99. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Paper
Seeds of Narration for Sprouts of Well-Being. Wondering Students' Narratives on Flourishing Opportunities Within the University Context.
Laura Invernici
University of Padova, Italy
Presenting Author: Invernici, Laura
Nowadays, a dignified condition of social existence presupposes good navigation skills: surviving the elusive liquidity of contemporary times and spaces (Bauman, 2013) means learning to sway in the flow, that is to enjoy the experience in an optimal way, being absorbed and at the same time intact inside the intensity of that moment. What Csíkszentmihályi (2013) defines as a "state of grace".
The flowing movement takes on the nuances of a practice of freedom and, at the same time, of democratic liberation, since it allows the individual to experience an intrinsic involvement with life, attributing to it a personal choice and meaning. Consequently, faced with this condition, educational institutions are invested with a new, but eternal, political responsibility: educating for freedom, social justice, equity (Freire, 1994; Nussbaum, 1997, 2002). Education thus assumes the role of valorisation of personal agency, life aspirations and human potentials (ONU, 2006).
Within this context, however, resides a paradox: contemporary changes leads to ambitions for progress that are often unsustainable for the promotion of an adequate quality of life; a capitalistic individualization in which the citizen perceives him/herself only and in this solitude, oppressed because detached from any inter-personal belonging (Rosales, Frangioni & Marroccoli, 2019).
The same loneliness and lack of belonging complained by more and more university students, whose educational system seems to be frozen within a performative perspective of competence and academic success, far away from the generative perspective of individual capability and fulfillment (Volstad et al., 2020). Higher Education is asked to shift its gaze from welfare to well-being, to re-think educational processes capable of overcoming the freedom-solitude paradox, rediscovering how the apparent antinomies are actually accomplices constructs, equally significant for co-building a democratic reality. Then, how to deal with this urgent need?
One possibility has been suggested by Nussbaum (1997), according to whom a fundamental tool for the cultivation of society corresponds to "narrative imagination", that is, the ability to interpret one’s own history and empathize with that of others, imagining better life scenarios for each, for all.
According to this perspective, self-narratives are interpretative keys of personal aspirations on the ancient εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia), in the sense of flourishing life (D'Olimpio, 2022), as well as a starting point for designing enabling and accessible contexts that suits everyone's functioning.
Considering this framework, our research aims to answer the following questions: which are the opportunities of flourishing currently offered by University, according to students’ self-narratives? Which are the ideal opportunities aspired by the students? Which common flourishing dimensions emerge from students’ narratives? And, in which ways can self-narratives support students’ personal flourishing within the University contexts?
Thus, through a combinated narrative-appreciative inquiry on students’ flourishing and the transcendent essence of their personal story as community core living (Huber, Caine, Huber and Steeves, 2013), students are welcomed in a democratic space of sharing ideas and ideals. Meanwhile, they participate in expressing a common culture of flourishing through meaningful connections among their own identity and others’ narratives (Wise & Barney, 2021).
Hence, my research purposes are: (re)discovering the flourishing perspective from undergraduate students’ voices and from their autobiographical narratives, questioning together with them the ways in which such narratives can prove to be a positive pedagogical-didactic support; inquiring students' well-being aspirations by enhancing practices of self-narration through appreciation; transforming students' narrative-appreciative journey into a common manifest of flourishing, in the form of an Open Educational Resource (OER) shareable with the representatives of the whole university students, in order to make this topic a more open and collective discussion, because living well in education regards any of us, as all of us.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe assumption of personal narratives as interpretative keys of educational realities leads this research to embrace the methodology of Narrative Inquiry, which employs self-narratives as in-depth living data, means of understanding individuals’ perspectives (Connelly and Clandinin, 1990).
It requires going beyond the use of narrative as rhetorical structure to an analytic examination of the underlying insights of a personal story (Bell, 2002).
Simultaneously, the purpose of seeking images of the possible, within the students’ storytelling, finds its place in the generative frame of Appreciative Inquiry, searching for life-giving forces through a 4-D cycle (Whitney & Cooperrider, 1998).
It is precisely through the four phases of this cycle that our research project has been planning.
