Learner Perception of Using Case Study Method as a Teaching Method in Higher Education

The aim of the study is to explore learners' perception of case study method within the context of a Degree in Infant Education. The research is carried out at Salamanca University during the academic year 2017-2018. In order to achieve the goal of the research, a quantitative study is employed. The sample of the research is composed of 77 learners enrolled in the compulsory subject School Organization. To operationalize the variables and collect data researchers use a questionnaire. Analyzing the results, it is highlighted that most learners emphasize the benefits of case study method to be involved in the real context of a classroom setting, and to contribute to the development of different skills such as communication, problem solving, decision-making, organizing and planning, analytical thinking, conflict resolution, negotiation, coordination, cooperation, flexibility, tolerance, and respect. They state that it is a fantastic experience to put into practice the knowledge previously acquired. This research points out how the case study method maximizes the learning experience.

The Effects of Age, Dosage, and Poverty on Second Language Learning through SparkLingTM in Infant Education Centers in Madrid, Spain

The first 1000 days represent a unique window of opportunity for second language learning. In two recent studies we demonstrated that Spanish infants’ use of second-language (L2) English productive vocabulary and early utterances rapidly increased through the play-based, interactive and highly social SparkLingTM Intervention, which consists of an evidence-based method and curriculum stemming from decades of research on infant language development. Analyzing an expanded and more diverse sample of Spanish infants (n = 414; age 9–33 months) who received the SparkLingTM Intervention, this study examines the variability in L2 production, which was assessed via first-person LENA audio recordings. Infants’ age significantly and positively correlated with L2 production, demonstrating an advantage for older infants in the sample. While overall socioeconomic status (SES) was not related to L2 production, very young infants (under two years) who lived in high poverty homes showed faster increases in English production compared to peers who lived in moderate poverty homes. Infants’ attendance in the program (“dosage”) was also predictive of their L2 production outcomes. Infants across SES have the capacity to begin acquiring two languages in early education classrooms with SparkLingTM through one-hour/day sessions in social environments that engages them through frequent high-quality language input.

Self-evaluation and observation: A proposal to promote CLIL teacher training at Infant Education

The Bilingual Program of the Community of Madrid (BPCM), Spain, started offering Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), in English, at Primary Education in 2004, at Secondary in 2010, and at Infant Education (3–6-year-old students) in 2017. This approach requires multiskilled practitioners, highly trained in the CLIL methodological principles, to ensure the planning and delivery of effective lessons. However, CLIL teacher training is deficient and needs to be boosted through alternative proposals. This work analyses the potential of a checklist for self-evaluation and observation of CLIL teachers at Infant Education. It is an exploratory research that presents a case study in two Infant Education classrooms in which CLIL is taught by the same teacher. The data collection includes linguistic data collecting techniques such as the checklist for the observer and for the teacher, an observation protocol, transcripts of the interviews, among others. Results from the qualitative analysis of the Infant teacher self-evaluation and the observer showed that a never-ending-teacher-development-awareness to promote teachers to manage their experience adequately was stimulated, and it was likely to open the door to innovation in educational trends (CLIL) in order to offer a solid respond for their professional needs. It also proved to identify the actual CLIL training needs of the Infant teacher and unveiled her thoughts and practice in her bilingual classes. Therefore, it can be concluded that the self-evaluation checklist can be a useful instrument likely to shed some light on the complex phenomenon of in-service CLIL teacher training.

Educación intercultural-inclusiva desde el patrimonio cultural: la voz del alumnado

El presente estudio se centra principalmente en investigar la percepción que el alumnado de Educación Primaria e Infantil, de una localidad de la Región de Murcia, tiene de la enseñanza del patrimonio cultural desde actividades complementarias al currículo, inscritas dentro de la educación no formal. El programa de intervención se desarrolla en el Museo Etnológico de la Huerta de Murcia, en base a talleres y estrategias que favorecen la adquisición de competencias curriculares señaladas en la normativa educativa vigente y fomentan la educación intercultural e inclusiva. Como instrumento de recogida de información se ha utilizado un cuestionario. También se ha realizado un análisis de contenido desde lo recogido en la observación participante y el diario de campo, dado el carácter etnográfico del estudio. Los resultados indican que las actividades formativas en torno al Patrimonio Cultural desde la enseñanza no formal, son un complemento, de cara al alumnado, muy eficaz para la adquisición de conocimientos dentro de una educación intercultural e inclusiva y favorece la construcción de sociedades más democráticas. The present study focuses mainly on investigating the perception that primary and infant education students from a town in the Murcia region, have of the teaching of cultural heritage from activities that complement the curriculum, registered within non-formal education. The intervention program takes place in the Ethnological Museum of La Huerta from Murcia, based on workshops and strategies that favor the acquisition of curricular competences indicated in the current educational regulations and that benefit intercultural and inclusive education. As an instrument for collecting information, a questionnaire has been used. A content analysis has also been carried out from what was collected in the participant observation and the field diary, given the ethnographic nature of the study. The results indicate that the training activities around Cultural Heritage from non-formal education are a complement, for student, very effective for the acquisition of knowledge within an intercultural and inclusive education and favor the construction of more democratic societies.

