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In recent years, international and national test results have been unfavorable for Mexico's educational system, turning the spotlight on teachers' quality. This problem has also occurred in the public teaching entrance examination and calls into question the efficiency of the initial training provided by Mexican normal schools. This paper intends to study the relationship between a student community's social origin and academic performance in three normal school sites in Sonora. It analyzes a cohort of 268 students through the five cultural capital types that, as variables, contribute to exploring academic performance. Besides, it determines the social origin of the students through K-means clustering. Through an analysis of the Pearson correlation coefficient, the results show that the student's family, school, and economic capitals are associated with academic performance. Afterward, a linear regression analysis was carried out where the highest Beta value was for the school capital variable. In conclusion, in a framework of social inequality, the school and economic capitals take part in the educational achievement of students who are being trained as teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper claims that the study method of human education cannot not assume that man is a single entity, as man is composed by multiple dualities. Education is framed within radical human realities. First, a distinction is made between act of being and essence. After showing the dualities of the act of being human (or transcendental dualities] and those of essence, the paper highlights the dualities: education-personal love, education-family, male-female, masculine education-feminine education, parents-children and the consequent dualities: paternal-filial, home-school, educate-learn, enterprise-university and finally human personal education-divine personal education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on the findings of pedagogic anthropology, highlights the essential endlessness of the human person -who is always prone to "being more" as a person- and considers to what extent education can enhance human growth. The different stages of intellectual development are analyzed in some detail, emphasizing the critical sense and the adequate or inadequate ways of promoting such development through teaching. The paper also studies the essential domains of the person's moral growth and the possibility, necessity and legitimacy conditions of an explicitly moralizing assertive influence as well as the links between moral education and civic education. Likewise, aspects of the person's affective development and their synergy with the above mentioned growth domains are focused. Finally, some commentaries are made on the development of the religious domain and its educational importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a theoretical framework of the armed conflict is presented in the first place and then, the main milestones of the appearance and development of IHR and its regulations are outlined. Subsequently, the paper makes a general outline of its applications in the Colombian conflict. Finally, there is a proposal aiming at raising awareness of the need for an educational project that reinforces the IHR proposals and guides its eventual formulation. This proposal is made on the basis of a conception of education which is not reduced to training but regards the human attribute as a foundation for the know how to do. It aims at an understanding of IHR not as a simple regulation of the war, but as a way of living under the principles of justice and respect for human dignity. This would cause a person formed in these principles, not only to face conflict situations in a non-violent way but also, as a last resort, to contribute with their attitude to the prevention of war. On this basis, fewer actors of the armed conflict will be willing to commit atrocious actions which could backfire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a focus on "human environment" as a big conceptual category that may be used to develop environmental behaviours and civic competencies at different levels (in each person, the family, the school institution, the local community and the world). These behaviours and competencies should help to improve levels of civic participation and social skills, enhancing the overall quality of life and, most especially, with regards to the idea of personal improvement when seen as an expression of human liberty. In summary, this paper describes the planning, development and follow-up process that involved eleven educational workshops, all of which dealt with the field of "human environment." The workshops were designed from conceptual elements whose aim was to sensitize both teachers and students regarding the need for personal and family growth and the, inherent value of living within society, its institutions and educational communities at local and national levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the theoretical assumptions of constructivism in order to understand it from the perspectives of epistemology and pedagogy. In the first section, three relevant constructivist positions (radical, Piaget's, and social constructivism) are describe as a necessary condition to explore the possibility of advancing in the characterization of a constructivist epistemology and to be able to show the epistemological difficulties entailed. The second section, constructivism as a pedagogic theory, examines the constructivist pedagogy to show its contribution to teaching. In addition, some pedagogy objections requiring clarification regarding the theme are mentioned. Finally, by establishing a connection from the epistemological and pedagogical perspectives of constructivism, it is suggested that constructivism is not a theory of teaching but rather a u of raisins epistemological problems and trying to solve them. It is not the intention this paper to fall into simplifications which are typical of constructivism but to high light some of its positive aspects such as underlining the importance of a positive attitude in learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004 the United Nations Organization commemorated the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family. The purpose