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This article casts light on informal caregiving, an essential aspect of the international postgraduate researcher (PGR) experience, but which is often invisible in literature and discourses on international education. Drawing from qualitative semi-structured interviews with international PGRs in a British university, it highlights their dual role as care recipients and lesser known caregivers across transnational and local spaces. It gives insights into the forms and dynamics of care that they give to and receive from family, friends and others, uncovering the emotional and affective aspects of undertaking a postgraduate research degree overseas which impact on their mental wellbeing. The findings have implications for the improvement of university support for international PGRs which has relevance for the wider international student community.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant changes in education, including a widespread transition from traditional, in-person instruction to online learning, which has also affected music conservatories. This study investigates the relationship between social outcome expectations and teacher satisfaction with remote education (SRE) among conservatory music professors during the pandemic. Rooted in the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the study examines whether technostress mediates this relationship and whether the intention to use information and communication technology (ICT) moderates it. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 108 Italian conservatory teachers through an online self-report questionnaire. The results indicate a negative indirect effect of social outcome expectations on teacher satisfaction through technostress. However, surprisingly, the direct effect was positive and stronger. The study suggests that social expectations lead to technostress. Still, they also present an opportunity for music educators to embrace the challenge of remote education and increase their satisfaction with it.

The COVID-19 lockdown affected children, especially those with autism spectrum disorder, due to the disruption in rehabilitation and educational activities. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 315 preschool-aged children, 35 of which had autism, to investigate this impact. A questionnaire was administered to explore socio-demographic status, familiar/home environment, and COVID-19 exposure. The clinical features of autistic subjects were also examined. Seven variables were considered to describe the effect of pandemic: "Remote learning, Behavior changes, Home activities, Sleep habits, Night awakenings, Physical activity, Information about the virus." The lockdown had a significant impact on Remote learning, Behavior changes, and Information about the virus in participants with autism. Moreover, we found a worsening in repetitive movements, echolalia, restricted interests, and aggressive behaviors.

This study draws on research that investigated transformative learning with reference to complexity theories. It describes the use of dance-informed performative autoethnography employed to analyze and interpret participants' experience of crisis in research conducted within a disability service system in Italy during COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, the use of this method of inquiry after the initial data collection was useful in deepening the crisis experience. Secondly, the representation of the data through dance performance fostered new interpretations of the crisis situation that further validated the presentation of the data and had the secondary advantage of reinterpreting the entire experience.

Background: This study explores the impact of the pandemic on children's mental health. It examined the understanding of parents regarding their children's mental condition and their ability to identify issues, 2 years post the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 507 Italian parents reported on their youngest child aged between 2 and 17, totaling 507 children. The outcomes focused on were parental perception of children's mental health deterioration, scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) above the clinical cut-off, and parental under-recognition of mental health issues. Descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regression models were executed (significance at p < 0.05). Results: Parents were 88.1% women (median age 41 years, interquartile range [IQR] = 36-47). Their children were 50.3% female [median age 6 years (IQR = 4-11)]. The data revealed 21.1% of parents perceived a deterioration in their children's mental health, while 44.2% had SDQ scores above the cut-off. Parental under-recognition of mental issues was found in 20.1% of cases. Significant correlations were found between parental perception of deterioration, SDQ scores, and factors like parental mental distress and children's sleep issues. Implications: The findings suggest that schools and verified websites can serve as critical conduits for providing parents with reliable information. By promoting early identification and intervention, such mechanisms can help ensure mental health equity for children. Conclusions: The research highlights the effect of the pandemic on children's mental health and the issue of parental under-recognition. The results underscore the importance of public health initiatives that enhance mental health information accessibility and reliability for parents.

In the last two years, a growing number of studies have focused on the promotion of students' mental health to address the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less studies have been conducted on sustaining teachers' mental health which has been affected by the sudden changes in online teaching and the difficulties in keeping and building relationship with students. Even before the pandemic, teaching has long been recognised as one of the most challenging occupations characterized by high levels of stress. Although the research highlighted the key role of mental health promotion among teachers, there is still a lack of programs enhancing teachers' wellbeing. This study examined the impact of the PROMEHS program, a school-based curriculum, on teachers' mental health. A total of 687 teachers participated in the study. Applying a pre- and post-training study design with experimental and waiting list groups, teachers were evaluated in social and emotional learning, resilience, and self-efficacy. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in all competences of the teachers in the experimental group compared to those in the waiting list group. The paper discusses the implications of the findings with recommendations for further studies in the area.

