Browsing by Author "Frunzaru, Valeriu"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Despre necesitatea parteneriatului dintre universitate și comunitate
(Fundatia Orient Expres, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu
This theoretical study addresses the partnership university – community, a reality that in Western educational area has had a history of several decades. Beyond the EU policy which requires the development of such a relationship, the mutual need for collaboration between the university and the community has begun to manifest as a result of changes in the global economy and the raise of the importance of knowledge in the development of products and services. It should be emphasized that the relationship between university and community is not restricted to economic aspects, it may approach social and civic issues as well. Moreover, we can talk about this relationship as a component of the welfare state. Although there are arguments for developing the relationship between university and community, resistance to change can be an obstacle in this regard.
Evaluare ex ante a impactului introducerii unui sistem centralizat de admitere în universități. Studiu de impact
(UEFISCDI Publishing House, 2022) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Oprea, Denisa Adriana; Ștefăniță, Oana
This study is an ex ante evaluation of the impact of introducing a centralized admission system in Romanian universities. It is part of the activities of the project "Quality in higher education: internationalization and databases for the development of Romanian education", implemented by the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI) in partnership with the Ministry of Education, in the period 2018-2022. Starting from the conceptual and methodological framework on ex ante evaluations, the authors of this study present the problem of admission to higher education based on international comparisons and the analysis of the admission modalities in Romanian universities. The authors propose a centralized admission system, based, on the one hand, on the baccalaureate exam grades (as a selection criterion) and, on the other hand, on an online platform similar to the one used for high school admission (as a technical means). The ex-ante evaluation of this potential higher education admission system is carried out using specific methods, including semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. The impact study presents a set of conclusions on the potential impact of such a scheme and proposes recommendations for its implementation to meet the criteria of fair admission, to gain the widest possible stakeholder support and to be effective.
Exploring sources of teacher's perceived stress in Romanian pre-tertiary education
(Editura Universitatii din Bucuresti, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Cicei, Cătălina
"Stress has become a widespread phenomenon in the educational system, a large number of empirical studies documenting its prevalence. This paper presents the findings of a quantitative study (N=2165) regarding the self-perceived stress of Romanian educators and teachers from pre-tertiary educational level. Based on the ten-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (Cohen & Williamson, 1988), our study examines the relationship between the stress experienced by teachers and various demographic, organizational and job-related variables. The findings underline the fact that no significant differences in experiencing stress are due to different background variables (such as school location, fulfilling management and union leader roles, or being a commuter), age being positively correlated with perceived stress. Associations have been reported with various workplace hazards, as well as with the satisfaction regarding different aspects of the job and professional activity, insatisfaction regarding the relationship with the students and paperwork being the strongest predictors. Starting from these results, the paper also outlines some practical measures that can be implemented in view of reducing the stress of Romanian teachers from pre-tertiary education"
High School Pupils Performance in Romania: Individual and Social Predictors
(2017) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Corbu, Nicoleta
"Studies focused on academic achievement at the high school level generally discuss individual and social predictors of school performance, rarely suggesting measures to be taken at the level of national public policies in the education field. At the same time, public policies are rarely driven by empirical research. In this context, the article analyses the results of a national survey (N= 2624) conducted in 2011 on high school pupils in Romania concerning the individual and the social factors that influence school performance. A regression model shows that class attendance and gender are the strongest predictors of school performance, closely followed by parents’ education and type of enrolment in a hierarchy of influences on pupils’ grades. Other aspects are related to parents’ migration abroad and peers’ behavior. These findings are further used to make recommendations for public policies in education. "
Materialism and Life Satisfaction. A Sociological and Christian Comparative Approach
(2017) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Frunzaru, Elena Monica
"This paper discusses the similarities and differences between sociological and Christian approaches (focused on the Bible and the Church Fathers’ teachings) regarding the relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. The theoretical analysis gives reasons that advocate the view that there are resemblances between the two perspectives regarding materialism (greed or avarice in theological language) features and the impact of these values on life satisfaction. Both approaches argue for a less materialistic way of life in order to become generally happier. Nevertheless, if science gives research-based proofs to this relationship, Christianity states that worship of God, and not material goods, is the only way to get true happiness. Finally, the paper attempts to give some possible explanations for these similarities between sociology and Christianity. First, similarly to the Christian religion, some sociologists (i.e. Marx, Veblen, and Beaudrillard) criticise materialism and consumption society. Second, the scale construction can rely on popular notions of materialism, thus some items can have religious backgrounds. Eventually, the Bible and the Church Fathers’ special concern with the human nature lead to some thoughts about man that have been confirmed by researchers."
