Teachers as caregivers of grieving children in school in the post-COVID-19 era: using the self-determination theory to conceptualize teachers' needs when supporting grieving children's mental health.

Background: It has been estimated in recent studies that more than 1.5 million children worldwide lost a caregiver due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Childhood bereavement is associated with heightened risks of impaired academic and social performance, mental health issues, substance use disorders, and higher mortality rates. Yet children may receive insufficient support post-loss. Although the role of school psychologists in supporting grieving students has been examined, little is known about the role of teachers in this context. Specifically, knowledge about teachers' needs when supporting bereaved children is lacking. Objective: The study's aim was to explore teachers' needs, drawing upon a well-established framework-self-determination theory (SDT)-which focuses on three human needs considered essential for optimal functioning: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Methods: Employing a qualitative approach, 36 teachers were interviewed about their needs when supporting grieving students. Interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Analysis revealed three SDT-related needs: knowledge (theory- and practice-related), acknowledgment, and support (emotional and practical). Conclusions: The findings enhance our theoretical understanding of childhood bereavement and may promote policy changes that ensure teachers' needs satisfaction. Its significance lies in the basic premise that supporting teachers' needs in the context of pediatric grief may eventually lead to their optimal ability to enact best practices for supporting grieving students' well-being.

Religious meaning-making among Muslim parents bereaved by homicide: Struggling to accept 'God's will' and yearning for 'Qayama' day.

Objective: Parental bereavement by homicide is considered an extremely difficult grief experience; hence it may significantly undermine one's meaning structures. Although bereaved parents' meaning-making process has been extensively researched, less is known about meaning reconstruction among Muslim parents bereaved by homicide - an understudied population. The study's goal was to gain an in-depth understanding of bereaved Muslim parents' meaning-making process in light of their religious background using Park's religious meaning-making model. Methods: Employing a qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were held with 12 Muslim parents bereaved by homicide. The data were analyzed using both categorical-content and categorical-form analyses. Results: The findings indicated that Muslim parents' meaning-making process involves silencing, which is grounded in their religious background. This process is characterized by a difficulty to accept this loss as God's will, as expected from them by religion, given that it was caused by an intentional act of human violence. Consequently, their global belief meanings are undermined. They, then, yearn for "Qayama" day-the day of judgment. Conclusions: The findings are discussed in light of Park's religious meaning-making model, highlighting that bereaved Muslim parents' coping process includes an additional challenge related to their religious background. This underscores the need for culturally-sensitive inquiry and spiritually-informed therapy.

Implementing digital neuroscience in special-needs-teacher education: exploring student-teachers' multifaceted learning outcomes related to teaching children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Introduction: In recent decades, there has been increased use of neuroscience in teacher education, which refers to applying knowledge from brain science to teaching. Similarly, digital learning has been extensively integrated into teacher education, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the benefits of assimilating educational neuroscience into special-education training-particularly using digital platforms-have yet to be examined. The current study explored the use of digitally-delivered educational neuroscience, related to neurodevelopmental disorders (ND), in teacher education, to gain insight into the learning outcomes alongside the contribution of the digital platform. Methods: Employing a qualitative approach, we recruited 193 student-teachers who learned a digital ND-related neuroscience course. Data collection included open-ended reflections, open-ended story questions and five focus groups - all of which were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Findings revealed a process involving four learning outcomes: understanding brain-based mechanisms of ND, enhanced empathy, extended perception of teachers' professional role, and the design of pedagogical adaptations. The analysis also pointed out the various ways in which the digital platform facilitated these learning outcomes. Discussion: The study provides theoretical insight into the role of digitally-delivered educational neuroscience in the service of inclusion. It further discusses the practical implications of using digitally-delivered educational neuroscience in teacher education to promote an inclusive pedagogy and best practices.

Simulation-based learning in teacher education: Using Maslow's Hierarchy of needs to conceptualize instructors' needs.

Introduction: Simulation-based learning (SBL) has become an effective tool in the education field, and instructors play a significant role in leading it. Although much is known about participants' needs, SBL instructors' needs have yet to be addressed. The study's goal was to explore SBL instructors' needs while guiding an SBL workshop using the psychological framework of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Methods: We employed a qualitative case-study design, consisting of 68 four-hour-long workshops, held at a teacher-education simulation center by the center's professional instructors. Data collection comprised 211 statements derived from instructors' open-ended reflections, the transcripts of two focus groups held with the instructors, and 98 interpersonal communication documents. Results: Data were analyzed using both deductive and inductive thematic analysis, which rendered 11 themes spanning Maslow's five levels, and revealing two possible simulation-based learning paths: a complete process, in which all needs are met and an incomplete process, in which needs remain unmet. Discussion: Theoretical insights and practical implications are provided for attending to instructors' needs (i.e., basic needs, security, belonging, self-esteem, self-actualization) to ensure optimal learning in teacher education when using SBL.