This paper explores the thesis of de-globalisation in relation to international education. Through interrogating accounts of international school leadership during the COVID-19 crisis, the tension between international expectations and localised realities is charted, with four central tenets of internationalism undermined by the pandemic experience. It is argued that the COVID-19 crisis, ostensibly a single global event, resulted in the fractalisation of international education; the conceptualisation of unified internationalism was undermined by the inherently localised material effects of the pandemic. In place of an internationalism that is unified, transcendent, inclusive and connected, international school leaders' accounts of leading through the pandemic focused on their sense that their schools were fractured, rooted, privileged and isolated. It is suggested that this international crisis demonstrates the precarious nature of the respatialising of the global that is intrinsic to international schooling.

The Corona Virus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has upset the students' daily routine, forcing them at first into a sudden transition to distance learning and then to a return to school modelled on the basis of infection containment measures. The present research involved 157 students from schools in central Italy with a mean age of 13.58 years old to investigate the affective impact of the pandemic on the school experience and its components (recess, oral testing, relationships with classmates, and relationship pupils-teachers). The results show that only a few have experienced school interruption in a traumatic way: they have appreciated neither distance learning, nor the return to school; for these teenagers, the school of the past has died. Other adolescents and pre-adolescents tried to replace the face-to-face mode with distance learning, maintaining certain attention to the school even during the quarantine. However, the online mode did not keep its promise. Those who have invested more in digital innovation find it difficult to return to normality today. For all of them, socialization mediated by school experience is decisive in supporting the return to ordinary life after the pandemic.

In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid shift to distance learning worldwide. Although recent research has focused on the impact that this transition had on students' education and well-being, little has been done in particular on math education and on math anxiety (MA). Since MA is believed to be linked to the teaching methods, it could be hypothesized that the new learning environment affected MA levels. Thus, this study investigated whether students' levels of MA evaluated before and during the first wave of the pandemic changed as a consequence of the distance learning implementation. Moreover, we were interested in investigating whether students' satisfaction with the teaching methods, their effort in math, and their academic achievement were correlated to MA before and during the COVID-19 distance learning. Participants were 117 Italian middle and high school students. No significant differences between pre- and mid-pandemic MA were found when considering the entire sample. Analyzing separately, results indicated that high-MA students reported significantly lower MA levels during distance learning, however no difference was observed for moderate- and low-MA individuals. Furthermore, satisfaction with the teaching methods, effort in math, and math achievement were negatively correlated with MA, both before and during distance education.

Much research has been done on the first quarantine period in 2020, however little is known for what it concerns remote emergency teaching and learning in Italian schools with Slovene as language of instruction. No extensive research explored teachers' and students' perceptions of this remote learning period, nor analyzed their opinion about positive and negative aspects of online learning, especially those related to the teaching material in Slovene language, which should address the Italian program. The present article presents the analysis of online semi-structured interviews that involved 15 high school teachers and 15 students who teach or attend Italian high schools with Slovene as teaching language, and it aims to answer these questions. We found that teachers and students preferred face-to-face classes, since they faced several issues connected with remote learning, such as a lack of interaction during remote learning, technology and connection problem, health issues and psychological distress. High school teachers and students faced less problems than those reported by primary schools' pupils and teachers, since they are older and more independent than primary school pupils. High school students also communicated through several social applications and peers might have helped them to overcome the language obstacles.

Updated scientific material is needed to incorporate research-based COVID-19 interventions and strategies into basic education. This meta-analysis examined basic education students' COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) across the globe. This study identified KAPs needed to integrate COVID-19 into Basic Education after the meta-analysis. Thirteen published studies on basic education students' KAPs toward COVID-19 were analyzed using meta-analysis. PRISMA was utilized in this study. JBI and STROBE checklists assessed these studies' quality. Three low-quality and ten high-quality published studies were identified. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were used due to the studies' heterogeneity. Low-quality studies had higher KAP pooled levels. Although the pooled KAPs on COVID-19 between the study groups of elementary students only, elementary and high school students, and high school students only were only slightly different, more high school students had good and better KAPs toward COVID-19. Globally, basic education students had high COVID-19 KAPs. There were items in KAPs identified as essential topics for science lesson integration. These six items were identified as essential topics for lesson integration in knowledge, five in attitude, and four items in practice.

Since its inception in 2004, Siena Italian Studies (SIS) has worked to offer students a challenging and engaging intercultural experience thanks to the implementation of the service-learning pedagogy and the practice of reflection combined with language acquisition. Over the years, SIS courses have been aligned with European policies and developments so that students could better understand the impact of their experience and build competences useful for their future as global citizens. For this reason, the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) was incorporated in the syllabus of the renewed reflection course, "Intercultural Dialogue, Democracy and Global Citizenship through Reflection". The sudden change of habits and perspectives due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020 abruptly caused a shift in education. Therefore, proceeding along its ever-evolving path, SIS has come to develop new ways of educating to democracy: a digital and a hybrid reflective course. This contribution will present the Democratic Reflective Syllabus used in the EUFICCS (European Use of Full-Immersion, Culture, Content and Service) approach and compare its in-person version with its two updated versions developed.

