An Analysis of Personal Learning Environments and Age-Related Psychosocial Factors of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors.

Spain is one of the countries with the greatest influx of immigrants and, specifically, of unaccompanied foreign minors (UFMs). The educational and social inclusion of unaccompanied foreign minors poses both a challenge and a threat to current policy. Nonetheless, studies linking educational aspects to the phenomenon of the integration of these children are scarce and do not specify the most influential educational tools and strategies. In this sense, a descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional research study is presented. The aim of this study is to examine whether variables such as age and the use of applications and social networks determine the personal learning environments (PLE) of unaccompanied foreign minors. The sample of the present study was formed by 624 individuals (♂ = 92.1% (n = 575); ♀ = 7.9% (n = 49)) aged between 8 and 17 years old. The majority came from Morocco and resided in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The "PLE and Social Integration of UFMs" questionnaire was used as the study instrument. Amongst the main findings, significant differences are highlighted in the personal learning environments as a function of age-related psychosocial factors as they pertain to unaccompanied foreign minors. Four factors were seen to exist in relation to the personal learning environments of unaccompanied foreign minors: self-concept of the learning process, planning and management of learning, use of resources and tools, and communication and social interaction. The same trend was observed in the four factors, with older age groups reporting better scores. On the other hand, results show that the use of applications and social networks have a significant and favourable impact on personal learning environment construction.

The Relationship between Emotional Regulation and School Burnout: Structural Equation Model According to Dedication to Tutoring.

School burnout constitutes a current phenomenon which generates diverse negative consequences in the personal and academic lives of students. Given this situation, it is necessary to develop actions that permit us to regulate this harmful mental state and that are administered from within the school context. A descriptive and cross-sectional study is presented that pursues the objective of examining a structural equation model which brings together burnout and emotional regulation. The model assumes that students receive tutoring at school in order to tackle these types of problems. For this, the sample constituted a total of 569 students from the province of Granada (men = 52.3% (n = 298); women = 47.7% (n = 271)). Mean age was reported as 10.39 ± 0.95 years and the School Burnout Inventory (BMI) and the Emotional Regulation Scale were utilized as the principal instruments. As main findings it was observed that students who received one hour of weekly tutoring showed a positive relationship between expressive suppression as a strategy of emotional regulation, cynicism, and exhaustion as consequences of school burnout. In the same way, a direct association existed between burnout-related exhaustion and cognitive repair. Given that significant relationships could not be observed between these variables in students who do not receive tutoring, higher use of emotional regulation was confirmed amongst tutored students when faced with this negative mental state.

Adaptación española de la escala de liderazgo pedagógico Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) / Spanish Adaptation of the Pedagogical Leadership Scale Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED)

Resumen El liderazgo educativo ha llegado a ser un factor clave en la mejora de la calidad educativa. El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar la escala de liderazgo pedagógico VAL-ED (Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education) a población española (adaptación cross-cultural y validación), y obtener sus características psicométricas mediante análisis de Rasch. Los resultados obtenidos confirman que la unidimensionalidad de cada una de las seis subescalas que la componen ha sido demostrada, garantizando su utilidad para diagnosticar el liderazgo educativo, decidir vías de mejora y llevar a cabo mediciones de la eficacia de las medidas implementadas. La conclusión es que la adaptación del cuestionario VAL-ED a población española es una herramienta válida y fiable para la medición del liderazgo educativo.

Abstract Educational leadership has become a key factor in the improvement of educational quality. The aim of the work was to describe the adaptation of the Pedagogical Leadership Scale VAL-ED (Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education) to the Spanish population (cross-cultural adaptation process and validation) and obtain their psychometric characteristics through Rasch analysis. The obtained results confirm that the unidimensionality of each of the six subscales that compose it has been demonstrated, it is guaranteed its usefulness to diagnose the educational leadership, to decide ways of improvement and to measure the effectiveness of its implementation. The conclusion is that the adaptation of the VAL-ED questionnaire to the Spanish population is a valid and reliable tool for the measurement of educational leadership.