belonging to that generation. The school with all its structure, content, and relationships cannot but be affected by the changes imposed by technology, globalisation, and social dynamism. This study used qualitative methods (interviews and observation of teachers’ classroom behaviour) carried out in the school year 2022-2023. We have taken a constructivist-interpretive approach in conducting the research. A number of 60 participants (20 teachers from primary, 20 secondary, and 20 from high school level) from Braşov were involved in the study. Five teachers from primary schools were observed in the classroom. The results revealed that there are still teachers who have a classical view of relationships with pupils but who are making efforts to understand, accept, and adapt to the generations of pupils. One of the conclusions of the research is that teachers need to restructure their conceptions of the teacher-student interaction to suit the way students in the society of the future will learn and, more importantly, live. In fact, this teacher-student relationship is based on the values of accepting the diversity of students, personalising learning, motivating, and empowering students while ensuring their well-being is the basis of quality education.

Keywords: digitalisation, teacher-student interaction, Z generation

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Abstract: Formative assessment, as an integral part of the learning process, influences student progress. A key component of this process is feedback, the mechanism by which relevant and useful information is provided to students about their performance. Through feedback, students develop their self-assessment and self-reflection skills, take responsibility for their own training, and establish learning objectives. Formative assessment provides a continuous framework for guiding student progress, and feedback provides specific information aimed at improving learning outcomes. Feedback offers a more complete perspective on students’ capabilities and learning needs, allowing teachers to adjust instruction.
The objective of this study is to determine the theoretical pedagogical and psychological approaches of feedback in the formative assessment process and to present strategies that involve feedback (feed-up, feed-back, feed-forward) in order to improve student learning. To achieve this objective, theoretical methods of analysis and synthesis of the literature on formative assessment and feedback were applied. From a methodological point of view, the basic empirical method involved the application of a questionnaire addressed to students about their opinion on the feedback given and received during learning activities. The results obtained showed that relevant and individualized feedback is efficient from the students’ perspective in achieving learning objectives. The main conclusion of this study highlights the importance of the feedback system in the formative assessment process for the development of a learning culture based on continuous improvement and the active engagement of students in their own learning process.

Keywords: feedback, feed-forward, feed-up, formative assessment, learning

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Abstract: A didactic grant competition for academics is organized annually at the West University of Timişoara (WUT), offering a grant to the winners of a public student-centered activity project competition. The teaching grant winners later take part in a program to develop their pedagogical skills in student-centered teaching based on the WUT’s reflexive-collaborative (i.e., RCL) instructional model. Next, during one academic semester, grant winners must implement the RCL instructional model in one specific subject matter. Based on a quantitative quasi-experimental design, this study examined the impact of a pedagogical program offered to the beneficiaries of the 2020 grant competition at both teachers’ and student levels. At the teachers’ level, we measured their conceptions of teaching, teaching approaches, and psychological resources. At the students’ level, we investigated their evaluation of their teachers’ teaching behavior and their learning approaches. Analyses such as Two-way mixed ANOVA, Quade’s ANCOVA, and Mann-Whitney U were conducted to investigate the gathered data. Academics in the EG reported statistically significant improvements in their conceptions of promoting active learning. According to their students, teachers in the experimental group employed more student-centered assessment methods and teaching behaviors that encouraged active learning. Our results also showed that academics in the control group reported higher resilience levels at the end of the academic semester, and according to their students, their more traditional teaching approaches seemed more effective in stimulating their students’ understanding of fundamental concepts. The results could have been more significant regarding the students’ learning approaches. Because of the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we encountered several obstacles in the impact assessment process (e.g., high values at the pretest, the impossibility of matching students’ answers). Although our findings have some limitations, the present article has noteworthy implications for stakeholders involved in in-service teacher training programs, in particular, conducted in higher education institutions. Practical implications of the findings for both academic developers and future research are discussed.