Since COVID-19 pandemic started, schools had to face environmental changes, one was shifting from a face-to-face educational approach to online learning. It represented an unfavourable learning environment, especially for children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SpLD). Following the Self Determination Theory (SDT) framework, the current study investigated the differences in cognitive, emotional, and motivational domains between students with SpLD and undiagnosed peers, and the relations between executive functioning, emotional distress, and academic motivation. Participants included 97 Italian students, 47 with SpLD (average age of 10.9 years, SD = 1.35), and 50 undiagnosed peers (average age of 10.7 years, SD = 1.58) attending OL lectures during COVID-19. Results displayed lower executive functions (EFs), higher levels of emotional distress in students with SpLD. Furthermore, students with SpLD showed lower levels of identified and intrinsic motivation but higher levels of introjected motivation.

This study uses an education in emergencies (EiE) lens and a scientometric approach to examine the educational research landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing 95,628 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database from 2020 to February 2023. It employed descriptive and network approaches to map growth trajectory, productivity, social structure, conceptual structure, and research methodologies used in the retrieved sources. The findings reveal a steady increase in publications on education and COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. However, the majority of productive countries and institutions are in the Global North, with limited representation from the Global South, except for China. English is the dominant language in publications, and funding agencies from English-speaking countries are the most active. The most frequently occurring keywords revolve around performativity, institutions, teaching methodologies, attitudes, and experiences, while keywords related to social justice are a peripheral focus. Publications mainly focus on technical and methodological aspects of education, such as online teaching and learning. Most productive journals represent a mix of foci and are not limited to distance learning. The extracted literature showcases diversity in research methodologies used. Future studies should use systematic reviews on narrow topics to evaluate the effects of the pandemic, inform decision-making, enhance education system resilience, and envision a more equitable education system. The study's contributions are notable for its unique EiE perspective, comprehensive scope, extensive data extraction, and meticulous examination of research design, effectively addressing limitations in bibliometric software.

During the education emergency, teachers' leadership was indicative of their capacity to stay resilient and innovative in a changed educational environment. This study analyses their capacity to act as leaders and to promote equity in relation to the specific aspects of the French and Italian school systems. A pool of 16 interviews constitutes a unique case study of teacher leadership for equity under similar contextual conditions. Teacher leadership encountered very similar limitations in both countries. The education emergency "per se" represented an opportunity for some teachers to explore innovative equitable approaches, different from their actual practices and pedagogical cultures, as well as more professional dialogue. The margins for empowerment proved to be both of an instructional and of a transformative type. In particular, in systems with weak senior leadership and flat organisational structures, the margins for empowerment are at the classroom level. In such cases, a certain amount of collaboration and, quite often, hidden pedagogical innovation occurs in schools where school leadership and the wider organisational culture may offer some support. In fact, informal leadership is most often facilitated by certain conditions in terms of resources, school leadership and professional cultures.

Transnationals constitute one-third of the population of the economically prosperous Singapore. Applying a family language policy (FLP) framework and collaborative autoethnography from data (interviews, videos, and diaries) spanning 13 years, this study delves into the linguistic journey of an Italian-Chinese family with two children born in Singapore. The analysis demonstrates the dynamics of language ideologies, management, and practices, following changes in parental beliefs, children's linguistic proficiencies and agency, availability of resources within the family and the host country, and unexpected events like COVID-19. The article highlights how multilingual parents' ideologies shape up owning to individual experiences, beliefs, and aspirations, and how these ideologies are translated into language choices and day-to-day language maintenance, vis-à-vis Singapore's English-centric policies. This unique longitudinal case study also touches on features pertaining to transnational families in Singapore, such as the perception of the local variety 'Singlish,' caregiving, and schooling options, illustrating the intricate interplay of micro and macro factors governing family multilingualism.

