A Meta Nove do Plano Municipal de Educação na Rede Municipal de Porto Alegre

Este artigo apresenta um recorte da análise da política de educação da Rede Municipal de Porto Alegre, no período de 2017 a 2019, considerando o cumprimento da meta nove do Plano Municipal de Educação, que visa a universalizar a alfabetização da população com quinze anos ou mais e reduzir a taxa de analfabetismo funcional. A metodologia de análise utilizada foi a abordagem do ciclo de políticas de Ball e Bowe, sendo identificados os principais grupos de interesse e sua atuação nos diferentes contextos da trajetória da política. No processo de investigação, foram utilizados dados quantitativos, como as estatísticas de órgãos oficiais, para precisar índices de matrículas e da demanda da EJA para alfabetização, anos iniciais e finais do Ensino Fundamental. A metodologia da pesquisa também agregou dados qualitativos, baseados em entrevistas e documentos legais.Palavras-chave: Plano Municipal de Educação; Educação de Jovens e Adultos; Políticas Públicas de Educação em Porto Alegre.The Nine Goal of the Municipal Education Plan in the Municipal Network of Porto AlegreABSTRACTThis article presents an excerpt from the analysis of the education policy of the Municipal Network of Porto Alegre, from 2017 to 2019, considering the fulfillment of goal nine of the Municipal Education Plan, which aims to universalize the literacy of the population aged fifteen years or more and reduce the rate of functional illiteracy. The analysis methodology used was Ball and Bowe's policy cycle approach, identifying the main interest groups and their performance in the different contexts of the policy trajectory. In the investigation process, quantitative data such as statistics from official bodies were used to specify enrollment rates and EJA demand for literacy, initial and final years of elementary school. The research methodology also added qualitative data based on interviews and legal documents.Keywords: Municipal Education Plan; Youth and Adult Education; Public education policies in Porto Alegre.La Meta Nueve del Plan Municipal de Educación en la Red Municipal de Porto AlegreRESUMENEste artículo presenta un recorte del análisis de la política de educación de la Red Municipal de Porto Alegre, en el período de 2017 a 2019, considerando el cumplimiento de la meta nueve del Plan Municipal de Educación, que tiene por objetivo universalizar la alfabetización de la población con quince años o más y reducir la tasa de analfabetismo funcional. La metodología de análisis utilizada fue el abordaje del ciclo de políticas de Ball y Bowe, siendo identificados los principales grupos de interés y su actuación en los diferentes contextos de la trayectoria de la política. En el proceso de investigación fueron utilizados dados cuantitativos como las estadísticas de órganos oficiales para especificar índices de matrículas y de la demanda de la EJA para alfabetización, anos iniciales y finales de la Enseñanza Fundamental. La metodología de la pesquisa también agregó dados cualitativos basados en entrevistas y documentos legales. Palabras clave: Plan Municipal de Educación; Educación de Jóvenes y Adultos; Políticas públicas de educación en Porto Alegre.

A plea for teaching writing as an integrative process meant to serve a functional purpose

In the Romanian context, writing is in a paradoxical situation: it is claimed to be important though it is one of the skills that is little invested in and moreover it undergoes strong opposition from the parents who would opt for digitalization as a preventive opportunity for their children in the future. Mistreated by both school and society, writing is given meagre chances of proving its determining role in the intellectual formation of the young generation. In this line of thought this paper aims at mapping writing as a school-taught skill by first outlining the Romanian approach to school writing (as product or process) and secondly by carrying out an analysis of the writing tasks regularly assigned, with a view to emphasizing their ups and downs and to suggesting changes that might improve not only the perception on writing in the Romanian curriculum, but also the quality of the educational output. In order to obtain a good representation of how writing is viewed by the Romanian educational system, it is deemed as appropriate to analyse the school curriculum issued and approved by the Ministry of National Education and to evaluate the implementation of the official guidelines into school textbooks. The justification for the interest of the authors in writing is related to the high rates of functional illiteracy, to the preponderant evaluation type of the pupils (a written one) and to the largely acknowledged inability of pupils to successfully manage their written tasks.

