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Digital Diet and Relevant Minority Aspects during Home Preschool Education
121-130Views:221The aim of the present research is to provide an outline of the home education situation of Hungarian children enrolled in educational institutions in Romania. The research focuses on the perspective of early childhood teachers and education experts. Our objective is to identify the factors influencing the digital diet in minority preschool education and investigate whether this phenomenon, along with practices in home education, have specific distinguishing features as compared to trends in mainstream education. Approaches to digital diet and preschoolers’ use of digital tools are basic components of our interpretative framework. We set out to investigate this pedagogical phenomenon in the light of minority education, considering the educational situation in dispersed and block regions. Our descriptive study, built on a questionnaire (own design), presents the good practices in home education focusing specifically on minority aspects. Our sample consisted of 403 early childhood teachers and 14 minority education experts resulting from convenience sampling. The investigation reveals a more liberal home education style. According to experts, the national regulatory framework for home education gives rise to conflicting interpretations and specific minority provisions and recommendations are less straightforward. During home education, the proportion of the areas of development and that of learning content is distorted, and the language of instruction as a factor influencing the digital diet becomes especially prominent. Research results did not focus primarily on the minority features of home education and the digital diet but rather on regional and local distinguishing features.
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Migrating From Face-To-Face to Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Psychology Students at a Private Higher Education Institution in Gauteng
11-21Views:684Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an accelerated migration from face-to-face to online learning. This article aims to explore and describe how psychology students experienced the migration from face-to-face to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It entailed a qualitative research design with an exploratory and descriptive approach. The participants were 28 purposively sampled psychology students from a Private Higher Education Institution in Gauteng. An online survey method was employed to gather the needed information which was then subjected to a thematic analysis. It emerged that the challenges experienced by students were internet connectivity issues, insufficient computer literacy, reduced class time, anxiety, physical impact, and communication issues. Moreover, some benefits related to flexibility, the convenience of online studies and safety from infection with COVID-19 were identified. It was also noted that having certain attributes such as independence, time management skills, having support and being tech savvy improved the online learning process. Some opportunities for Higher Education Institutions to improve the experiences of students included creativity in module delivery as well as providing guidelines on how to use these online platforms.
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Aspects of the Well-being of University Instructors Related to Online Education During and After the Pandemic – Case Study of a Hungarian University
14-25Views:240In the past decade, quite a few articles have been published about the advantages and disadvantages of working from home online, and by studying the experiences that they present, it would be possible to much more thoroughly plan the rather complex, multi-faceted process of digital transition. However, the coronavirus epidemic that broke out in early 2020 did not allow for thoughtful preparation. The new work schedule resulted in profound changes to the work of university lecturers, thus, it obviously also had a significant impact on their well-being. In this study, we examine the state of the well-being of the instructors at one of the biggest universities in Hungary, the University of Debrecen. The period in question is at the introduction of emergency remote teaching and at the end of the pandemic period. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we collected data and information at different times. Based on this, we revealed what resources the instructors relied on, how they were able to meet the challenges of education online.
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Opportunities and Barriers in the Partnership Between Foster Families and Schools
Views:81The primary socialisation area is the family, and the secondary socialisation area is educational institutions. From the point of view of educational sociology, the meeting between the family and the school institution represents the intersection of these socialisation areas (Kozma, 2001; cited in Bacskai, 2020). This issue and its methodological development is something that Joyce Epstein has been working since the 1980s (Epstein, 1986; Epstein, 1987). According to Pusztai (2020a), parenting can be understood as a multifaceted concept, typically referring to the mutual relationship between parent and child. Researchers have focused on this parenting resource mainly from the perspective of the child's progress at school and learning at home, with the parent acting as an external supporter of the work in school. In this research we focus on the specific characteristics of the cooperation between foster parents and schools, and examine the characteristics of foster parent involvement, along with the supporting and detrimental factors of the partnership between foster parents and teachers at the intersection of child protection and public education. Recently, the number of research studies on foster care has increased (Erdei, 2019; Rácz, 2021), but the relationship between foster parents and teachers is still a little-researched area in Hungary. The novelty of our qualitative research lies in the fact that we are dealing with a special, rarely studied group of parents in Hajdú-Bihar County in terms of family-school relations. The second phase of the analysis has us exploring the narratives of teachers. Our basic research questions are: (1) How can the relationship between foster families and school be characterized? (2) What are the forms of contact and cooperation between foster families and teachers? (3) What factors support or hinder the development of partnerships between foster families and teachers? The focus group data collection was based on semi-structured interview schedules. The research participants were foster parents (N=15) and teachers (N=10). The interviews were coded and analysed using Atlas.ti software. The results show that, overall, there is regular, daily, mainly personal contact between foster parents and teachers. The teacher's tolerant attitude, taking into account the specific educational situation, appeared as a supportive factor. However, there were also a number of cases reported by foster parents where they had been received negatively by teachers. In order to facilitate collaboration between the two parties, teachers would like to receive training (foster families, foster-parent-school collaboration) and would find it useful to have ongoing supervision.
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Social Integration of the Former Transcarpathian Students of the Balassi Institute
82-89Views:320In the present study, we examine the social integration of former Transcarpathian students who participated in the university preparatory training of the Balassi Institute. Social integration plays a major role, both among mobile students settling in the destination country and in the sending country. Despite the fact that Hungarian students from Transcarpathia have the same linguistic and cultural background as their motherland, their integration into Hungarian society is often hampered: migration often involves giving up home connections, and the success of building new ones is unpredictable. Successful adaptation to the social environment of the destination country is not always an automatic mechanism. Our research was conducted using a questionnaire method. In the survey, we sought to answer the question of where the former Transcarpathian students participating in the preparatory training of the Balassi Institute settled after completing their studies and how they managed to integrate into the society of their place of residence. We compare the social integration of people returning to Transcarpathia, settling in Hungary and living abroad. In summary, we would like to present the results of the survey.