The aim of this paper is to propose an original analysis of the association between social status and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines regarding upper-secondary students in Italy. The research was conducted by administering an online survey on a probabilistic and stratified sample of 5,699 students, in the spring of 2021, when the vaccination campaign in Italy had been underway for only a few months. Following the bourdieusian perspective, we have used a multiple correspondence analysis to examine the polarization between pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine groups as the clash of stances that agents take in accordance with their position in the cultural field. Our results suggest that the construction of a negative school experience by the subordinate classes is the source of a lack of social recognition in the cultural field, which feeds an aversion to everything the main institutions in this field recommend should be done.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the move to remote education exposed old and new inequities, yet it also represented an opportunity to rethink inclusive education. This paper presents findings from a one-year project "DIGITAL in a time of Coronavirus" and draws upon policy analysis and interviews with teachers, principals, and community leaders from six countries in the Global North and South (Italy, England, Malaysia, Australia, United States and Chile). By mobilising education assemblage theory to challenge binary divisions (included/excluded, modern/colonial, local/global), it presents five concepts to rethink inclusion and its relationship with technologies. It illustrates how during the pandemic alternative entanglements of digital and non-digital technologies challenged narrow and Eurocentric constructions of the digital divide enabling inclusive subjective experiences. Drawing upon local possibilities and histories, re-habilitating non-scientific knowledges, especially in view of future experiences of blended education, the paper seeks to provide policy tools to rethink current understandings of inclusive education.

The transition to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered criticalities in the participation of students with special educational needs. The BESt-DaD project responded to these difficulties by developing a user-friendly online platform aimed at accommodating these students' neurocognitive profiles, ultimately promoting inclusion. Together with the platform, specific adapted activities and personalized digital didactic materials were designed, and a training program was implemented to support teachers in using BESt-DaD's tools and functionalities. The effectiveness of BESt-DaD platform and the associated teacher training program were evaluated by questionnaires. Results showed that teachers who participated in the project appreciated the platform's accessibility and its positive effect on learner motivation and classroom interactions. Moreover, the "ad hoc" training motivated teachers to revise their educational-teaching methods with an inclusive approach. Although developed for distance learning, the BESt-DaD can be integrated into face-to-face teaching to promote the participation and inclusion of students with special educational needs.

Feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness data of a virtual adaptation of the WHO Caregiver Skills Training (CST; n = 25) were compared with those of a pilot RCT of CST delivered in person (n = 43) against treatment as usual (TAU; n = 43). Virtual CST was delivered with high levels of integrity, but received lower ratings in some caregiver- and facilitator-rated acceptability and feasibility dimensions. Qualitative analysis identified both benefits (flexibility, convenience, clinical usefulness) and challenges, (technological issues, distraction from family members, emotional distance). Virtual and in-person CST improved significantly more on caregiver competence than TAU; there were no other significant effects. Potential for use of virtual CST as a clinical response in contexts where in-person delivery is not possible is discussed.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers have been forced to work from home. In this situation, the boundaries between work and private life have become particularly blurred, and recovering from work was even more difficult than in traditional times, with negative consequences for workers' health. Among the psychological experiences that might underlie the recovery process, mastery played a crucial role as people sought new stimuli and challenging situations. However, there are few articles that have explored the role of this specific recovery experience, its antecedents, and the health consequences under conditions of work from home. Therefore, in this multiwave study, we aimed to investigate the role of mastery as a mediator between supervisor support and insomnia problems. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and had a three-wave design. A convenience sample of 130 employees (67% women) completed an online questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested using a three-wave autoregressive cross-lagged panel model. According to the results, supervisor support at Time 1 was positively related to mastery at Time 2, which in turn showed a negative association with insomnia at Time 3. The results demonstrated that mastery experiences have played a crucial role during COVID-19 mandatory work from home, which points to some potential implications for workers' health in the adoption of teleworking beyond the emergency situation.

Objective: This review summarizes evidence pertaining to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Materials and Methods: An electronic search was conducted using four major databases--PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Using an umbrella methodology, the reference lists of relevant papers were reviewed, and citation searches were conducted. The study included articles written in English between January 2020 and March 2021 that focused on the psychological health of autistic children and adolescents. Results: All eight studies included in the final review were cross-sectional. Three of the eight studies were conducted in Italy, two in Turkey, and one study each in Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, with a total of 1,407 participants. All studies used a mixture of standardized and non-standardized questionnaires to collect data. The total number of patients were 1407 at a mean age of 9.53 (SD = 2.96) years. Seven studies report gender; male 74.7% (657/880) and female 25.3% (223/880). The finding showed that behavioral issues in children and adolescents with ASD have significantly increased; 521 (51.9 percent) of the 1004 individuals with ASD presented with behavioral changes, including conduct problems, emotional problems, aggression, and hyperactivity. Some studies also found increased anxiety and difficulties managing emotions. Only one study reported clinical stabilization in children with ASD during COVID-19. Finally, 82.7% of families and caregivers of children with ASD (544 out of 658) faced challenges during COVID-19. Conclusion: Although the studies in this review suggest a general worsening of ASD children's clinical status, it remains difficult to draw definitive conclusions at this moment, with newer COVID-19 variants on the rise worldwide. During this difficult pandemic period, caregivers, families, and healthcare professionals are recommended to pay more attention to the ASD patients' health and care needs.

