Journal of Educational Sciences

3-20

Authors: Claudiu Lulciuc, Mihaela Minulescu, • , Laurențiu Maricuțoiu

The present study evaluated children's prosocial behavior (M = 7.39, SD = 0.93) (i.e., specific altruism) under the influence of three types of cartoons (neutral, prosocial, or antisocial). Subjects (N = 140) were randomized and exposed to treatment with pre- and post-intervention measurements. The results didn't confirm the hypothesis that children who will watch prosocial cartoons will have increased altruism proving a higher volume of donations. The second hypothesis regarding the inhibitory effect of antisocial cartoons on altruism by decreasing the volume of donations was not confirmed either. No significant gender effects were recorded. No significant general age effect was found either, however, we found that donations tend to increase with age, a statistically significant effect being recorded for children age 8 years old compared to those of 6 years old. The implications of the statistical data are discussed together with the possibility of registering a "moral licensing" effect.

38-55

Authors: Anca Luștrea, Mariana Crașovan

Romanian educational system is in a constant search for reform, due to one of the highest rates of students` underachievement in basic skills and lack of qualified teachers among EU member states. It is well established that professional learning communities (PLCs) can be a solution for both problems, aiming to enhance students` results by teacher collaboration in learning and professional development. This study aims to determine the specificity of Romanian PLCs in relation with some contextual factors - school size, school environment (urban or rural), type of school (general or special school), professional development procedures at school level, and the individual factors that can impact the PLC, represented by teachers` personality structure. To answer the research question, reflecting on what contextual and individual factors determine the specificity of PLCs, two online questionnaires and a demographic survey were distributed to teachers across Romania. First, the School Professional Staff as Learning Community Questionnaire (SPSLCQ) was validated on the 253 participants, the original five-factor structure of SPSLCQ adequately fit the sample and proved to be a reliable instrument in the Romanian population. The results showed the Romanian PLCs` do not significantly differ from other countries: the most representative PLC dimension is shared vision, the organizational factor which explains best the PLC is the existence of strong at-school-level professional development procedures. School size best describes the differences between PLCs, but they do not differ in terms of school environment and school type. The personality factor that correlates the most with PLC is conscientiousness, but the correlation is non-significant. These results suggest that for functionally stronger PLCs, the school should implement professional development procedures at school level, based on collaboration and mutual learning in small groups of teachers

69-86

Authors: Leyla Safta-Zecheria; Sebastian-Aurelian Ștefănigă; Ioana-Alexandra Negru; Francisca-Hortensia Virag

Emergency remote teaching replaced face-to-face education almost everywhere in the world at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Romania switched to online teaching in March 2020 as a recommendation that became an obligation to teach online in late April 2020. Teachers saw themselves confronted with the need to adapt to a completely new infrastructure for teaching and learning in the digital sphere. Building on qualitative data (interviews and focus groups), collected as part of a participatory action research project aiming to support school teachers in adapting to online education, we explore the question: How did teachers understand and respond to the challenges brought about by using digital instruments and resources in the educational process? Our findings show that teachers faced challenges in accessing technological and digital infrastructures, as well as in ensuring that pupils had access to online teaching and learning activities. Moreover, teachers were faced with the need to rapidly develop the digital competences necessary for online teaching. This prompted exchanges between teachers, pupils and parents, as well as the setting up of support structures within and outside school structures

10

Authors: Usama HEIB, Theofild-Andrei LAZĂR

In Israel, the awareness on the youth dropout from school problem has increased in the last decade. There is no doubt that dealing with this phenomenon poses a challenge to the Israeli society and to the authorities responsible for educational services. It turns out that certain groups among the Israeli population are at a higher risk of dropping out from school than others. As a result of it, many teenagers from these groups do not complete their high school studies and are unable to integrate in a qualitative and significant manner in the army and the labour market. Moreover, dropping out of the education system may have a significant impact on the mental and economic well-being of young generations of citizens. Therefore, preventing the problem of dropout and helping the youths to get back into the loop is a tremendous challenge to the Israeli education system. Even if in the last decade Israel registered lower rates of educational dropout then before, middle, and high-school students are still struggling with the issue. Therefore, the article underlines theoretical aspects regarding educational dropout as general framework and presents the specifics of the phenomenon in the Israelian educational system. The last part of the paper follows, based on secondary data analysis extracted from national official data, the differences between the two main state educational systems in Israel (Hebrew and Arabic) in terms of tendencies on educational dropout in the last ten school years. The data reveals that, even if there is progress in preventing educational dropout in both systems, the Arabic system registers significantly higher rates that the Hebrew educational system.

11

Authors: Elena-Alina VOAIDEȘ - COJAN , Theofild-Andrei LAZĂR

Higher education dropout, or abandonment, represents a contemporary worldwide socioeconomic problem that may be one of the main barriers in the future efforts of the younger generations to bring the world economy forward. Why do students leave higher education prematurely? What can be done to help solve this problem? Does our Higher Education System have a coherent support system to prevent dropout? are the core questions on this important issue. The role of education in the young generation’s development and the different factors that support or impede this process represent frequently researched topics in the field of applied socio-human sciences, especially during the last decades that are also characterised by important changes in the educational services delivery. The current article constitutes the preliminary work for a future doctoral thesis that aims to investigate the issue of contemporary educational dropout in Romanian universities following data from the last decade. Firstly, some theoretical elements on educational dropout in general will be explored, starting by defining the concept, continuing with the exploration of the main theories and finalising by detailing the main factors that influence university dropout. The last part of the present work follows as a study case the dropout rates of the last three generations of bachelor level students from a social sciences faculty of a state university from Romania. Based on secondary data analysis, the dropout rates are calculated in four steps in order to reveal the dynamics of the process during a bachelor study cycle, being presented the specificities of all four departments of the faculty.

16

Authors: Speranța Rodica Pantelie

The first year of life is an essential phase for all psychological areas in the child development. The key competences, vital for all development processes of the child, focus on the communication and the socio-emotional competencies, mostly because the infant is strongly dependent of adult care environment. The quality of the primary caregiving relationship can configure the cognitive, affective and social development of the child in the first year of life. This study is aiming to identify the objective and psychological factors related to the development of early communication competences of the child in the first year of life and to identify the best predictors of these competencies, in order to conceptualize the best strategies to help the parents in their parental educational tasks and to prevent any delays in infant development. The study identifies a complex system of factors influencing the infant's communication skills, the prerequisites of communication being in relation both with the individual characteristics of the child in the first year of life, mainly the temperament and resilience, and with maternal and paternal factors, such as emotional maturity, patterns of primary attachment of the parents and the mother/father reflective functioning.