Issue, No. 18/2020

Abstract This article seeks to distinguish between teachers' academic studies which they chose of their own volition, and professional training throughout their career that is imposed on them as part of their role as educators, in the framework of their professional development. This is a qualitative-narrative study, whose data were collected through the life stories of two educators, one is currently serving as the principal of a junior high school, and the other serves as a vice principal of a junior high school and is also preparing to be the principal of a school. The data were analyzed by means of content analysis, which yielded themes that were combined into three chapters: Chapter one: The seeds sown in the parents' home towards professional life, Chapter two: The choice of the professional life track, and Chapter three: Professional development towards career advancement. The findings show that this distinction points to the formation of teachers' professional identity: The free choice in academic study tracks contributes greatly to the formation of their professional identity, while continuing their training as teachers in the afternoon after a long school day, does not contribute to the formation of their professional identity. Some see these studies as an inconvenience and its main value for them is financial. The findings of this study reprise the question of the connection between teachers’ training throughout their careers as formulating the perception of their professional identity. >> Read the article

Abstract The present article is a quantitative research which responds to the following question: what is the attitude of the typical students towards the inclusion of their colleagues with special needs. The attitudes of typical students were measured using a scale designed for this purpose. The results showed a positive attitude towards inclusion. The attitude was also influenced by factors such as gender. Through the paper "Educational Implications of Game in Students with Special Educational Needs from Inclusive Schools", a new way of inclusion was suggested, the inclusion through game addressed to the whole community. The key groups involved in the inclusion process and the proposed objectives for each target group are thus presented: teaching staff: 1) identifying teachers' attitudes towards the integration of the students with special needs in mass education, 2) changing the teachers' attitudes through games; students with special educational needs: 1) designing and testing some forms of support through game; the parents of typical students: 1) identifying the attitudes towards the integration of students with special needs in mass education; typical students: 1) identifying the attitude towards the integration of students with special educational needs in mass education >> Read the article

Abstract Training programs focused on professional learning and development are meant to provide teachers with opportunities to develop their professional competencies for teaching in specific domains. These programs represent an important branch of the educational system in Romania. In the study that we have initiated we have tested and validated the hypothesis that identifying professional training needs and offering specific courses in order to develop the professional competencies represents a key condition for teachers’ effectiveness in terms of their professional learning and development. The methods and instruments for educational research that we used in the present study are both qualitative and quantitative, based on questionnaires, individual interviews and focus group interviews. The reason why we opted for the mixed methods is because quantitative research throughout questionnaires does not always allow participants to explain their choices or the meaning of the questions. The quantitative survey was carried out on a non-probabilistic sample (770 teachers) and the focus groups were conducted with groups of 10 randomly selected respondents from the training program. All the teachers participating in our study are from pre-university education and have participated in continuing education programs accredited by the Department of Educational Sciences of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. >> Read the article

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present a qualitative study using a focus-group method applied to a group of educators in a private nature-oriented school in Romania (Green School Romania), with the purpose of identifying ecological friendly behavioral models, values and virtues shown by children in relation to the natural environment. The importance of this interdisciplinary study is related to the pedagogical philosophy of the above mentioned Romanian school, which is experiential environment-oriented education, a holistic approach to environmental ethics, considered as a moral education for sustainability, trust and care for life and nature. >> Read the article

Abstract Within this study, we proposed to accomplish an analysis of the main health education programs implemented in our country during the last 20 years. In this regard, a series of health education programs and projects implemented at the primary school level of the educational units in our country were analyzed. We proposed to establish an inventory of the most frequently encountered topics of these programs, in addition to the identification of these programs, their initiators and their main partners. Thus, online searches were conducted in order to identify international, national, regional and local educational programs and projects. The main goal of these programs was the formation and development of health education related behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes. Moreover, a series of documents made by primary school teachers were analyzed, in order to conclude which are the main topics of these educational/ partnership projects initiated in the scope of health education. The study highlights the importance of implementing such interventions, by identifying effective measures that can be taken in order to successfully organize and implement such programs. >> Read the article

