Creativity in Children and Pupils With Dyslexia

This literature review analyzes ten specialized papers which focus on the issue of higher creativity among children and pupils with dyslexia. The aim of the article is to determine the level of creativity in this group, what may might affect the level of creativity among them, and whether there are significant differences in some areas between children and pupils with dyslexia and intact (typically developed) children and pupils. In connection with dyslexia, its possible advantages – and not only disadvantages – are beginning to be discussed, which are developing in the context of possible shortcomings. In children and pupils with dyslexia, increased creative potential and excellent visualization skills have been reported. Based on foreign research, a significantly higher level of creativity was not clearly demonstrated in children and pupils with dyslexia in comparison with intact children and pupils.

The Italian School at the Time of COVID-19—Implications for Students at the Personal and Didactic Level

The author takes up the problem of education in Italy in the time of COVID-19. The objective of this article is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the progress of school and the lives of children and adolescents. To pursue this cognitive objective, the author conducted an analysis of the relevant literature published between February 2020 and January 2021, mainly in Italian. The author has also formulated three research questions that will help investigate the above problem. The article is written with the help of the analytical method and takes into consideration the literature on the subject dedicated to children and adolescents. The analysis of the literature allowed the author to formulate final conclusions, which were developed in close correlation with the accepted research questions.

The Level of Knowledge About the University Building Among the Academic Community in the Context of Place Attachment

This paper presents the issues of place and attachment to place. The aim of the article is to determine the level of knowledge among the academic community of the university building in which they study or work and its surrounding area, in the context of place attachment. The cognitive component – one of many aspects of identifying with a place – was examined. With limited knowledge about the building in which the study population spends time, calculated in months or years, it is difficult to determine place attachment, identification, or experience. The research method applied was a diagnostic survey, a questionnaire consisting of questions designed by the author. Both students and academics were surveyed. The results showed that students have limited knowledge of the building where they attend classes. The university building appears to be more of an anonymous non-place, without deeper symbolic or social meanings, than a place with which the academic community identifies itself.

E-Learning and Blended Learning in the Opinions of Polish Students

For the first time in history, the education system has experienced a crisis situation on a global scale, leading to total and forced isolation in social life and communication. In March 2020, full-time classes at universities in Poland were suspended due to the epidemic caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus. This state of affairs resulted in the need to shift scientific and didactic work to be “remote”. This article aims to present students’ opinions on e-learning and blended learning after several months of experience with such forms of learning. The main research problem was formulated as follows: “What are the Polish students’ opinions of e-learning during the pandemic?” The method of diagnostic survey and the questionnaire technique called the SWOT were used in the empirical research. The research was conducted in May and June 2020 in three selected universities. A total of 314 students took part in it. The results indicate that remote teaching has both specific strengths and weaknesses and that there are many opportunities and threats associated with this form of teaching; nevertheless, a larger proportion of the data were related to the weaknesses. Undoubtedly, there are still many activities that should be introduced into practice and everyday academic education. Perhaps a creative solution will be to introduce only some elements of distance learning, which can contribute to a better acquisition of IT and digital competences and can help students develop activity, self-discipline, and independent learning.

Neurodiversity and (Semantic) Space for the Academic Inclusion of People on the Autism Spectrum

There is a need to rethink functioning and the role of universities that implement inclusive education, understood as high-quality education for everybody, available at all levels of education because of the increasing number of neurodiverse people (with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and other disorders classified as neurodevelopmental).. The aim of our hermeneutical work is an attempt to identify opportunities and limitations on an empirical and theoretical level for creating conditions for the inclusion of students defined as neurodiversity. The research material consists of published own and other authors' studies, and the direction of exploration is determined by the following questions: Are there theoretical and empirical premises for the claim of full inclusion in the academic education of neurodiverse students? What are the research-related limitations that constitute a barrier to the academic inclusion of neurodifferent adolescents? The theoretical background of our work is the theories of social constructivism as defined by Alfred Schűtz, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. The research revealed theoretical and empirical premises confirming the validity of the claim regarding the inclusion of neurodiverse students in academic education due to the intellectual potential of young people, their high self-awareness and the need to provide a growing number of neurodiverse students with conditions for maturing to self-determination in adult life. In Poland, but also in other European countries, the number of students diagnosed with an autism spectrum is not monitored at the national level. Single studies conducted in Poland indicate the similarity of the problems of this group of students with the results of explorations carried out in other countries, and include dropout during the first year of studies, difficulties in relationships with peers, a feeling of loneliness, and a low level of employment after graduation. A large number of people with autism spectrum does not study at all. One of the barriers may be the availability of higher education, which is related to the cultural and economic status. This aspect has not been taken into account in Polish and international research. There was also little dissemination of the idea of neurodiversity, which may be important for the perception of students with the autism spectrum.

Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Adolescents and the Use of the Internet: A Report From Research Conducted in Poland

The article presents the second attempt in Poland at examining the use of the Internet by 150 hearing and hearing-impaired adolescents. The empirical research concerned both groups’ “navigating” in the virtual world. A comparative analysis was carried out on the differentiation, dependencies, and correlations between a group of hearing respondents (girls and boys) and a group with hearing impairment in terms of their intrapersonal and interpersonal attitudes and attitudes towards the world. The intrapersonal sphere included self-image and self-esteem in a global aspect. It consisted of non-specific, general self-esteem, and partial self-esteem: the cognitive, intellectual, physical, characterological, and socio-moral spheres. Interpersonal attitudes were understood in the eyes of the respondent as an image of the rest of society and the relations between them. Thus, the sphere of “others towards me” appeared, based on the sense of support from the social environment, appreciation or indifference, threat from others, or a sense of security, among other things. In the area of “me towards others,” the dependencies concerned pro-social behavior, the general attitude towards other people, an altruistic attitude, egocentrism or sociability, a tendency to isolate oneself, aggression or a lack of aggressive behavior, problematic use of the Internet – an adaptation of IAT A. Young, which measures a subject’s sense of loneliness by De J. Gierveld – content sought on the Internet, the positive aspects of using the Internet, risks associated with it, and addiction.

Neighborhood, Segregation, and School Choice

Over the past few decades, school choice has been a widely debated issue around the globe, following the development of pluralism, liberty, and democracy. In many countries, school choice systems were preceded by residence-based school assignment systems, creating a strong connection between a neighborhood and its schools’ demographic compositions. However, schools often remain highly segregated. School segregation is thus seen as a major problem and is supposedly driven by three main factors: residential segregation, parental school choice, and schools’ selection of pupils. This paper aims to shed light on what research should be focusing on as regards school choice and residential segregation with the following two research questions: What are the links between neighborhood and school choice in the literature? How are neighborhood and school choice connected to school segregation in the literature? Two main findings emerged: (1) the neighborhood-based social networks that parents developed had limited their school choices and (2) neighborhood segregation is one of the most important factors that contributes to school segregation and is related to multi-ethnic and socioeconomic contexts.

Ethical Education for Grades 1 and 2 in Finland from the Values Perspective

The article addresses a key issue in curriculum policy, ethical education in Grades 1 and 2. The article uses the Finnish 2014 basic curriculum as the basis for a case study rooted in the humanities, philosophy, and the cultural sciences. The article explores what is embodied in this policy, especially the objectives of the subject of ethics in the curriculum. The article draws attention to the development of values through the curriculum in primary education in Finland and presents an overview of recent developments in values education in schools, taking curriculum research into account. The key part of the study is an analysis of the Finnish National Core Curriculum, principally those parts which involve secular ethics, as formulated by the Ministry of Education, and which emphasize the right of children to a good education and “to understand themselves, other people, the society, the environment, and different cultures” (National Core Curriculum, 2016, p. 15).

Proactive Coping in Youth and Old Age as an Indicator of Identity Formation in an Anormative Context

Objective: This paper provides a comprehensive investigation of coping with distress, with a focus on the proactive approach, which is of particular significance for individuals who manage identity transitions periods. Researchers discuss findings from two independent projects analyzing individual variation in strategies for coping with difficult situations at the extremes of life: adolescence and old age. Both studies were conducted between 2014 and 2016. Proactivity preferences were analyzed in a sample of 332 adolescents. Similarly, results collected among 1552 seniors were analyzed. The tools used in the analysis were the Proactive Coping Inventory for Adolescents (PCI-A) and the Proactive Coping Inventory for Adults (PCI). Results: Our findings show that the strategies preferred by the adolescent group included: proactive coping, looking for emotional support and preventive coping. Whereas the results for the elderly group showed their preference for looking for emotional support, reflective and preventive coping. Nevertheless the proactive coping strategy was chosen by adolescents as well as the elderly. The analysis performed demonstrated no significant difference in the reflective coping strategy for the compared age groups. Conclusions: The findings can be explained by theoretical accounts that question the classical developmental models with normative life trajectories and develop more person-oriented idiographic approach with decollectivisation of the life course thesis (Loos, 2012) becoming increasingly evident. Key words: proactiveness, adolescence, ageing, transition, identity, medical practise, education

Determinants of an Old Text in the Field of Pedagogy on the Example of Prawo dziecka do szacunku [A Child’s Right to Respect] by Janusz Korczak

The scientific aim of the article is to present the characteristics of an old text: Prawo dziecka do szacunku [A Child’s Right to Respect] by Janusz Korczak. The method adopted for the article is a semantic and structural analysis of the pedagogical book, in which the educator presented issues regarding key concepts of pedagogy, such as education, upbringing, and care. The pedagogy book under analysis does not fit into the contemporary framework of scientific language, but it still brings up-to-date findings on pedagogical practice. Janusz Korczak’s pedagogical texts should be obligatorily included in the reading canon of theoreticians and practitioners of education.