Free objects in Banach space theory

We survey recent progress on three relevant instances of free objects related to Banach spaces: Lipschitz free spaces generated by metric spaces, holomorphic free spaces generated by open sets and free Banach lattices generated by Banach spaces. Our emphasis will be on the parallelisms among these developments.Comment: 24 page

Microwave-assisted synthesis and electrochemical evaluation of VO2 (B) nanostructures

Understanding how intercalation materials change during electrochemical operation is paramount to optimizing their behaviour and function and in situ characterization methods allow us to observe these changes without sample destruction. Here we first report the improved intercalation properties of bronze phase vanadium dioxide VO2 (B) prepared by a microwave-assisted route which exhibits a larger electrochemical capacity (232 mAh g-1) compared with VO2 (B) prepared by a solvothermal route (197 mAh g-1). These electrochemical differences have also been followed using in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy allowing us to follow oxidation state changes as they occur during battery operation

A critical approach to Emotional Intelligence as a dominant discourse in the field of education

This article offers a critical analysis of emotional intelligence (EI) as a dominant discourse that establishes ways of understanding, managing, and learning about emotions in the field of education. The first section gives an overview of the recent interest in the emotional along with how the popularity of ideas associated with emotional intelligence derives from its ability to associate itself with other influential discourses that emerge from the brain sciences (neurology, cognitive psychology etc.). As part of this discussion, some of EI’s main qualities are questioned, for example, its neutrality, its potential to go beyond the dualist approaches that dominate traditional conceptions, and its proposal for a paradigm shift. The second part of the article examines the presence and impact of the discourse of emotional intelligence in the field of education in the form of mechanisms for measuring emotional intelligence and programmes of emotional intelligence or emotional literacy. The importance of educators’ emotional involvement is discussed, as is the problem of the subjectivating power of this discourse. It concludes with arguments that invite us to reflect and explore alternative ways of understanding and framing the emotional and emotional education.Este artículo presenta un análisis crítico de la Inteligencia Emocional como discurso dominante, a través del cual se concretan formas de entender, gestionar y aprender sobre las emociones en el ámbito educativo. En la primera parte se discute el reciente interés por lo emocional y cómo la popularidad de las ideas asociadas a la Inteligencia Emocional viene dada por su capacidad para asociarse con otros discursos de gran influencia que emergen desde las ciencias del cerebro (neurología, psicología cognitiva, etc.). Como parte de esta discusión se cuestionan algunas de sus cualidades principales como son su neutralidad, su potencial para transcender planteamientos dualistas que imperan en las concepciones tradicionales, así como su propuesta de cambio de paradigma. La segunda parte del artículo examina la presencia e implicaciones del discurso de Inteligencia Emocional en el contexto educativo a través de los mecanismos de medición de inteligencia emocional y los programas de educación o alfabetización emocional. También se discute la importancia de las implicaciones emocionales para los educadores, a la vez que se trata la problemática asociada al poder subjetivador de dicho discurso. Para concluir, se exponen argumentos que invitan a reflexionar y explorar formas alternativas de entender y plantear lo emocional y la educación emocional

Rational synthesis of normal, abnormal and anionic NHC-gallium alkyl complexes : structural, stability and isomerization insights

Advancing the rational design of main-group N-heterocyclic carbene complexes, this study reports the synthesis, X-ray crystallographic and NMR spectroscopic characterisation of a novel series of Ga complexes containing neutral or anionic NHC ligands using the unsaturated carbene IPr (IPr = 1,3-bis-(2,6-di-isopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene). Starting from normal adduct GaR3·IPr (1) (R = CH2SiMe3), the addition of polar LiR led to the formation of NHC-stabilised gallate species IPr·LiGaR4 (2), resulting from co-complexation of the single-metal species. Contrastingly, reversing the order of addition of these organometallic reagents, by treating unsaturated free IPr, first with LiR followed by GaR3, furnished novel heteroleptic gallate (THF)2Li[:C{[N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)]2CHCGa(CH2SiMe3)3}] (3), which contains an anionic NHC ligand acting as an unsymmetrical bridge between the two metals, coordinating through its abnormal C4 position to Ga and through its normal C2 position to Li. Electrophilic interception studies of 3 using methyl triflate (MeOTf), methanol and imidazolium salt (IMes·HCl) led to the isolation and structural elucidation of the two novel neutral abnormal NHC (aNHC) complexes [CH3C{[N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)]2CHCGa(CH2SiMe3)3}] (4) and aIPr·GaR3 (5) (aIPr = HC{[N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)]2CHC}). These studies disclose the preference of the anionic IPr ligand present in 3 to react with electrophiles via its C2 position, leaving its Ga–C4 bond intact. Abnormal complex 5 can also be accessed by a thermally induced rearrangement of its normal isomer 1. Combining NMR spectroscopic and kinetic studies with DFT calculations, new light has been shed on this intriguing transformation, which suggests that it occurs via a dissociative mechanism, highlighting the importance of the donor ability of the solvent used in these thermal isomerizations as well as the steric bulk of the substituents on the NHC and the Ga reagent. These findings intimate that relief of the steric hindrance around Ga by forming an abnormal complex is a key driving force behind these rearrangements

