Rural development, population aging and gender in Spain: the case of rural women in the autonomous community of Castilla y León

The transformation that rural areas have undergone during the last 30 years constitutes a very important phenomenon in Spain, but it is especially relevant in certain regions such as the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León. The constant process of depopulation, which a great number of villages of that region are suffering, primarily caused by the continuous transfer of labour force from agriculture activities to the industrial sector and, more recently, towards the service sector of urban areas, is provoking the progressive demographic and economic decadence of rural areas. In this context, women played a key role in the process of rural exodus, especially in the case of young women. This trend has created highly aged, male rural populations, with few potential human resources, which are incapable of sustaining and promoting economic and social development in the future. This project attempts to determine to which extent women have been and continue to be the protagonists of the social and economic transformations which have affected rural areas during the last decades. To this aim, we will undertake an analysis by sex of different demographic, economic and social variables at the municipal level, which will show women’s spatial situation, according to rural criteria. We will also undertake a prospective analysis of the population evolution of these rural areas, in order to obtain a probable demographic scenario which rural women will have to face in the future. The specific focus of this study will be the territory of the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León. The results of this analysis will serve as a very useful reference for the public authorities as well as for private agents of this and other Spanish regions whenever they have to design alternative policies and actions regarding the role that rural women play and will play in the economic maintenance and development of rural areas. This is especially true given that, until now, studies which focus on the quantitative analysis of the economic and social situation of rural women have been practically nonexistent.

The “openers”, an opportunity to get consciousness and to be ready to learn

La innovación docente que se expone hace referencia a cómo iniciar las sesiones de clase. La propuesta consiste en dedicar unos minutos a compartir una información concreta en formato visual, auditivo o audiovisual, relacionada con alguna noticia relevante en esos días (a escala local, nacional o internacional) o bien relacionada con alguna parcela de los contenidos objeto de estudio, difundida principalmente mediante algún medio de comunicación (TV o prensa). Se emplean fotografías, audiciones de música, vídeos, lecturas en voz alta, textos… El propósito final es conseguir captar la atención de las y los estudiantes, conectar con el mundo exterior a las aulas, conocer enfoques menos académicos sobre ciertas cuestiones, así como conseguir calma y ralentizar el ritmo de la jornada para mejorar la predisposición a la clase que se inicia. En definitiva, los “aperitivos” actúan como pasarelas hacia la presencia y la consciencia para ponerse en disposición hacia el aprendizaje y el disfrute.The way I start lessons is the focus of the teaching innovation I present in this meeting. The proposal is about spending some minutes sharing specific information presented by a video, audio or audiovisual format. An information related to any current and important news (local, national or international) transmitted by a usual mass media (TV or newspapers) or an information connected with the curriculum we are learning about in our classes. We use photographs, music, videos, aloud reading, texts… The main goals are to get to catch students’ attention, to connect life at the faculty with life outside, to learn about less academic approaches to some issues, to be calm and to slow processes to get a better way of being in the classrooms when lessons are to start. So that, “openers” act as gangways to be present and to get consciousness to be ready to learn and enjoy learnin

La mirada de la Historia: la educación entre la realidad y la utopía

El conocimiento histórico nos permite la conquista de la autoconciencia, realización plena de nuestra racionalidad. Y desde la mirada de la historia es posible identificar tres modelos educativos sucesivos, equivalentes a tres formas de acceso a la realidad: un modelo acrítico, que confunde educación con manipulación o adiestramiento; un modelo crítico, de educación integral, que implica el desarrollo realista de la compleja naturaleza humana mediante una investigación libre; y un modelo político, el verdaderamente educativo, que posibilita además la transformación de la realidad misma, gracias al pasado, la intuición y la utopía. Éstas son las categorías y la mirada que la autora del artículo aplica a su sintético repaso de la historia del pensamiento pedagógico occidentalThe historical knowledge allows us the conquest of the self-conscience, full accomplishment of our rationality. And from the perspective of history it is possible to identify three educational successive models, equivalent to three forms of access to the reality: an acritical model, that confuses education with manipulation or training; a critical model, of integral education, who implies the realistic development of the complex human nature by means of a free investigation; and a political model, the really educational one, who makes the transformation of the reality itself possible in addition, thanks to the past, the intuition and the utopia. These are the categories and the perspective that the authoress of the article applies to their synthetic revision of the history of the pedagogic western thought

Research on Initial Professional Qualification Programs' students. The base line for the Basic Professional Training program?

Los Programas de Cualificación Profesional Inicial han sido objeto de investigaciones que abordan algunas de sus particularidades, siendo aún escasa su visibilidad en el ámbito académico. El propósito de este artículo es recopilar y hacer explícitas las aportaciones más relevantes que la investigación ha generado sobre el alumnado que cursa estos programas. La amplia revisión bibliográfica realizada evidencia la multiplicidad y complejidad de los motivos que han conducido a estos chicos y chicas al fracaso escolar en la Educación Secundaria. Se alude asimismo a factores que no son de responsabilidad exclusiva del alumnado; aflora una crítica al sistema educativo español y a los continuos cambios legislativos, al tiempo que se evidencian las virtudes de estos programas. Consideramos que este conocimiento es vital para afrontar tanto las labores de formación como las de orientación de estos jóvenes.The Spanish educational system designed, about a decade ago, a special program for, mainly, those students who failed in compulsory Secondary Education, the program was called Initial Professional Qualification Programs. The aim of this paper is gathering the most significant research results and information about the program. That knowledge could improve a better design for this vocational and educational program. The theoretical review developed has shown that there are multiple and complex reasons to explain school failure. Some of them are not only responsibility of the students; Spanish educational system is criticized as the frequent changes on its policy. On the other hand, some advantages are all also acknowledged. Considering a necessity to improve the program, this dissertation tries to make a contribution in that sense