Investigating subjective well-being and mental health of children in out-of-home care during the COVID-19 pandemic

Scientific Conference (2022, September 15)

Practices and experiences of distant education during the COVID-19 pandemic: The perspectives of six- to sixteen-year-olds from three high-income countries

in International Journal of Educational Research Open (2021), 2(2), 11

The paper explores children’s perspectives of distance education, their learning experiences and school satisfac- tion in Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic ... [more ▼]

The paper explores children’s perspectives of distance education, their learning experiences and school satisfac- tion in Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data stem from an online questionnaire completed by 1773 primary and secondary school children aged 6–16. While the paper uses quantitative and qualitative data, it aligns with the qualitative research tradition and predominantly uses an inductive approach. The findings show that teachers offered varied types of distance education and that parents supported children. The children’s contact time with teachers and their time spent on schoolwork var- ied within and between countries. Their school satisfaction dropped in the three countries. The paper calls for training and development on distant education. [less ▲]

Évaluation de la mémoire de travail : un outil de différenciation entre trouble du langage et différence du langage dans des contextes multilingues ?

in ANAE: Approche Neuropsychologique des Apprentissages chez l'Enfant (2021), 33(171), 194-204

Diagnostiquer les troubles du langage chez les enfants bilingues repré- sente un défi clinique en raison des similitudes dans le profil de compé- tence linguistique entre les enfants bilingues au ... [more ▼]

Diagnostiquer les troubles du langage chez les enfants bilingues repré- sente un défi clinique en raison des similitudes dans le profil de compé- tence linguistique entre les enfants bilingues au développement typique et les enfants monolingues avec un trouble du langage. Les mesures de la mémoire de travail dépendent moins des connaissances accumulées que les tests de langage traditionnels et pourraient contribuer à différen- cier un trouble du langage d’une différence de langage liée aux expé- riences avec une langue. [less ▲]

Intentions, concepts and conceptions of research supervision: a consideration of three disciplines

in Teaching in Higher Education (2021)

This interview-based study with thirty doctoral supervisors in the UK focused on the diverse goals and intentions behind their supervisory activities, from which we derived a six-dimensional model of ... [more ▼]

This interview-based study with thirty doctoral supervisors in the UK focused on the diverse goals and intentions behind their supervisory activities, from which we derived a six-dimensional model of concepts of supervision. We explored how strongly each of these concepts featured in supervisors’ intentions and whether this varied by discipline. Most of the intentions underlying the activities supervisors employed pertained to the concepts ‘Enculturation’ and ‘Functional’; far fewer pertained to the concepts ‘Emancipation’, ‘Critical Thinking’, ‘Care’ and ‘Preparation for Work and Life’. When supervisors were asked to identify the intentions behind their supervision practice more generally, not in direct reference to their activities, the functional perspective was less prominent. Some differences were observed between as well as within disciplines. The study confirms and extends previous research on concepts of graduate supervision and illustrates how supervisors’ personal views, their ‘conceptions’, of supervision can be described in relation to the six concepts. [less ▲]

Subjective Well-Being of Adolescents in Luxembourg, Germany, and Brazil During the COVID-19 Pandemic

in Journal of Adolescent Health (2021)

Purpose: This study explores adolescent well-being during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in two high-income countries from Europe and one middle-income country from South America. The aim is to ... [more ▼]

Purpose: This study explores adolescent well-being during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in two high-income countries from Europe and one middle-income country from South America. The aim is to investigate the correlates of different dimensions of subjective well- being in 10- to 16-year-olds from different cultural contexts. Methods: An online, self-report questionnaire was completed by 1,613 adolescents in Luxembourg, Germany, and Brazil between May and July 2020. The outcome variables were measures of life satisfaction and emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study included a range of sociodemographic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal covariates. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and latent variable structural equational modeling. Results: A two-factor model of subjective well-being, consisting of life satisfaction and emotional well-being latent constructs, fitted well with this sample data for Luxembourg, Germany, and Brazil. Results showed that gender, socioeconomic status, intrapersonal factors, quantity and type of schoolwork, and relationships with adults were important common predictors of individual differences in subjective well-being during COVID-19. Fear of illness emerged as the strongest correlate of emotional well-being across the three countries. Conclusions: This study indicates that girls and adolescents from low-income homes may be especially vulnerable to negative secondary impacts of COVID-19 that can affect mental health. It identified several common correlates of subjective well-being in adolescents from different cultural settings, including factors that may be changeable, such as the following: the way adults listen to adolescents, schoolwork during distant learning, and fear of illness. Findings can inform the development of quality interventions for promoting the well-being of adolescents during a global pandemic. [less ▲]

Subjective well-being and stay-at-home experiences of children aged 6-16 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Luxembourg: A report of the project COVID-Kids

Report (2020)

Effects of an Early Literacy Intervention for Linguistically Diverse Children: A Quasi-Experimental Study

in Frontiers in Psychology (2020), 11

Phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge underpin children’s early literacy acquisition. Promoting these foundational skills in kindergarten should therefore lead to a better response to formal ... [more ▼]

Phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge underpin children’s early literacy acquisition. Promoting these foundational skills in kindergarten should therefore lead to a better response to formal literacy instruction once started. The present study evaluated a 12-week early literacy intervention for linguistically diverse children who are learning to read in German. The study was set in Luxembourg where kindergarten education is in Luxembourgish and children learn to read in German in Grade 1 of primary school. One hundred and eighty-nine children (mean age = 5;8 years) were assigned to an early literacy intervention in Luxembourgish or to a business as usual control group. Trained teachers delivered the intervention to entire classes, four times a week, during the last year of kindergarten. The early literacy program included direct instruction in phonological awareness and letter-knowledge, while promoting print and book awareness and literacy engagement. Children were assessed pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and at a 9 months delayed follow-up using measures in Luxembourgish and in German. At the end of the intervention, children in the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group on phonological awareness and letter-knowledge measures in Luxembourgish and the gains in phonological awareness were maintained at 9 months follow-up. The effects generalized to measures of phonological awareness, word-level reading comprehension and spelling in German (effect sizes d > 0.25), but not to German single word/pseudoword reading, at delayed follow-up. Intervention programs designed to support foundational literacy skills can be successfully implemented by regular teachers in a play-based kindergarten context. The findings suggest that early literacy intervention before school entry can produce educationally meaningful effects in linguistically diverse learners. [less ▲]

Promoting literacy development in linguistically diverse learners: an early-literacy intervention study

Scientific Conference (2019, July)

Developing literacy in linguistically diverse children

Scientific Conference (2019, May)

Mehrsprachigkeit im Fokus - Eröffnungsvortrag

Conference given outside the academic context (2018)