established in 1994: revaluing the social function of the family is updated in this paper. Twenty years ago, the fact that the family is the basic social unit upon which rests the development of peoples was stressed. At present, the proposal goes deep into that glimpsed objective, its difficulties and problems--some new problems which are obstacles for the family welfare have been added since then; this situation carries in itself social unrest as a secondary, though immediate, effect. This paper examines, first of all, how the theme of sociability in the family is dealt with in international organizations such as the United Nations and in the institutions upon which it finds support for the research work that will be the basis for the proposal of social policies. The paper observes the way how this theme is focused and underlines the use of a methodology by means of which only a few conclusions that do not embrace the whole reality of the family are drawn. More precisely, these such conclusions fail in getting to the bottom of sociability and its education within the family, although they do recognize some efforts to bring near to the core issue of this theme. The paper concludes by establishing the need of including other approaches to complete the study of the theme and shows some key principles for an understanding of the close relationship between sociability and identity and how these are discovered within the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reflection on the pedagogic strategies used to discuss the theme of ethical sensitizing in decision-making. The reflection stems from the authors' experience in the course on Management and its Public Responsibilities, within the MBA at Universidad de Los Andes. The central hypothesis refers to the possibility of achieving an ethical sensitizing of the students, starting from the use of pedagogic strategies such as collaborative learning. The paper discusses the concepts of collaborative learning and its importance in the field of university teaching, as well as its differences with traditional group work and cooperative learning experiences. In addition, the issue of evaluation as a central tool of the courses is discussed. Also, the paper explores these concepts within the experience gained during the evaluation of the above mentioned course. Even though the trial cannot be taken as a fact to validate or invalidate our hypothesis and it does not even constitute a complete experience of collaborative learning, it does illustrate the importance of the strategy in the discussion of issues such as ethics and responsibility. Our reflections are a starting point for a more rigorous, intentional application work of the pedagogical methodologies and their assessment, which will allow us to create the necessary spaces for ethical sensitizing as well as the incentive for an exercise of responsibility that we have named stage 2. At this stage, the students realize that making headway is not feasible without self-criticism; they welcome their peers' criticism and see all this as possibilities for their self-improvement as persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explain the factors that determine the gap in the level of English language proficiency between public and private schools, and to determine whether it has narrowed over time as a result of public policies to generalize bilingualism in Colombia. The language scores on the Saber 11 tests for 2008 and 2013 were analyzed for this purpose. An educational production function that involves family, personal and school factors and an approach to the unobservable component of the skill is introduced. The difference in performance has remained more or less constant, but with a slight reduction; however, the unexplained portion, attributable to the students' motivational component, was found to have declined considerably, indicating that public policies are working in terms of helping students to become interested in learning a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to analyze the progress and challenges of inclusive education in Colombia, through a comparative analysis of policies and strategies developed within the country and the measures taken by Spain in the same direction. Nine categories were defined for this analysis, based on the key elements identified in the international agreements with names preceded by "UNESCO": 1) the inclusive education approach, 2) focus groups, 3) responsible parties and resources, 4) teaching and learning strategies, 5) curriculum design, 6) educational levels, 7) teacher training, 8) community involvement and 9) evaluation and monitoring. The sources of information include official documents from the agencies in each country that oversee and direct educational services, as well as national legislation currently in effect. The results of this analysis indicate the two countries in question are not so far apart in terms of their legislation and recognition of the principle of inclusion. This shows Colombia has adapted its policy on education to reflect international guidelines. However, it is clear the implementation of these guidelines is still far from inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of the implementation of a preschool school initiative in Chile known as Your Scientific Skills in Science (TCC) Explora Conicyt and analyzes the influence of cooperative relationships between directors, preschool teachers and preschool teaching assistants on the development of scientific skills in students bet-ween four and six years of age A mixed methodology was applied. Thirty-seven classroom observations were con-ducted and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Ten categories of coo-peration emerged and were used to construct a questionnaire for these three educa-tional players. The questionnaire was applied at ninety-seven municipal and private schools in the regions of Valparaíso, La Araucanía, Los Lagos, Rivers and Metropoli- tana. The results show a positive correlation between cooperation among educators and scientific learning on the part of students [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the independent work that, in its educational dimension, has been investigated by several authors, making possible to define it in many ways; is traditionally identified with the activity