The first phase, known as Discovery, is intended to inquire “what is”. For this reason, we have conducted a Systematic Literature Review, following the PRISMA Statement (Page et al., 2021), to explore the evolutionary concept of human flourishing, and its possible connections with self-narration, in the existing studies. Based on the qualitative results of this review, we have developed an exploratory questionnaire, concerning well-being and narration, that is going to be proposed to 340 undergraduate students from three different courses of Padua University. The participation is voluntary, respectfully with the freedom of expression. The questionnaire has been inspired by the Flourish Project (Ellyatt, 2022) and it includes both open and closed questions, in the view of a concurrent embedded strategy.
The second phase, called Dream, aims at imagining “what might be” and is going to start with an online forum for each course, during which those key themes retrieved from statistical and thematic analysis of questionnaire, will be shared and discussed, opening the way to generative reflections.
In the third phase, that is Design, a new design proposal will involve each group of students: WONDER, acronym of Ways of Narrating Enjoyable Didactic Routes. It represents a narrative journey, following the appreciative scheme, through students’ artifacts and stories about past, present and future experiences and opportunities of flourishing in education.
Finally, the fourth phase, or Destiny, brings together the previous steps and it faces “what will be”; in this sense, a structured focus group (Biggeri, Di Masi & Bellacicco, 2019) is going to take place with all the students from the three courses, with the purpose of creating a common “flourishing manifesto” to share with students’ representatives, and make it an accessible resource to the whole community.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsAccording to Gadamer’s hermeneutics, the flourishing process has a multidimensional and ecological nature composed by individual, contextual, temporal and dialectical aspects that need to be equally explored (Volstad et al., 2020). With a view of catching this complex portrait, this research invests the role of inquiring human flourishing within the life stories of students, looking for personal, as well as interpersonal, meanings of it. Currently, the state of process is focused on the analysis of students’ responses to the questionnaire, and soon we will start with the second phase of our inquiry path.
Frequently questioning our research about the ways it can be significant for the whole community, we make practice of a metacognitive exercise that helps us to both stimulate utopian ideas of improvement and innovative thinking. Thus, this significance appears to live in a transformative process that embraces a pro-positive tension into the educational scenarios and, likewise, contextualizes in them concrete tools of collaborative and narrative reflections.
In reference to this, the scientific society does not surely lack scales of well-being measurement, but the educational community complains of missing qualitative explorations and narrative reflections up on flourishing. Therefore, through the encounter of the methodologies and methods described above, the research is gradually embracing the perspective of Grassroot Innovation (Belda-Miquel, Pellicer-Sifres & Boni, 2020), by responding to students' priority of a bottom-up approach, their need of thinking themselves active “storytellers”, creators of narrative plots of learning, not more objects of a defined storyline, in which what counts is just performing. Flourishing and self-narratives are here re-discovered as key dimensions of individuals’ telos and autobiographical epistemologies, necessary foundations for a community building that open its arms to a connective WONDER, with the meaning of marvel but also asking.
ReferencesBauman, Z. (2013). Liquid modernity. NJ, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Belda-Miquel, S., Pellicer-Sifres, V., & Boni, A. (2020). Exploring the contribution of grassroots innovations to justice: Using the capability approach to normatively address bottom-up sustainable transitions practices. Sustainability, 12(9), 1-9.
Bell, J. S. (2002). Narrative inquiry: More than just telling stories. TESOL quarterly, 36(2), 207-213.
Biggeri, M., Di Masi, D., & Bellacicco, R. (2019). Disability and higher education: assessing students’ capabilities in two Italian universities using structured focus group discussions. Studies in higher education, 45(4), 909-924.
Connelly, F. M. & Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19(5), 2-14.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2013). Flow: The psychology of happiness. New York, NY: Random House.
D'Olimpio, L. (2022). Aesthetica and eudaimonia: Education for flourishing must include the arts. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 56(2), 238-250.
Ellyatt, W. (2022). Education for Human Flourishing—A New Conceptual Framework for Promoting Ecosystemic Wellbeing in Schools. Challenges, 13(2), 1-23.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of Hope. New York, NY: Continuum.
Huber, J., Caine, V., Huber, M., & Steeves, P. (2013). Narrative inquiry as pedagogy in education: The extraordinary potential of living, telling, retelling, and reliving stories of experience. Review of research in education, 37(1), 212-242.
Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Cultivating humanity: A classical defense of reform in liberal education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Nussbaum, M. (2002). Capabilities and social justice. International Studies Review, 4(2), 123-135.
Page, M.J., McKenzie, J.E., Bossuyt, P.M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T.C., Mulrow, C.D., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. 372.
Rosales, P. B., Frangioni, T., & Marroccoli, G. (2019). Introduzione: il paradosso di un’esperienza collettiva solitaria. Riflessioni sulla solitudine politica. Cambio, 9(17), 5-13.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, December 13, 2006, https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/crpd/pages/conventionrightspersonswithdisabilities.aspx.
Volstad, C., Hughes, J., Jakubec, S. L., Flessati, S., Jackson, L., & Martin-Misener, R. (2020). “You have to be okay with okay”: experiences of flourishing among university students transitioning directly from high school. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 15(1), 1-14.
Whitney, D., & Cooperrider, D. L. (1998). The appreciative inquiry summit: Overview and applications. Employment Relations Today, 25(2), 17-28.
Wise, J. B., & Barney, K. (2021). A Personal Narrative Conveying Human Flourishing. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 55(1), 42-59.
99. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Paper
Can Children’s Social Competence Predict their Social-Emotional Wellbeing in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) or vice versa?
Hà Pham1, Eija Sevón1, Merja Koivula1, Maaret Vuorenmaa3, Eija Räikkönen2
1Department of Education, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; 2Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; 3Knowledge Management and Co-Creation unit/ Knowledge Base for Health and Welfare Management team, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland
Presenting Author: Pham, Hà
Defined as children’s ability to successfully obtain acceptable entries to group activities, collaborative negotiations and cooperative play for full and active participation in ECEC group activities as confident agents, social competence among children in ECEC is considered a crucial skill to construct and maintain mutual and durable friendships with peers and harmonious relationships with adults (Pakarinen et al., 2020). These relationships have been proved to be related to children’s wellbeing (Sandseter & Seland, 2018), an essential element for children’s holistic development in many ECEC curriculum frameworks (Council of European Union, 2019), including the Finnish Core Curriculum for ECEC (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2018), a Nordic welfare model with universalism, equality and equity for every child regardless of their different backgrounds (Kumpulainen, 2018). However, sparse research has been done on how young children’s social competence is related to their social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC in both directions.
Moreover, sizable research has been undertaken on the effects of ECEC arrangements on children’s development such as cognitive, languages and social emotional competence (Zachrisson & Lekhal, 2014). Nevertheless, little is known about how ECEC arrangements (weekly hours and providers) are associated with children’s social-emotional wellbeing (i.e., enjoyment and the fulfilment of their basic needs) in ECEC. In addition, the association of childcare arrangements and children’s social behaviours has been studied in different childcare systems (Averdijk et al., 2022; Huston et al., 2015), etc., with mixed results, but its moderation effects on the two-way associations between children’s social competence and social-emotional wellbeing have been scarcely researched.
Thus, this study aims to investigate the two-way associations between children’s social competence and their social-emotional wellbeing (i.e., the fulfilment of their basic needs and their enjoyment) in ECEC. Specifically, it examines whether children with higher social competence have their basic needs fulfilled and enjoy their ECEC experiences more or whether children with higher level of enjoyment and basic need fulfilment demonstrate higher prosocial and less antisocial behaviors. The current research also investigates if children’s weekly hours in ECEC and the types of ECEC providers they attend (private or public) moderate the two-way associations between children’s social competence and their social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe study is based on the survey data collected by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (FIHW) from the guardians of four-year-old children on the health and wellbeing of children and their families in 2018. In this study, structural equation modelling analyses with Mplus software (Muthén & Muthén, 1998-2023) were executed to examine the associations between children’s social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC and their social competence in both directions. Moreover, the moderation effects of ECEC arrangements on these associations were also investigated.
