Mindfulness Based Education per la consapevolezza emotiva e la prevenzione della sindrome da burn-out: un’esperienza educativa con gli insegnanti dalla scuola dell’Infanzia alla scuola superiore di Secondo grado

Mindfulness is the interconnection between the ability to direct attention to the present moment (self-regulation of attention) and the attitude connected to this moment, characterized by curiosity, openness and acceptance. Clinical efficacy of  indfulness has been demonstrated over the past two decades. Its potential within both nursing contests and formal learning for adult education has recently been investigated. Aims of the research: to evaluate and describe the effects of a professional training for teachers of all levels, examining the pedagogical implications, in terms of personal transformation and in the professional context. Methodology: the research presents and discusses - through the data emerging from a questionnaire - the professional training of n. 57 teachers entitled «Take the Next Step - Conscious Learning». The course was structured inspired by the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society University of Massachusetts (USA). Results: the data showed that the teachers participating in the training course understood its meaning, usefulness and the importance of the experiential and reflective-transformative nature of the tools presented. Conclusions: the possible implications of the results of this study concern the ability to use and promote the mindfulness techniques beyond clinical effectiveness, as important tools for growth and development within formal learning contexts. La mindfulness è l’interconnessione tra la capacità di dirigere l’attenzione sul momento presente (autoregolazione dell’attenzione) e l’atteggiamento  a esso connesso, caratterizzato da curiosità, apertura e accettazione. Negli ultimi decenni è stata dimostrata l’efficacia clinica della mindfulness e recentemente è stato studiato il suo potenziale all’interno sia dei contesti di cura sia di apprendimento formale per la formazione degli adulti. Finalità della ricerca: valutare e descrivere gli effetti di un percorso di formazione professionale dei docenti di ogni ordine e grado, esaminando le implicazioni pedagogiche, in termini di trasformazione personale e nel contesto professionale. Metodologia: la ricerca presenta e discute - attraverso i dati emersi da un questionario - il percorso formativo di n. 57 docenti che hanno partecipato al corso di formazione dal titolo «Fai il passo successivo – Apprendimento consapevole». Il corso è stato stato strutturato ispirandosi al programma Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) e al lavoro di Jon Kabat-Zinn e Saki Santorelli del Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society University of Massachusetts (USA). Risultati: i dati hanno mostrato che i docenti partecipanti al percorso formativo hanno compreso il suo significato e utilità, nonché l’importanza della natura esperienziale e riflessivo-trasformativa degli strumenti presentati. Conclusioni: le possibili implicazioni dei risultati di questo studio riguardano la capacità di utilizzare e promuovere l’uso delle tecniche di mindfulness oltre l’efficacia clinica, come strumenti importanti per la crescita e lo sviluppo all’interno di contesti di apprendimento formale. &nbsp

Lo Sviluppo Sostenibile nel nuovo curricolo di Educazione Civica: un'esperienza didattica nella scuola Primaria

The year 2020 was characterized, primarily, by the pandemic emergency from Covid-19 which generated an unprecedented social, political, economic and justice crisis on a global level, which we are still experiencing today. In this context, in Italy we have seen, however, starting from 2020, a "great return" in the school curricula of Childhood, Primary, Lower and Upper Secondary: that of Civic Education as a mandatory teaching subject and transversal to teaching, in line with the provisions of the UN 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. The article presents the Civic Education curriculum in Primary school, critically reflecting on the need to educate to an idea of "complex" sustainability. An educational experience is reported and discussed in a third grade of Primary school, which intended to explore the 2030 Agenda through the "How to save the planet" project, following an integrated approach that actively involved children, families and teachers.Il 2020 è stato caratterizzato, prioritariamente, dall’emergenza pandemica da Covid-19 che ha generato una crisi a livello globale non solo sanitaria, ma sociale, politica, economica, di giustizia senza precedenti, che stiamo tuttora vivendo. In questo sfondo, in Italia abbiamo assistito, peraltro proprio a partire dal 2020, ad un “grande ritorno” nei curricola scolastici di Infanzia, Primaria, Secondaria Inferiore e Superiore: quello dell’Educazione Civica come disciplina di insegnamento obbligatoria e trasversale agli insegnamenti, in linea con quanto previsto dall’Agenda 2030 dell’ONU e dai 17 SDGs. Il contributo presenta il curricolo di Educazione Civica nella scuola Primaria, riflettendo criticamente attorno alla necessità di educare ad un’idea di sostenibilità “complessa”. Si riporta e discute un’esperienza didattica in una classe terza di scuola Primaria, che ha inteso esplorare l’Agenda 2030 attraverso il progetto “Come salvare il pianeta”, seguendo un approccio integrato che ha coinvolto attivamente bambini, famiglie e docenti

