Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych (Educational Studies Review)

List of reviewers of “Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych” (“Educational Studies Review”) in 2022

Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

List of reviewers of “Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych”
(“Educational Studies Review”) in 2022

The Symbolism of Fear-Themed Drawings of Turkish and Polish Children

Ewelina Konieczna, Ertugrul Talu — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The article presents results of a study on fear-themed drawings, which was conducted in groups of Turkish and Polish children. The aim of the study was to learn about fears presented by 6-10-year-old children. The study consisted in comparing symbols recognized in drawings made by children of the two nationalities and their interpretation, taking into account the cultural context. For the needs of the comparative analysis the authors formulated the following questions: What kind of symbolism appears in the pictures created by the examined children? What are similarities and differences in the symbolism presented in the drawings? How can one interpret the recognized symbols? The largest number of the identified fear symbols proved to be linked to the category of animals. In an attempt to interpret the meaning of the symbols, the authors accepted that the perceived similarities result from the evolutionary origins of the fear of animals. On the other hand, the differences observed with reference to the symbolism used can stem from cultural factors.

Determinants of Professional Success – About the Beliefs of Primary School Students

Joanna Wanda Kozielska — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The paper focuses on the issue of professional success and its perception. The study, carried out using the diagnostic survey method, covered 1099 respondents – students at
primary schools, residing in a medium-sized city in Poland. It solved the following research problems: How do youth perceive life and professional success? What associations do male and female students of primary and secondary schools have about post-primary education
(vocational/trade school, technical vs. comprehensive school)? What educational pathways do students perceive as prestigious and not prestigious, as enabling professional success and preventing the same? Which professions do students at primary schools perceive as prestigious and non-prestigious? What, in young people’s opinion, are the conditions conducive to professional success? What is the youth’s self-esteem in terms of opportunities to achieve professional success? How do selected socio-demographic characteristics differentiate the perception of professional success, its determinants, and self-esteem concerning the chances of achieving it? An alarming fact is that the beliefs of nearly half the students from the present research sample appear to be that to achieve success, it is necessary to have connections or luck. This arouses concern because, in the expectation of chance, luck (in case of lack of connections) students may adopt a passive attitude in
the context of creativity and in fact “moving forward (without their active participation)” in their educational and professional careers.

Levels and Forms of Political Participation in Selected Youth Organisations Operating in Poland

Magdalena Cuprjak, Celina Czech-Włodarczyk — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The purpose of the paper is to present the results of research concerning contemporary levels and forms of political participation of young people involved in selected youth organisations operating in Poland. The research was qualitative. Data collection involved a search of secondary data sources. All the available documents posted on the websites of the investigated organisations, including their statutes, rules and regulations, and reports and accounts covering activities and operations, as well as social media (FB) posts, were analysed. An induction method was used to provide an analysis of the content of the data for the “participation” category. Our results show that the main forms of political participation that the youth organisations demonstrate in the analysed documents are social and educational campaigns, demonstrations and notifications of important dates with different intensities on the local, national, and international levels.

Students with Dyslexia in Universities in Poland – Description of the Legal Situation and Good Practices

Michalina Ignaciuk, Marta Łockiewicz — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The aim of this article was to analyse the currently functioning system of support for students with dyslexia at state universities in Poland and to identify and assess good
practices that are already being implemented. The research method used was desk research (reviewing both formal and informal documents) and included university websites and
national and local legal regulations. The results showed that only nine (15%) state universities in Poland introduced concrete forms of support for the students with dyslexia and the faculty, such as exam concessions (six universities), consultations with a specialist (for students: six universities; for teachers: five universities), and provision of information and educational materials (nine universities). A comparison of the Polish support system for students with dyslexia with that of the UK resulted in a list of recommendations, including the extension of the examination time by 25% of the basic time, the assessment of written assignments solely on the basis of content and not on the correctness of spelling and changes in the format of an exam (from written to oral).

Adolescents’ Cyberdating Relationships and the Socialisation Background: Links with Sexism in Spanish Society and Pornography Consumption

Soledad Andrés Gómez, Sławomir Pasikowski, Luana Bruno — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The present paper synthesises the results obtained in an exploratory study about adolescents’ online cyberdating relationships. The main objective of the study was to verify
whether the quality of these relationships depends on pornography consumption, beliefs about sexism in Spanish society, and sex as a variable associated with differentiating
socio-cultural factors. A total of 240 secondary school students randomly selected from the Castilla-La Mancha region in Spain constituted the sample for the study. The Cyberdating Q_A questionnaire was used to measure the quality of dating relationships among adolescents on social networks. The relationship between the variables considered was tested in a multivariate analysis of the variance model. According to the results, pornography
consumption was the only factor differentiating the selected dimensions of cyberdating relationships. Sex and sexism turned out to be insignificant. The results were discussed.

