La Relación de Investigación como una Relación entre Docentes. Una Indagación Narrativa

En las últimas décadas, la investigación cualitativa se ha abierto a metodologías que escapan al tradicional modelo experto-práctico, dado lugar a formas participativas de investigación. Un giro que, en educación, se ha concretado en diversos formatos, desde la investigación – acción a las comunidades de indagación. Bajo este escenario, hemos desarrollado una indagación narrativa que toma como foco nuestras prácticas de investigación durante el desarrollo de un estudio sobre creación curricular en una escuela de primaria. En dicha indagación, prestamos interés a las relaciones de investigación bajo el formato de investigar entre docentes, que apunta a la recursividad entre las prácticas de investigación y la docencia en la formación inicial del profesorado. Los procedimientos metodológicos utilizados han sido: las conversaciones hermenéuticas, el análisis cualitativo de los textos de campo y la (re)escritura. Tras la composición de un relato sobre la experiencia de la investigación, pasamos a señalar dos asuntos en la discusión de resultados: (i) la creación de una relación entre docentes que investigan y (ii) la escucha como disposición investigadora. El artículo finaliza ahondando en una dimensión fenomenológica de la experiencia de investigar y en sus resonancias para la docencia universitaria.

Impacto de la Pandemia por COVID-19 en Educación Física: Limitaciones Percibidas y Propuestas de Mejora

La pandemia provocada por la COVID-19 ha generado que la Educación Física esté sujeta a una serie de adaptaciones, en forma de medidas sanitarias y de distanciamiento social, que podrían estar comprometiendo la calidad educativa de la materia. Este estudio aspira a conocer y comprender cuáles son las principales limitaciones percibidas por el profesorado español de Educación Física en los niveles de Educación Primaria y Secundaria. Para ello se ha seguido un diseño cualitativo de corte etnográfico-interpretativo, en el que participaron trece docentes de distintas Comunidades Autónomas y niveles educativos. La técnica de recogida de información fue la entrevista semiestructurada y el análisis de contenido siguió un proceso cíclico y circular. Los resultados se concretan en tres áreas temáticas: (1) La adaptación de la Educación Física a las medidas sanitarias-educativas de la COVID-19; (2) El proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la Educación Física en el nuevo escenario; y (3) El rol del docente de Educación Física ante la situación de la pandemia. Por último, en base a las principales limitaciones y dificultades detectadas, el texto ofrece una serie de recomendaciones con las que previsiblemente algunos de los problemas experimentados podrían verse atenuados.

Narrative Analysis as a Means of Investigating CLIL Teachers’ Meaningful Experiences

An ever-increasing need for a bilingual education in globalized societies have set new challenges for all stakeholders from ideological (monoglossic vs heteroglossic) as well as methodological perspectives. Teachers’ persistent interest in different forms of bilingual education has attracted us to explore the potential of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a means of attaining a bilingual education in the second decade of the 21st century, especially the professional development of teachers who work in the given context. In this study, narrative analysis is employed to investigate how teachers’ explicit meaningful experiences lead a teacher to become a CLIL teacher in the Estonian educational settings, and disclose the factors shaping this process. The results reveal a variation in the teachers’ meaningful experiences driven mostly by their context – the type of bilingual program, the status of the foreign language, school support for collaborative practices - as well as a variation in the belief of what constitutes CLIL - views on languages and personal pedagogical beliefs.

Perceptions of Giftedness and Classroom Practice with Gifted Children – an Exploratory Study of Primary School Teachers

The Decree-Law 54/2018 combined with Ordinance 223-A / 2018 - Article 33 regulates the inclusion of gifted students in Portuguese schools. This study aims to investigate primary school teachers` perceptions of giftedness and their experiences of working with gifted children in their regular classes. This is an exploratory study with 13 teachers and the data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Our participants tended to represent giftedness with an emphasis on the intellectual traits of gifted learners and to adjust their pedagogical approach accordingly. Their assessment practices focused essentially on product-oriented approaches instead of process-oriented approaches. Our findings suggest that there is still a long way to go, especially in terms of formal teacher training, to tailor teaching to the needs and characteristics of gifted learners.

Understand Sexual Risk Behaviours in Young Adults and Challenges in their Education

Sexual risk behaviours are considered sexual conducts that can cause biological, psychological and social damage. Therefore, sexuality education is considered the only effective way to avoid it. This project aims to understand sexual risk behaviour factors and their consequences in young adults and to explore strategies they would use to face them. To answer these questions, we conducted a qualitative study in which we interviewed 11 young adults using an asynchronous mail technique due to the Covid19 pandemic. We also carried out a thematic analysis and developed our key results: 1) Sexual attitudes and behaviours; 2) Sexual risk factors, 3) Sexual risk consequences; and 4) Educational approach and strategies. Similarities in the themes were verified with previous literature, exposing the importance of learning to identify factors and consequences to respond appropriately. Participants believe that comprehensive and egalitarian sexuality education applied at individual and community level is a solid method that can improve sexual health and well-being. To conclude, this study reveals the importance of listening to young adults’ perspectives towards these conduct variables and educational approaches in order to establish global health strategies that could be based on these results.