Educational equity amidst COVID-19: Exploring the online learning challenges of Bedouin and Jewish Female Preservice Teachers in Israel.

Amidst COVID-19, teacher education has shifted to online learning. Although much is known about digital inequity in routine times, little is known about it under constrained conditions, particularly among women of minority groups. The study's goal was to explore the online-learning challenges encountered by (minority) Bedouin female preservice teachers (n = 41) compared to those encountered by (majority) Jewish counterparts (n = 60). Data from reflections (N = 101), focus groups (2), and (68) interviews underwent qualitative-constructivist content analysis. Group comparisons revealed socioculturally-based differential learning pathways, leading to educational inequities. We discuss possible ways to ensure equitable online teacher education using the "digital divide" perspective.

"I Just Needed a Hug": Culturally-Based Disenfranchised Grief of Jewish Ultraorthodox Women Following Pregnancy Loss.

Pregnancy loss (PL) often results in disenfranchised grief. Although much is known about women's experience of PL in general, less is known about PL among women from different backgrounds, particularly the Ultraorthodox community, where the woman's role is often defined by childbearing, but fertility is not openly discussed. The study's goal was to explore PL experiences among this unique sociocultural group: Jewish Ultraorthodox women. Employing a qualitative approach, we interviewed 14 women about their PL. Analysis revealed five themes denoting Ultraorthodox women's struggles post-PL, within two arenas: religiously-based marital struggle (restricted physical support, challenged emotional support) and social struggle/conflict regarding sharing (due to PL as a taboo, perceived failure to fulfill the woman's fertility role, and yearning for "room to grieve"). The findings highlight that PL-grief may be disenfranchised for religious reasons, underscoring the need for a culturally-sensitive inquiry of PL and disenfranchised grief. Therapeutically, clinicians' additional awareness is required.

Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory to conceptualize the mobile-learning adoption process in teacher education in the COVID-19 era.

Using mobile learning (ML) has become exceedingly relevant in times of distant teaching. Although much is known about the factors affecting ML usage, less is known about the ML adoption process under constraints such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this exploratory case study was to gain insight into the ML adoption process using the lens of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Participants were in-service (32) and preservice (29) teachers who attended ML training. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (20), focus groups (6), and participants' reflections (183) at three time points. Data underwent multilevel analysis (content and linguistic analysis), revealing 12 themes that denote the ML adoption process and demonstrated intergroup similarities and differences. The study provides theoretical insight into the ML adoption process under crisis and highlights the features that must be addressed to promote optimal ML adoption in teacher education in both routine and emergency conditions.

The experience of divine struggle following child loss: The Case of Israeli bereaved Modern-Orthodox parents.

Child loss may undermine one's faith. Whereas much is known about religion's role following loss, less is known about the experience of divine struggle-namely, struggling with complex God-related emotions/beliefs-particularly among diverse sociocultural samples. Employing a narrative approach, we interviewed 20 bereaved Modern-Orthodox parents. Analysis revealed three types of divine struggle (explicit, implicit/silenced, none) differentiated by four categories: core emotional experience, response type, significance of faith in the coping process, and the impact of grief-induced divine struggle on parent-God relationship. Findings emphasize the need for culturally-sensitive inquiry of divine struggle, that divine struggle may be silenced, and therapists' awareness is critical.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get-Creative": Israeli Jewish religious leaders find religiously innovative ways to preserve community members' sense of belonging and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This commentary describes the religiously innovative adaptations made to customary rituals by Jewish religious leaders to address issues of belonging and resilience during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic quarantine. These adaptations included allowing religious prayer through a "balcony" minyan, conducting an online chavruta using video conferencing, and broadcasting the Passover ceremony. The approach shown here could contribute to future evidence-based research, conducted among different faiths, about the roles of both religious leadership and information and communications technology (ICT) in preserving one's sense of belonging and resilience in times of crisis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Attachment to God as a mediator of the relationship between religious affiliation and adjustment to child loss.

OBJECTIVES: The loss of a child is a traumatic life event. While bereavement research has examined the roles of both interpersonal attachment and religiosity in coping with loss, only a handful of studies have addressed the concept of attachment to God (ATG). The current study examined ATG's role as a mediator in the relationship between religious affiliation (RA) and adjustment to child loss. METHOD: Seventy-seven bereaved parents (68% women; average age, 55 years) were administrated questionnaires referring to RA, ATG, and adjustment to loss (Two-Track Bereavement Questionnaire-TTBQ_70). RESULTS: The hypothesized mediation model was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the need to examine internal religion-related variables, such as ATG, while addressing religion and loss. From a clinical perspective, the findings may help therapists implement culturally sensitive practice as a part of spiritually informed psychotherapy. Enhancing therapists' familiarity with the client's internal constructs will enable a better evaluation and accommodation of therapy when working with bereaved parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).