Pandemic Burnout, Depression, and Anxiety Among Adolescents: A Network Analysis

Marcin Moroń, Karina Atłas — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The COVID-19 pandemic could be regarded as a chronic psychological burden that may lead to prolonged, unmanageable stress, e.g. burnout. Previous studies on COVID-19 have indicated that pandemic burnout was frequent in the general population and could be
regarded as a risk factor for psychopathological symptomatology (e.g. depression, anxiety).
This study used a network approach to investigate the associations between pandemic burnout symptoms and symptoms of depression and anxiety among Polish adolescents. A total of 389 adolescents participated in a survey in two stages: in June 2021 (shortly after students’ return to schools after the COVID-19 lockdowns were lifted; n = 181) and in September 2021 (shortly after the beginning of the new school year; n = 208). Data were collected by means of a survey aimed at measurement of anxiety, depression, and symptoms of COVID-19 burnout. The network analysis indicated that (1) pandemic burnout is rather a separate syndrome of symptoms compared to depression and anxiety; (2) emotional and mental exhaustion symptoms such as feelings of hopelessness and
worthlessness were central to pandemic burnout; (3) the stability of the pandemic burnout symptoms was relatively low, indicating that this syndrome could be dynamic or internally heterogenic.

Mental Resilience of Polish Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021

Urszula Oszwa — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Introduction. As reported in the literature, the severity of anxiety and depression symptoms in students due to social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted research on the psychosocial resources of adolescents, which was revealed in the form of resilience. Research Aim. Answers were sought to three research questions concerning: a) the resilience of Polish adolescents during the pandemic in 2021, b) the differentiation within the measured components of resilience, and c) the comparison of resilience between female and male students. Method. The electronic version of the Polish Mental Resilience Scale (SPP-18), standardised in the group of Polish adolescents and teenagers aged 12–18, was used for the online assessment of n = 263 students (F = 137; M = 126) aged 12–16. Results. The analysis of the students’ responses indicates the raised level of their resilience in the pandemic (7/10 in standard ten), differentiation within the components with the highest score for the sense of humour and the lowest for negative affect tolerance. Differences in the level of resilience due to gender were statistically insignificant, although the results of girls were slightly higher in all dimensions compared to those of boys. Conclusion. The raised level of resilience in the assessed sample seems optimistic, especially with respect to the majority of the students (about 70%). However, about 10% of the students in each of the 18 items declared low personal resilience competencies. Such groups of adolescents should be looked after, and if possible, periodically re-assessed to observe the changes in their level of resilience over time.

Sense of Loneliness, Sense of Effectiveness, Interpersonal Trust and Interpersonal Relations of Academic Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lucyna Kamila Myszka - Strychalska — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The article aims to present the levels of the sense of loneliness, sense of effectiveness and interpersonal trust presented by academic youth and to demonstrate their importance for the subjective assessment of the quality of interpersonal relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents the results of empirical research conducted with the participation of 2,285 respondents studying in a full-time mode in Poland. The research material was collected using an online questionnaire (CAWI) and subjected to statistical analysis (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, V-Cramer coefficient, chi-square test, Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA and Levene’s test were used). The survey questionnaire used the De Jong Gierveld (DJGLS) Loneliness Scale in the Polish adaptation, the scale to measure interpersonal trust by Dorota Hybiak and the scale to measure the sense of effectiveness by Krystyna Skarżyńska. The results obtained show a statistically significant correlation, with the respondents showing a higher sense of effectiveness, a lower level of loneliness and a higher level of interpersonal trust, and higher subjective satisfaction with interpersonal relationships experienced during a pandemic. These research categories can therefore be considered as protective factors in a pandemic situation and as factors of “hope” for the rebuilding of interpersonal contacts in a post-pandemic reality.

The Well-Being of the Academic Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Beata Przyborowska, Piotr Błajet, Małgorzata Fopka-Kowalczyk — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Since 2020, the entire world has been struggling with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The constant increase in the number of sick and dying people and the need for quarantine and social distancing have significantly affected the functioning of people, regardless of their background, age and activities. This article aims to examine the level of well-being among the academic community of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland based on the concept of Ken Wilber. To this end, a self-administered questionnaire was developed to assess the overall well-being, as well as the respondents’ well-being related to emotions, relationships, health, and the sense of security and satisfaction experienced during the pandemic. A total of 1,164 university employees and 1,601 doctoral and other students participated in the study. Teachers represented the highest levels of overall well-being, scoring higher than doctoral students and undergraduates. The older the respondents, the higher the perceived levels of overall well-being. These findings indicate that doctoral and other students are struggling with reduced levels of well-being and a reduced sense of the quality of life, displaying signs of emotional difficulties, anxiety and fear.

