The European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Aug 15, 2019
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-No... more This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Teacher appraisal is a necessary tool to manage staff, hire new candidates, and develop senior me... more Teacher appraisal is a necessary tool to manage staff, hire new candidates, and develop senior members. Principals use formal quantitative tools that reflect the competitive social environments in which schools operate. This study explores school principals' informal attitudes regarding the personal and professional traits they believe teachers should have or not have. Following Yariv's (2009) study we compare heads in four countries – Botswana, Romania, India, and Israel. Within a non-random convenience sampling, we held a short telephone interview (or written questionnaire) with 132 elementary and high school principals. The two most preferred traits in the entire sample were high motivation and accountability. As it turns out, school principals are less impressed by traits like professionalism or honesty. The two least preferred traits are the poorly motivated teachers and those who lack professional values and conduct. Phi and Cramer’s V test indicated a significant asso...
Optimistic Attributional Style and Parental Behaviour in the Educational Framework: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, 2012
This study examined, from a cross-cultural perspective, the impact of optimistic attributional st... more This study examined, from a cross-cultural perspective, the impact of optimistic attributional style and perception of parental behaviour on two educational outcomes: school performance and depression. The effects of ethnic and/or regional differences on these relationships were examined. Three hundred forty-nine adolescents (94 Hungarian and 128 Romanian adolescents from Banat and 127 Romanian adolescents from Moldova) were surveyed. The results indicated both similarities and differences between the ethnic and regional groups. Parental control was a significant predictor of the adolescents’ depression and performance, but it did not moderate the relationship between the optimistic attributional style and the adolescents’ outcomes. The effects of optimistic attributional style and parental acceptance were moderated by the ethnic/regional group. The results indicated that the predictors of depression and achievement varied more depending on the region criterion than the ethnic one. Ethnic differences stand out only when combined with regional differences. The educational implications of these results are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between school achievement, motivation... more The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between school achievement, motivational orientation and classroom environment in high school adolescents. The participants consisted of 668 eleven-grade students (360 males and 308 females) aged between 17 and 19. Students filled in scales for motivational orientation were collected from the nalysis showed that intrinsic, extrinsic motivation, amotivation and peers support significantly predicted the between peers support and achievement was moderated by extrinsic motivation. Practical implications of motivational strategies in educational contexts were discussed.
This study investigated the contributions of classroom environment and achievement goal orientati... more This study investigated the contributions of classroom environment and achievement goal orientations, as well as the students’ performance in Mathematics and the students’ attitude. At the beginning of the first school semester, 171 eighth graders reported on their classroom environment and achievement goals. At the end of the first semester, the students filled in the scale on their attitude towards Mathematics. Also, their final Mathematics average grade was registered. The students’ performance avoidance and mastery goals were significant predictors of the achievement and attitude towards Mathematics. Also, classroom environment was directly related to the students’ grades in Mathematics. Furthermore, the results proved that classroom environment moderated the relationships between goal orientations and achievement in Mathematics. In the light of these findings, we discuss the importance of goal orientations in educational contexts. Key-words: Classroom environment, Achievement g...
Self-Efficacy, Nonverbal Communication and Achievement in Primary School Students Gender Differences
Relationships Between Perceived Parental Behavior, Peers’ Cohesion and School Adjustment in Preadolescence: The Influence of Separation from Parents
EDULEARN21 Proceedings, 2021
Parental Support and Educational Achievement in Middle School Students
Educational achievement is an important result of children and young people, because it predicts ... more Educational achievement is an important result of children and young people, because it predicts some relevant acquisitions for the future – professional and socio-economic status. In turn, educational achievement depends on multiple individual and environment variables, such as personal characteristics (aptitudes, temperament, and attitudes), social and academic support from family, school and community etc. In this paper, we explored the influence of the parental support on educational achievement measured as final grades and as self-perceived competence at secondary school level. Our data revealed mixed results. Apparently the supportive behaviors of both parents do not predict boys’ final grades, but some of them (the parental control) predict their perceived competence. On the other hand, autonomy from mother and firm discipline from both parents predict girls’ final grades, and the control and low acceptance from mother’s side, and father lax discipline predict girls’ perceive...
