While it is widely acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has created disruptions in children’s learning trajectories, the literature suggests that there is little empirical research to support th... What is already known about this topic: Learning is associated with better life outcomes.Home and school environments provide children with a variety of learning opportunities.The COVID-19 pandemic...

The notion of the human person, together with the importance that the Catholic community has, since its inception, given to the educational enterprise, has led various authors, including Augustine, Abelard, and Aquinas, among others, to reflect on the meaning of intellect and talents and their effects on education. Yet such reflections were never standalone considerations but rather built in dialogue, and at times in confrontation, with the classics and secular treatises of the time. After outlining how the Catholic community conceptualizes the human person, this paper will touch upon the concepts of talent as developed and dealt with during the 12th century. The latter period has been chosen on the basis of the developments in pedagogical thought and practices. The paper aims to critically analyse the notion of ‘ingenium’ (understood as talents, innate abilities) against the main philosophical and pedagogical thought that has animated Catholic educational practices.

This paper explores the mutual influence of emotions and family secrets, a central theme emerging from a qualitative inquiry, using grounded theory analysis, involving seven adult children who experienced family secrecy during childhood. Utilising the elements of constructivist grounded theory, the research employed in‐depth interviews, which were conducted and analysed simultaneously. The findings illuminate how emotions both shape and are shaped by the presence of secrets, silences, partial truths and disclosures within families where secrecy is integral to their communication patterns. Key themes, such as loss, grief, family loyalties, attachment patterns, family dynamics and fractured relationships, are critically examined, emphasising the profound emotional impact of secrecy within the family context. The study introduces an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ diagram, which not only encapsulates the collective experiences of the participants but serves as a conceptual model for potentially guiding therapeutic interventions with individuals and families affected by such dynamics. This model offers a framework for understanding the complex emotional trajectories from childhood to adulthood within secretive family environments.