performed by the student to learn independently within or outside the classroom with the teacher's guidance or not. This paper overcomes this notion and proposes a concept that clarifies the role of the teacher in charge of the direction of the student self-activity. With the theoretical and experiences systematization defending the student's active role in learning and developed concepts on independent study and work, we made a historical periodization. Finally, we propose a suitable concept to university context, that under an approach on process, allows a dynamic teaching and student-centered learning, greater flexibility in the training process and to break with educational traditionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dealing with the object of knowledge of physical education requires, absolutely, a careful examination of its conceptual essence. Being at first sight a semantic compound it may happen, and has happened, that confusions arise and, therefore, the educational fact is distorted as evidenced in the instructionist reductionisms with an apparent sports or military character. Therefore, this paper makes a necessary analysis aimed to propose clarity, with the possibility of overcoming the contrapositions, reductionisms and distortions mentioned. The theme is tackled with the intentionality of drawing attention to the ethical and human background implied in self achievement stemming in what is basic corporal and based on what is personalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a training experience with a group of workers in a private company of the industrial-service sector. The aim was to develop in workers the criteria necessary for the design of a personal plan for the development of leadership competences, based on a competences model. It was found out that the design of personal plans based on a concrete, substantiated and clear competences model can be achieved with a certain degree of efficacy by demanding an important introspection and reflection effort. It was also found out that such plans stem not only in the role that the person plays in the company: personal objectives and potentialities are also taken into account. Finally, it was observed that each person learns in a different way, and that the process of competences construction encourages and develops confidence in their problem- solving and learning-to-learn abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a real irony that at a time when apparently business schools around the world are widely successful and accepted, the levels of criticism on the way business schools prepare and educate future and present managers have risen. In fact, the beginning of the new century brought with it a lot of strong disapproval by prominent scholars, professionals, entrepreneurs and members of institutions, on the way business schools work. It is therefore necessary to take such criticisms seriously, think them over and propose solutions, especially nowadays when national and multinational companies strengthen their presence and actions and surpass frontiers and governments, and when entire economies seem to depend on their success or failure. This paper aims to revise such criticisms on the 'formation of managers, in particular the so-called MBA's and to offer possible ways to overcome the problems raised, using an anthropological model of business management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reflection upon girls' education and wonders whether gender research contributes to elucidate the position of girls within the educational system. It reviews the changes introduced into education by the pedagogy based upon the student's freedom and capacity to make choices and comes to the conclusion that this pedagogy has been negative for both boys and girls but more so for boys. Gender research does not contribute significantly to our insight. The conclusion is that in order to strengthen girls' education the best thing is a general school reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the results obtained in didactic research on the process of scientific model constructions in the classroom, this paper examines the consequences of this process regarding the interactions that the didactics of modelling would generate, given the change introduced by modelling as an emerging intentionality in scientific education. Regarding the construction of models in the classroom, it is specified that the corresponding didactic work is focused on the ones agreed upon by the respective community of specialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper raises the complexity of the reading and writing tasks as learning processes which take place throughout the whole life cycle and involve a series of equally complex sub processes which must be coordinated to achieve success in the reading or writing tasks. It is stated that the work proposed in the classroom must take these aspects into account in order to design strategies and activities leading to taking the students' previous knowledge into account, in order to get support from it and to promote progress in the reading and writing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a profound reflection upon the educational organization and contributes with an innovative conceptualization of a philosophical nature. It establishes the nature and aim of the educational organization and of the entrepreneurial organization and lays the foundation that will allow understanding of both the shared and the differing aspects existing among them and to infer that the educational organization is not a business organization. Even though an educational organization is an institution that shares the characteristics of any organization its specific purpose or aim differs from what is understood by entrepreneurial organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the impossibility of educating on the basis of the nihilist scepticism conveyed by the prevailing counter-culture in present-day Europe, the need to restate the bases of education as socialization and the need for cultural change. It examines the connection between Philosophy and Pedagogy existing since Socrates' time as a clue to understand education as an introduction to reality and the role it plays in meaningful language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]