Erradicación del analfabetismo funcional en el noreste de Brasil

OBJETIVOS: Mostrar las bases del Sistema de Alfabetización Scliar, creado para erradicar el analfabetismo funcional en Brasil, aplicado en dos municipios del noreste de Brasil. METODOLOGÍA: Investigación intervencionista que consistió en la educación continua en línea semanal de educadores involucrados en la enseñanza de la alfabetización a niños de 1° y 2° grado en escuelas públicas de São José da Laje, AL y Lagarto, SE, con metodología innovadora y material pedagógico, basados en los avances de la neurociencia, la lingüística, psicolingüística y neuropsicologia. Los instrumentos de evaluación de resultados fueron la Evaluación Nacional de Alfabetización (ANA), el Más Alfabetización y la prueba de Fluidez, todos del Ministerio de Educación de Brasil. RESULTADOS: Los niños de São José da Laje dieron un salto gigante en la competencia lectora, considerando el nivel más alto y deseable alcanzado por solo el 1.39% de los estudiantes de 8 años en el tercer año, según la ANA de 2016: después de la adopción del SSA, el municipio saltó al 71% de los estudiantes, a la edad de 7 años, en el mismo nivel, no en el 3º, sino en el 2º año, según el Más Alfabetización, em 2018. La ANA constato en el nivel más bajo 1, en el estado de Sergipe un porcentaje muy alto de 45,28% y en el 4, el nivel de competencia deseable, solo el 3.02. En la comparación de tales resultados, con los obtenidos en el Más Alfabetización, los dos colegios de Lagarto, también en el estado de Sergipe, que han adoptado la SSA desde 2017, constatase que en el nivel 1 hubo un porcentaje de solo 8,7 y 9,1, mientras en el nivel deseado, 3, el más alto las dos escuelas alcanzaron el 34,8 y el 31,8%. CONCLUSIONES: Los resultados muestran que es posible erradicar el analfabetismo funcional, si se produce un cambio en las políticas públicas de alfabetización, a favor de la formación continua de alfabetizadores, de metodologías y material pedagógico, basados ​​en las ciencias que abordan el lenguaje verbal. GOALS: Showing Scliar Literacy System fundamentals, created to eradicate functional illiteracy in Brazil, applied in two cities in the Brazilian northeast. METHODOLOGY: Interventional research that consisted of weekly online educators’ continuing education involved in teaching literacy to 1st and 2nd grade children in São José da Laje, AL and Lagarto, SE public schools, with innovative methodology and pedagogical material, based on advances in neuroscience, linguistics, psycholinguistics and neuropsychology. The results evaluation instruments were the National Early Literacy Assessment (ANA), the More Early Literacy and the Fluency test, all from the Brazilian Ministry of Education. RESULTS: São José da Laje children made a giant leap in reading proficiency, considering the highest and most desirable level reached by only 1.39% of 8-year-old students in the third year, according to the 2016 ANA: after the SSA adoption, the municipality jumped to 71% of the students, at the age of 7, at the same level, not in the 3rd, but in the 2nd year, according to the More Early Literacy, in 2018. The ANA found in the lowest level 1, in Sergipe state a very high percentage of 45.28% and in 4, the desirable level of competence, only 3.02%. Comparing these results, with those obtained by More Early Literacy, the Lagarto two schools, also in the state of Sergipe, which have adopted the SSA since 2017, it was found that in level 1 there was a percentage of only 8.7 and 9.1, while at the desired level, 3, the highest, the two schools reached 34.8 and 31.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that it is possible to eradicate functional illiteracy, if there is a change in public literacy policies, favoring continuous training of early literacy teachers, methodologies and pedagogical material, based on the sciences that address verbal language.

Functional illiteracy and developmental dyslexia: looking for common roots. A systematic review

A considerable amount of the population in more economically developed countries are functionally illiterate (i.e., low literate). Despite some years of schooling and basic reading skills, these individuals cannot properly read and write and, as a consequence have problems to understand even short texts. An often-discussed approach (Greenberg et al. 1997) assumes weak phonological processing skills coupled with untreated developmental dyslexia as possible causes of functional illiteracy. Although there is some data suggesting commonalities between low literacy and developmental dyslexia, it is still not clear, whether these reflect shared consequences (i.e., cognitive and behavioral profile) or shared causes. The present systematic review aims at exploring the similarities and differences identified in empirical studies investigating both functional illiterate and developmental dyslexic samples. Nine electronic databases were searched in order to identify all quantitative studies published in English or German. Although a broad search strategy and few limitations were applied, only 5 studies have been identified adequate from the resulting 9269 references. The results point to the lack of studies directly comparing functional illiterate with developmental dyslexic samples. Moreover, a huge variance has been identified between the studies in how they approached the concept of functional illiteracy, particularly when it came to critical categories such the applied definition, terminology, criteria for inclusion in the sample, research focus, and outcome measures. The available data highlight the need for more direct comparisons in order to understand what extent functional illiteracy and dyslexia share common characteristics.

