Addressing adolescent social and emotional concerns: Insights from loneliness, burnout, and preferred conversation topics in Asian and UK contexts post-pandemic.

This study investigated relationships between social and emotional concerns, loneliness, and school burnout, as these factors are associated with adaptive functioning during adolescence residence in Asia (i.e., China, Hong Kong) and the UK. Analysis of data from 2849 participants illuminated compelling insights. The participants reported a high level of loneliness, notably among girls in the UK. The research generated 11 preferred conversation topics (i.e., future and aspirations, anything, learning, nothing, mental health, personal interests, health, relationships, psychosocial issues, social issues, feelings). Among them, future and aspirations lead the way, aligning with developmental needs. A desire for mental health discussions coexisted with heightened loneliness and burnout among participants who pursued such conversations. The low achievers tended to talk about mental health issues or have nothing to say. High achievers were drawn to social issues, emphasizing their distinct socio-emotional needs. Forging a connection between personal interests and mitigated school burnout underscores the potential for individual passions to harmonize with educational experience. These findings underscore the exigency for bespoke interventions addressing the evolving emotional terrain of adolescents, especially in the pandemic's aftermath. The study's implications underscore the importance of empathetic listening and proactive engagement between adolescents and supportive adults. This research enriches the comprehension of pandemic-induced adolescent experiences and suggests avenues for future investigations into long-term emotional well-being. CLASSIFICATION CODE: 2800 (Developmental Psychology).

Supporting professional development for educators during the pandemic: Lessons from an international blended learning diploma program.

This article discusses issues that emerged from conducting professional development activities for educators during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, as post-academic educational trainers, the authors worked closely with more than 200 professional educators who participated in an international diploma program to develop their professional skills and gain positive and insightful experience. Here, they share three lessons they learned while working with professional educators: (a) teachers face new challenges in the use of educational technology, (b) teachers wonder how to motivate learners with diverse abilities in a virtual setting, and (c) building a supportive community is essential. Suggestions and recommendations are also provided.

Design an international blended professional development model for gifted education: An evaluation study.

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate an international professional development program with a blended learning design in gifted education (i.e., The RITHA program), which is applied globally. By using Design-Based Research, the prototype of this program was examined before it was launched. That process is reported in this study. The main research focus of this study is the blended learning design. Based on the evaluation surveys of training participants, the results showed that participants were highly satisfied with their overall learning in the blended learning model. What was appreciated most was a well-designed course with an instructor to provide good instruction, positive interaction, and quality feedback. The findings show that online courses participants expect synchronous and asynchronous online activities and feedback. The two most mentioned benefits of blended learning seem to be flexibility and the use of asynchronous discussion boards. Implications were also reported.