Vol. 7 No. 1 (2020)

Relationships are usually perceived as a source of well-being and the basis for a shared life plan owing to their importance as a form of social organisation. However, the ideology of romantic love promoted by the different agents of socialisation can have negative consequences. The aim of this qualitative study is to analyse perceptions regarding relationships and romantic love among 34 student teachers with an average age of 21.32 years (SD = 3.121). The results show that commitment and reciprocity are important indicators of individual and shared well-being, although some responses indicated discomfort in relation to the social imperatives of romantic love. Participants also made frequent reference to certain negative aspects of relationships, such as jealousy and controlling behaviours by mainly female partners. Greater awareness and recognition of the meaning and significance attributed to romantic love and relationships could help to examine critically how these relational models have been assimilated by those responsible for socialising future generations.

Emotional intelligence is a growing area of interest in education. Up to now, however, little research attention has been paid to the question of teacher emotional intelligence, probably owing to the lack of assessment tools. The aim of the study reported here was to adapt and validate the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire (ESCQ) for Portuguese teachers. ESCQ is a self-report instrument for measuring emotional intelligence, based on the theoretical model of Mayer and Salovey (1997). A sample of 958 school teachers was supplied with the following survey instruments: the Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire for Teachers (ESCQ-T), and the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II – Portuguese Version in School Context (ROCI-II-PViSC). The statistical analysis included structural equation modelling using SPSS/AMOS 25 to adapt and validate the ESCQ-T, an instrument for assessing teacher emotional intelligence. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit with the original factor structure. The ESCQ-T also showed a robust reliability coefficient and good psychometric validity and reliability. The study demonstrates that the Portuguese version of the ESCQ-T is a valid instrument for assessing teacher emotional intelligence and may be used in future studies and in relation to educational practice.

Student indiscipline and misbehaviour are one of the biggest concerns of teachers, school managers and parents. The aim of this study is to compare perceptions of classroom indiscipline in public and private primary and secondary schools in Angola and Portugal. The survey group for the study consisted of 1600 teachers: 800 Angolan teachers (493 men, 307 women) and 800 Portuguese teachers (181 men, 619 women). Angolan teachers reported a higher frequency of certain types of behaviour, such as talking out of turn, verbal aggression and disrespect towards teachers, while Portuguese teachers reported inattention as the most common behaviour. Perceptions of indiscipline differed according to the type of school and the teacher’s gender and professional experience. Angola is a country that has recently emerged from decades of war and, as such, faces problems whose impact on classroom discipline is not yet fully known. This study offers new insight into the situation in Angola by providing a cross-cultural comparison with countries such as Portugal of different variables and types of discipline. 

Keyword mnemonics has been shown to be an effective method of learning foreign vocabulary in a variety of languages from around the world. This study examined the effectiveness of keyword mnemonics in the learning of Basque using long lists of high and low image vividness words. A sample of 424 (226 female and 198 male) compulsory secondary education students were provided with a list of 28 Basque words (14 high image vividness and 14 low image vividness) and their Spanish translation, and then surveyed using the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control and the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire. The results revealed that when keyword words were chosen by the participants’ classmates, recall of the Spanish translation of the Basque words was higher in the keyword mnemonics group than in the groups that used repetition or other methods for selecting keywords. The study ends with a discussion of the results and proposals for new lines of research.

People with intellectual disability face major barriers to accessing and remaining in university education and employment. In order to respond to this need, the Rey Juan Carlos University introduced a university training programme aimed at young people aged between 18 and 30 with a diagnosed degree of intellectual disability of 33% or more. The purpose of this proposal is to address the social interaction and emotional regulation needs of people with this profile through the introduction of two specific training modules focusing on social and communication skills and emotional management. The active participation model for these modules helps students to enhance their socio-emotional skills, develop their personal autonomy and improve their employment prospects. To assess the effectiveness of the course, students’ skills were measured using a rubric before and after training. Social and emotional skills both showed improved scores following the course, thus confirming the effectiveness of the proposal. However, in order to ensure these skills are maintained over time and extended into other contexts, the programme should aim to equip students with the tools they need to continue to enhance their personal, emotional and social development, and ensure their social and professional inclusion.

The aim of this article is to establish the factor structure of a questionnaire for the assessment of anxiety towards mathematics among undergraduate engineering students, and to study the results of its implementation. Even though mathematics is essential in engineering, anxiety is increasingly seen as one of the main causes of aversion to the subject and high failure rates. The first phase of the study consisted of an exploratory factor analysis involving 627 secondary school students, in order to validate a Likert-type scale questionnaire. The second phase consisted of a confirmatory factor analysis with a sample involving 215 engineering students, from which two factors were obtained: ‘anxiety towards assessment’ and ‘anxiety towards numbers and mathematical operations’. The results reveal a relationship between the two factors and higher levels of ‘anxiety towards assessment’. This relationship and other values obtained from the questionnaires suggest that continuous assessment may help to reduce the distorting effect of anxiety on mathematical performance.

ICT has become an integral part of everyday life. Education cannot ignore this reality but must instead move with the times and take advantage of the educational potential of technology to provide students with the tools to become competent citizens. In music education, digital tools, such as recordings, are an underused resource. The aim of this study is to assess the teaching-learning implications of digital music recording for students. Interviews were conducted with 41 music teachers from public, municipal and private music schools to find out their opinion about the contribution of digital recordings to music learning. The results confirm the educational value and effectiveness of recordings, both as a model for students to follow and as a method of self-correction. The study concludes that recordings are also an excellent motivational and creative resource and a way to improve students’ self-listening, self-awareness, self-criticism and assessment of their own aural exposure.

The purpose of this article is to report on levels of satisfaction, applicability and subjective experience in relation to the Growing Up Strong Program for secondary school students from the perspective of its users. The objectives of the research were to assess the level of satisfaction of student users with the Growing Up Strong Program; to explore the applicability of the learning generated by the program according to its participants; and to learn about their subjective experience of applying the character strengths promoted by the program. The study consisted of a cross-sectional descriptive survey of 590 secondary school students from seven different schools, using a validated data collection instrument. The respondents reported good levels of satisfaction with the Growing Up Strong Program and confirmed the applicability of the learning received in relation to self-regulation, social intelligence, gratitude, courage and open-mindedness in intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts. The results of the study confirm positive levels of user satisfaction, applicability and subjective experiences based on the lessons in positive psychology promoted by the program.

This manual presents a theoretical framework and guidelines for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment and treatment, based on the most recent literature in this area. The book is divided into seven chapters, which focus less on the specific tools of communication than on how to achieve communication itself, and offers a detailed description of the latest best-practice AAC tools, techniques and programmes. The manual is an important, up-to-date addition to the the Spanish-language literature on AAC and will be of great use to students and professionals working in the field alike.

In a work that combines scientific accuracy and accessible language, Anabel González brings us face to face with our emotions: what happens when we suppress them, and what we can do to combat behaviours such as overthinking, over-control and loneliness. The book offers insight into the importance of avoiding unpleasant situations and managing the intensity of our emotions, looking for alternatives, making emotions visible and observing them from multiple perspectives, assuming losses and learning from experience. Structured around the author’s encounters with seven strangers who have had a bad day, the book will leave readers better equipped to recognise and manage their own emotions.