The present study focuses on teachers’ intercultural competence, and potential effects of intercu... more The present study focuses on teachers’ intercultural competence, and potential effects of intercultural training and experience. The sample included eighty-seven Romanian elementary and secondary school teachers, divided in four subgroups according to studied variables. Intercultural competence has been investigated using a questionnaire for intercultural competence development, previously constructed and analyzed. Results reveal main effects of specific training on some dimensions of intercultural competence (minimization, acceptance-behavioral adaptation, and encapsulated marginality), but no main effects of intercultural experience, or interaction effects of the two variables have been computed. Results are discussed against available research data, and further research ideas are suggested. Key-Words: intercultural competence, intercultural sensitivity, intercultural training, intercultural experience
The Impact of Experiential Strategies in Teachers' Intercultural Education
This study addresses the impact of experiential strategies in teachers’ intercultural education, ... more This study addresses the impact of experiential strategies in teachers’ intercultural education, aiming to explore the effects of some experiential methods (role playing, discussing critical incidents, and introspection) in transforming teachers’ educational perspectives and practices. Applying experiential methods in continuous teachers’ intercultural education may help teachers to adapt and to apply those methods in their classes? Are teachers more capable of reflection on their own intercultural teaching practice for improving it? Did teachers deepen the awareness of their own professional development process? A qualitative research methodology, based on content analysis of portfolios and reflective journals, provided a great quantity of data about teachers’ opinions about the usefulness of experiential strategies in teachers’ intercultural training and also in intercultural activities with students.
The Effects of Parental Support and Attributional Style on Children’s School Achievement and Depressive Feelings
Bullying is an increasingly common problem in schools, associated with negative educational outco... more Bullying is an increasingly common problem in schools, associated with negative educational outcomes for both bullies and victims. This study explored the socio-educational family and school variables related to bullying, victimization and positive behavior, such as age, gender, separation from parents, school results, and truancy. In this study 311 students (50.8% boys) have participated, they were aged between 6 and 16 years (M = 11.01, SD = 1.71), enrolled in primary school (47.3%) and in secondary school (52.7%), all were from urban areas. 43.8% of respondents were separated from one or both parents due to divorce (17.4%), parental death (6.1%), migration (20%) or abandonment (0.3%). Bullying, victimization and positive behavior were measured with one standardized scale; the data about school results and attendance of the students was collected from the school registers; family information was self-reported by participants. Because Cronbach’s Alpha for the positive behavior scal...
The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI) and vo... more The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI) and vocational orientation in preadolescence and gender differences within these relationships. In this study participated 116 eight grade students from urban area (46.6% female). The data referring to vocational interests were collected using Vocational Interests Inventory based on Holland's hexagon model, and completed options for the preferred future studies and profession. Based on individual scores in vocational interests, indicators of vocational choice (consistence, differentiation and congruence) were computed. Emotional Intelligence Test for children, adapted from Bar-On and Goleman was administered to measure the emotional development. Positive correlation was found between EI and differentiation of interests. Gender differences were revealed: girls obtained higher scores in EI, in social and artistic interests, and in differentiation of vocational profile, while boys had higher scores in realistic interests. Results indicated significant effect of interaction between gender and EI on congruence: girls with a medium and high level of EI expressed more congruent professional choices than boys in the same condition, but boys with low-level of EI, expressed more congruent professional choices than girls in the same condition. Despite of small number of respondents participating in this study, the results endorse the necessity of EI, the importance of more permissive socialisation encouraging boys and girls to shape their vocational interests based on their aptitudes, and the importance of vocational counselling services providing students professional help to make more congruent vocational choices.
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between preadolescents' perception of paren... more The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between preadolescents' perception of parenting styles and identity development in a Romanian preadolescent sample. Perceived authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful parenting styles were correlated with informative, normative and diffuse identity styles . 213 secondary school students participated in this study. Participants were between 11 and 15 year-old (M=13.25, SD=.88), 53.5% were boys, and 77.9% were residents in urban area. Most of them reported authoritative parenting styles and higher scores in normative identity. Significant gender differences were found in diffuse identity style, boys reporting significantly higher scores than girls. Perceived mother control was lower in older students and the decrease of maternal control was found only in boys' sample, not in girls. Correlations indicated significant positive associations between informative and normative identity styles and perceived mother control, father and parental control and responsiveness. The most powerful correlations were found between the informative style and father responsiveness, father control and parental control. Older students and students with authoritative mothers and fathers had higher scores in informative style than younger students and those with neglectful mothers and fathers. In general sample, participants with authoritative and permissive parents had higher scores in normative style than participants with neglectful parents. Students from rural area with authoritarian and with permissive mothers obtained higher score in normative identity than their counterparts from urban areas. Pedagogical implications of the results are discussed.
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