Romanian translation and linguistic validation of the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire: Implications for pre-service teachers’ evaluation
Romanian translation and linguistic validation of the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire: Implications for pre-service teachers’ evaluation

Summary/Abstract: Attitudes have been extensively studied in several areas of psychology, considering their potential to influence, stimulate, justify and predict a person’s response and relationship with different instances. Positive civic attitudes and civic engagement are evolutionary essential components of a functional society, especially when embodied by pre-service teachers, as they become behavioral role-models for future generations. Furthermore, educational civic engagement and Service-Learning practices have multivalent, mutual benefits such as enhancing academic performance, socio-emotional learning and preventing risk behaviors. This study aims to expand the use of Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ; Moely, Mercer, Ilustre, Miron, & McFarland, 2002) as a valid assessment tool for the Romanian pre-service teacher population and extend its diagnostic value to examine students’ attitudes towards the community, also known as civic responsibility, and their intention to pursue positive civic behaviors, the preceding step to actual civic engagement. Following a backward and forward translation of the instrument, data were collected from 24 Romanian pedagogy students who completed the on-line English and Romanian versions of the CASQ. The internal consistency and linguistic equivalence of the two versions were assessed. Further recommendations and implications for educational use are addressed, such as the assessment of the psychosocial effects of community-oriented activities, including student-for-students ones.

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