Motivation for seeking headship in compulsory education centres: A qualitative approach

Es un hecho constatado que el liderazgo de los directores de los centros educativos es una de las claves del cambio. Su impacto, bien sea de carácter directo o indirecto, ha sido evidenciado en la mejora de los resultados académicos del alumnado, la contribución al desarrollo profesional del equipo docente y la creación y cultivo de comunidades de aprendizaje. Este estudio pretende reconocer cuáles son los motivos que conducen a los directores a acceder al cargo, así como el carácter de su decisión. Para ello, se ha seleccionado de forma intencionada, y con la ayuda de tres inspectores de la Conselleria de Educación, Ciencia y Deporte, a 100 directores de centros de Educación Infantil y Primaria, y Educación Secundaria de la provincia de Alicante. Para la recogida de datos se diseñó una entrevista con preguntas de carácter abierto. Los datos fueron procesados con el programa de análisis cualitativo AQUAD 7. A partir del mismo, se reconoce que la decisión de acceder al cargo es principalmente de carácter individual y que está condicionada fundamentalmente por motivaciones personales. Sin embargo, tales intenciones responden más a una visión institucional y social, que individualista. En relación al perfil de los directores, se aprecia un cariz más social de la decisión de acceso al cargo en las mujeres y los veteranos docentes. Estos datos nos llevan a la conclusión de que conviene prestar atención a las razones que conducen a los directores a acceder al cargo para, desde su reconocimiento, alentar una decisión que cada día menos docentes están dispuestos a tomar.It is a proven fact that the leadership of headteachers is one of the keys to change. Its impact, whether direct or indirect, has been shown to improve the academic performance of students, to contribute to the professional development of the teaching staff and to develop and cultivate learning communities. This study aims to recognise what motivates headteachers to seek office, and the nature of their decision. In order to study this, 100 headteachers of Infant, Primary and Secondary schools in the province of Alicante were intentionally selected with the help of three inspectors from the Regional Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. An open-question interview was designed for the purpose of data collection. Data were processed using AQUAD 7 qualitative analysis programme. It was recognised that the decision to access the position of headteacher was primarily individual in nature and largely influenced by personal motives. But such intentions were found to be the reflection of an institutional and social perspective, rather than of an individualist one. As far as the headteachers’ profile is concerned, it was identified that the decision by female and veteran teachers to seek office had a more social tenor. The data led to the conclusion that the reasons that drive headteachers to take up the position need to be attended to and recognised in order to encourage a decision that fewer and fewer teachers are willing to make

Europe 2020 strategy: a strategy for which type of growth?

This paper constructs an index that synthesizes the eight targets of the EU 2020 Strategy into a one-dimensional target –EU 2020 synthetic target- and the situation of each EU28 Member States (the current 27 Members plus Croatia) in 2011 with respect to them –2011 synthetic situation-. Hence we can measure the distance of each EU Member State synthetic situation in 2011 to the EU 2020 synthetic target. We find that none of the Member States meets the EU 2020 synthetic target, Denmark is the closest and Malta is the furthest to it. In fact we could identify clusters of Member States in terms of the distances to the EU 2020 synthetic target: the North EU region is closer to and the Mediterranean region is further away from it. We extent the distance analysis above by adding three inequality targets -income distribution, female employment and child poverty- and find that all of the Member States increase their distance between their 2011 synthetic inequality-extended situation and the 2020 inequality-extended targeted situation. Finally, we want to analyse each Member State’s relationship between its objective position regarding the EU 2020 synthetic target and its life satisfaction level, inhabitants’ subjective position. Through a multivariate regression methodology, we analyse how much of the total effect of the synthetic index on life satisfaction is direct, and how much is mediated. The mediation analysis shows that a substantial part of the effect of the synthetic index on life satisfaction is mediated by the GDP per capita. These results are in line with recent views in human development and well-being research. That is, the GDP per capita is only a means to achieve socioeconomic progress, not the end

Exploring how tutors in higher education perceive their work and what direction they think it should take in the future: A case study

University tutoring is a complex area of study involving various factors and agents whose actions are context-dependent. This qualitative study aims to analyse and interpret the experiences of tutors in the course of their work. The participants were 68 tutors, each from one of the seven centres belonging to the University of Alicante (Spain). We carried out conventional and summative content analyses using AQUAD 7 software. The results show that tutors’ feelings are generally positive, though they become disillusioned if students decide to drop tutoring. Nevertheless, the few students that persevere are enough to encourage tutors to reflect on possible improvements to the tutoring programme. Their suggestions reveal their own tutoring style and the need to promote whichever tutoring model best suits the context and the students that construct the tutorial relationship.This research was supported by the Project Networks-I3CE of the Deputy Vice-Chancellors Office of Quality and Educational Innovation of the University of Alicante, under Grant 4538 – An opportunity for the design and development of a TAP (Tutorial Action Plan) with a humanistic character