Materialistic Values, Shopping, and Life Satisfaction in Romania
(Editura Academiei Române, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Popa, Elena Monica
"Numerous studies have shown that generally materialists are less happy than those lower in materialism. Several studies confirm that people who experience a lower level of life satisfaction are more interested in shopping; therefore materialism determines directly and indirectly (mediated by life satisfaction) the desire of going shopping. There are only few studies that deal with this topic within Romanian consumers. The conceptual model proposed here was tested on a convenience sample of 390 Romanians. Using structural equation modelling, our findings confirm the hypothetical model only partially. Materialism leads to life dissatisfaction and shopping, but life dissatisfaction does not increase shopping. To the contrary, there is a positive relationship between life satisfaction and the desire for shopping. One possible explanation is that Romanians perceive materialism as a positive attitude. Anyway, nuances should be considered regarding the role of money and possession in bringing life satisfaction."
Self-perceived Occupational Prestige among Romanian Teaching Staff: Organisational Explicative Factors
(National School of Political Science and Public Administration. Faculty of Management, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Dumitriu, Diana Luiza
Most studies discuss occupational prestige by stressing out the macro-social aspects related to specific social stratification models. This paper aims to address the impact of organizational aspects on how teachers perceive the prestige of their occupational group, moving the focus on the micro-social context of their daily activity. The way teaching staff evaluate the social prestige of their profession fulfils normative and motivational functions and is, hence, reflected in how they actually perform their professional roles, serving both explicative and prospective purposes. In trying to identify the main factors that can explain the self-perceived level of occupational prestige among educators and teachers, we conducted a national level study among Romanian teachers (N=2165) from preschool to high school educational stages. Within the explicative model (R²=0.38), we were able to group the factors in three main categories: material conditions, bureaucratic and relational aspects. The findings reveal that teachers’ involvement in bureaucratic activities such as elaborating different reports, as well as a lower level of satisfaction regarding the relation they have with students, parents and representatives of the school's management end up decreasing the self-perceived occupational prestige. Our study lays emphasis on the fact that organizational factors influence teachers' selfperceived prestige and, thus, can affect the overall quality of the educational act. Therefore, to improve this, a greater involvement of national and local authorities in providing better material conditions in schools, in supporting the debureaucratization of the educational system and re-evaluating the role of teacher-student-parent communication triad is needed.
Social Networking Websites Usage and Life Satisfaction: A Study of Materialist Values Shared by Facebook Users
(2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Boțan, Mădălina
This paper attempts to analyze how materialist values mediate the relationship between time spent onsocial networking websites (SNW) and overall life satisfaction. Admittedly, younger generations spend moretime on SNW compared to older generations, therefore we can anticipate that younger people are more af-fected by materialism and, consequently, less satisfied with their lives. The conceptual model proposed herewas tested on a convenience sample of 390 Romanian adults. Using structural equation modeling, our find-ings validate the hypothesis that younger people spend more time on SNW; the SNW usage makes themmore materialistic and, as a result, less satisfied with life. These findings raise ethical questions regarding the impact of SNW on overall life satisfaction. For ex-ample, Facebook, the most popular SNW in Romania, is a virtual social sphere where people become “friends”,give or receive “likes”, are “fans” of something or somebody, etc. Therefore, we argue that Facebook is asymbolical locus for quantitative manifestations of something intimate and private, like feelings or appreci-ations. Such materialist approach to friendship and relationships has a significant negative impact on lifesatisfaction.