The parents of 413 children with typical development (TD) or special educational needs (SEN) filled in an online survey to investigate the associations between the restrictions introduced to face COVID-19 and parenting stress and parental disciplinary practices. The parents of children with SEN showed a significantly higher stress level than TD children's parents. However, they showed a lower inclination to overreact. In both groups, the parents who feel less supported, feel their needs threatened, and report having a child with more difficulties were more likely to exhibit parenting stress. Data on the associations between COVID-19 restrictions and the stress perceived by parents could help to focus the attention of the public health system on their parents' needs, leading to practices aimed to prevent parenting stress and burnout.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between emotional experiences and study motivation in a group of nonworking and never-infected university students, during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: Participants (N = 353; aged M = 21.5; SD = 2.8) were mostly female (76.2%) Italian university students. Methods: They completed an online assessment that included self-report measures of fear during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, intolerance of uncertainty, optimism, and study motivation. Results: Our findings showed that older students were more optimistic than younger students. Besides, fear of COVID-19, intolerance of uncertainty, and pessimism predicted worse study motivation. Conclusions: Greater psychological support should be reserved for younger students to prevent emotional experiences that might affect the learning goal.

A growing body of research has explored the effects of Covid-19-induced online learning on students' experiences. However, there is a lack of validated tools that measure the perceived online learning experiences of domestic and international students in various national and cultural contexts. To address this gap, this article aims to develop the Student Online Learning Experience Scale (SOLE-S). We conceptualised four potential dimensions of students' perceptions of their online learning experiences: online interactions with students, teachers, university, and technology (i.e. students' capacity to participate in online learning). Confirmatory factor analysis determined three distinct factors: online interactions with students, the university (including teachers), and technology. Based on multiple validation studies reported in this article, the 10-item SOLE-S demonstrated sound internal consistency, discriminant validity, and convergent validity. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis on data from domestic and international students transitioning from conventional classroom learning to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, France, Poland, and the UK showed a stable factor structure across different cultural contexts. Bivariate and point-biserial correlation analyses revealed that the SOLE-S is associated with students' adjustment, performance, satisfaction, and loyalty to the university. This tool will assist higher education institutions in monitoring students' online learning experiences and developing relevant support structures to enhance their academic experience and well-being during the pandemic and post-pandemic online learning.

The unprecedent times of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a relevant impact on schooling. In this context, identifying the features of effective and responsive teachers' professional development paths in the assessment domain has never been as critical as it is today. However, despite the widespread interest in teacher assessment literacy and despite the efforts of educational policies and teacher education programs, research continues to show that teachers are generally underprepared to face assessment challenges. The present article reports on an explorative study aimed at examining teachers' conceptions of assessment literacy, assessment practice, and professional development. Qualitative data are drawn from semi-structured interviews with 30 Italian primary school teachers. The descriptions of what they consider as assessment literacy and the qualities necessary for an effective assessment practice constitute the starting point for a wider discussion on the professional development drivers for being and becoming an assessment literate teacher.

The genesis and spread of COVID-19 around the world since 2020 have caused severe impacts in every aspect of people's lives, from work life to recreation, social activities to physical health. Higher education has not been excluded. Universities have altered curriculum, changed delivery methods, provided more counseling, purchased new technology, and altered attendance policy for classroom, athletic, social and artistic events (Hamlin, 2021). To assess the impacts of these changes on college students, the authors created a questionnaire to ask students about their perceptions of these COVID-related impacts on their own personal lives. The survey had 56 questions about how the virus affected their academic, social, financial, physical and emotional lives. Over 800 students responded with objective input and subjective comments. Due to the volume of data, the authors have split the study into two parts. The survey results for the first part, academic and social aspects of the survey, were published in "Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on College Student Academic and Social Lives," Research in Higher Education Journal Volume 41 (see http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/213347.pdf). It will sometimes be referred to herein to provide clarity to the reader. The actual survey itself can also be found at that site. This paper focuses on the impact of the coronavirus on student financial and physical well-being, which have become major stressors to this age group and have contributed to higher levels of anxiety and depression. It also examines how the virus has affected their social and emotional well-being. Lastly, recommendations are made to help educators understand the severity of the problem, and to take action to provide assistance for those students who have been adversely affected.

In the spring of 2020, as COVID-19 forced the suspension of most U.S. education abroad programs, study abroad students returned home, summer programs were canceled, and international educators pondered the unlikelihood of resuming fall 2020 study abroad; larger questions about the future of international education and global learning with limited student mobility weighed heavily, Dickinson and Haverford colleges in Pennsylvania and the membership of the Community-based Global Learning Collaborative started reimagining the future of global learning. What drove us was our collective commitment to building just, inclusive and sustainable communities, a spirit of collaboration and a desire to seek out future-forward and innovative opportunities for continued global learning. Around the world, xenophobia and nationalism were on the rise. One of the clearest continuous mechanisms for combating those horrors, student international mobility, would cease. It was clear that global educators had to do something, but what? This article is a case study about how we began to answer the question of what we could do. It follows the evolution of our thinking, emergent projects, lessons learned and new collaborative pathways.