Keywords: academic development, academic teaching grant, impact evaluation, pedagogical training

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Abstract: The present study is testing the role of extracurricular activities in the career exploratory intentions and decision-making using the lenses of the career self-management model of Social Cognitive Career Theory – SCCT (Lent & Brown, 2013). The study also includes the socioeconomic status, social support, and role models, as well as personality factors as predictors. We used hierarchical linear regression to test the role of the added precursors to extracurricular activities and their role in career exploration goals and decidedness. Data were collected using an online survey filled in by 233 students in twelfth grade. Involvement in pro-social activities, the influence of role models, and the level of agreeableness were significant predictors of exploratory intentions while exam preparation was the only significant predictor of career decidedness. Implications for practice are discussed.

Keywords: career decidedness, exploratory goals, extracurricular activities, personality, role models

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Abstract: The present study aimed to expand the knowledge on the career exploratory intentions and decidedness in the career self-management model of Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent & Brown, 2013). To predict these career behaviours, we used hierarchical regression and analysed the predictors role of socioeconomic status, social support, career exploration, and decision-making learning experiences, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. In addition to the career variables included in the Career Self-Management Model, this study also explored the role of work volition, a central variable from the Psychology of Working Theory. Data were collected using an online survey filled in by 235 college students. The results showed that positive emotions and outcome expectations were significant predictors of exploratory intentions, while self-efficacy was a constant significant predictor of career decidedness. Socioeconomic status and work volition were not significant predictors in any of the models.

Keywords: career decidedness, career exploratory intentions, learning experiences, Social-Cognitive Career Theory, social influences

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Abstract: The current study is a test-retest design with the presence of both experimental and control groups. We proposed to present information about an online intervention program for reducing career decision-making difficulties (caused by lack of information, lack of readiness and inconsistent information) and to present results of its effectiveness.
This research was designed in 2020 and the intervention program (7 sessions) started at the beginning of lock down due to COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 11th high school students from Chişinău, Moldova. 13 students participated in the experimental group, which attended at least 6 of 7 online sessions and 18 in the control group.
Career decision-making difficulties ware assessed with the CDDQ – Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (Gati & Osipow, 2000).
We found that there are differences between the results obtained by the participants of the intervention program and the results of the students in the control group for the lack of readiness scale (F (1, 29) = 16.388, p = 0.000). There was a reduction of career decision-making difficulties caused by lack of readiness for the experimental group, at the time of the retest (t(12)=3.30, p=0.006, Mretest=4.02) compared to the initial testing (Mtest =5.36) and at the time of the retest for the experimental group (Mretest=3.51) compared to the control group (Mretest= 4.04).
After attending the intervention, differences related to the lack of information scale were recorded (F(1, 29)=16.925, p=0.000). Students in the experimental group obtained lower scores in the retest moment (t(17)=-3.073, p=0.007, Mretest=3.5128) than in the test moment (Mtest=5.5192). There are no significant differences in retest time between groups, t(29)=0.83, p=0.41.
Difficulties caused by inconsistent information did not change between assessment times F(1, 29)=2.273, p=0.142, there are no significant differences between groups t(29)=0.43, p=0.67.

Keywords: career guidance, COVID-19 pandemic, decision-making, intervention program

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Abstract: To meet the diverse needs of students in complex social environments, it is necessary to transform schools into learning organisations (Fullan, 1993; Sava, 2022). Empirical evidences show that learners make significant progress when schools exhibit the characteristics of learning organisations (Harris & van Tassell, 2005; Schechter & Qadach, 2012; Silins & Mulford, 2004). The “learning organisation” approach is necessary and suitable for schools, regardless of their operating context, thus providing a sustainable competitive advantage (Kools & Stoll, 2016; OECD, 2016). Staff in a school may have different perceptions about the extent to which their school is a learning organisation. In this study, we investigated if perceptions about the status of the school as a “learning organisation” differs significantly according to variables such as the school environment, the staff ’s position and seniority. The online questionnaire, applied in April-May 2022, was filled in by 650 participants (70 principals, 543 teachers and 37 auxiliary teaching staff) from 248 Romanian schools. Self-reported data were collected using the instrument developed by Kools et al. (2020), validated in the Romanian context. The results show significant differences among the participants’ responses in relation to the school environment and in terms of the respondents’ position in the school. Data showed no statistically significant difference among the participants’ responses in terms of seniority. The results of the current research represent a useful step in the process of evaluating Romanian schools, with the aim to transforming them into learning organisations.

