scholarly journals Social Representation of Non-Academic Work in Mexico in the Light of Cultural Artefacts

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 90-112
Author(s):  
Ute Clement ◽  
Paola García Fuentes ◽  
Stefan Gold ◽  
Claudia Hunink ◽  
Lydia Raesfeld
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Career Aspirations ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Office Work ◽  
Enrolment Rate ◽  
Mexican Society

Context: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has attracted increasing interest in recent years due to its potential to address productivity and equity challenges, such as better employment prospects, as outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite the potential of such programmes, the enrolment rate in vocational training at upper secondary level in Mexico is 38.2%, i.e. below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 45.7%. This raises the question of possible reasons for the low enrolment rate. Approach: Based on the assumption that attitudes towards non-academic work are culturally anchored in Mexican society, which also shapes the educational and career aspirations of younger generations, the project named Cultural Practice of Non-academic Work in Mexico (KuPraMex), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), investigates social representations of non-academic work in Mexico. This is done through the analysis of artefacts such as films, murals, etc., as these are part of the tangible culture of a society. As materialised products of human activities or cultural practices, artefacts can be understood as objectifications of social relations and conditions. Therefore, in this context, it is assumed that through the analysis of cultural artefacts, a deeper understanding of how non-academic work is thought, felt, and valued in Mexican society will emerge.Findings: It has been found that the topic on non-academic work is often associated with informality. Moreover, the representations and narratives in cultural artefacts often show that non-academic work, apart from office work, is physically challenging but cognitively undemanding. In terms of access to a company, social networks seem to have enormous relevance. Hierarchies seem rigid and opportunities for promotion limited. However, narratives with more positive attributions regarding non-academic work can also be identified, which state that young people experience a habitus transformation through work. Conclusion: Nevertheless, non-academic work in Mexico seems to lack prestige, which may affect young people's educational and career aspirations and choices. This could mean that those who can afford it prefer to pursue a career in tertiary education rather than opt for a TVET programme. At the macro level, the mentioned lack of prestige could hamper attempts to offer such programmes. 

A estranha objetividade do valor: trabalho, ideologia e capital no pensamento de Marx

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-175
Author(s):  
Wécio Pinheiro Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Labor Process ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Concrete Experience ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Logic ◽  
The One