Children’s social competence was assessed with MASCS scale (Junttila et al., 2006) of 13 items with the Linkert of 1-never to 4-very often. The scale includes four subscales, empathy and cooperation indicated prosocial behaviors, disruptiveness and impulsivity categorized as antisocial behaviors. Children’s social-emotional wellbeing consists of their enjoyment and basic need fulfilment in ECEC. Children’s enjoyment in ECEC was evaluated with 5 out of 12 items of Leiden Child Wellbeing Inventory (van Trijp et al., 2021) with Linkert scales from 1-never to 6-always. These items evalaute the levels of being comfortable with ECEC attendance, other children, in the groups, on arrival and the settings. Children’s basic need fulfillment was assessed from 1 = fully agree to 5 = fully disagree with 5 items (Koivula et al., 2023): (1) ECEC meets our family’s needs, (2) My child is regarded as an individual and his/her background is taken into consideration, (3) My child receives care and attention that meet his/her individual needs (safety, meals, rest, etc.), (4) the interactive relationships between my child and the staff are good, (5) My child is listened to, and he/she can take part in planning and developing the activities”. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to examine the association between children’s social competence and their social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC in both directions and the moderating effects ECEC arrangements (weekly time in ECEC and ECEC providers). Control variables of family and child factors such as the gender of children and their parents, children’s living arrangements (with both parents or others), children’s citizenship status (with themselves or both parents were born inside or outside Finland), parental highest educational level, financial satisfaction levels, mental health were added to the models so that only the effects of ECEC will be considered.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe results showed that children’s higher prosocial behaviors were significantly and positively associated with their enjoyment in ECEC, and higher antisocial behaviors were significantly and negatively associated with their enjoyment in ECEC in both directions. In addition, children’s social competence had significant association with their basic need fulfilment but not conversely. Moreover, weekly hours in ECEC and ECEC providers did not moderate the relation between children’s social competence and their social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC in both directions. That is, whether the four-year-old children spent longer time in ECEC or whether they attended private or public ECEC, the association between their social competence and social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC remained the same in both directions. The study’s results highlight the provision of joyful environments that enhance young children’s both social competence and social-emotional wellbeing. It also contributes to broader knowledge on the two-way linkages between children’s social competence and social-emotional wellbeing, i.e., enjoyment and basic need fulfilment – the prerequisite conditions for children’s rights, agency and participation.
ReferencesAverdijk, M., Ribeaud, D., & Eisner, M.P. (2022). External childcare and socio-behavioral development in Switzerland: Long-term relations from childhood into young adulthood. PLoS ONE, 17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263571
Council of the European Union (2019). Council recommendation on high-quality early childhood education and care systems. Brussels: Council of the European Union.
Finnish National Agency for Education [FNAE]. (2018). National core curriculum for early childhood education and care. Regulations and guidelines 2018:3c. Finnish National Agency for Education.
Huston A. C., Bobbitt K. C., & Bentley A. (2015). Time spent in child care: How and why does it affect social development? Developmental Psychology, 51(5), 621–634. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00389511 PMID: 25751096
Junttila, N., Vauras, M., Niemi, P., & Laakkonen, E. (2012). Multisource assessed social competence as a predictor for children's and adolescents' later loneliness, social anxiety, and social phobia. Journal for educational research online, 4, 73–98. Retrieved from: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/3850690?auxfun=&lang=fi_FI
Koivula, M., Räikkönen, E., Turja, L., Poikonen, P.-L., & Laakso, M.-L. (2023). Family and work-related risk factors in children's social–emotional well-being and parent–educator cooperation in flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care. International Journal of Social Welfare, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12585
Kumpulainen, K. (2018). A principled, personalised, trusting and child centric ECEC system in Finland. In S. L. Kagan (Ed.), The Early Advantage 1: Early Childhood Systems That Lead by Example - A Comparative Focus on International Early Childhood Education (pp. 72– 98). Teachers College Press. Retrieved from https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/255278/Chapter_4_Finland.pdf?sequence=1
Muthén, L., & Muthén, B. (1998–2023). Mplus user's guide. Muthén & Muthén.
Pakarinen, E., Lerkkanen, M. K., & von Suchodoletz, A. (2020). Teacher emotional support in relation to social competence in preschool classrooms. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 43(4), 444–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2020.1791815
Sandseter, E.B.H., Seland, M. (2018). 4–6-year-old children’s experience of subjective well-being and social relations in ECEC institutions. Child Indicators Research 11, 1585–1601 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-017-9504-5
van Trijp, C., Lekhal, R., Drugli, M. B., Rydland, V., & Solheim Buøen, E. (2021). Validation of the Leiden Inventory for the Child's Well-Being in Daycare (LICW-D) Questionnaire in Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care Centers. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 767137. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.767137
van Trijp, K., & Lekhal, R. (2018). Promoting children's well-being in ECEC: A challenging goal. Journal of International Doctoral Research, 7(1), 30–54.