Keywords: learning leadership, schools as a learning organisations, shared vision, staff members, team learning

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Abstract: Practicum is essential in initial teacher training (ITE), while mentoring represents an important part of it. The need for the practicum mentors’ training is recognized, being highlighted both by studies (Czerniawsky et al., 2016; Guberman et al., 2020) and by the recommendations of the European Commission (2021). However, the mentors are precariously prepared (Clarke & Mena, 2020), the literature pointing out the limited training and insufficient knowledge regarding mentoring activities. This study aims to identify the training needs of mentors in Romania, and the further training undertaken, to carry out mentoring activities in ITE. The study was run between December 2021 and February 2022, based on the questionnaire elaborated by the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED). By analysing the answers of the 276 mentors from Romania who are guiding the practicum in ITE at all levels of pre-university education, we can highlight: the types of activities considered useful and less useful in mentoring, the training activities already accessed, the desirable training
directions, and the way in which research is valued as part of the role of mentor in order to inform didactic practices. Data from Romania, compared to the results from the international study InFo-TED (Czerniawsky et al., 2016) revealed similarities regarding the training needs for educational research and differences regarding the types of preferred training activities. The comparative analysis by education levels highlights specific training needs, which can become the basis for developing training programs for better mentoring.

Keywords: in service professional development, initial teacher training, practicum mentors, training needs

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Abstract: The concept of reflective teacher has been studied extensively in the last three decades and has facilitated the shift in the teacher education orbit from attainment to development. Our study seeks to discover the value of reflection for teachers and in what way their practices could potentially be influenced by it. The participants of the present study were 11 primary school teachers from Bucharest, Romania. By making use of a phenomenological qualitative inquiry approach, data were collected through a focus group and a reflective journal. The key findings indicate that the participants in the study are willing to embrace an investigative attitude that will help improve and assess practice, even if they are not used to it and do not always have the proper time to analyze their teaching practices daily. Moreover, multiple advantages of keeping a reflective journal were recognized: facilitation of teaching, enhancement of innovation, impact on professional growth, enhancement of problem-solving skills, improvement of overall effectiveness, and promotion of a positive learning environment.

Keywords: focus group, primary school teacher, reflective journal, reflective practices, reflective teacher

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Abstract: Research shows that reading performance in the early grades is a strong predictor of reading ability throughout the school years, and is therefore likely to impact children’s academic and career trajectories, with those of children coming from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds being negatively impacted (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Dolean et al., 2019). Using a comparative approach, the present study aimed to determine whether there were differences in literacy skills development in children from low socio-economic backgrounds who received specifically developed emergent literacy instruction (intervention group, IG) and those who did not (control group, CG). The literacy program was developed based on recent scientific evidence (Bear, 2022) emphasizing the importance of the following in emergent literacy instruction: concepts about print (1), alphabet and letter-sound knowledge (2), concept of word (3), phoneme awareness (4), and word recognition (5). The intervention took place in the 2021-2022 school year, over an 8-month period, and consisted of using emergent literacy assessments, as well as literacy learning materials developed specifically for the preparatory grades. The total sample consisted of 300 children in 25 preparatory grade classes, divided between intervention and control groups (260 and 40 students, respectively), who were all assessed on the five abovementioned emergent literacy concepts and skills, pre- and post-intervention. ANOVA analyses were conducted to test for differences between children in the two groups. Results highlight significant differences in terms of literacy development, with children in IG showing higher scores on all the five measures than children in the CG.

Keywords: disadvantaged communities, early reading intervention, emergent literacy, preparatory grade, reading difficulties

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Abstract: This paper aims to open a reflective framework, that should be useful to the Romanian education system and encompass ways in which citizenship education is studied in other European countries, at primary and secondary levels. In this regard, the article presents the characteristics of the school systems which are based on maximalist and minimalistic approaches to citizenship education, the critical approaches to citizenship education and, consequently, the concept of “critical citizenship”. The article also includes a brief timeline of legislative and public policy efforts at European level to support education for democratic citizenship, starting from the Maastricht Treaty and reaching the “Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture”. Last but not least, the paper will highlight a series of reforms and approaches to citizenship education at European level (as a separate or integrated school subject, or in a crosscurricular perspective), that references the latest Eurydice study on citizenship education in European schools.