Resumo: Em O Capital, Marx nos alertou que a mercadoria tem um caráter misterioso que carrega “sutilezas metafísicas e argúcias teológicas”. Este artigo tenta decifrar um pouco desse mistério buscando decodifica-lo naquilo que denominamos como a estranha objetividade do valor. Para isso, analisamos a relação entre a ideologia e o valor a partir da crítica marxiana à mercadoria, consignada à lógica de Hegel. Vemos que o valor se constitui como razão ontológica da mercadoria enquanto produto do processo de trabalho que carrega uma racionalidade imanente, isto é, um espírito socialmente produzido que se objetiva à medida que é vivenciado pelos indivíduos como uma lógica social que rege as relações nesta sociedade. Isso se dá por meio de “sutilezas metafísicas” na formação da realidade social marcada por contradições estabelecidas entre, de um lado, o conteúdo objetivo das relações sociais, e de outro, a forma como essas relações são vivenciadas pela consciência na sociedade capitalista. Nesta relação entre conteúdo e forma, encontramos determinações de profundidade ontológica entre o valor e a ideologia, enquanto forma social que opera harmonizando as contradições constituintes da realidade social, a exemplo do que acontece no trabalho assalariado. A mediação ideológica se põe como uma progressão imanente à materialização da vivência concreta da relação entre capital e trabalho no salário, de maneira a naturalizar a exploração que se esconde na estranha objetividade do valor que se realiza na troca de mercadorias. Concluímos que a conexão ontológica entre o ser social e a mercadoria é socialmente ubíqua, precisamente por conta do seu caráter ideológico na formação da sociabilidade a partir do processo de trabalho subjugado ao capital.  Palavras-chave: Valor. Ideologia. Trabalho, Capital. Salário.  Abstract: In Capital, Marx warned us that the commodity has a mysterious character bearing "metaphysical subtleties and theological insights." This article attempts to decipher a little of this mystery by decoding it into what we call the strange objectivity of value. For this, we analyze the relation between ideology and value from the Marxian critique of the commodity, consigned to the Hegelian logic. We see that value is constituted as the ontological reason of the commodity as the product of the labor process that carries an immanent rationality, that is, a socially produced spirit that is objectified as it is experienced by the individuals as a social logic that governs the relations in this society. This is done through "metaphysical subtleties" in the formation of social reality marked by contradictions established between, on the one hand, the objective content of social relations, and on the other, the way in which these relations are experienced by consciousness in capitalist society. In this relationship between content and form, we find determinations of ontological depth between value and ideology, as a social form that operates by harmonizing the constituent contradictions of social reality, as in wage labor. Ideological mediation is seen as an immanent progression to the materialization of the concrete experience of the relation between capital and labor in wage, in order to naturalize the exploitation that is hidden in the strange objectivity of the value that is realized in the exchange of commodities. We conclude that the ontological connection between the social being and the commodity is socially ubiquitous precisely because of its ideological character in the formation of sociability from the labor process subjugated to capital.  Keywords: Value. Labor. Ideology. Capital. Wage.  REFERÊNCIAS  ADORNO, Theodor W. Teoria Estética. [Asthetische Theorie]. Tradução de Artur Morão. – São Paulo : Livraria Martins Fontes, 1988.  ADORNO, Theodor W. Três estudos sobre Hegel. [Drei Studien zu Hegel]. Tradução: Ulisses Razzante Vaccari. – 1. Ed. – São Paulo: Editora Unesp, 2013.  ARAÚJO, Wécio Pinheiro. Ideologia e capital: crítica da razão imanente à sociedade moderna. Tese de doutorado. João Pessoa, PB; Leipzig, Saxônia, UFPB/UFPE/UFRN-HGB, 2018.  ARTHUR, Christopher J. A nova dialética e “O Capital” de Marx. Tradução de Pedro C. Chadarevian. – São Paulo : Edipro, 2016.   DUSSEL, Enrique. A Produção Teórica de Marx: um comentário sobre os Grundrisse. Tradução de José Paulo Netto. – 1 ed. – São Paulo : Expressão Popular, 2012. GERAS, Norman. Marx and the Critique of Political Economy. In: Ideology and Social Science: politics, sociology, anthropology, economics, history. – Ed. by Robin Blackburn, Fontana/Collins, 1977, p. 284-305.  JAEGGI, Rahel. Alienation: News directions in Critical Theory. Columbia Uni. Press, 2014.  HERÁCLITO, de Éfeso. Heráclito : fragmentos contextualizados. Tradução, apresentação e comentários Alexandre Costa. – São Paulo : Odysseus Editora, 2012.  HEGEL, G. W. F. Fenomenologia do Espírito [Phänomenologie des Geistes]. Tradução de Paulo Meneses; com a colaboração de Karl-Heinz Efken, e José Nogueira Machado. – 5. ed. – Petrópolis, RJ : Vozes : Bragança Paulista, Editora Universitária São Francisco, 2008.  MARX, Karl. Das Kapital: Der Produktionprozess des Kapitals. Erster Band, Erstes Buch (Kapitel XVI-LII). Hamburg, Nikol Verlag., 2016.  MARX, Karl. Grundrisse: manuscritos econômicos de 1857-1858 : esboços da crítica da economia política. – supervisão editorial Mario Duayer; tradução Mario Duayer, Nélio Schneider (colaboração de Alice Helga Werner e Rudiger Hoffman). – São Paulo : Boitempo; Rio de Janeiro: Ed. UFRJ, 2011.  MARX, Karl. Manuscritos econômico-filosóficos. [Ökonomie-philosophische Manuskripte] Tradução, apresentação e notas de Jesus Ranieri. - 2. reimp. - São Paulo : Boitempo Editorial, 2008.  MARX, Karl. O Capital – Crítica da Economia Política. Livro 1 – O Processo de Produção do Capital. Vol. I – 10 ª. Edição, Tradução de Reginaldo Sant’ Anna. Do original em alemão: DAS KAPITAL – Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (Buch I: Der Produktionsprozes des Kapitals, Quarta edição, 1890). São Paulo : DIFEL, 1985.  MARX, Karl. O Capital – Crítica da Economia Política. Livro 1 – O processo de produção do capital. Do original em alemão: DAS KAPITAL – Kritik der politischen Ökonomie (Buch 1: Der Produktionsprozess des Kapitals.  – São Paulo: Boitempo, 2013.   NICHOLS, Bill. Ideology and the Image: Social Representation in the Cinema and Other Media. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981.

