Renewing Universities of the Third Age : challenges and visions for the future

The University of the Third Age [UTA] has developed into a global success story. Whether holding a ‘top-down’ administrative arrangement or embodying a culture of self-help, there can be no doubt as to the triumph of UTAs in meeting the educational, social, and psychological needs of older persons. However, on the basis of fieldwork conducted at the UTA in Malta a cautionary note must be warranted. UTAs may also function as yet another example of glorified occupational therapy that is both conservative and oppressive. At the same time, UTA models seem to be running the risk of becoming obsolete as societies embark on a ‘late-modern’ model of the life course in which the sequential division between learning, work and retirement is becoming increasingly blurred. This article calls for the UTA movement to go through a cultural revolution to remain relevant to contemporary ageing lifestyles. Six key directions are forwarded: embracing a trans formational rationale, ensuring that access overcomes class, gender and ethnic biases, guaranteeing that teaching and learning strategies are skilfully suited to older persons, making greater use of eLearning techniques, extending its activities to frail and physically dependent older people especially those in residential/nursing homes, and organising activities that promote intergenerational learning.peer-reviewe

¿Te ha tocado? El sorteo llega a la política de Madrid.

In early 2019 Madrid launched the first permanent citizen participation scheme in which members are chosen by lot: the Observatory of the City. Although the scheme was abandoned by the new government after the May 2019 elections, the Madrid experiment raises important questions about democracy. The project is another example of the growing prominence that the draw has acquired in many countries, as an ideal element to organise and order the participation of people in political affairs. In this paper we describe the first steps of this scheme and also highlight the features that make the draw in Madrid a unique experience both because of the implications of the use of the draw, and from the point of view of similar schemes that are being carried out in other parts of the world.Madrid ha puesto en marcha, desde inicios del año 2019, la primera experiencia de participación ciudadana permanente cuyos miembros son elegidos por sorteo, el Observatorio de la Ciudad. A pesar de que la experiencia fue abandonada por el nuevo Gobierno después de las elecciones de mayo del 2019, la experiencia madrileña plantea importantes cuestiones sobre la democracia. Esta experiencia se suma al creciente protagonismo que ha adquirido el sorteo en muchos países, como un elemento idóneo para organizar y ordenar la participación de la gente en los asuntos políticos. En este trabajo exponemos los primeros pasos de esta experiencia, así como destacamos los rasgos que hacen del sorteo en Madrid una experiencia singular, tanto por las implicaciones que tiene el uso del sorteo como desde el punto de vista de las experiencias similares que se hacen en otras partes del mundo

Diferentes concepciones de sociedad civil: la problemática de un concepto

Frente a la amplísima variedad de significados que se le atribuye al popular concepto de sociedad civil, este artículo trata de abordar una serie de clasificaciones que se han realizado a su alrededor, contrapone asimismo algunas de las formas que predominan en el pensamiento actual de los teóricos de la sociedad civil, observando los diferentes agentes, principios y metodologías que se emplean en la actualidad a la hora de pensar en la sociedad civil. El objetivo principal consiste en tratar de establecer una base mínima sobre la que observar la fundamentación filosófica en la que se sustenta la idea de la sociedad civil.In view of the vast range of meanings attributed to the popular concept of civil society, this article sets out to explore a series of classifications that have been made about it, and at the same time, compare some of the forms that predominate current thought among civil society theorists, by observing the various agents, principles and methodologies used in today’s considerations of civil society. The main aim of the article is to try and establish a minimum base from which to observe the philosophical grounding that sustains the idea of civil society

Rainforests : seqüència didàctica per l'aula AICLE inclusiva

La Seqüència Didàctica Rainforests va ser dissenyada i experimentada per l'equip col·laboratiu CLIL-SI dins dels projectes ARIE2004-00058 i ARIE2005-10056 (ArtICLE), finançats pel DURSI (Generalitat de Catalunya). El treball de disseny i recerca a l'aula desenvolupat ha donar lloc a un conjunt de material didàctic, treballs de recerca i publicacions

