Jasmina Pekić

The structure of personality of a good teacher from students perspective according to the Big-Five model

This paper deals with the identification of desirable personality characteristics of teachers from students perspective in the Big-Five Model of personality from a phenomenological approach. The description of personality of a good teacher was obtained from students of the University of Novi Sad (n=443). The Big Five Inventory (BFI) was applied with the instruction to respond to claims as a good teacher would answer. The students’ estimates indicate that a good teacher is expected to have lower emotional instability, but more pronounced extroversion, openness to experience, cooperativeness (pleasantness) and consciousness with regard to referent values in general population. For the domain of neuroticism, the difference is either small or medium in size, for cooperativeness of a medium size, and for extroversion, consciousness and openness to experience the difference is large. The gender of students does not influence their expectations. Methodological dilemmas in this area of research and implications of the results for the selection and professional development of teachers are discussed. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179010 i br. 47020]

KONSTRUKCIJA UPITNIKA PODRŠKE TUGUJUĆIMA: PROVERA FAKTORSKE STRUKTURE I METRIJSKIH KARAKTERISTIKA

In the recent decades social support in the bereavement process represents an important and newly emerging scientific field of study. However, within the framework of national science supris- ingly little empirical work has examined how supportive comu- nication can affect the grieving process. The main objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire which measures the helpfulness of comforting messages received from the social net- work members. In addition to presenting the Bereaved Support Questionnaire, the present study explores the factor structure, as well as the psychometric characteristics of the scale. The second aim of the study is to determine whether the person centeredness of these messages explains their helpfulness. The survey was conducted on a sample of 301 respondents. The results indicate that the Bereaved Support Questionnaire represents a valid and reliable instrument whose composite structure is reflected by five factors: Social support, Minimizing feelings, Providing a religious perspective, Complimenting the deceased/ bereaved and normal- izing feelings, and Offering practical help. The results confirm the expectations that the person centeredness of the five support- ing strategies are related with the participants’ evaluations of the helpfulness of these strategies.

Gender and age differences in expressing disruptive behavior during class

The article focuses on the phenomenon of school indiscipline which proved to be an important factor of disruption in the teaching process. The aims of our research were to determine whether there were gender and age differences in expressing indiscipline during a class, as well as to examine the latent space of the School Indiscipline Scale. The sample included 897 students (42.1% boys and 57.9% girls) who attend elementary (46.6%) or secondary (53.4%) school, aged 12 - 19. The instrument used was the Scale of School Indiscipline. The results of the component analysis indicated four components: nonparticipation, aggression, defiance to authority and cheating. By applying the MANOVA test we detected gender differences in all four subscales: that girls tend to cheat or not participate in the teaching process, while boys are more inclined to aggression and authority defiance. Regarding age differences it was noted that elementary school students are more inclined to behave aggressively while secondary school students tend not to participate and cheat. Bearing in mind that knowing gender and age differences of expressing unwanted behavior in school is very important it seems that the success of any prevention programs depend, to a large extent, upon their congruence with the students with different characteristics.

AKADEMSKA DAROVITOST: POJAVNI OBLICI I EMPIRIJSKA POZADINA

High capacity for adopting and synthesizing new knowledge very rarely encountered in theform of exceptional academic performance, which is registered in a wide range of subject areas,which means that the global talent is not impossible, but it is a rare outcome of the development ofexceptional potential. Academic talents are almost invariably interpreted in relation to the specificareas of knowledge. Bearing in mind the contemporary concepts of giftedness as a multidimensionalconstruct, research in this field of psychology have generated the large body of findingsthat aim to clarify the key constituents of academic talent: specific abilities, motivation and creativity.The main conclusions arising from the study of cognitive aspects of academic talent pointout the relevance of specific academic abilities that corresponds to the type of academic talent.The results further suggest that the outstanding academic performance of gifted students is relatedto the high level of curiosity, but also underline that in the absence of some other aspects ofintrinsic motivation, such as dedication and persistence in learning activities, there is a possibilitythat high potentials remain inadequately implemented. And finally, while intelligence is “stable”factor for high academic achievement, creativity is relevant for academic success to the extent thatspecific academic domains require.