The Activities of Local Government Municipal Units in Shaping Inclusive Education in Poland

Beata Skotnicka, Sebastian Mrózek — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The mechanisms of financing are key in reducing educational differences. Therefore, the provision of financing for systemic solutions and structures that facilitate the development of inclusive education is one of the key factors influencing the creation of this education model and its practical implementation. Among the organs responsible for organizing and implementing inclusive education in Poland are units of local government, which by implementing the local policy are obliged to take into account solutions that promote inclusion both in broadly understood social and educational activities. The objective of this study is to present research results pertaining to the role of local government units in shaping inclusive education and in promoting the idea of inclusion, as well as the preliminary identification of good practice in this field. The research was conducted using the focus interview method. The focus groups consisted of selected representatives the faculties/departments of education of municipal local government units which were diverse in terms of structure. It can be seen that the activities of local government units are important in terms of creating inclusive education and that they constitute the basis for the dissemination of good practice. A significant role is also assigned to the documents they create, such as municipal strategies and education financing plans.

Discourse: Education, Theory of Politics, and Politics of Theory

Tomasz Szkudlarek — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

In this paper, I revisit and reflect on my own and my research partners’ attempts at investigating the relationship between education and politics through the lens of discourse theory and discourse analysis methodology. This auto-analytical reflection corresponds to the shift in discourse studies from a technically understood discourse analysis to a more generally conceived discourse-analytical approach (Howarth & Torfing, 2005). Revisiting my own analyses made me understand better not only the specificity of the ways of conducting discourse studies in which I have been involved but also some less
obvious ontological assumptions and methodological problems of discourse studies. One such issue is that as long as discourse analysis is powerful in how it shows power relations, and thus politics within non-political phenomena like education, its application to political theory may reveal how its desire for construing social totalities grounds it in the pedagogical.

“It’s Creative Stuff!” The REF Impact Agenda and the Discursive (Re)Positioning of Academics

Johannes Angermuller, Marta Wroblewska — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The higher education sector is increasingly subject to formal evaluation practices. Individuals, institutions and entire systems are assessed, evaluated and ranked by actors from the public and private sectors. Existing research often focuses on the goals, values and criteria of academic evaluation. In this article, however, we discuss evaluation as a discursive practice consisting of academics positioning themselves across different social arenas. Closer scrutiny will be applied to the evaluation of (extra-academic) impact as defined by the British Research Excellence Framework (REF). Based on interview data collected in the context of REF 2014, we analyse how academics negotiate their subject positions linguistically and socially across different academic arenas. As positioning experts, academics respond to the challenges of institutional evaluation by switching between different and often contradictory logics. We present both the theoretical background – social perspectives on polyphonic subjectivity – and a methodological approach to evaluation as a practice of positioning and repositioning by academics in the social world of academia.

Metaphors in Child Discourse: Interpretive Research from a Participatory Perspective

Monika Wiśniewska-Kin — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This article presents the study results of an educational project focused on visual metaphor in initiated child discourse. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge of children between the ages of 9 and 10 years old regarding the target domain of metaphorical projection (concerning togetherness) and children’s metaphorisation skills in the area of recognising similarities and differences between the target domain and the source domain of visual metaphor in an artistic picture book. In the designed didactic intervention activities, the research material originated from participant observation, focus interviews,
and analysis of children’s creations (graphic visualisations). The research was conducted on two groups of third graders in selected primary schools in the metropolitan environment of Łódź, Poland. The results illustrate children’s preferences for translating one domain of
metaphor with another, as well as the strategies for constructing children’s knowledge with respect to life in a relationship. Furthermore, they point towards the need for expanding the educational environment in Polish educational culture.

Discourses on Research and Researchers: The Case of Portuguese Associated Laboratories

Sofia Branco Sousa — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This paper aims to map knowledge produced by associated laboratories in Portugal using the two-phase model of discourse analysis proposed by Sousa and Magalhães
(2013). We analyse the mission of associated laboratories to understand what is (are) the privileged form(s) of knowing in science and the actors involved in that process. We
identify discourse organisers (phase one of the model) and the way discourses become dominant/excluded (phase two of the model). The application of the two-phase model of discourse analysis enables us to conclude that research is being constructed as academic science in a post-academic world and researchers are presented as “in training” or as professors.

Framing Analysis – Possibilities of Use in Studies of Media Discourse on Higher Education

Aleksandra Rzyska — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This article presents the basic assumptions and tools characteristic of framing analysis – a perspective of reconstructing schemas of interpretation (frames) in public communication. The potential of framing in research on discourse, especially in analyses of media discourse and higher education, has been described, along with an example of designing an analytical process of media framing of the university in the context of the current
reform of higher education in Poland. Introducing the essentials of framing and reflection on the processes of assigning meanings are in line with the goal of promoting conscious participation in public discourse and shaping the reality of higher education and the contemporary university.

Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych