scholarly journals Explaining Urban Sustainability to Teachers in Training through a Geographical Analysis of Tourism Gentrification in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Martínez-Hernández ◽  
Claudia Yubero

Urban centres in Europe have been recently affected by touristification processes which endanger their sustainable development. In this context, education in urban sustainability is gaining great importance at all stages of education. It has been noticed that this issue is not appropriately presented in primary education studies where “tourism” is one of the topics to be addressed. This paper provides the design of a teaching activity for teachers in training in order to understand the process of tourism gentrification in European cities. The aim of this activity is to enable the transfer of knowledge to primary education concerning contemporary urban processes involving tourism within a framework of respect and sustainability. This activity is based on an urban geographical analysis in public squares located in touristified districts of several European cities. This is achieved by way of a visual, interactive and cartographic analysis and evaluation. This paper presents the results of the didactic experience in Madrid. The results are positive, since students develop geographic abilities, attitudes of respect, critical thinking, and contrasted knowledge about tourism gentrification. We conclude with a call for a conceptual update of contemporary urban processes involving tourism in primary education curricula and advise that teachers in training should be taken to the field to explain complex spatial phenomena.

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willy Ngaka

AbstractThis paper explores some of the factors that limit the effectiveness of Uganda’s mother tongue-based education policy, where instruction in lower primary classes is provided in the mother tongue. Using socio-cultural and ethnographic lenses, the paper draws from the experiences of a study implemented by a Ugandan NGO in one primary school in Arua district. Findings revealed weaknesses in implementation of the MTBE policy, highlighting deficiencies in the training of teachers, and lack of sensitization of local communities to the value of MTBE. The study also highlights the need for greater involvement of many kinds of stakeholder, and in particular, it focuses on how communities can be encouraged to work together with schools. A clearer understanding of what literacy involves, and how subjects can be taught in poorly-resourced communities, can be gained by considering the contribution of funds of local knowledge and modes of expression that build on local cultural resources. However, the strategies proposed are insufficient given the flawed model of primary education that the present MTBE policy embodies. A reenvisioning of how MTBE articulates with English-medium education is also needed. Substantial rethinking is needed to address target 4.6 of SDG 4 (UNDP, Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld (accessed 30 November 2015), 2015) which aims to ensure that “all youth and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy by 2030”.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guadalupe Martínez-Borreguero ◽  
Jesús Maestre-Jiménez ◽  
Milagros Mateos-Núñez ◽  
Francisco Luis Naranjo-Correa

Education for Sustainable Development requires improving the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of students at all levels of education. However, this should start from the earliest stages of education, promoting an effective teaching/learning process of key concepts for sustainable development. Accordingly, the general objective of this research was to analyze the concepts of water, energy and waste in the primary education curriculum (6–12 years) in Spain. A qualitative research approach was followed, with an exploratory and descriptive design. A system of categories was established for each of the concepts under study, with the aim of classifying the references found, analyzing their integration into the different subjects, academic courses, curricular elements and levels of cognitive demand required of the students. The results of the lexicographical analysis of the content reveal that the regulations governing primary education in Spain mainly focus on the concept of energy and, to a lesser extent, on the concepts of water and waste. In addition, cognitive levels of knowledge and comprehension predominate based on the taxonomy used. The results suggest the need to develop initiatives for the educational framework that promote not only learning, but also attitudes and behaviors that contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1128
Author(s):  
Laura Triviño-Cabrera ◽  
Elisa Isabel Chaves-Guerrero ◽  
Laura Alejo-Lozano

Studies on the adaptation from face-to-face to online teaching during lockdown show the before and after in education that faces the double challenge of promoting digital skills and public access to connectivity and electronic devices in the post-COVID-19 era. Therefore, this article contributes to these new emerging lines of educational research by presenting an educational innovation project called “Teachers Versus COVID-19”. This project aimed to verify whether the figure of teacher-prosumer, that is, consumers of media culture and creators of their own educational resources, favors the initial training of teachers during the pandemic. To this end, the following objectives were proposed: firstly, test whether the figure of the teacher-prosumer contributes to improving the adaptation of face-to-face teaching to the virtual modality of the Didactics of Social Sciences in the Degree in Primary Education during lockdown; secondly, analyze the production of content on social networks by the students in the Degree in Primary Education, according to the objectives of sustainable development. To validate our teacher-prosumer proposal, we chose the design-based research (DBR) qualitative methodology. For this, 240 students from the course in Didactics of Social Sciences of the Degree in Primary Education at the University of Malaga created 37 educational videos that teach the social sciences curriculum to children between 6 and 12 years of age from the perspective of relevant social problems and the Sustainable Development Goals. These videos were disseminated through the project’s YouTube channel. The results of this study corroborate the effectiveness of turning students into teachers-prosumers, generating the development of critical, creative, digital, and socio-emotional skills so that they feel committed to playing an active role in social changes for a sustainable world.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiali Wan ◽  
Yanfang Liu ◽  
Yiyun Chen ◽  
Jiameng Hu ◽  
Zhengyu Wang

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Keesstra ◽  
J. Bouma ◽  
J. Wallinga ◽  
P. Tittonell ◽  
P. Smith ◽  
...  

Abstract. In this FORUM paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline has important links to several of the SDGs which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions. We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet these goals we recommend the following steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole: (i) Embrace the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as they provide a platform that allows soil science to demonstrate its relevance for realizing a sustainable society by 2030. (ii) Show the specific value of soil science: Research should explicitly show how using modern soil information can improve the results of inter- and trans-disciplinary studies on SDGs related to food security, water scarcity, climate change, biodiversity loss and health threats. (iii) Given the integrative nature of soils, soil scientists are in a unique position to take leadership in overarching systems-analyses of ecosystems; (iii) Raise awareness of soil organic matter as a key attribute of soils to illustrate its importance for soil functions and ecosystem services; (iv) Improve the transfer of knowledge through knowledge brokers with a soil background; (v) Start at the basis: educational programs are needed at all levels, starting in primary schools, and emphasizing practical, down-to-earth examples; (vi) Facilitate communication with the policy arena by framing research in terms that resonate with politicians in terms of the policy cycle or by considering drivers, pressures and responses affecting impacts of land use change; and finally (vii) all this is only possible if researchers, with soil scientists in the frontlines, look over the hedge towards other disciplines, to the world-at-large and to the policy arena, reaching over to listen first, as a basis for genuine collaboration.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-165
Author(s):  
Susanne Chandler ◽  
Denise Dedman

This teaching note describes how using the requirement of a literature review helped students become critical thinkers. Literature reviews, as assignments, are often difficult for students because of the need for intense writing, analysis, and evaluation. As part of a larger assignment, students read 7 to 10 research articles and discussed them in class. The students were then assigned the task of writing their own literature reviews using the same research articles. The authors explain how using the practice of critical reading and critical writing helped students engage their review of the literature with a critical thinking mindset.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Isabel Alvarez ◽  
Patricia Olmos

During an academic year took place the experience of observing learning strategies through the development of discursive skills for academic writing with two core subjects in the Degree in Primary Education in English (DPEE). A total of N=219 students’ rubrics were analyzed. The methodology was based on two instances: The text-based and documentary data analysis resulted from two factors: (a) implementation of academic writing tasks that regulated the level of student guidance: semi-guided and autonomous in textual, discursive genres: argumentation, critical reflection, and (b) a rubric for students’ self-assessment. Results showed that the sample group lacked meta-cognition and had continuous deficiency in oral expression, consequently their progress fell somewhat short of expectations. However, the study resulted in facilitation of pupils’ discursive oral production in the first and second years for transfer of knowledge to subsequent academic years and in potential changes to the rubric.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anetta Barska ◽  
Janina Jędrzejczak-Gas

The aim of the article is to present the regional differentiation of indicators characterizing the economic development of Polish regions in the context of the progress made in the implementation of the concept of sustainable development in 2010 and 2017. The authors focused primarily on determining the position of Lubuskie Province on the economic map of Poland. The article proposes a set of indicators monitoring one of the areas of sustainable development - economic development, which also take into account other areas of sustainable development, i.e. social development, environmental development, and institutional-political development. The main criterion for the selection of indicators were substantive premises and their completeness and accessibility across the regions. The analysis and evaluation of the proposed indicators (explanatory variables) were conducted within five thematic areas which mark the economic development of the regions and which are important from the standpoint of the sustainable development concept: 1) Potential of the economy 2) Innovativeness of the economy 3) Economic activity of enterprises, 4) Production and transportation, 5) Economic activity of households. The article consists of two sections. In the first section, based on literature review, the most important issues regarding the concept of sustainable development and the state of scientific research on the indicators of sustainable development at regional level are presented. The second section addresses the concept of indicator analysis on the basis of which an assessment of economic development of 16 Polish regions was carried out and the position of Lubuskie Province was determined against the backdrop of the other regions. The findings prompted an answer to the question concerning the economic development of Polish regions, and in particular of Lubuskie Province, in the context of the concept of sustainable development.Keywords: indicator analysis, region, sustainable development, economic development, Poland


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