Zachrisson, H. D., & Lekhal, R. (2014). Psychology of child well-being. Early childhood education and care. In A. Ben-Arieh, F. Casas, I. Frønes, & J. E. Korbin (Eds.), Theories, methods and policies in global perspective (pp. 599–601). Springer.
99. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Paper
The Concept of Spirituality in Pedagogy: Literature Review
Jan Klokocka
Tomas Bata University, Czech Republic
Presenting Author: Klokocka, Jan
The influence of spirituality on pedagogical phenomena has been discussed in the literature for many years (e.g. Behera & Dash, 2015; Ben-Arieh et al. 2014; de Souza et al. 2009; Fisher, 2011; Pandya, 2017; Wane et al, 2011). At the same time, the importance of its investigation is supported by findings of associations between levels of spirituality and positive formation of personality, or lower levels of risky behavior or depressive symptoms among students (Dankulincova Veselska et al., 2018; Henningsgaard & Arnau, 2008; Pérez et al., 2009; Raftopoulos & Bates, 2011). Despite the growing interest in this topic abroad, less attention has been given to this issue in educational research in the Czech Republic. If it is explored, it is so far in an unsystematized form (Jirásek, 2023; Říčan, 2006; Suchánková & Matušů, 2020; Veselský et al., 2013).
To support the initiation of this research, this paper offers an overview of theoretical approaches to conceptualizing spirituality that can be applied to pedagogy. It maps key approaches to spirituality in the pedagogical context over the last forty years and highlights the possibility of applying them both in terms of research and in the formulation of educational objectives or tools for pedagogical action. In doing so, it also aims to open a discussion on how spirituality can be explored in a pedagogical context and whether it is beneficial to work with it in mainstream pedagogical practice.
Based on the literature, we identified three key theoretical approaches that work with the concept of spirituality in contexts relevant to pedagogy, namely (1) the psychology of religion, (2) philosophy and theory of education, and (3) the well-being approach. The study aim is to clarify disciplinary and transdisciplinary grounding of these theoretical approaches and their distinct and congruent aspects. Further, review based on this classification allows us to better highlight the possibilities of application of these approaches in education.
The ECER proposal will present (1) the importance of exploring spirituality from an educational science perspective, (2) a review of theoretical approaches conceptualizing spirituality applicable to pedagogy, and (3) introduce possible future steps to explore this topic further.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe paper is designed as a literature review of a traditional/narrative character. This approach is characterised by a more extensive set of sources and aims to analyse and summarise findings over a specified timeframe and may or may not include empirical findings (Grant & Booth, 2009; Mareš, 2013).
This type of review was chosen for two reasons. First, it is the focus on mapping theoretical approaches. As such, it does not rely on a strictly defined body of work but draws on a range of sources of different nature (quantitative and qualitative studies, compendia, legal and other documents). Second, it is the breadth of the topic of spirituality. The paper draws on the findings of various disciplines, synthesizing or contrasting them on the one hand, while on the other hand respecting the conceptual apparatus of each approach and highlighting their most important aspects.
The first step was a thorough research focused on the topic of spirituality in general and then on the individual theoretical approaches. A mind map was created to capture the main elements of each approach and the basic structure of the text. The text of the study was written iteratively with the aim of refining the arguments or adding perspectives. This methodology allowed us to map and finally synthesize a range of findings from different disciplines in which the concept of spirituality is anchored.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe paper concludes that the perspective of the psychology of religion allows us to identify spirituality within the school environment as a potential factor (1) enhancing positive personality development, (2) promoting positive behaviour, and (3) contributing to the formation of healthy interpersonal relationships. We believe that further pedagogical research should focus on exploring these relationships, included the potential risks.
Conceptualisations of spirituality from philosophy and theory of education can be insightful for education because they enable to conceptualise spirituality in relation to the needs of the educational process. The most important aspects emerging from this approach are the emphasis on (1) holistic student development, (2) the complementarity of student experiences, and (3) specific educational methods designed to develop spirituality.