Psychomotricity and Infant Education

The aims of this chapter is to offer education professionals an assessment proposal that will help them to know the motor skills of children from 3 to 5 years old. The authors also propose to offer a methodological alternative for the creation of psychomotor intervention plans. Committed to the importance of psychomotor development for the global development of the human being, they offer an evaluation proposal using the McCarthy Aptitude and Psychomotor Skills (7th edition) as a tool. This work begins by making a chronological review of the concept of psychomotor skill and its importance in child development. It is supported by the evolutionary, psychopedagogical, psychoanalytic, and neuropsychiatric theories that have shown this aspect throughout the times, and highlighting the aptitudes and stages of motor development that children under 3, 4, and 5 years old must reach. The authors hope to provide practical knowledge that will contribute to the optimization of educational work and benefiting children´s development.

A constituição do ser humano a partir de diversos contextos e experiências nas infâncias: a complexidade das obras de Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire elaborated a distinct work, in which he defended multiple knowledge: scientific, technological, technical, popular, humanitarian. Freire is an endless intelectual who focuses on understanding social problems. His works are mostly considered for his contributions to adult education and, more specifically, to popular education. However, in his works there are also reflections on children and their infancies. Thus, this is a theoretical essay whose objective is to discuss and critically reflect on Freire’s concerns with infant education. These analyses state that Freire’s assumptions can be recreated in the contexts related to infant education, announcing other possibilities in relation to practices carried out with children, as well as the conceptions of infancies.

La escuela de hijos de obreros de minas de Almadén. Un ejemplo de enseñanza manjoniana

Ave Maria Schools were founded in Granada in 1889 by the priest and educator Andrés Manjón. Unlike the traditional method of infant education in those years, Father Manjón centered pedagogy in the Catholic religion, considering nature as God’s work. In his concept, play, manual labor andoutdoor teaching were good Christians in a happy environment so that they would later join the working world. They quickly spread throughout Spain and other countries, Ave Maria Schools are considered a pioneering experience of teaching in their time and enjoyed great social prestige.In the subsoil of Almadén, the largest mercury deposit in the world was exploited from the Arab domination, with 2,500 workers working in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Children of Workers had been founded in 1908, but in 1926, coinciding with the proclamation of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, it was transformed into a Manjonian school. Become a secular school during the Second Republic and the subsequent civil war, he returned to act as a school of Ave Maria from 1939 until the 1960s. Minas de Almadén, like other large mining and industrial companies in northern Spain, exercised a paternalistic strategy with its operators and chose religious education as the most appropriate for the formation of their children.

Uso del Smartphone, Actividad Física y Autoconcepto. Relación entre los tres constructos (Use of the Smartphone, Physical Activity and Self-Concept. Relationship between the three constructs)

El objetivo fue analizar las relaciones entre el uso del smartphone y el tiempo dedicado a la práctica de AF, así como la influencia de un estilo de vida activo y las distintas dimensiones del autoconcepto en estudiantes universitarios. La muestra estuvo compuesta por universitarios del Grado en Educación Primaria e Infantil de la Universidad de Jaén: 253 estudiantes, 58.1% mujeres (N=147) y 41.9% hombres (N=106) con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 42 años (M=21.39 ±3.27). Se trata de un estudio cuantitativo-descriptivo de corte transversal que utiliza para la recogida de datos tres cuestionarios (CERM, Autoconcepto Forma 5 “AF-5” y uno de elaboración propia). Los resultados mostraron que el 44.6% de los universitarios jienenses dedica a la práctica de AF menos de 3 horas semanales y solo un 34% más de 3. Con respecto a la relación entre AF y autoconcepto, solo se han encontrado diferencias en las dimensiones emocional y física. Abstract: The aim was to analyze the relationships between smartphone use and time spent on PA, as well as the influence of an active lifestyle and the different dimensions of self-concept in university students. The sample was composed of university students from the Primary and Infant Education Degree of the University of Jaén: 253 students, 58.1% women (N=147) and 41.9% men (N=106) between the ages of 18 and 42 (M=21.39 ±3.27). This is a cross-sectional quantitative-descriptive study that uses three questionnaires (CERM, Self-Concept Form 5 "AF-5" and one of its own making) for data collection. The results showed that 44.6% of university students in Jaén dedicated less than 3 hours per week to PA practice and only 34% more than 3. With respect to the relationship between PA and self-concept, only differences were found in the emotional and physical dimensions.