scholarly journals International Vocational Education and Training Research: An Introduction to the Special Issue

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Michael Gessler ◽  
Sandra Bohlinger ◽  
Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Recipient Country ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
And Training

The seven articles in this special issue represent a wide range of international comparative and review studies by international research teams from China, Germany, India, Russia, Switzerland and Mexico. The presented projects are part of the national program "Research on the Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training", funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).  An adapted version of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory forms the conceptual framework of the special issue. The four system levels (micro, meso, exo and macro) are addressed by one article each. The article on the microsystem level focuses on the intended and implemented curricula in a cross-country comparison of China and Russia. The article on the mesosystem level aims at the development of a quality management model for vocational education and training (VET) institutions in India. At the exolevel, the regional structures of the education and employment systems in Mexico, particularly the cooperation between schools and companies in the hotel industry, are investigated. At the macrosystem level, the social representation of non-academic labour in Mexico is examined in terms of cultural artefacts. Furthermore, three overarching review studies systematise relevant research developments and approaches. The topics of the three review studies are European VET policy, transfer of VET and VET research. The scope ranges from the development of a comparative research tool to a summary analysis of over 5,000 individual publications. Given the broad scope and heterogeneity of the findings, a summative conclusion would hardly be appropriate. Nevertheless, with regard to the model of the ‘triadic conception of purposes in comparative VET research’ that represents a heuristic for describing the purposes of international VET research, we conclude with an emphasis on a need of more criticality. In this context, one finding can be pointed out as an example: One review study found that most studies (here, with reference to VET transfer) refer to the recipient country without a comparative perspective. Thus, there is a clear demand for more comparative research following a critical-reflective approach. 

scholarly journals Alternative Strategies for Higher Education Provision at TAFE Queensland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
State Governments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Provider ◽  
And Training

Australia’s tertiary education and training sector consists of Higher Education, predominantly funded and controlled by the Federal Government, and Vocational Education and Training (VET) where both the Federal and State Governments have policy and funding responsibilities.  While there has been increasing funding and stable policy in Higher Education over the past decade there has been significant change in the Australian VET sector in policy and reduced funding at the Federal and State levels.  TAFE Queensland, the public VET provider in the state of Queensland, has undergone a huge transformation of its own over this period of extensive policy change. As a result of policy and organisational changes TAFE Queensland has had to seek alternatives to ensure that students who choose to study at this public provider are able to access higher education courses. This paper outlines various policy change impacts over the past decade and TAFE Queensland’s innovative approach to ensuring that quality applied degrees are available to interested students who prefer to study with this major public vocational education provider.

scholarly journals The German system of vocational education and training: challenges of gender, academisation and the integration of low-achieving youth

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-71
Author(s):  
Simone R Haasler
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Dual System ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Apprenticeship Training ◽  
School Based ◽  
And Training

In Germany, the dual system of apprenticeship training has traditionally been very strong. The dominant position of the dual system, however, is being challenged by other training routes gaining significance, particularly tertiary education. This article investigates the extent to which this is leading to a restructuring of the dual system. Developments in school-based vocational programmes, trends of academisation and challenges deriving from qualifying low achievers are discussed. The growing significance of school-based programmes is linked to the gender impact of the vocational education and training (VET) system and the gender segmentation of the German labour market, while academisation reflects labour market demands for high skills. With dual study programmes and three and a half-year dual training, the dual system seeks to provide attractive training options for highly skilled young people. This, however, has made access to fully-qualifying vocational programmes very difficult for low-achieving young people, including migrants and refugees, thereby challenging the integration function of the German VET system.