University Students' Perceptions of Curriculum Content Delivery During COVID-19 New Normal in South Africa

Observation and experience exist among university students during COVID-19 new normal; the quality and the process of academic activities have been compromised. This study, therefore, examines the lacuna on whether the new normal is more productive by ensuring that the intention of the curriculum towards students' content knowledge is met or not. Organisational change theory was used to theorise the study within the transformative paradigm (TP) and participatory Rresearch (PR) lenses as a research design. The study was conducted in one of the universities in South Africa. Ten students were selected using the convenience sampling technique because the students were not fully on campus as of the time of this study. The online interview was adopted to collect data because of social distancing rules across the country. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The findings revealed that the COVID-19 new normal does not affect students’ academic performance negatively even though the quality of content delivery is low. The channels of teaching-learning and the Internet of Things are deduced to be unpleasant for the students with recommendations that there is a need to provide the internet-or-things alongside training and retraining for students and lecturers.

Youth Participatory Action Research as a Catalyst for Health Promotion in a Rural South African School

Rural schools in South Africa face many social and environmental challenges which impact negatively on learner wellbeing and performance. Given the severity and history of these problems, the situation is unlikely to change in the near future. Yet, schools are supposed to be enabling environments, providing holistic support to learners from communities plagued by severe economic, health and social challenges. A different strategy is clearly needed to promote the health and wellbeing of learners. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) appears to offer a plausible approach to kick start improved, health-promoting responses from within the school. We facilitated a YPAR process with volunteer learners from Grade10 to find out how they could begin to transform their rural school. Using arts-based methods, the learners were successful in raising awareness of the negative effects they were suffering as a result of the poor social-emotional climate in the school, the unsanitary facilities and the lack of opportunities to engage in physical exercise. The actions they took to address these issues were a catalyst for ongoing positive change in the school. The findings add to literature about how YPAR can make schools more enabling spaces.

De la Cuna a la Escuela. El Turbulento Devenir Durante la Primera Transición Educativa de Alumnado Autista

To promote inclusive education, attention must be paid to exclusionary processes. Students considered within the autism spectrum are, without a doubt, at greater risk of exclusion than others. This paper will show partial results of a project that has asked what are the barriers and supports that families with sons or daughters with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face in their first educational transition. Using a qualitative, phenomenological-interpretive methodology and a cross-sectional design, the life stories of 6 students with ASD (out of a total sample of 22) have been analyzed in depth, with special attention to the processes of social participation. The thematic analyzes carried out show some "lights" and many "shadows" in this first transition and with it what can be learned to move towards a more inclusive and quality educational system that benefits all students.

Self-Advocates with Intellectual Disability about Their Work as Social Educators – a Qualitative Polish Study

The paper presents the opinions of self-advocates with mild intellectual disability about their work as social educators – public self-advocates raising disability awareness. Six semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. Data was analyzed within the framework of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The themes which emerged from the interviews comprise: the motives of educators to work as self-advocates, opportunities to gain new skills and to raise public awareness about disability given by this activity, the difficulties they experience being social educators and ways to overcome them, the meaning of self-advocacy in their lives as well as the readiness to recommend this work to other people with disability. The gathered data suggests that, according to the self-advocates, being a social educator enhances the social status of self-advocates. It also provides an opportunity to develop skills, new social roles and sometimes positive identities, which is in line with the assumptions of the theoretical models of self-advocacy.

“We Participate, Silently”: Explicating Thai University Students’ Perceptions of Their Classroom Participation and Communication

This study explores Thai university students’ perceptions of their reluctance in verbal classroom participation especially in situations where English is used as the medium for instruction. It is generally perceived that non-native learners particularly from high context cultures such as Thailand have the tendency to remain silent during discussion sessions or when they are asked to participate in activities related to expressing their opinions. By investigating this phenomenon through focus group meetings with Thai university students, this study reveals reasons that cause students to be hesitant speakers in class through the eyes of students themselves. The results confirm that though students agree to the common perception of Asian students being quiet learners, they did not agree that they were passive learners; they emphasized the fact that they used ‘silence’ as a tool to quietly yet attentively participate. The study also highlights that students’ silence can be seen as a way to harmonize with the environment and situation which is the cultural norm in the Thai context.