Dehumanization of a Human: Abstraction or Reality?

This article focuses on the topic of society digitalization in terms of the negative impact of innovative technologies on the value and citizens’ cognitive potential. Authors pay special attention to the problems facing the system of higher education. The authors’ argumentation is supported by data analysis of publications from well-known websites (including the Times Higher Education, University World News, and All-Russian Internet Pedagogical Council), as well as interviews with students, university staff and personal observations. The survey has shown that the functioning of universities today is complicated by the phenomena known in modern science as functional illiteracy, or ‘digital dementia’ aggressive disinformation. The development and improvement of methods using by society and academic community aimed at enhancing the information content quality that affects intellectual capital of citizens and intensify the efforts of education subjects in the process of eliminating the consequences of the global bureaucratic structures infringement of academic rights and freedoms. Keywords: digitalization of education, Universities, digital dementia, value and cognitive potential of citizens, aggressive disinformation

Cross-cultural comparison of preferences for the external appearance of artificial intelligence agents

We analyzed international differences in preferences related to the two dimensional (2D) versus three dimensional (3D) and male versus female external appearance of artificial intelligence (AI) agents for use in self-driving automobiles. We recruited 823 participants in five countries (South Korea, United States, China, Russia, and Brazil), who completed a survey. South Korean, Chinese, and North American respondents preferred a 2D appearance of the AI agent, which appears to result from the religious or philosophical views held in countries with a large or growing number of Christians, whereas Brazilian and Russian respondents preferred a 3D appearance. Brazilian respondents’ high rate of functional illiteracy may be the reason for this finding; however, there were difficulties in identifying the reason for the Russian preference. Furthermore, men in all five countries preferred female AI agents, whereas South Korean, Chinese, and Russian women preferred female agents, but in the United States and Brazil women preferred male agents. These findings may offer valuable guidelines for design of personalized AI agent appearance, taking into account differences in preferences between countries and by gender.

Enabling vulnerable populations: insights from the experiences of functionally illiterate consumers

Purpose The social transformation of “disadvantaged segments of society” requires an in-depth understanding of their behavioural reactions in different social contexts. To this end, the present study focuses on individuals who become vulnerable owing to their functional illiteracy in an “English”-dominant marketplace. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand the sources of stress as perceived by functionally illiterate individuals and the mechanisms adopted by them to manage such stress when making “high-involvement” product purchases. Insights gained from the study would be beneficial for developing efficacious support programs for vulnerable populations. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 bottom-of-the-pyramid individuals living in slums and housing schemes located in and around Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Findings Two sources of perceived stress and five coping strategies were derived from the thematic analysis of the data. Participants highlighted the sources of their perceived stress as possible loss of resources and possible loss of self-esteem. Further, the participants were found to adopt several mechanisms to cope with the state of their stress and vulnerability experienced within English-dominant shopping environments, namely, seeking help from salespeople, continuing to shop at the same store, shopping with companions, “convenience purchasing” and buying only well-known brands. Originality/value These insights into the vulnerability, stress and coping mechanisms as experienced by functionally illiterate consumers will allow for the design of efficacious interventions to empower vulnerable populations.

Intellectual games concept review in THE XIX – XXI century (Google book Ngram Corpus scientific materials base)

In the context of the development of information technology in the world, modern scientists have noted in children, youth and adults the processes of creative and intellectual degradation, the growth of functional illiteracy. In the 20th century, the value of general intelligence for each new generation was one more statistical “norm” than the previous one. Scientists have discovered that the activity of a man of the 21st century in his free time becomes more significant for the development of his intellect and creativity (gaining a state of "flow") than activity during working hours. The intellectual load during leisure time allows a person to maintain a high level of mental activity until the end of his life, to prevent brain degradation. In the scientific community, from the mid-19th century, the verbal definition of the term “intellectual games” is enclosed in different types of games. Drawing analogies between the concepts of “Quiz” and “intellectual games”, the authors of the article determine that they are the product of two opposites: mass, entertainment culture and intellectual culture, which is characteristic of a rational person, capable of endless development. The authors described a modern tool for working in the database of scientific materials Google Book Ngram Corpus. This database contains also materials concerning architecture, construction, machine-buliding fields of research. With its help, connotations of intellectual games in the history of their development were considered.