The researcher’s erotic subjectivities : epistemological and ethical challenges

Aquest article pretén aprofundir en la qüestió de la rellevància potencial i la importància d’incloure reflexions sobre el desig i la sexualitat de la persona que investiga en els resultats de la seva recerca. Analitzem críticament l’excepcionalització de les interaccions sexual(itzade) s en la recerca: quines són les raons per les quals el contacte sexual(itzat) entre la persona que investiga i les persones participants es considera no ètic o problemàtic, i quines són les conseqüències del fet d’evitar la intimitat —o l’(auto)censura en relació amb el debat— en el treball de camp? Aquest debat ens porta a defensar una aproximació ètica alternativa a la prescrita pels protocols ètics institucionals. L’aproximació ètica que plantegem es basa en la premissa que la producció de coneixement mai no es dona fora dels nostres cossos i que la relació de recerca no és fonamentalment diferent de cap altre tipus de relació. El que proposem és una ètica relacional de la recerca que creï espais per al debat obert i en diàleg amb altres persones sobre les conseqüències (potencials) de les nostres accions com a investigadors/es/éssers humans en unes relacions d’asimetria de poder canviants.This paper aims to deepen the conversation about the potential relevance and importance of including reflection on the desire and sexuality of the researcher in research outputs. We critically scrutinise the exceptionalisation of sexual(ised) interactions in research: why is sexual(ised) contact between researchers and participants considered unethical or problematic, and what are the consequences of the avoidance of—and/or the (self-)censorship with regard to discussin —intimacy in the field? This discussion leads us to argue for an alternative ethical approach than that prescribed by institutional ethical protocols. The ethical approach that we envision is based on the premise that knowledge production never occurs apart from our bodies and that a research relationship is not fundamentally different from any other human relationship. What we propose is a relational research ethics that creates space for discussing openly and in dialogue with others the (potential) consequences of our actions as researchers/human beings within relationships of shifting power asymmetry

El cuidado en la trayectoria vital: rompiendo moldes con criterios de justicia y felicidad

Caring activities are part of our condition as human beings all our life, being a central point of the social organization to meet human basic needs. Nevertheless, despite of its relevance for human development and well-being, its social, economic and cultural implications has not been addressed sufficiently. There is also an unequal distribution of caring activities between men and women, being women who support almost in exclusivity the responsibility of caring. This fact has negative consequences on women (with the double day work, the glass ceiling phenomenon, the slave grandmother syndrome, etc.) but also on men (identity crisis in the presence of unemployment, at the arrival of the retirement, lack of emotional and affective realization, etc.). In this article the author proposes sharing the activities of caring between men and women not only according criteria based on justice and equity but also on felicity and self-realization. It will imply rearrangements on basic dimensions of social organization from a life-course perspective, like work and education system.Las actividades del cuidar acompañan a los seres humanos a lo largo de la vida, siendo un eje vertebral de la organización social para la satisfacción de las necesidades humanas básicas. Sin embargo, a pesar de su relevancia para el bienestar y el desarrollo humano, sus implicaciones sociales, económicas y culturales no han estado suficientemente abordadas. Existe, además, respecto a las tareas del cuidar una desigual distribución de responsabilidades entre hombres y mujeres, siendo estas últimas las que histórica y tradicionalmente han venido desarrollando casi en exclusividad las actividades del cuidar. Este hecho ha repercutido negativamente en las mujeres (con el fenómeno de la doble jornada laboral, el techo de cristal, el síndrome de la abuela esclava, etc.) pero también en los hombres (crisis ante el desempleo, la jubilación, falta de realización afectiva y emocional, etc.). En este artículo se propone compartir las tareas del cuidar a lo largo de la trayectoria vital entre hombres y mujeres tanto por criterios de justicia como de felicidad y autorrealización. Ello supondrá reconceptualizar aspectos centrales de la organización social como son el trabajo y la educación

Nonverbal communication in EFL teaching

XXI Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials (Any 2016)In recent years a number of researchers have stressed the importance of nonverbal communication – especially Kinesics – in the teaching and learning of languages (Bernsen, 2002; Jung, 2003; González, 2004; Querol-Julián and Belles-Fortuño, 2010; Surkamp, 2014). This paper aims to investigate the importance of gestures in the communication process and how the appropriate use of nonverbal communication enhances classroom interaction and contributes to conveying meaning. EFL language teaching can benefited from nonverbal communication when this is used in an effective way. The paper examines a small corpus of two videos taken from YouTube in which EFL teachers’ discourse and co-speech gestures (McNeill, 1992) were analysed. Results suggest that teachers used primarily iconic hand movements, which in turn enhanced students’ acquisition of the target language (TL). Finally, a section of pedagogical implications will focus on the appropriate use of gestures in a number of interactive activities