The closure of schools, social hubs, and extracurricular activities due to lockdown measures imposed to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, has increased the risk factors for students' mental health. This cross-sectional study, conducted from March 2020 to March 2021, aimed to estimate socio-emotional, cognitive, and affective disorders and substance use in a sample of first- and second-grade high school students in Northern Italy. This study compared data from 284 Italian students' self-perceptions along with the perceptions of their parents and teachers through a web-based survey. The differences in the perceptions of the three groups (students, parents, and teachers) were analyzed using an analysis of variance test, applying a Bonferroni correction. The X[superscript 2] test was used to assess the comparison between students, parents, and teachers in the substance use questions. The results showed statistically significant differences among the three groups. The most important outcomes were sociality, scholastic performance, extracurricular activity, emotional symptoms, affective disorders (depression and anxiety), and substance use. These findings could be interesting for the promotion of mental health and prevention of psychopathological risks in students.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted opportunities for adolescents to progress through a typical developmental trajectory of adjustment and self-regulation. Adolescents across many contexts have shown an increase in adjustment difficulties during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Utilizing data collected from 830 Italian adolescents from one time-point just prior to when pandemic restrictions were enacted, and then at two additional time-points 12 and 24 months later, we examined trajectories of internalizing symptoms, regulatory self-efficacy for managing negative emotions, and the time-varying impact of COVID-related stress and social support. Latent Growth Curve Analyses (LGCAs) revealed that COVID stress predicted increased internalizing symptoms and decreased regulatory self-efficacy beyond what was estimated by the developmental trajectory. Further, at Time 3, the impact of perceived COVID stress on internalizing symptoms and regulatory self-efficacy was stronger than at Time 2. Co-development results were similar for males and females. There was no time-varying impact of social support on the co-development of internalizing symptoms and regulatory self-efficacy. The findings are important for informing interventions to strengthen coping strategies for adolescents during stressful community-wide events.

The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a source of stress for teachers by adding new challenges. The objective of this study was to assess the association between emotion regulation and coping strategies, on the one hand, and perceived stress and affective experience on the other among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 1178 of Italian pre-primary, primary, and secondary school teachers completed an online survey. Three hierarchical linear regression analyses were run to evaluate teachers' emotion regulation, coping strategies, years of teaching experience, perceived workload, and perceptions about online teaching in predicting their perceived stress and positive and negative affect. The findings showed that cognitive reappraisal and positive attitude were associated with a lower level of perceived stress and negative affect and a higher level of positive affect. Problem orientation strategies were also associated with a higher level of positive affect. By contrast, expressive suppression was correlated with a higher level of perceived stress. Avoidance coping strategies were associated with higher perceived stress and negative affect and a lower level of positive affect. The perceived burden of online teaching was positively related with perceived stress and negative affect. Confidence in using educational technologies predicted lower levels of perceived stress, and previous online teaching experience was positively correlated with positive affect. The findings of this study could be useful for implementing teacher training programmes on emotion regulation and coping strategies to reduce stress and promote positive affect.

The M@t.abel2020 project supported Italian teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic period, proposing activities based on the mathematics laboratory teaching method which are suitable for distance learning situations. The project resulted in the establishment of an online community of 1,500 teachers. In this paper we present an exploratory study based on an open-ended questionnaire assigned to teachers involved in the project, with the aim of analyzing the results of this training project in terms of mathematics teacher's specialized knowledge. Results show that the project enriched teachers' knowledge not only in terms of pedagogical content knowledge but also in mathematical knowledge.

Current higher education policies require universities to prepare students for integration into an ever-changing society where knowledge and hard skills rapidly become obsolete. Soft skills are the new alphabets of the 21st century. Service-learning is a pedagogical approach that has positive effects on soft skills development. What about its virtual version, e-service-learning (e-SL)? Can students develop soft skills through technology? This research closes the literature gap on the potential benefits of e-Service-Learning Hybrid Type II during the pandemic scenario. This study also presents a new categorization of technological interaction types in e-SL related to students' skill levels. The findings provide insights into the benefits of e-Service-Learning Hybrid Type II as a suitable strategy for students' personal skills development in leadership and self-evaluation. Our results also show how e-service-learning is useful in raising students' awareness of the soft skills they need for their future professional careers.

