A note on welfare and the economic shocks

The behaviour of the permanent and transitory economic shocks for different levels of household's welfare is studied using both consumption and income measures. After testing for heteroskedasticity of the economic shocks, we use local polynomial regression models to estimate the variance of the shocks conditional on welfare level. Italian data covering the period 1980-2004 show evidence of heteroskedasticity of both the transitory and the permanent economic shocks, with the poor experiencing higher variances. The permanent shocks seem to have a more uniform effect at all welfare levels.

Trening mindfulness w edukacji wczesnoszkolnej

This text presents the main characteristics of mindfulness practice and seeks to draw a parallel among some aspects of didactics for early childhood education. Research suggests that mindfulness practice has had a positive impact on the adult population. While surveys on the use of mindfulness with children are scarce at present, this type of research is increasing among educators and psychologists targeting primary school level and beyond. In this article, we present the methods by which mindfulness practice can be applied in the teaching of nursery and pre-primary school children. In some instances, there is evidence that activities present in the Montessori Method can be borrowed and developed in accordance with the principles of the Mindfulness training. This article outlines how typical activities, such as sensory-motor practice, selective attention exercises and the exercises of practical life can be applied in the mindfulness training. Teacher training is another aspect to consider when applying mindfulness practice in the nursery school classroom.Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia główne cechy praktyki mindfulness i stara się wskazać analogię do niektórych aspektów dotyczących dydaktyki edukacji wczesnoszkolnej. Badania sugerują, że praktyka mindfulness ma pozytywny wpływ na populację dorosłych. Natomiast badania dotyczące wykorzystania mindfulness w pracy z dziećmi są obecnie rzadkie, chociaż są coraz częściej podejmowane przez pedagogów i psychologów ukierunkowanych na poziom szkoły podstawowej i nie tylko. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiamy metody, dzięki którym praktyka mindfulness może być stosowana w nauczaniu dzieci w wieku przedszkolnym i przedprzedszkolnym. W niektórych przypadkach istnieją dowody na to, że aktywności obecne w metodzie Montessori mogą być zapożyczone i rozwinięte zgodnie z zasadami treningu mindfulness. Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia, w jaki sposób typowe zajęcia, takie jak ćwiczenia sensoryczno-motoryczne, ćwiczenia selektywnej uwagi i ćwiczenia z życia praktycznego mogą być prowadzone pod kątem treningu mindfulness. Szkolenie nauczycieli to kolejny aspekt, który należy rozważyć przy stosowaniu praktyki mindfulness w klasie przedszkolnej

Formacja nauczycieli przedszkolnych i szkół podstawowych we Włoszech: treść i metodologia

This contribution aims to describe the formation process of pre-primary and primary teachers in Italy. Some brief historical aspects about the development of the pre-primary and primary teacher curriculum are described to better understand how the formation process has changed in Italy in the last twenty years. A university degree course is now the basic requirement to become a teacher at pre-primary and primary level. In the description of the different parts which make up the Italian degree course curriculum, some pedagogical reflections are presented with their didactical and methodological implications.Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie procesu formacji nauczycieli przedszkolnych i szkół podstawowych we Włoszech. Aby lepiej zrozumieć, jak zmienił się proces kształcenia nauczycieli we Włoszech w ciągu ostatnich dwudziestu lat, opisano kilka krótkich aspektów historycznych dotyczących rozwoju programu nauczania dla nauczycieli przedszkoli i szkół podstawowych. Studia uniwersyteckie są obecnie podstawowym wymogiem, który pozwala zdobyć uprawnienia do pracy jako nauczyciel na poziomie przedszkolnym i podstawowym. W opisie różnych części składających się na program nauczania studiów włoskich przedstawiono niektóre refleksje pedagogiczne z ich implikacjami dydaktycznymi i metodologicznymi

LD-Coordinator: the new role for dealing with students with learning disorders

The article presents characteristics of the LD ( Learning Disorder)1 Coordinator and his role in supporting students with learning disorders. This role has emerged as a result of the growing needfor sustaining the learning process in the presence of students having difficulties with reading, writing, comprehension and counting.The teacher who assumes the role of LD-Coordinator should encompass different competencies including knowledge of relevant regulations, characteristics of the single disorders, skills in dealingboth with families of LD children and with clinical professionals. The LD-Coordinator must also be well versed in methodologies, strategies and techniques available to utilize in supporting and enhancing the learning process.The article suggests some ways to develop these competencies by uniting theoretical knowledge and practical experience to form teachers to carry out the role of LD-Coordinator.The role of the LD-Coordinator described in the article has been defined by the author during the two editions of the Master’s program in “Didactics and Psycho-Pedagogy for Learning Disorders”and has been experienced by the participants of the same Master

