The following three publications were recently issued by the University of Malta’s Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health.
The subjective wellbeing of Maltese children
Children’s Worlds, The International Study of Children’s Subjective Wellbeing is a research survey on children’s subjective wellbeing involving in over 20 countries. Its objective is to collect representative data on children’s lives and daily activities to raise awareness on, and improve children’s wellbeing and quality of life.
More than 2,500 eight- to 12-year-old Maltese children participated in the study, expressing their views about family life, their economic situation, friends, school, local area, bullying, use of time, children’s rights, and self and life satisfaction.
Analysis of the findings reveal a portrait of strengths and weaknesses and concludes with a number of recommendations on the creation of healthier and more child-friendly spaces, systems and services for Maltese children.
The report may be accessed at the website below.
www.um.edu.mt/cres/publications
A resilience curriculum for early years, primary school
Rescur: Surfing the Waves is a resilience programme for early years and primary schools developed by six European universities and coordinated by the University of Malta.
The curriculum seeks to empower vulnerable children at risk of early school leaving, absenteeism, disengagement, bullying, social exclusion and marginalisation through a universal, whole-school approach.
Its special features include story-telling, mindfulness activities, readymade activities and resources for teachers, interactive multisensory activities, a learners’ portfolio, take-home activities, assessment checklists, theme posters, and activity sheets.
The programme consists of a teachers’ and parents’ guides, and three manuals of activities and resources for early years, early primary years and late primary years respectively.
It is available in hard and soft copies in English, Maltese and five other languages.
The teachers’ guide may be accessed at the website below.
www.um.edu.mt/cres/publications
International Journal of Emotional Education
A special edition of the International Journal of Emotional Education (IJEE) (Volume 8, Issue 1) has just been published.
It focuses on social and emotional learning across different contexts and includes nine international papers on issues such as the effectiveness of clown doctors on children’s anxiety, social and emotional learning and resilience, the relationship between emotional intelligence and depression among adolescents, free play as a context for the development of social and emotional learning, emotional capital in initial teacher education, cultural curiosity in higher education, and bullying in higher education.
IJEE is a biennial, peer-reviewed, international, electronic journal distributed for free and supported by an international board of reviewers with high-level expertise in the field.
The journal may be accessed at the website below.
www.um.edu.mt/ijee