Keywords: citizenship education, critical citizenship, EU policies

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Abstract: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the closure of educational institutions worldwide. As a result, most educational institutions shifted to online learning platforms to keep up with instructional activities. This study aims to determine how teachers perceive the online teaching and learning context at the George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureş (UMPhST), Romania. An online questionnaire was created in Google Forms and sent to the academic staff at the university to evaluate the efficacy, drawbacks, and benefits of online education. A total of 139 faculty members from different departments completed the questionnaire thoroughly. According to the findings, more than half of those questioned agreed that online teaching is essential during pandemic times, but it is not a long-term solution. The difficulty of engaging students in practical activities, the lack of feedback, and the difficulty in fulfilling online assignments are just some of the challenges that were brought about. Furthermore, the survey identifies the traits of online courses the respondents preferred and additional challenges they encountered throughout this demanding time.

Keywords: academic staff, COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions, online questionnaire, online teaching

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Abstract: Educational practices and all that happens in the classroom are essential to children’s learning progress and their development. Despite the importance of teachers’ educational practices, in the low- or middle-income countries the practices are hardly ever measured, partly because of a lack of access to classroom observation tools and the high costs of their administration. As a result, the present research undertook the aim to analyze the improvement of educational practices on the dimensions that are comprised in the observation tool we used: classroom climate, instruction and social and emotional skills by means of classroom observation and providing feedback using the Teach observation tool. Thus, we assume that early childhood education teachers who participate in observation and feedback processes based on the Teach observation tool develop educational practices more adapted to the children’s social and emotional and cognitive needs. The study consisted of conducting a quasi-experiment with three repeated applications of the Teach observation tool on a sample of 19 kindergarten teaching staff. The 19 kindergarten teachers were from the same kindergarten in Braşov city, Kindergarten no.11, “House of joy”. The study was carried out during the 2020-2021 school year. Following the implementation of the Teach observation tool, we can conclude that its role is to facilitate the measurement of quality in early childhood education. Teaching can be a starting point for understanding, measuring and discussing the quality of teaching practices in early childhood education, leading to improved support for teachers and ultimately better learning experiences and higher outcomes for preschoolers. Also, in the future, the Teach observation tool can provide policy makers and stakeholders with the information they need to design and implement policies and programs in early childhood education.

Keywords: classroom culture, classroom observation, development of children at early ages, quality of educational practices, social and emotional skills

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Abstract: The Romanian national curriculum for primary education includes a number of school subjects that are taught by specialized teachers, e.g. foreign languages, physical education, religious education. Nevertheless, Music and movement represents a compulsory subject that requires advanced musical abilities and knowledge, yet the primary class teachers, who teach it, benefit from only short term initial training which we consider insufficient. The paper presents the results of a research into the opinions of the staff who teach. Music and movement in primary school as well as of those of experts regarding the improvement of this subject teaching.
The study included two components: a qualitative analysis based on semistructured interviews with experts in sciences of education from pre-university and academic level (19 interviewees); and a quantitative analysis by means of an enquiry-based questionnaire among primary teachers from all over Romania (1.151 respondents). Data were collected between May 28th and June 26th 2021.
The results show mainly positive views among the intereviewed sciences of education experts about the need to carry out training programs in music education for the primary school teachers. Also, 90% of the teaching staff who answered the questionnaire state that music education during pre-service teacher training should take at least two terms; more than 85% of the respondents state that, besides the school practicum that is ordinarily carried out, pre-service teachersshould also attend specialized practicum in the form of participation at concerts and art events in order to enrich their cultural experience.
The present study aims to draw attention to possible solutions for pre-service teacher training so that music in primary school should have a stronger effect on young students’ education, on the future generation and on the future society overall. In this context, “neuroeducation” can offer evidence-based answers on cognitive transfer and attention activation, memory pathways and multisensory training (Curtis & Fallin, 2014). This vision gives music educators and teachers a new approach to music in the classroom, which is based on methods and means to stimulate the activity of both hemispheres of the brain; this could be achieved only through a high-standard musical training of future teachers.

