COORDINATOR
Iker Izar de la Fuente is Professor of the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Anthropology of Donostia-San Sebastian of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
He holds a PhD in Psychodidactics and has been part, for seven years, of the consolidated research group PSIKOR with which he has participated in national (EDU2017-83949-P), regional (IT1217-19; IT1719-22) and local (VITAL20/05) research projects. Throughout his career he has published several articles, most of them in the first quartiles of impact, and numerous book chapters, many in relevant international publishers such as Thomson Reuters or Dykinson. He has also participated in numerous national and international conferences, sometimes taking part in invited symposiums.
Regarding his line of research, it has been mainly focused on basic research. Thus, it began with the design and validation of different measurement instruments and later focused on the study of theoretical models based on structural methodology. Many of its studies have been carried out in line with this new research interest in order to analyze, under the prism of positive psychology, the effect of different contextual variables (mainly social support, but also others such as school climate) and personal variables (such as self-concept, resilience or procrastination) on the adjustment of adolescent students, both scholastic and personal. Despite this, it is worth mentioning the recent start of another line of research focused on the design and implementation of intervention programs in the psychoeducational area.
The current school dropout rates, in addition to being highly worrying, are also a clear indication of the school maladjustment suffered by adolescent students. Likewise, based on the latest evidence, the percentage of children and adolescents with mental health-related problems continues to rise steadily, among other reasons, due to a lack of detection and management that could curb its spread. As a result of this educational reality, institutions seem to have developed a greater awareness of the clear need to improve the quality of the educational system. Thus, one of the greatest current educational challenges is to ensure that students obtain a comprehensive education that guarantees their correct school adjustment and psychological well-being.
Schools must approach this change within the framework of Positive Psychology, focusing on students’ strengths. In this sense, the importance given to school adjustment and, above all, to the different ways to optimize it, is growing. Likewise, the well-being of students is becoming increasingly important in the educational system, since addressing this situation at an early age can prevent future problems.
However, this educational improvement must be carried out in a comprehensive manner, and it is necessary, firstly, to know precisely which variables are involved and the dynamics of the relationships between them and with psychosocial adjustment. Secondly, it is also necessary to design effective interventions based on solid theoretical foundations and empirical data.
The contributions presented in this symposium, precisely, seek to address this challenge facing the current educational system: the improvement of adolescent psychosocial adjustment.