Communication, Literacy and Citizenship: a conceptual orientation in a portuguese children’s television thematic channel, K SIC

This paper highlights the consequential nature of communication, literacy and citizenship and the meta-pattern that connects everything together – the ecology of the human spirit. It argues that, just like human communication, literacy is consequential in nature for humankind. Through each of our different worlds of experience and processes of communication, we manifest both of these human conditions and co-construct everyday practices that engender a plurality of effects. Literacy is a concept common to all humankind. Thus, it forms an indivisible whole with communication. This viewpoint is at odds with that which confines literacy to being understood as the acquisition of certain competences. It is arguable that, just like communication, the human condition of literacy needs to be both encouraged and developed. We suggest here that the idea of borders in literacy should be questioned. The work of Gregory Bateson on the ecology of the human spirit – an imminent characteristic of the human species that is based on the physiological structure of the living being and is in permanent interaction and reconnection with both the biosphere and our ways of seeing the world – supports the viewpoint put forward here. From the communication mediatised by a children’s television channel, from SIC K and from the results of studies carried out into children’s use of television we draw the examples that shall illustrate the theoretical approach taken here. They also underpin two premises of an ongoing project. Firstly, television is part of the solution in that it encourages and develops communication-literacy- citizenship-education-connectivity. Secondly, human rights form a shared platform from which to orient the use of Technologies and define connection strategies for the active participation of the children

The Aveiro charter of rights for human beings: a milestone for the second decade of the 21st century

BEING HUMAN is an extraordinary privilege. Every woman and every man that is born has something to learn and a project to build throughout their lives. Designing futures in the present and affirming what makes them BE HUMAN requires work, study and fun. Since the first decade of the 21st century, the Human Rights in Action project, by Civitas Aveiro, has helped, through its work with children, young people and teachers, to construct answers to the question: what makes us truly human? What are the effects of technologies’ in our life? The Aveiro charter of rights of the Human Being is one of the results of the 10th edition of the project developed in partnership with the University of Aveiro, with the backing of the Municipality and local Businesses. Twenty-five education and teaching institutions, from Nursery School to University, and a total of eight hundred Children and Young People, joined by around fifty teachers, from various subject areas, were involved in the development of the one hundred and twenty six rights inscribed in the Charter of Rights of the Human Being, which has been turned into an agenda for 2010. The dissemination of the charter by Civitas Aveiro aims to make a contribution in order that the citizens of the city of Aveiro, upon hearing the voices that speak out in this charter, may take steps toward making Aveiro a city blessed + dreamed with the Rights of the Human Being. The purpose of this presentation is to lay out and encourage discussion on the process of collective participation in the construction of the Charter of Rights of the Human Being, in various contexts, the methodology used and the analysis of the rights inscribed in it

From the ecology of the human spirit to the development of the orchestral theory of communication: the inclusion of the medium-message axiom

The contributions of the biologist, anthropologist and communication theorist Gregory Bateson (1904- 1980) form the nucleus of the cross-disciplinary theoretical principles which led to the founding of the web of thought spun by Watzlawick, Weakland, Beavin, Fish, Jackson, Erickson, Foster, Haley and Satir, amongst others. These authors were united by a common theoretical standpoint which foregrounded the ecology of the human spirit and saw communication as process, a system of transactional interaction. They were also similarly influenced by cybernetics, systems theory and constructivism. Energised by the clash of the ideas in their exchanges, they constructed the orchestral theory of communication, formalised by Paul Watzlawick, Donald Jackson and Janet Beavin. Today, Watzlawick (1967) is regarded as a seminal publication in the annals of interpersonal communication studies. Moving beyond the confines of the original object of study – face-to-face communication – this theory has been increasingly applied to the analysis of institutionally mediated communication and to the understanding of the construction of learning and change in organisations. However, in current circumstances, its set of axiomatic principles would benefit from the inclusion of a medium-message axiom to allow a fuller understanding of the realities of the mediated communication process that the process contains. This paper proposes the inclusion of this new axiom, medium-message; a proposal which is based on the work of Gregory Bateson, the ecology of the human spirit, the orchestral theory of communication and the thinking of the Media Ecology Association. It aims to help build a more profound insight into the realities of the process of human communication

Mapear o estudar no ensino superior : abordagens dos alunos ao estudo numa E.S.E.

Integrado na linha de investigação SAL (Students Approaches to Learning), este trabalho centra-se no estudo da perspectiva dos alunos sobre a sua experiência de aprendizagem. Assim, o objectivo da presente investigação centrou-se na avaliação das abordagens à aprendizagem dos alunos do ensino superior, mais precisamente numa Escola Superior de Educação do ensino particular, situada no Porto. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que os alunos optam preferencialmente por uma abordagem profunda à aprendizagem. Esperamos que este estudo possa contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da aprendizagem dos alunos no ensino superior, sobretudo no momento actual do sistema de ensino universitário em reformulação de currículos e metodologias para dar cumprimento às sugestões de “Bolonha”, promovendo alunos cada vez mais autónomos na sua aprendizagem e, consequentemente, responsáveis pela construção do seu próprio saber.Integrating the research on Students Approaches to Learning (SAL) this article focuses on students’ perceptions of their own learning experience. Evaluating students’ approaches to learning was the main goal of the empirical study presented here. The sample integrated students from a private School of Education in Oporto. Data suggest that students opt for the use of a deep approach to learning. We hope this study highlights a better understanding of students’ approaches to learning. According to present demands of Bologna rules, deep changes in university curricula and teaching methodologies are urgent so that students’ autonomy and responsibility for their own building of knowledge can be promoted