Keywords: educational policies, music education, primary school, quality education

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Abstract: The current world, characterised by a dynamic full of continuous fluctuations and challenges, urges us to change perspectives regarding the educational phenomenon. There is a growing interest for the holistic development of the human being so that s/he could face the imperatives of the contemporary society. The present article creates a favourable opportunity to highlight that the harmonious formation of human individuality was first described many centuries ago. St. John Chrysostom, who adopts a broad approach to the education topic, points out that a responsible educational process should offer a holistic development to people. Thus, we aim to analyze Christian and modern pedagogy discourses in a comparative manner, in order to demonstrate the modernity of the Antiochian pedagogue’s view on education. We investigated the degree of overlapping between the Hrisostomian pedagogical ideas and the current theories of personality development. Also, our content analysis looks into the number of references regarding the children’s upbringing and education as compared to the recurrent topics in the works of St. John Chrysostom. We analyzed St. John’s recommendations on the child’s development, virtues and values, so we can integrate them in contemporary formative contexts. The outcome reveals that the writings of the Christian pedagogue align with the current desideratum of the Romanian educational system. We consider theses pedagogical suggestions and the good practices that are given to be valuable instruments as they are up to date in terms of educational principles, methods and content and they satisfy the needs and the specifics of the educational process beneficiaries.

Keywords: Christian pedagogy, Chrysostomian teaching principles, educational factors, holistic development, personality formation

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Abstract: Digital technology has become ubiquitous in the practice of school counselling in Romania, but currently there is little evidence and critical reflection on how it is employed in daily activities. The aim of the study was to gather information regarding the practices and resources associated with school counselling, especially regarding the use of digital technology. A total of 528 valid answers were collected from school counsellors across Romania’s 42 administrative divisions, using an online questionnaire. A cluster analysis was used to identify patterns of use of digital technology in professional practices, with three groups emerging: a) all-around use of digital technology, b) less frequent use of digital technology and c) regular use for specific professional tasks. Several socio-demographic factors were used to attempt to predict cluster membership. We discuss the implications of this exploratory study and chart potential avenues of action and research.

Keywords: Career counselling and guidance, digital technology, school counselling

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Abstract: The article highlights the students’ perspective regarding their experience with eTwinning, their investment of resources, their expectations, as well as the academic and personal outcomes obtained as a result of their involvement. The students’ opinions about the collaborative dimension of these projects in new learning contexts, the effectiveness of communication, the perspectives of personal development, the skills they developed, the well-being, and the motivation for learning are analyzed. The current article is based on a secondary analysis of data collected in a research project carried out in 2021 on a sample of 921 secondary and high school students, which aimed to assess the effects of the eTwinning project in Romania. The article focuses on the analysis of qualitative data regarding the learning experiences that the eTwinning project provided to the participating students.

Keywords: Collaborative learning, cultural diversity, curriculum applied in everyday life, educational experiences

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Abstract: Teaching is a crucial component of any sensible approach to ensuring quality education. However, there is no adequate, integrated perspective on the core qualities that make for excellence in teaching. Our study seeks to discover people who are examples of excellence in teaching in order to determine a set of excellence-associated characteristics. The participants of the present study were primary school teachers (n=11) from Romania. By making use of a qualitative inquiry, data was collected through semi-structured interviews and observations of school lessons. The key findings suggest that there is no single template for excellence in teaching. According to the data, there are three key aspects that can be attributed to excellent teaching: a passion for teaching, authentic relationships with students, and critical reflection. Recommendations for sustaining high-quality teaching are discussed.