Managing work-related stress through corporate theatre methodology: A pedagogical research-training pathway

Traditional training methods – mostly used in informational and awareness-raising interventions – fail to significantly affect processes of socialization and organizational change and the management/prevention of work-related stress risk. Corporate Theatre, can represent a training methodology capable of interconnecting work practices and training processes, promoting the emergence of professionals’ emotional experiences, and encouraging processes of deconstructing/restructuring mental representations with a transformative function. Against this backdrop, the article presents, analyses, and discusses a research-training course on work-related stress management in five organizations in the Roman territory. The results confirm that an experiential training such as Corporate Theatre may promote changes in habitual behaviours and produce lasting effects over time, particularly by stimulating the creation of shared languages to identify the situations that may generate stress as well as the development of collaborative forms of organizational wellbeing

SPACE AS A 'THIRD EDUCATOR' IN INTEGRATED 0-6 EDUCATION SYSTEMS: BETWEEN REAL AND VIRTUAL

Space expresses care and respect for the child's spatial-cognitive-emotional exploration needs, a kind of "intermediate area," a transition between the child's self and the world. Space is the "third educator" (Edwards, Gandini, Forman, 2014), a necessary pedagogical category for assuming and knowing our existence. The quality of spaces goes hand in hand with the quality of learning, paying attention - at the same time - to the choice of technological aids that configure that "virtual space" to which children must be educated

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy increases systemic SDF-1, cardiac DAMPs Fibronectin-EDA, S100/Calgranulin, galectine-3, and NLRP3-MyD88-chemokine pathways

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly changed the oncology clinic in recent years, improving survival expectations in cancer patients. ICI therapy have a broad spectrum of side effects from endocrinopathies to cardiovascular diseases. In this study, pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic effects of short-term ICIs therapy in preclinical models were analyzed. Methods: Firstly, in a human in vitro model, human cardiomyocytes co-cultured with hPBMC were exposed to ICIs (with CTLA-4 or PD-1 blocking agents, at 200 nM) for 72 h. After treatment, production of DAMPs and 12 cytokines were analyzed in the supernatant through colorimetric and enzymatic assays. C57/Bl6 mice were treated with CTLA-4 or PD-1 blocking agents (15 mg/kg) for 10 days. Before (T0), after three days (T3) and after treatments (T10), ejection fraction, fractional shortening, radial and longitudinal strain were calculated by using bidimensional echocardiography (Vevo 2100, Fujfilm). Fibrosis, necrosis, hypertrophy and vascular NF-kB expression were analyzed through Immunohistochemistry. Myocardial expression of DAMPs (S100- Calgranulin, Fibronectin and Galectine-3), MyD88, NLRP3 and twelve cytokines have been analyzed. Systemic levels of SDF-1, IL-1β, and IL-6 were analyzed before, during and after ICIs therapy. Results: Radial and longitudinal strain were decreased after 10 days of ICIs therapy. Histological analysis of NF-kB expression shows that short-term anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1 treatment increased vascular and myocardial inflammation. No myocardial hypertrophy was seen with the exception of the pembrolizumab group. Myocardial fibrosis and expression of galectin-3, pro-collagen 1-α and MMP-9 were increased after treatment with all ICIs. Both anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1 treatments increased the expression of DAMPs, NLRP3 inflammasome and MyD88 and induced both in vitro and in vivo the secretion of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6. Systemic levels of SDF-1, IL-1β and IL-6 were increased during and after treatment with ICIs. Conclusions: Short therapy with PD-1 and CTLA-4 blocking agents increases vascular expression of NF-kB, systemic SDF-1, IL-1β, IL-6 levels and myocardial NLRP3, MyD88 and DAMPs expression in preclinical models. A pro-inflammatory cytokine storm was induced in myocardial tissues and in cultured cardiac cells after ICIs therapy. The overall picture of the study suggests new putative biomarkers of ICIs-mediated systemic and myocardial damages potentially useful in clinical cardioncology