During the worldwide pandemic, youth were isolated from each other. In response, New Jersey 4-H, a part of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, created the Junior Explorers, a virtual exchange program bringing together 4-H members with youth from other countries. This program provides youth ages 10-13 with access to international exchange opportunities that would otherwise be sparse for this age group. This program has demonstrated that Extension professionals can successfully adapt exchanges to a virtual platform. With youth the world over learning virtually, Extension professionals have a unique opportunity to learn from and collaborate with international partners to enhance existing programs.

There is not a large body of literature about digital resources found and accessed autonomously by high school students while studying mathematics, whereas this topic has become more and more relevant in times of lockdown due to the pandemic. Italy has been one of the first countries facing lockdown for an extended time, making this country a paradigmatic example: in this paper we investigate what kind of digital resources are accessed by the Italians high school students who actually use them and why. According to our results, students' aims and expectations vary according to the school grade, but are not as much devoted to procedural learning as previous literature has shown. Also, we observe that the type of searched media (text, video, image, etc.) is related to the mathematical contents and to students' objectives.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) state of emergency has brought about a radical change in the way of teaching. In a questionnaire, we asked 120 teachers from Italian Primary, Middle and High Schools about the advantages and disadvantages of online teaching, the students' conduct during lessons and the methodologies applied to students with special educational needs. Primary School teachers most strongly reported an increase in boredom and distraction, and disagreed that online teaching helps students' learning and that it makes them more active. The main advantage of online teaching was the technical and methodological innovations, while the main disadvantage was the lack of relationship with students. In the case of students with special educational needs, many teachers reported that they used simplified procedures and personalized meetings. Overall, teachers appear to think that online teaching has many drawbacks, though it also has some positive aspects that need to be appreciated and exploited.

Little is known about the intraindividual dispositional factors related to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional academic learning outcomes under COVID-19. This study investigated (i) the associations of intraindividual factors, some related to studying (motivation to learn, self-regulated learning, and study resilience), others more general (soft skills, intolerance of uncertainty) with three situational academic learning outcomes (general distress, online self-regulated learning, study-related emotions), and (ii) the effect of time, intraindividual factors, online self-regulated learning, and study-related emotions on distress and achievement over the following three exam sessions. A total of 331 university students took part in the study during the first Italian nationwide lockdown (T1; March-May 2020). Of those, 121 also completed at least one follow-up (T2: August 2020; T3: September 2020; T4: February 2021). At T1, study-related dispositions and soft skills were positively associated with online self-regulated learning and study-related emotions, while study-related dispositions were also negatively associated with general distress. Intolerance of uncertainty was associated positively with general distress and negatively with study-related emotions. Longitudinal effects of T2 and T3 for intolerance of uncertainty and study-related emotions were observed for distress, while those for T4 were study-related dispositions for achievement. Nurturing intraindividual factors can help students cope with a prolonged stressful situation such as a pandemic.

The role universities play in advancing COVID-specific knowledge and long-term management of this global crisis is largely unknown. In this comparative perspective study, we document the ways in which members from universities in the US, New Zealand, Italy, South Korea, and China engage in activities to respond to the pandemic. We frame this study with consortium-style emergency management and continuity planning (Friedman et al., 2014; Mann, 2007) and apply the sensemaking knowledge management framework (Choo, 1998) to identify strategies that university members employ to generate new scientific knowledge on COVID-19. Our findings reveal that response to the pandemic varies by university stratification, specifically by size and research capacity. At the time of this study, we identified three distinct lenses by which university members position their leadership and research on COVID. Universities from China utilized a post-pandemic approach. Whereas universities in the US, Italy, New Zealand, and South Korea approach their COVID research activities using an evolving-pandemic anticipatory lens and focus on Synergistic Knowledge Production (SKP) on current and future pandemics by engaging in a range of collaborative and interdisciplinary research activities with members of regional universities. Findings also provide policy implications for university-led responses to global health challenges. [Note: The page range (146-160) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 146-161.]

Obtaining a Veterinary Surgeon degree relies on the acquisition of "Day One Competences" (DOCs), among which professional skills related to meat inspection are acquired during visits to abattoirs. In 2020, lockdown measures due to COVID-19 pandemic limited on-site practical training. The present study describes the creation of an e-learning course on bovine and swine slaughtering as an alternative tool for compulsory DOCs achievement within the course "Inspection and control of food of animal origin" during the fourth year of the Veterinary Medicine degree program (Department of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Pisa). Academics and external professionals took part on the planning and development of the learning material. Video pills, consisting of shooting of the slaughtering coupled with trainers' descriptive explanations, were produced. The perceived effectiveness of course contents, trainers' communication skills and technical quality were assessed with a questionnaire. The developed e-learning platform consisted of four main sections (Introduction, Swine slaughtering, Bovine slaughtering and Additional topics), integrated by multiple-choice questions for the student's self-assessment. According to students' assessment, the platform, of high technical quality, effectively condensed contents on meat inspection. Despite the unique and irreplaceable role of practical training in the achievement of the professional skills included in the veterinary curriculum, the e-learning course may concur in providing DOCs and is in line with the adoption of a modern teaching model where e-learning resources engage students in deeper learning approaches.

