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Extensive and profound political, economic, social and technological changes have taken place over the last forty years, mediated by neoconservative movements and the apparently unstoppable development of digital technology. At the same time, however, fundamental issues such as asymmetric power relations, inequality, poverty and exclusion have not only remained unchanged but are becoming more pronounced, producing, in some respects, movements and trends of reactionary change. From this perspective, in this article we begin by discussing the meaning of changes in the university field, based on contributions from different authors interested in the subject. We continue to analyze the problem considering the effects of the transformations produced by digital technologies on the lives and professional experience of university teachers and researchers. The evidence provided by this research project allows us to situate the impact of the unprecedented proliferation of information and the use of digital resources on the notion of knowledge and on teaching and learning methods, as well as to envisage the challenges to face by university. The text concludes considering some of the current university challenges and perspectives, based on various international studies and proposals. Our conclusions invite the reader to necessarily question the sense and the role of digital technology, not only in the seemingly inevitable transformation of university, but also in that of society.

La finalitat d’aquest article és argumentar la importància de la recerca en un àmbit tan fonamental per a les persones i la societat com el de l’educació. Comença plantejant que és pràcticament impossible pensar en el desenvolupament dels coneixements socials, culturals polítics, ètics, científics, tecnològics, econòmics i artístics que configuren les civilitzacions, sense sistemes més o menys elaborats que garanteixen, per una banda, la preservació i la transmissió del coneixement disponible i, per l’altra, que tots i cadascun dels individus trobin el seu lloc per convertir-se en coneixedors. Aquesta darrera necessitat es fa cada dia més urgent en un món en què la imparable proliferació de les tecnologies digitals augmenta tant el volum d’informació com la dificultat de trobar sentit a les informacions rebudes. Continua amb una breu síntesi de la història de la recerca educativa al nostre context i la manca constant de recursos per a aquesta activitat essencial. Tot seguit, presenta algunes recerques que ens han ajudat a afrontar la complexitat dels fenòmens educatius. Finalment, se subratlla la dificultat de garantir que el coneixement generat per la recerca educativa sigui tingut en compte pels responsables de les polítiques educatives, el professorat (incloent-hi els mateixos formadors de docents) per tal de millorar la pràctica educativa. Paraules clau: Recerca, educació, tecnologies de la informació, política educativa, docents, pràctica.

En este artículo compartimos un conjunto de reflexiones y acciones que han jalo- nado nuestra trayectoria académica. Un recorrido entrecruzado que, durante más de tres décadas, nos ha permitido asistir, contribuir y analizar de forma crítica los cambios que han tenido lugar en el ám- bito de la Educación, en general, y el de la Tecnología Educativa (TE), en particular. Desde este panorama de partida, estable- cemos un diálogo con las aportaciones de Juan Manuel Escudero en torno a dos temáticas: La Tecnología Educativa más allá de las herramientas y Las Tecnologías Educativas y la formación del profesorado. El texto acaba con una reflexión prospec- tiva sobre el futuro-presente de la TE vin- culado a las ambivalencias, los retos, y los sentidos de la educación.

This paper deals with students and teachers’ resistance to the challenges brought about the new teaching and learning methodologies to be implemented in the European Higher Education Space. Our analysis focuses in learning and control zones. We recount and analyze the challenges, dilemmas and progress on this objective, in the context of work carried out by the teaching innovation group Indaga-t, highlighting how the new roles of teachers and students are being setting up.

This paper addresses a fundamental issue in the studies carried out from a constructionist and narrative perspective: the relationship between researchers and researched. Our contribution is based on the development of nine microethnographies, in which the biographical dimension had a special consideration, with nine primary school teachers. This has allowed us to: a) highlight the importance of explaining the relationship between researchers and those participating in the research; b) examine the strengths and weaknesses of each relationship type and mode; c) point to the complexity and dynamism of the elements underlying relationships; d) open way of inquiry that can help deepen our understanding about the relational aspects involved in the social construction of knowledge.

This paper builds on the European project MiCREATE, which aimed to explore and stimulate migrant children and youth reception and inclusion in educational and social systems by adopting a child-centred approach at educational practice and policy levels. We focus on the role of the students’ local and immigrant families in this often-challenging process. We have evidence of the vital role of families in children and youth education. However, research mainly focuses on teachers when discussing issues related to the reception and inclusion of migrant students in schools, often forgetting that families and children/youth are also critical elements in these processes. In this project, we have explored the roles expected and developed by local and foreign families in facilitating and accompanying schools and students on these not-always-easy paths using various methods and activities. This paper focuses on aspects of the MiCREATE project related to the crucial role of families in their children’s social and educational experiences in the host country. It is based on fieldwork carried out in 16 schools in Spain, including teachers, families, students, educational community members and policymakers. Art-based research methods, open-ended interviews and focus groups provided a broad picture of the different views and expectations of all those involved in formal education. From the thematic analysis of the participants’ contributions, results emerge around two main focuses: (1) difficulties migrant families face in getting involved in school life, such as cultural clashes, school segregation, migrant families’ environment and the difference between primary school and secondary schools; (2) more general and specific initiatives that facilitate migrant family involvement in school life.

