Today’s teaching profession faces an even more challenging environment in terms of roles, responsibilities, needs of students, and similar issues. Teachers are confronted with unique challenges because they are expected to remain helpful and effective in supporting the students with their learning journey. Teachers must be competent  and have a variety of knowledge and skills to deal with students and educational needs.

The recently concluded International Conference on Innovation, Psychology and Didactics (ICIPED) held at the Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau in Romania provided an opportunity to discuss the latest development and innovation in teaching and educational psychology through the presentation of speakers from Cyprus and Romania, along with workshops and presentation papers. The aim of this conference was to augment the knowledge and skills of educators to help students in areas of academic achievement, personal and social development, as well as their career development.

The topics covered by the keynote speakers included:

• Differentiation of instruction for effective learning of all students in mixed ability classrooms – Dr Stavroula Valiande, University of Nicosia, Cyprus
• Philosophy of education: Epistemological status, theoretical and practical implications – Professor Constantin Cucos, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania
• Pedagogical features for the learning digital era: Examples of computer use in different educational applications – Dr Silvia Fat, University of Bucharest, Romania and Dr Georgeta Panisoara, University of Bucharest
• Teachers’ professional development for differentiated instruction – Dr Lefkios Neophytou, University of Nicosia
• Instructional strategies to foster self-regulated learning of university students – Florin Frumos, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania

To complement with the overarching theme of the conference, three workshops were also held:

• The architecture of differentiated instruction: Theory and praxis – Dr Stavroula Valiandes, University of Nicosia, Cyprus; Dr Lefkios Neophytou, University of Nicosia; Dr Efi Paparistodemou, Cyprus Pedagogical Institute
• Social and emotional competences in adolescents: A theoretical approach towards an integrative measurement model – Dr Magda Tufeanu, Petre Andrei University of Iasi, Romania; Dr Viorel Robu, Petre Andrei University of Iasi; Dr Anisoara Sandovici, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Romania
• #SavvyScholar: Harnessing the power of online media to boost research dissemination and impact – Dennis Relojo, MSc, MBPsS, South Essex College, United Kingdom; Creator of Psychreg

The proceedings of the journal are the Journal of Innovation in Psychology, Education and Didactics (JIPED) and Psychreg Journal of Psychology (PJP). The conference proved to be rather successful and is set to have another one next year. You can see the pictures of the conference here. 

Until then!

Dennis Relojo is the founder of Psychreg and is also the Editor-in-Chief of Psychreg Journal of Psychology. Aside from PJP, he sits on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals, and is a Commissioning Editor for the International Society of Critical Health Psychology. A Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society, Dennis holds a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Hertfordshire. His research interest lies in the intersection of psychology and blogging. You can connect with him through Twitter @DennisRelojo and his website.