The marketisation of Higher Education through the English university model: key elements, criticisms and possibilities

This article provides a theoretical reflection on the challenges associated to the practices of marketisation and the economising trend of higher education. We refer to the English university experience to illustrate how the tendency to marketisation transforms rela-tionships between agents, functions, organisation and the form it is understood higher education. The article focuses on three fundamental elements fundamental elements that explain the marketisation of the English higher education. Firstly, we discuss the transformation of the student into consumer and the higher education into a commodity. Secondly, we explore the concept of employability, focusing on pedagogical implications and showing how it promotes instrumentalised conceptualisations of university educa-tion. Thirdly, we discuss practices associated with evaluation and enhancement of com-petition by taking as a reference the systems used to assess teaching and research activity. We provide a critical analysis of these three elements and discuss ideas to reconfigure the transformation caused by the process of marketisation. Besides critical arguments, this article also provides forms to reconfigure practices associated to marketisation. Rather than rejecting marketisation, we suggest a reorientation that eases the most pernicious effects of this trend that is already present in the European university models

Literacy and emancipation: on the work and thought of Myriam Nemirovsky (Alfabetizar y emancipar: sobre el trabajo y el pensamiento de Myriam Nemirovsky)

This article reviews contributions to teaching reading and writing of Myriam Nemirovsky, whose conceptualization foreshadowed an emancipatory pedagogy. To do so, we have reviewed her work and interviewed three of her colleagues: Elena Laiz Sasiain, Liliana Tolchinsky Brenman and Francesco Tonucci. In the first part we recount key moments in Nemirovsky’s life and set forth ideas that helped her to develop her approaches to teaching reading and writing. The text explores the development of her pedagogical thinking based on her teaching and research experiences. Later, we present parallels between Myriam Nemirovsky’s work and ideas of Jaques Rancière and Joseph Jacotot to highlight core elements in an emancipatory pedagogy and illustrate their presence in Myriam Nemirovsky’s practices and thinking. To conclude, we reflect on how Nemirovsky’s teachings helped to mobilize innovative ideas among educators. Her legacy includes a conception in which learning how to read and write is a contextualized process already underway, always unfinished, in constant transformation and largely unpredictable. It is a vision which no longer prioritizes the measurable, neutral and standardizable

Beyond liberal discourse: Teachers’ conceptions of democracy and education in England and Spain

This study explores the conceptions developed by primary and secondary education teachers in Spain and England about democracy in education. To this end, we conducted a phenomenographic study involving 39 teachers. The results identify four major conceptions of democracy in education: (a) democracy as freedom, (b) democracy understood as participation and collaboration, (c) democracy as a principle for achieving social justice in schools and in the education system and (d) democracy as a principle to learn to live together and social norms. The discussion highlights that the way teachers articulate their conceptions is dominated by a liberal discourse of democracy in education. However, their ideas also show other nuances and traces of more open perspectives. This work stresses the importance of continuing to investigate teachers’ conceptions and how alternatives to the dominant trend can be glimpsed through them

Emotional Intelligence in Saudi Arabian Educational Supervision: between acceptance and resistance

The concept of Emotional Intelligence has received considerable attention globally and most recently in the context of Educational Supervision in Saudi Arabia, where it has been presented as a key element to stimulate effective leadership and educational change. In this article, we discuss the introduction of Emotional Intelligence in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the experiences of six Saudi Educational Supervisors attending a workshop on Emotional Education. Qualitative data was generated from interviews, focus groups, participants observations and reflective diaries. Thematic analysis was used to organise the data and develop central ideas for discussion. Our interpretation of the data suggests that our participants have a limited understanding of the concept of Emotional Intelligence and that their views, which oscillate between acceptance and resistance, are influenced by Saudi culture as well as the model established by Daniel Goleman. In the final part of the paper provides some guidance on how to develop an alternative approach to Emotional Intelligence from a critical perspective

Policy and Research on Citizenship Education in the United Kingdom (1998 – 2018)

This book explores the prevailing need for educating in the active exercise of the citizenship because this kind of education should give us the possibility of taking part actively in the processes of change and improvement