Keywords: Excellent teachers, passion for teaching, qualitative data, reflection, teacher-student relationship

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Abstract: At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, governments worldwide suspended face-to-face education in schools to manage the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 virus. Romania and Hungary were not exceptional in this regard during the first wave of the pandemic. However, further along, the two countries’ policy pathways strongly diverged. Hungary strategized keeping schools open to ensure parents could attend to their employment obligations. Romania suspended face-to-face education in schools for long periods. The paper looks at these two national cases through a Critical Frame Analysis (Dombos et al., 2012) of education policy debates during the initial three waves of the pandemic (March 2020 – July 2021). It answers the question: How were the health rights of teachers and the health crisis in education framed in the education policy debates during the Covid-19 pandemic? Policy documents and policy related position documents by non-government actors were selected by country experts from both countries and coded inductively looking at the right to education, the right to health, and the relationship between economic activities and education. We present our findings concerning how teachers’ rights to health are featured in the policy debates between the government, oppositional political parties, trade unions and other stakeholders. Finally, we use our analysis to point to recommendations addressing the complex challenge of equally ensuring vulnerable pupils’ rights to education and teachers’ rights to health through coherent crisis management policies.

Keywords: Crisis management, critical frame analysis, right to health, teachers’ working conditions

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Abstract: Homework is a controversial topic that frequently attracts the attention of teachers and researchers, who are looking to identify ways to make it as attractive and enjoyable as possible, relevant, and formative as well. There are various points of views and data, empirically based, concerning the utility, scope, impact of homework on students’ development. The aim of the study was to identify the reflections, perceptions, and stated practices of primary school teachers regarding the assignment and assessment of homework. Thus, 10 primary education teachers completed reflection diaries on homework, between May 26 and June 25, 2021 (a period of the schooling year with consolidations, evaluations, and gradual relaxation towards ending/summer holiday). The teachers were asked to record each two days their reflections. The coding of the entries in the reflection diaries was done and analyzed with MAXQDA, and it covered aspects like the purpose and role of homework, methods for effective assignment of homework, parental involvement, appropriate completion time, volume, etc. The results, informative for teachers and educational experts as well, reveal teachers’ perceptions regarding the degree of involvement of children and parents, the appropriate dosage of effort and the appropriate time for solving homework, practices of assigning and evaluating students’ homework.

Keywords: Homework, primary education, teacher reflective log

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Abstract: In this paper, we aim to examine intercultural education textbooks, a subject that has been introduced in Romania, in the new school curriculum for middle school in 2017, for the 6th grade. The research uses content analysis to identify and analyze the cultural topics, the types of interactions that are suggested, and the extent to which these textbooks address social justice issues. We will approach both the textual and the visual elements of the textbooks.
The data is analyzed on four levels, using a social justice perspective, mainly Iris Young’s conceptualization of oppression. First, we explore the micro level which refers to the characters’ attitudes and values; then the macro level which comprises historical and political factors. Further, we examine the international dimension comprised in the analyzed textbooks. Finally, we are interested in the authors’ position. For this purpose, we employ Hilliard’s (2014) conceptual frameworks, developed from Gray (2010) – to which we added 12 topics – and Risager (1991). Moreover, the research proposes further analysis and inquiries on the subject of intercultural education in Romania.

Keywords: Content analysis, intercultural education, social justice, textbook

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Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic which forced the transfer of education from the physical to the virtual environment led to the exploitation of various materials and resources for teaching English for specific purposes. The use of videos in online lessons was investigated in a study conducted on four mixed-ability groups of students exposed to various educational videos to varying extents. The videos intended to improve the acquisition of vocabulary for English for specific purposes, namely for engineering and medicine. The students were divided into four groups, two engineering groups, and two medicine ones. All students were in their second undergraduate year and all had two lectures of English per week. One engineering group and one medicine group were exposed to at least two videos per course, whereas the other groups to one or no videos per course. Vocabulary acquisition was assessed using MCQs, word formation, and gap filling exercises, whereas speaking activities were conducted in smaller groups in virtual rooms. Following the 10-week period, not only the students’ vocabulary improved, but also their speaking abilities especially in the groups that used at least two videos per lesson, while the other groups showed only modest improvement of vocabulary acquisition and speaking skills.