School closures because of the COVID-19 emergency forced a rapid transition to distance learning worldwide. In this study, we investigated teachers' experiences with distance learning during the first Italian lockdown. A sample of 270 primary and secondary teachers answered a semi-structured questionnaire administered between April and May 2020. Didactic modalities, students' and teachers' difficulties with distance learning, and teachers' feelings during school closure were investigated through open-ended questions. Content analysis indicated that most teachers adopted both synchronous and asynchronous modalities, which resembled the traditional classroom learning environment. Moreover, technological weaknesses (lack of proper digital equipment and poor digital skills) and lack of interactions appeared to be the main threats to the quality of distance learning. The implementation of distance learning in primary schools emerged as more challenging than in secondary education. Furthermore, most teachers experienced negative feelings during online teaching. However, 13% of the sample reported a sense of resilience and opportunity. Particularly, older teachers reported more resilience compared with younger teachers, indicating the importance of experience in managing stressful teaching events. Overall, findings suggest that--in this novel educational environment--teachers' role has changed significantly, placing strong emphasis on the ability to encourage communication, discussion, and contact with students. Future work should focus on how information and communications technology could sustain meaningful interactions between students and teachers, especially in primary education.

All around the world, schools and universities should re-think and update teaching to adjust to technological changes and exploit their potentialities by means of hybrid teaching (Limone, 2013). Considering teaching in presence as absolutely good and online teaching as bad and necessary only during the pandemic is ideological, reductive and wrong (Ferri, Moriggi, 2018). If properly used in an ad-hoc pedagogical approach, technology represents an opportunity for students (Bonaiuti, Dipace, 2021), who can participate in training and updating processes and better adapt to changes. The long and complex post-pandemic period should allow the experimentation of a better integration between teaching in the classroom and technologically 'augmented' teaching. The process of digitalisation and methodological innovation should become permanent, as suggested in Mission number 4 -- Education and Research of the NPRR. This was the starting point for an explorative survey (Lucisano, Salerni, 2002) conducted with 400 students of the University of Bari in order to research their challenges and levels of satisfaction with the online courses attended in the a.a. 2020/2021. The survey shows the difficulties with distance teaching and presents an overview on possible future blended approaches.

The paper describes the international research conducted in collaboration between the University of Padova, University of North Texas, and Windesheim University of Applied Sciences. The study explores how higher education faculty involved in professionalizing courses for the educational area perceive the pandemic-induced transition to digitalized education (DE), after one year of experience with it. This paper introduces the second phase of a research study that began as early as spring 2020, with an online survey distributed worldwide. It seeks to investigate possible changes after one year of digitalized education related to (1) perceptions of institutional support and professional training offered; (2) potential and challenges of DE; and (3) professional intentions for future uses of DE. Details on the instrument's reliability and structure will also be provided. We are exploring how the DE is changing teachers' routines and whether these changes are paving the way for collaborative, reflective, and student-centred approaches that could have long-term consequences. This is to help focus future training pathways to better support teachers in teaching effectively and efficiently for learning, both in times of crisis and in times of normalcy.

Background: Italy was one of the first European countries to be affected by COVID-19. Due to the severity of the pandemic, the Italian government imposed a nationwide lockdown which had a great impact on the population, especially adolescents. Distance-learning, moving restrictions and pandemic-related concerns, resulted in a particularly stressful situation. Objective: This cross-sectional study aims to analyse substance consumption and its associated factors during the COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the Italian government. Methods: ESPAD is a questionnaire that is administered yearly in Italian high schools. In 2020, it was administered online during dedicated hours of distance learning, collecting data from 6027 Italian students (52.4% were male) aged 15-19. Data collected from the 2020 questionnaire was matched with that collected in 2019, in order to make them comparable. Results: The prevalence of consumption of each substance decreased during the restriction period, and the most used substance during the lockdown period was alcohol (43.1%). There were some changes in factors associated with psychoactive substance use, especially painkillers and non-prescription drugs. For instance, unlike what was observed in the 2019 model, in 2020 spending money without parental control was associated with painkillers and non-prescription drug use while risk perception was not. Conclusions: The restrictions and the increased difficulties in obtaining psychoactive substances did not prevent their consumption, and students with particular risk factors continued to use them, possibly changing the substance type of substance. This information is useful in order to better understand adolescents' substance use during the ongoing pandemic.