This article is based on the research project APREN-DO aimed at exploring how secondary school teachers learn. Using an inclusive research approach and visual and narrative methods, we conducted the study with teachers rather than focusing on teachers. Twenty-eight secondary school teachers in the province of Barcelona (Spain) created their learning cartographies, showing what, how, where, with whom, and with what they learn. They then narrated their cartographies and discussed the notions of learning and educational practice in the 21st century. This paper summarizes the results and conclusions about teachers’ learning environments, specificities and considerations regarding their learning, and their thoughts about educational practices. Finally, we present and discuss teachers’ reflections and proposals for redesigning educational practice taking into account the need to contemplate the different literacies and competences that exist in today’s society, encouraging student participation based on their interests and particularities, providing a space for affections and emotions, and prioritizing the personalization of students’ learning and the skill of learning to learn.

[full article in English] This article builds on the results of a research project into the professional experience of seven academic women in universities and research centers in Catalonia, Spain. The aim of the Project was to explore the personal and professional experience of three generations of women in the process constituting their identity as university teachers, researchers and managers. The writing of their professional life histories has enabled us to investigate how they, as women, have become the types of higher education teachers, researchers and managers that they were becoming, and we wished to delve into the relationship between their personal experiences and the development of their professional careers. In this process, we have revealed the strategies of adaptation, resistance and creation developed by women, the forms of symbolic violence that they experience and the changes through which their careers have passed within the context of an institution that is still continuously revealed by different studies to be deeply discriminating and unequal for women.

Straipsnyje aptariama, kaip siekis rasti prasmingesnių dėstymo ir mokymosi būdų aukštajame moksle paskatino atsižvelgti į šiuolaikines žinių ir mokymosi sampratas, susijusias su jaunimo vertybėmis, pvz., DIY kultūra (Spencer, 2005). Vykdant Europos projektą „DIYLab – Do It Yourself in Education: Expanding Digital Competence to Foster Student Agency and Collaborative Learning” („Pasidaryk pats edukacijoje: skaitmeninių kompetencijų plėtojimas skatinant studentų agentiškumą ir mokymąsi bendradarbiaujant“; http://diylab.eu tirta, kas nutinka, kai insaiderių grupė analizuoja savo pačių akademinę kultūrą, ir kaip tai susiję su etnografinio tyrimo ribomis ir galimybėmis edukologijoje. Remdamiesi Viveiros de Castro (2010), nagrinėjome savo universitetinės kultūros susikaustymą (sąstingį) ir lankstumą, kurie pasireiškė, stengiantis įdiegti už institucijos ribų atsiradusią ir išsivysčiusią mokymosi bei dalijimosi kultūrą. Precedento neturinti skaitmeninių technologijų plėtra skatina gilius socialinius, kultūrinius ir ekonominius pokyčius bei apima visas gyvenimo ir visuomenės sritis. Šiandien turėtų būti klausiama ne apie skaitmeninių technologijų naudojimo tikslingumą, bet labiau apie tai, kaip, kur ir kokiais edukaciniais tikslais jos turėtų būti naudojamos. Tačiau, kaip matyti iš pastarųjų edukacinių pokyčių tyrimų (Hargreaves, Shirley, 2009; Sancho, Alonso, 2012), reikšmingų permainų galima pasiekti tik įtraukiant mokytojus ir mokinius į sprendimų priėmimo procesus bei įtvirtinant naujas praktikas perspektyviausiais institucinės kultūros aspektais ir siejant su mokytojų profesinėmis žiniomis. Turėdami mintyje šį kontekstą, į Europos projektą „DIYlab“ įtraukėme: (a) pagrindinių DIY kultūros elementų nagrinėjimą ir (b) etnografinės pakraipos (Tacchi, Slater ir Hearn, 2003) dalyvaujančiojo veiklos tyrimo (Reason, Bradbury, 2001) atlikimą. Šiame straipsnyje pristatoma, kaip šis projektas įgyvendinamas Barselonos universitete, nagrinėjamas mūsų akademinės kultūros susikaustymas (sąstingis) ir lankstumas. Išanalizuoti duomenys rodo institucinių laikų ir erdvių nelankstumą, žinių sampratos fragmentiškumą, taip pat institucinius „plyšius“, per kuriuos skverbiasi atsinaujinanti, reikli mokymo ir mokymosi kultūra.

The gap between the compulsory secondary school, students’ daily experiences and interests and social demands seems to have significantly increased. Nowadays disaffection and disengagement with school, low-attainment and early school leaving are found not only in disadvantaged students but also practically among all social groups across countries. The traditional conception of learning prevailing in most schools does not seem able to meet the educational needs both of young people and society. Living and learning in a digital and globalized world implies considerable challenges for schooling, and these are reviewed in this paper. We build on the outcomes of an ethnographic case about young people learning inside and outside school using different media. First, we discuss the challenges posed by contemporary compulsory secondary education while also establishing the scope of our research. Then we explore the transitions of students between inside and outside school and the characteristics of a learning process in which switching constantly between online and offline environments is a given. Finally, we make suggestions, which can be taken into account by schools seeking to offer students more meaningful and authentic learning experiences.