Keywords: English for specific purposes, speaking skills, video, vocabulary acquisition

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Abstract: This study used semi-structured interviews to explore the career development process and influencing factors among eight Roma students. Following the analysis, eight areas emerged: 1) criteria for choosing a career option, 2) role models, 3) proactive personality, 4) support, 5) barriers, 6) work values, 7) critical consciousness, and 8) relevance of career guidance. The results show that the family is an essential source of moral support, role models, and persuasion in choosing certain educational and career options. Participants made decisions based on interests in certain areas and had work values predominantly related to prestige and appropriate financial rewards for their needs. All participants received support through positive measures and demonstrated a proactive personality in capitalizing on the support they received and overcoming the barriers they encountered, the most common being financial constraints. All students have a clear picture of how their ethnicity is perceived in society and the labor market and some of them are actively involved in improving the socio-economic context of young Roma.

Keywords: Career decision-making, critical consciousness, Roma students, social influences, work values

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Abstract: The literature raises concerns in terms of the psychological functioning of the students. Their well-being can be impaired by some problems they may face, like academic, personal, financial, or social ones. Cognitive theories support the fact that at the origin of the psycho-emotional consequences lies a dysfunctional thinking pattern. It can determine how people perceive events or their attitudes regarding the situations they experience. All these aspects play an important role in mental health. Thus, the first objective of the present study was to identify possible associations between dysfunctional attitudes, irrational beliefs, and perceived stress among students. The second objective was to test whether the relationship between irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes is explained by perceived stress, through a mediation model. In this research, 148 students filled in three psychological scales that measure the following constructs: dysfunctional attitudes, irrational beliefs, and perceived stress. In general, the results emphasized negative and weak associations between attitudes and cognitions (r = -.265, p = .001) and perceived stress and attitudes (r = -.167, p = .043), but a positive relationship between cognition and perceived stress (r = .312, p < .001). Also, the mediation analysis showed that there are misgivings that perceived stress does explain the relationship between irrational cognitions and dysfunctional attitudes. These preliminary findings could be an initial step in the educational environment to improve the beliefs and attitudes assessment among students by targeting them as important elements. Keywords: Dysfunctional attitudes, irrational beliefs, mediation model, perceived stress

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Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of many human activities. As a result, education quickly shifted from a classroom setting to an online one, challenging educators and students alike. Multiple issues that had barely been known to educators surfaced: technophobia, lack of rules or guidelines regarding online learning, politeness in a virtual environment, limited social interaction, but some of the greatest challenges remain cheating, and academic integrity concerns during online examinations. Technological and software advances can oftentimes identify cases of academic dishonesty. However, with mass education and faculty unpreparedness it is rather problematic to combat and avoid cheating during online assessment. This mixed-methods review based on the limited empirical research on the topic of cheating during online examinations will identify the factors that lead to cheating and will discuss the best ways of combating and avoiding academic dishonesty.

Keywords: Academic dishonesty, assessment, cheating, online examination, online learning

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Abstract: The relationship between the learning environment and the learning behaviours has long been of interest in educational literature. When addressing the socioemotional stages, Erickson raises awareness of the psycho-social influence of school by way of diligence vs inferiority (Harwood et al., 2010), while Galos and Aldridge (2020) explore how designing a learning environment focused on student self-efficacy triggers statistically significant differences in 4 (out of 9) areas of analysis: fairness, task clarity, learning responsibility and task achievement.

The aim of the present study is to highlight the significance and the differences in the main student psychosocial representations of school and teachers before and during the pandemic, the latter being characterised by government-imposed restrictions as well as changes in the student-teacher interaction, both during the second school term of 2019-2020 and the two school terms of the academic year 2020-2021.

The areas we intend to explore are: overall attitude to school and student emotional states, the perception on teacher and peer relations, the perception on school as an organisation but also as a learning environment, the parents as a filter on schoolrelated perceptions, and the projective dimension on school life.

The resulting statistical analysis (both nonparametric tests for independent groups and correlation) reveals major changes in the student perception on school and teachers, which will require systematic future intervention, as well as an upgrade of educational strategies, considering that the approaches designed and applied during the pandemic proved unable to compensate for the changes brought about by the restrictions on learning.

Keywords: Pandemic, perception, school, student, teacher

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Abstract: Heyse & Erpenbeck (2009) define counselling competence very broadly as the ability to counsel people and organisations. This requires for teachers an extensive knowledge of content, social-emotional competence and solution-oriented thinking. In this context, the article focuses on the one hand on the location of the legal basis for teacher training in higher education in the context of counselling competence and how counselling skills can be improved to avoid conflicts in the classroom. On the other hand it describes the handling and use of counselling skills in everyday school life based on the results of focus group discussions within the Erasmus+ project SEEVAL.