Abstract Professional development throughout continuous training programs has a major role in teachers’ career path. The effectiveness of these programs can be acknowledged by every teacher, as long as the aims of the programs are proper for one’s professional needs. Teachers’ attitude towards these programs is also very important. The study we conducted probed the opinion of a non-probability sample consisting of 118 teachers from urban and rural areas as concerns their capacity to correlate the level of professional training with the attitude toward the need for continuous training in their career. By choosing a quantitative method, the investigation on the basis of a questionnaire was used with the intention to find out not only the ability of self-evaluation reported at the level of the training, but also the motivation, attitudes and teachers’ expectations regarding the need for continuous professional development. The self-evaluation questions provided respondents’ perceptions of the investigation thus, allowing us to further understand issues related to their internal nature. Therefore, sometimes these items involve difficulties in establishing the accuracy of the answers provided as regards finding a correspondence between the actual respondents’ opinions and those expressed in the suitable or not so suitable answers. >> Read the article

Abstract „Education for All” is the concept intended to lift all barriers found in educating all children, especially, those vulnerable to exclusion and marginalization. Therefore education for all represents the ideal of maximum flexibility and tolerance regarding diversity. The study conducted on 130 teachers, from 5 Romanian counties (Cluj, Mureș, Sălaj, Maramureș, Bistrița-Năsăud), had the purpose of identifying the attitudes of the teachers towards the educational inclusion of children with CES. We wanted to find out if there were significant differences in perception between counties but also related to the teachers’ age/experience. The results didn’t show any difference in perception between counties, as well as the way the teachers’ attitudes were influenced by their age/experience. >> Read the article

Abstract In Romania, early education is undergoing an intense process of curricular reform which began during the school-year of 2005-2006, when the first attempts had been implemented by the Minister of Education at the time, university professor dr. Mircea Miclea (with the support from the World Bank, UNICEF, universities and NGOs), continued in the following years through the implementation of two projects (PETI and PRET, with the support of UNICEF), and culminated with the publication of The Ordinance by the Ministry of Education no. 4.694 of 2nd August 2019 regarding the approval of the curriculum for early education. It was by this ordinance that the Educational Plan as well as the Teaching Methodology and the Teaching Programme for early education were enacted. Thus, new objectives were established for the early educational system, capable of reflecting the changes in our society, the recent contributions from the learning psychology, as applicable to preschool education, and able to conform to the reform and the general principles of the Romanian educational system, to the contemporary orientations regarding the educational objectives, and, last but not least, build rapport with the specific objectives of the other levels of education, and with the international educational legislation and practices. >> Read the article

Abstract The study sets out an exploratory research that aimed at testing some techniques for increasing the cohesion of the 5th grade student group. The techniques were included in the classes of counselling and personal development through group tasks in which the whole group of students was involved. The activity took place during the first school semester of the 2019-2020 school year. Following the application of the techniques, their viability was tested through a focus group discussion with 10 form teachers involved in the research. They described how the activity was carried out and the results obtained in the cohesion of the student class. The investigation is preliminary to that extended to the level of several schools, aiming to make the built techniques more efficient, in order to be widely applied, to the students in the secondary school cycle. >> Read the article

Abstract The study synthesizes the influences of social psychology on educational practice within the school context and circumscribes pedagogical and psychosocial perspectives that deal with the phenomena involved in the dynamics of the class-group. The class of students is the most interactive type of group and thus susceptible to instructive-educational training and psychosocial development, which makes this area of study extremely fertile for the psycho-educational policies oriented towards the formation of students with a view to optimal integration in their school environment. >> Read the article

Abstract Could school and theater be seen as a symbiosis? The roots of the school theater go back to the 15th century. Early on, the educators recognized the importance of drama for the development of the students. But what do the students think about the theatrical education for their own development? This paper presents the results of a qualitative research designed to explore the role of education through theater for the personal, social skills and aesthetic development of the students. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was used. In our qualitative study we examined the effects of theatre education from the perspective of the students. We interviewed 20 primary school students of the German-speaking school in Cluj-Napoca, who had theater pedagogy as optional courses for four years about their personal experience with theatre. Results demonstrate the development of personal, social and aesthetic skills. The data obtained show that students themselves recognize the significant and positive impact of the education through theatre regarding the emotional, social and aesthetic development (as components of personal development), and the relationship between them. >> Read the article