scholarly journals Does the post-socialist past determine the relationship between GDP per capita and education? Evidence from Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-589
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Banász ◽  
Vivien Valéria Csányi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
Enrolment Rate ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Relationship

Education is one of the key factors of economic growth. Despite the huge amount of researches investigating the relationship between education and GDP as a proxy of well-being, to the best of our knowledge, none of these studies examined a group of post-socialist countries comparing with not-post-socialist countries. This paper aims to fill this gap. We examine the correlation between growth and education with panel data evidence for 18 post-socialist (PS) countries and 16 developed market economies (DME) over the 1990–2014 period. The goal of this paper is to test two hypotheses: (i) The relationship between GDP per capita and tertiary education’s enrolment rate is stronger in the post-socialist countries than in other countries. (ii) In the post-socialist countries, the relationship between GDP per capita and tertiary education’s enrolment rate is stronger than the relationship between GDP per capita and any other level of education. Correlation analyses confirmed both hypotheses. Our findings suggest that the patterns of relationship between GDP and measures of tertiary education are different for PS and DME countries and would be interesting to observe when and how the gap between the patterns disappears.

scholarly journals Educational heterotopia and students’ use of Facebook

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hope
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Flow Time ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Learning Spaces

<p><em>Facebook</em> use in higher education has grown exponentially in recent years, with both academics and students seeking to use it to support learning processes. Noting that research into educational cyberspace has generally ignored spatial elements, this paper redresses this deficiency through using Foucault’s (1986) discussion of <em>different spaces</em> to examine <em>Facebook</em> use. Recognising that more than simple façade space is also social practice, Foucault’s heterotopian principles are used to explore spatial notions of difference (deviance and divergence), relational aspects (conflicts and connections) and flow (time and thresholds). It is argued that social networking sites offer possibilities for creative deviations, can foster learning communities and help to develop social relations. Yet they also distract students, allowing them to <em>escape</em> seminars, whilst giving rise to damaging, rigid definitions of work and study. Ultimately, if universities are to be architects of the future, rather than its victims, the inherent differences of such learning spaces need to be recognised and traditional notions of academic work challenged.</p>

scholarly journals Fakalukuluku: Conceptualising a Tongan learning approach in tertiary education

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 163-178
Author(s):  
Mefileisenita Naufahu ◽  
'Elisapesi H. Havea ◽  
Sangata'ana A.F. Kaufononga ◽  
Siuta Laulaupea'alu
Keyword(s):  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Current Impact ◽  
Pasifika Students

Given the current impact of COVID-19, the learning experiences of Pasifika students within tertiary education has implicated their social and emotional wellbeing. Engaging in a Tongan learning approach, such as fakalukuluku, can present a viable learning practice for tertiary students’ learning experiences. This paper presents the perspectives of four Tongan-born and raised researchers and educators who completed their tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Based on our experiences and reflections, we propose the Tongan concept of fakalukuluku as an approach to help elevate students’ academic achievement in tertiary education. Our paper conceptualises and unfolds perspectives of fakalukuluku, as a cultural practice that is appropriate, collaborative, and accorded learning stability because of its spiritual dimensions as being paramount to students’ success. We propose that a strong family and community support, the utilising of university learning support and the students’ spiritual beliefs can help Tongan students in tertiary education succeed.

Mexican Elites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Mexican Society ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Economic Elites

A shifting constellation of elites shaped Mexican society in four periods from the late colonial era in the eighteenth century through the era of one-party rule in the mid-to-late twentieth. This essay explores the relations among the elites of these periods, including economic elites, state and party officials, revolutionaries, the professional military, and Church leaders. Themes include elite cohesion or conflict, the centralization or decentralization of elite power, the bases and preservation of elite fortunes, and social relations among elites.

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