Keywords: Conflicts in school, content analysis, counselling, focus groups, social emotional learning

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Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to the online education substantially changed the characteristics of the teachers’ activities, especially due to the intensive use of telecommunications. A number of recent studies are already exploring the effects of these framework changes on individual behavior and drawing attention to the risks of mental health for those involved. Previous data indicate that the level of burnout experienced between the teachers is much stronger compared to the symptoms felt by other professionals (Shoji et al., 2016), but studies exploring the stress and burnout associated with working online are incipient.

The present study analyzes the relationship between burnout and self-efficacy for a group of 50 teachers from a secondary school during online teaching. The need to research this correlation starts from the premise that self-perceived effectiveness is important in mobilizing the teachers for the expected changes during online teaching. Previous data indicate an inverse correlation between self-efficacy and burnout (Friedman, 2003), respectively between teachers self-efficacy and two facets of the burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010). Our aim is to explore the momentary correlation between the dependent variables and to estimate the factors that had a negative impact on the perceived self-efficacy of teachers during online work. Even if the captured data cannot be generalized and we cannot talk about a cause-effect relation, the present study captures a real moment that can substantiate an improvement/optimization of the intervention, at least at the level of the reference/referential school.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching, teacher burnout, teacher selfefficacy

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Abstract: Well-being, a concept so often discussed, has increasingly come to the attention of specialists and practitioners, especially during the pandemic period whose magnitude has significantly influenced the well-being of all of us. The purpose of the comparative-correlational study was to investigate the perceptions and practices of teachers in Romanian preschool education regarding their role in ensuring the well-being of preschoolers in kindergarten, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, starting from the theoretical framework that delimits the factors that influence the well-being at this age (Aulia et al., 2020; Kwi-Ok et al., 2020; Sönmez & Ceylan, 2016), we used The Scale of Self-assessment of Wellbeing – IASB (Rodawell, 2019), developed by the University of Bucharest within the Rodawell project, and The Scale of Happiness Strategies for Children Used by Preschool Teachers – HSCPT (Sapsağlam et al., 2019). The online questionnaire was answered by 149 teachers for preschool education, especially from Timiş county. The results of the study (analyzed by The Independent-Samples T-Test, ANOVA One-Way, Spearman Correlation) highlight the existence of a positive association between perceptions and practices of educators in ensuring wellbeing, but also the existence of statistically significant differences between teachers’ practices in urban vs. rural environment, in the sense that, although they perceive children’s well-being similarly, rural teachers tend to use happiness strategies more often. At the same time, teachers’ perceptions differ depending on how the teaching activity is carried out in a pandemic context: the self-perceived role and the practices dedicated to ensuring well-being are more intense in hybrid and online format than the traditional one.

Keywords: Children’s well-being, Covid-19 pandemic, happiness strategies for children, preschool education, teachers’ perception

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Abstract: Because of the threat of the Coronavirus pandemic, schooling in Romania moved in distance regime in March 2020. During the next school year, each municipality chose the scenario for each school – face-to-face schooling or online learning – according to the local number of infections. However, online education encountered many difficulties in terms of material and human resources, especially in rural areas. In this study we aim to explore rural teachers’ perspectives about online schooling in Romania, during the Coronavirus pandemic. The data – obtained through a series of interviews and questionnaires – were collected from rural teachers working in various parts of the country.

In this study we propose to follow two main directions. First, we explore teachers’ experiences concerning the access to material resources in the school and at home. The absence of proper digital equipment and the quality of the internet connection are two of the main concerns for policy makers. Second, the study focuses on educational practice, discussing teachers’ accounts and experiences during two periods: March-June 2020 and the next school year, until present. We intend to explore rural teachers’ experiences in depth, as rural was always disadvantaged in Romania’s education system. This study is a starting point for further research of rural teachers’ preparedness in Romania and the implications of online learning on rural teachers and students.

Keywords: Online schooling, pandemic, rural, teachers’ experiences

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