The contribution of the "well-being approach" to spirituality in relation to education is seen in three basic areas: (1) the empirically grounded concepts of spirituality, (2) the research tools for its measurement, and (3) the possible applicability of the chosen concepts at the level of curricular documents. However, when working with these concepts of spirituality, it is necessary to take into account their grounding in concepts of quality of life.
The contributions of the paper are threefold: (1) it provides an overview of the approaches conceptualizing spirituality that are applicable to pedagogy, (2) it highlights their potential applications in terms of research and the formulation of educational goals, and (3) it contributes to the broader discussion on the relationship between spirituality and education.
ReferencesBehera, S., & Dash, M. (2015). Stress and spirituality among school teachers. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 6(3), 305–308.
Ben-Arieh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I., & Korbin, J. E. (Ed.). (2014). Handbook of Child Well-Being: Theories, Methods and Policies in Global Perspective. Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8
Dankulincova Veselska, Z., Jirasek, I., Veselsky, P., Jiraskova, M., Plevova, I., Tavel, P., & Madarasova Geckova, A. (2018). Spirituality but not Religiosity Is Associated with Better Health and Higher Life Satisfaction among Adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(12), 2781. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122781
de Souza, M., Francis, L. J., O’Higgins-Norman, J., & Scott, D. (Ed.). (2009). International Handbook of Education for Spirituality, Care and Wellbeing (Roč. 3). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9018-9
Fisher, J. (2011). The Four Domains Model: Connecting Spirituality, Health and Well-Being. Religions, 2(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2010017
Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
Henningsgaard, J. M., & Arnau, R. C. (2008). Relationships between religiosity, spirituality, and personality: A multivariate analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(8), 703–708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.004
Jirásek, I. (2023). Pojmové zakotvení modelu spirituální gramotnosti v českém pedagogickém prostoru a možnosti její kultivace ve školním prostředí. Pedagogika, 73(1), 63–84. https://doi.org/10.14712/23362189.2022.2301
Mareš, J. (2013). Přehledové studie: Jejich typologie, funkce a způsob vytváření. Pedagogická orientace, 23(4), 427–454. https://doi.org/10.5817/PedOr2013-4-427
Pandya, S. P. (2017). Teachers’ views on spirituality for adolescents in high schools across countries. Pastoral Care in Education, 35(2), 88–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2017.1290132
Pérez, J. E., Little, T. D., & Henrich, C. C. (2009). Spirituality and Depressive Symptoms in a School-Based Sample of Adolescents: A Longitudinal Examination of Mediated and Moderated Effects. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44(4), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.08.022
Raftopoulos, M., & Bates, G. (2011). ‘It’s that knowing that you are not alone’: The role of spirituality in adolescent resilience. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 16(2), 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2011.580729
Říčan, P. (2006). Spiritualita jako základ mravní výchovy. Pedagogika, 56, 119–131.
Suchánková, E., & Matušů, R. (2020). Spiritualita pedagogů tradičních a alternativních škol. Sociální pedagogika / Social Education, 8(2), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.7441/soced.2020.08.02.02
Veselský, P., Poslt, J., Majewská, P., & Bolcková, M. (2013). Spiritualita ve vzdělávání – zpět k širšímu pojetí učení se. Paidagogos, 2013(2), 411–430.
Wane, N. N., Manyimo, E. L., & Ritskes, E. J. (2011). Spirituality, education & society: An integrated approach. SensePublishers.
99. Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Paper
Investigating Mental Health Training and Provision in Initial Teacher Training (ITT/ITE) Programmes
Weilin Yan
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Yan, Weilin
There is a growing global concern over the issues of promoting and sustaining mental health and well-being in education, in which the mental health implications in the classroom continue to pose a significant public challenge worldwide, affecting children, adolescents, and teachers/new teachers, with an increasing economic cost (Purser, 2022). According to recent World Health Organization estimates, between 10% and 20% of children worldwide have a diagnosable mental health problem (WHO, 2021b). There is also an upward trend in adolescents’ mental illness in many countries (Seven, et al., 2020), with approximately 20% of the world’s adolescents experiencing mental health issues (United Nationals International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF] Data, 2021). Schools are often recognized in research and policy as appropriate key settings to enhance and protect children’s and adolescents’ physical and mental well-being (Lahti et al., 2023; Hattersley, 2023). Teachers, therefore, play a crucial role in effective mental health provision in schools, as they are expected to be knowledgeable in identifying children’s and adolescents’ mental health problems and intervening early to support their students (DoH, 2011; Purser, 2022).