Deployment of Digital Video and Audio Over Electrical SCADA Networks

With the arrival of new hardware and software technologies, supervisory control and data acquisition human-machine interfaces (SCADA/HMI), usually text-based, can now benefit from the advantages the inclusion of multimedia information brings. However, due to the special requirements imposed by such systems, integrating audio and video data into the SCADA interfaces is not a trivial task. In this document we analyze those special characteristics and propose solutions so this integration is possible in power systems communication.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC2000-0367-P4-0

Classification, characterisation and strategies for improvement of cattle and sheep pasture systems in marginal areas of Southern Chile

Pasture-based livestock systems in farms with medium or low size are especially important in less favored areas and are valuable for society. For these systems to survive, it is necessary to obtain an acceptable level of productivity and ensure commercialization of the products. This study was carried out in the district of Rio Ibáñez, General Carrera Province, in the XI (Aysén) Region of Chile. The sample consisted of 28 small-scale livestock farmers with dual-purpose cattle production; 16 of them also produced sheep for meat. The empirical data produced 55 variables which were subjected to multivariate analysis; three main components were obtained which explain 72.1 % of the variance. By cluster analysis it was obtained four groups with characteristics which varied by farm size, age and personal situation of farmers, farm management and farm profitability. The principal problems found are low productivity in the herds and the poor marketing channels of animals produced. In two groups, due to the low size and poor management, the profitability of the farms is very low and this may compromise their future. To improve production systems, the training and advice of farmers should be strengthened, investment should be supported, especially for young people, and the farmer partnership should be promoted. There is also a need to diversify the families' sources of income (sale of other farm products or handicrafts and touristic activities).Ministerio de Economía de Chile Innova-CORFO Project 11 NTEC 1279

Classification, characterisation and strategies for improvement of cattle and sheep pasture systems in marginal areas of Southern Chile

Pasture-based livestock systems in farms with medium or low size are especially important in less favored areas and are valuable for society. For these systems to survive, it is necessary to obtain an acceptable level of productivity and ensure commercialization of the products. This study was carried out in the district of Rio Ibáñez, General Carrera Province, in the XI (Aysén) Region of Chile. The sample consisted of 28 small-scale livestock farmers with dual-purpose cattle production; 16 of them also produced sheep for meat. The empirical data produced 55 variables which were subjected to multivariate analysis; three main components were obtained which explain 72.1 % of the variance. By cluster analysis it was obtained four groups with characteristics which varied by farm size, age and personal situation of farmers, farm management and farm profitability. The principal problems found are low productivity in the herds and the poor marketing channels of animals produced. In two groups, due to the low size and poor management, the profitability of the farms is very low and this may compromise their future. To improve production systems, the training and advice of farmers should be strengthened, investment should be supported, especially for young people, and the farmer partnership should be promoted. There is also a need to diversify the families' sources of income (sale of other farm products or handicrafts and touristic activities).Ministerio de Economía de Chile Innova-CORFO Project 11 NTEC 1279

El periódico en Educación Infantil como motor de desarrollo de la Alfabetización Mediática

Visibilizar y desarrollar adecuadamente la alfabetización mediática dentro de la etapa de Educación Infantil, requiere un tratamiento conjunto de la competencia digital y la competencia mediática, como un mecanismo idóneo para lograr una ciudadanía crítica y responsable en la sociedad tecnológica ymediática en la que vivimos. Para ello, proponemos una propuesta didáctica, vinculando la metodología por proyectos de trabajo y el periódico como un recurso didáctico con un enorme potencial por los múltiples beneficios que aporta a la práctica de aula, no solo a nivel de aprendizajes instrumentales, sino también a nivel mediático y digital en la Educación Infantil. En este sentido, las actividades propuestas abarcan distintas dimensiones de la competencia mediática, relacionadas con la manipulación mediática, el lenguaje audiovisual y estético, y la búsqueda, selección, transformación y difusión de la información que desde las primeras edades es necesario desarrollar.To make visible and to develop properly the media literacy within the Kindergarden Stage requires a joint treatment of digital competence and the media competence, as the best mechanism to achieve a critical and responsible citizenship in the technological and media society in which we live. To this end, we propose a didactic approach linking the methodology of work by projects and the newspapers as a teaching resource with enormous potential because of the many benefits it brings to the classroom practice, not only at instrumental learning level but also to media level and to digital level in the kindergarden stage. In this sense, the proposed activities encompass different dimensions of media competence linked to media manipulation, audio-visual and aesthetic language, and searching, sorting, processing and diffusion of information which from the earliest ages is necessary to develop