A nonparametric analysis of welfare and the economic shocks

The behaviour of the permanent and transitory economic shocks for different levels of households' welfare is studied using both consumption and income measures. After testing for heteroskedasticity of the economic shocks, we use local polynomial regression models to estimate the variance of the shocks conditional on welfare level. Italian data covering the period 1980-2004 show evidence of heteroskedasticity of both the transitory and the permanent economic shocks, with the poor experiencing higher variances. The permanent shocks seem to have a more uniform effect at all welfare levels.Heteroskedasticity, income and consumption welfare measures, local polynomial regression, permanent and transitory shocks

L' educazione STEM al nido: una sfida possibile

Il documento della Commissione europea Proposal for Key Principles of a Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care (2014) ha posto in rilievo l’importanza di una specificità dell’educazione infantile. I vari documenti europei “Starting Strong” (OECD, 2001; 2006; 2012; 2021) sottolineano come un’educazione adeguata a partire dalla prima infanzia possa garantire uno sviluppo pieno e olistico della persona del bambino. Studi economici, inoltre, ritengono che un’istruzione precoce di qualità possa contribuire alla crescita del “capitale umano” di ogni nazione. Partendo da queste considerazioni si può comprendere quanto sia importante far sviluppare precocemente le abilità che permettano di affrontare la complessità sociale attuale. Tra queste abilità, le cosiddette abilità STEM sono considerate basilari per lo sviluppo olistico della personalità fin dalla prima infanzia. Il presente contributo intende illustrare una riflessione sugli effetti dell’educazione STEM nella prima infanzia richiamando gli esiti del progetto europeo di ricerca Kitchen Lab 4 Kids e una prima esperienza di insegnamento delle abilità STEM nel nido

Nido e processi inclusivi. Un’indagine esplorativa sull’uso di uno strumento di autovalutazione della qualità dell’inclusione al nido

“Inclusive Early Childhood Education” is a European project promoted by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education in collaboration with sixty-four experts, including the author of this contribution, from 2015 to 2017. The main goal of the Project was to identify, analyze and promote the main characteristics of quality inclusive pre-primary education for all. There was a need for a tool for measuring the level of inclusiveness in preschool settings, prompting the creation of the Self- Reflection Tool as part of the project. This contribution describes an attempt to adapt and apply this tool to nursery schools in Italy

Poverty in Italy in the 1980s and the 1990s: a measurement error approach.

This study investigates the pattern of poverty in Italy in the 1980s and in the 1990s, by means of both consuption and income measures, so as to separate the permanent and temporary components. The empirical analysis we conduct addresses not only economic issues, but also those of survey methodology and reliability of data. The model of the study of poverty is inspired by the literature on measurement error, and allows us not only to identify the two components but also to test if the variances of the shocks vary along the distributions of income and consumption. We find a slight increase of the transitory component, whereas the permanent one remains constant over the two decades. There is some evidence of non-constancy of the variances of the shocks, and a more precise formal test is under development

Inequality and poverty in Italy: theoretical models and empirical evidence.

This study investigates the pattern of inequality and poverty in Italy in the 1980s and the 1990s, by means of both consumption and income measures, so as to separate their permanent and temporary components. The empirical analysis we conduct addresses not only economic issues, but also those of survey methodology and reliability of data. The identification and estimation of the components of inequality are based on the model derived in Blundell and Preston (1998, 1999). We develop a Minimum Distance Estimator, and the procedure also allows us to test for correlation of the temporary and permanent shocks with the past values of income and consumption

Impact of long term care and mortality risk in community care and nursing homes populations

Objectives To identify the survival time, the mortality risk factors and the individuals’ characteristics associated with cognitive and physical status at discharge, among the Portuguese long-term care (LTC) populations. Settings Home-and-Community-Based Services (HCBS) and three types of nursing home (NH). Participants 20,984 individuals admitted and discharged in 2015. Measurements The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the Cox Proportional Hazards Models were used to study the mortality risk; the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to identify the number of individuals with cognitive and physical changes between admission and discharge; two cumulative odds ordinal logistic regressions to predict the cognitive and physical dependence levels at discharge Results The mortality rate at HCBS was 30%, and 17% at the NH, with a median survival time of 173 and 200 days, respectively. The main factors associated with higher mortality were older age, male gender, family/neighbour support, neoplasms and cognitive/physical dependence at admission. In NH/HCBS, 26%/18% of individuals improve their cognitive status, while in physical status, the proportion was 38%/27%, respectively. Finally, older age, being illiterate and being classified at the lowest cognitive and physical status at admission decrease the likelihood of achieving a higher level of cognitive and physical independence at discharge. Conclusions The adoption of a robust and complete assessment tool, the definition of guidelines to enable a periodical assessment of individuals’ autonomy and the adoption of benchmark metrics allowing the comparison of results between similar units are some of the main goals to be taken into account for future developments of this care in Portugal