Nevertheless, teachers consistently report that they often feel ill-prepared and lack experience and training to support children with emotional, behavioural, and social difficulties. They also feel vulnerable and psychologically distressed when meeting the mental health needs of their students in school settings (Rothi et al., 2008; Lahti et al., 2023; Nygaard et al., 2023). Meanwhile, teachers’ mental health must also be considered as their psychological well-being has been associated with students’ mental health and wellness. The teaching profession is generally recognized as an emotionally intense and stressful occupation, in which low career satisfaction, substantial workloads, and multiple role requirements all can have a deleterious effect on teachers’ mental health and place them at increased risk of common mental health disorders (Hattersley, 2023). Since teachers’ experiences of occupational stress are highly likely to be linked with their capacity to support students’ mental health, it is imperative to prepare and encourage teachers to seek guidance and support for their own mental health (Kush et al., 2021).
Insufficient attention and training are currently given to the development and provision of required competences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and effective methods for mental health promotion in initial teacher training programmes (ITT/ITE). Although mental health providers, such as school psychologists and school counselors, are known as experts in delivering school-based mental health services, teachers are the first line of defense in providing prevention strategies to students in need of support. Against this background, the study sets out to explore teacher educators’ and student teachers’ perspectives and experiences related to mental health training and provision in Initial Teacher Training Programmes (ITT/ITE) in China and the UK. Given that educational systems, social and cultural backgrounds, and professional qualifications differ across countries, the challenges related to promoting students' and teachers’ mental health and well-being, nevertheless, are similar.
The research design is a Delphi survey, in which it attempts to identify the threshold concepts in mental health and well-being and to provide a framework for developing a curriculum to build the knowledge and capacity of the future teacher workforce. It intends to answer the following two questions: What key knowledge and pedagogical approaches should be included in a comprehensive mental health training curriculum for Initial Teacher Training Programmes? What main competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) should student teachers acquire during the ITT/ITE programme to promote their own mental health and that of others?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The Delphi survey has been used in several research done in higher educational settings, and it aims to achieve reliable consensus among a group of experts which is invaluable and critical to the identification of threshold concepts in any field or discipline (Barradell, 2013). As the extensive involvement of the researcher in the decision process, transparency is essential to demonstrate rigor in the procedures selected (Smith, et al., 2016).
This research will follow three major phases of a Delphi-based research project: preparing, conducting, and analyzing. It intends to utilize an effective qualitative technique at each stage and to reveal the situated, contextual meaning participants generate and ascribe to social phenomena (May, 2011). In the preparation stage, the subject under discussion (a. knowledge of mental health and well-being; b. individual competences) will be explored and two creative workshops will be used to define the Delphi format. Followed by a thorough literature review to get a first idea for potential Delphi statements and to obtain a list of knowledge and competenceies that student teachers should acquire in a comprehensive mental health curriculum. Once the framework for developing a mental health curriculum has been identified, another two Delphi rounds will be conducted at the second conducting stage. A semi-structured approach will be carried out with a panel of experts before the results become stable or consensus is achieved. It is advisable to have at least 15 to 20 experts in a group and the Delphi survey typically uses one panel with a number of rounds (Amos and Pearse, 2008),
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIt is believed that the acquisition of mental health knowledge and relevant professional skill packages is extremely important for students who intend to enter the teaching profession. By conducting a Delphi survey and semi-structured group interviews with experts and subject specialists, this research aims to provide a framework for developing an integrated and comprehensive mental health curriculum for ITE student teachers. Teachers and potential teachers’ mental health matters. Teachers play a pivotal role in daily interactions with students, they frequently influence the social and emotional development of our youth beyond academic needs. It is, therefore, essential to provide significant input for student teachers through ITE to meet the required skills and competencies to be effective educators.
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United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. Available online: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/mental-health/#_ednref1. (accessed on 28th, December, 2023).
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