Abstract Outdoor education begins beyond the door of the classroom and promotes outdoor learning. Because it takes place in the natural environment, outdoor activities are more attractive, more appreciated by children, for which they are more motivated to become actively involved in the proposed work tasks. The research proposed and carried out by us aims to investigate the training and informative valences of an educational intervention program based on outdoor type experiential activities in preschool education, ages 5-6. Although this concept is at the beginning of the road in Romania, studies conducted abroad and the educational reality of other education systems have shown that outdoor education has many benefits for educators of all ages. Our research aims to highlight the impact of experiential outdoor activities on preschoolers. The present article aims to verify whether there are significant differences in gender regarding assertive behavior, behavior control, peer social skills and task orientation. >> Read the article

Abstract Narrative is central for human beings and it is an instrument for organizing our entire experience. Personal, familial, organizational and national identity is being shaped by the narrative. It gives meaning to the world around us. Play is a specific tool that can be used to straighten young children’s narrative. A free, symbolic, creative play such as Sandplay can be adopted to maximize the opportunities of observing and sustaining preschoolers’ narrative. Dora M. Kalff is the founder of Sandplay Therapy, being influenced by "The World Technique" of Margaret Lowenfeld but playing with sand has always been attractive both to children and adults. In preschool educational settings telling stories in the sand offers educators a way of extending children’s narrative by using open questions, dialogues and by developing children’s awareness that story fictional world can be enriched. >> Read the article

Abstract School years have an important role in defining a person for the world he will live in. The influence that the school environment has on defining a person for the future is something that teachers and policy makers take into consideration when developing strategies for learning and equally important in the evaluation process. The evaluation process is an integral part of the education process and the connections between evaluation, assessment of learning and learning constitute a focal part of the educators. School performance is not solely a function of student’s aptitude set, but also covers the optimal cognitive and affective-motivational recourses in relation to certain tasks. Emotional competence, along with the social competence is important in the development of positive relationships and emotionally feelings of security in creating a positive self image for young people. Young people with a positive self image will have a greater disposition to learning. For children learning about themselves happens within the context of their families and community and it includes all the type of relationships they forge with their peers, places and things in relation to the actions and responses from others. Experience is the one that shapes the emotional responses that children have in regards to all the things happening around them and inside them, at a self-understanding level. This paper aims to understand the way emotional identity of children helps them focus on the evaluation task in various contexts of every day school life. >> Read the article

Abstract The extracurricular educational activities within the Children’s Palaces and Clubs are carried out on the basis of goals that are implemented through a student-centred educational strategy. The content, methods and tools used are studentcentred, differentiated according to the abilities and interests of the children. The activities are flexible, optional, and complementary to formal education and help to develop personality, creativity and competencies. The extracurricular activities are student-centred and focus on the formative side of learning by identifying effective ways of organizing and guiding student activity. The teacher must become a facilitator, a mentor – through his activities students will acquire knowledge, develop competencies and skills, aptitudes, attitudes through which the theoretical knowledge can be transposed into practical knowledge and helps in the integration into contemporary society. This questionnaire investigates the role, importance and complementarity of extracurricular activities. It studies the factors that influence the participation of the students in the extra-curricular activities offered by the Children’s Palaces and Clubs. The study was conducted on a national level among children, an online questionnaire with 19 questions was applied (N = 3945). The results show us the important role of non-formal activities, activities that together with formal education help to improve results and are complementary in the development of competencies. The study helps to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of extracurricular education, the results shed light on the children’s needs children, and to what extent the use of the student-centred educational strategy will help to achieve better results in education, and probably to reduce school dropout. >> Read the article

Abstract The reforming dynamism that the technological revolution supports has influenced the educational system. The reform of educational systems as innovative, coherent and flexible entities also meant digital transformations, educational technology systems aimed both at the educational space and the means/instruments of learning. Computerised systems have allowed for emphasised digital communication within the educational field, for mediated learning, self-control and self-adjustment. Consequently, education and self-education in the digital society have urgently called for the building of digital skills, technological abilities for all learners. >> Read the article