As Festas do Divino Espírito Santo são um contributo para a ecologia do espírito humano dos participantes de duas co-culturas, a Luso-americana e a Americana de Lusa-descendência

This paper results from a study carried out in 2005 in communities that contain Luso-Americans: people born in Portugal who emigrated to the USA over 30 years ago and who are American citizens or hold dual nationality; Americans: born in the USA but of Portuguese descent and living in the East Providence and Fall River areas. The purpose of this study was to construct an understanding of the Festivities of the Divine Holy Spirit as an essential context for the process of building co-cultural identities. The thesis that we defend is that the Festivities of the Divine Holy Spirit (FDHS), as unique mani- festations of communication, ludicity and experience for those that participate in them, are essential learning and change processes that actively contribute to the construction of the Luso-American and Luso-descendant American co-cultures. Thus, we believe that the FDHS in the USA are an integral part of the ecology of the human spirit of each of the participants, independent of which co-culture they belong to. They generate inter-understanding and serve to calm tensions that arise from the double-consciousness created by the differentiated socialisation taking place in the Luso-American and the Luso-descendent American co-cultures. Given the case study methodology used, the location and limited number of participants in the sample, 303 subjects with ages ranging from 5 to 88, we do not claim that the outcomes of this study are scientifically generalisable to the diversity and multiplicity of the realities of all the FDHS celebrated in the United States. However, we do believe that the results indicate trends that a wider study would be able to better explore. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews and data collection took place between January and June 2005, during the Festivities of the Divine Holy Spirit. Analysis of this data has allowed us to draw the conclusions that we would like to put forward for discussion at this congress

São Gonçalinho “nosso menino”: rituais de celebração festiva da vida dos aveirenses

Através dos testemunhos de devotos e brincantes da Festa do São Gonçalinho de Aveiro, revelam-se sentimentos de forte religiosidade e ludicidade do povo do Bairro da Beira-Mar, da Cidade de Aveiro. Apresentam-se diversos rituais festivos, de que se destacam o arremesso das cavacas, a dança dos mancos e o cortejo da passagem do ramo com as quadras alusivas a cada um dos rituais. Anualmente, num fim-de-semana alargado, entre 7 e 11 de Janeiro, os devotos actualizam e celebram a vida, partilhando dores e alegrias que foram sendo compartilhadas com o “nosso menino”. A identidade e origem do São Gonçalinho de Aveiro é colocada em questão. Defende-se a hipótese de que ele não é o mesmo São Gonçalo de Amarante, mas sim o Beato São Gonçalo Garcia, filho de pai português e de mãe indiana, que no Brasil era o protector dos pardos e lhe celebravam festas em sua honra, no Recife em 1745. Deste modo, se pretende divulgar uma reflexão sobre a Festas de São Gonçalinho e contribuir para desvendar o enigma da identidade e origem do “nosso menino”, o São Gonçalinho de Aveiro.This paper discusses various aspects of the festivities of São Gonçalo, in the region of Aveiro in Portugal, through them to analyze the symbolism present in the ritual. The text is divided into speeches verbal and nonverbal ritual, testimonials of devotees and also supports the local publications about the party

Ethics and deontology of medical education and nurses in Portugal

This article discusses deontological issues of health care professions in relation to their ethical foundation. We present four models of teaching ethics and deontology in doctors’ training and the results of a PhD research on the teaching of these subjects in nurses’ training in Portugal. Given the importance of bioethics in deontological training of health care professions, we present a comparative analysis of. bioethical principles enunciated by Beauchamp and Childress (1979), related to ‘ethics of justice’, and Kemp’s(2000) proposal, associated to an ‘ethics of care’. Given the ambiguity of these bioethical expressions, we focus on the analysis of its contents and the need to discuss the fundamentals of ethical training of doctors and nurses in relation to the ethical theories they are derived from. Utilitarian ethics, duty ethics, virtue ethics, when the analysis of bioethics’ fundaments is not trained, the duty of caring of suffering can be put at risk

Literacia, comunicação e cidadania: a televisão como parte da solução, o caso do canal K SIC

A comunicação que se apresenta coloca em destaque a natureza consequencial da literacia e da cidadania. Defende-se que, tal como a comunicação Humana, estes dois fenómenos partilham da condição de Ser do Humano que cada sujeito manifesta, no seu estar situado no mundo, através dos mundos da experiência, numa pluralidade de efeitos. Literacia, cidadania e comunicação são condições da natureza humana, pré-existentes a qualquer uma das suas manifestações e consequentes efeitos, comuns à Hominidade, formando um todo indivisível. Esta perspectiva contrapõe-se, por um lado, à visão de manifestação da literacia confinada ao entendimento da aquisição de determinadas competências e, por outro lado, ao entendimento da cidadania como exercício ou participação no poder e na governação das instituições. Deste modo, a literacia e a cidadania compartilham com a comunicação a mesma necessidade de serem promovidas e desenvolvidas. Contudo, a sua análise não poderá ficar restrita às dimensões de manifestação e de efeitos, esquecendo a condição de natureza que as precede e as torna possíveis. Partindo-se da premissa de que a televisão e os conteúdos da programação televisiva infanto-juvenil continuam a atrair as crianças, a orientar e a condicionar os seus comportamentos e a influenciar as suas experivivências, nomeadamente, no núcleo familiar a que pertencem e nas suas relações inter-pessoais, considera-se que a televisão é um médium que pode promover e contribuir para o desenvolvimento da comunicação-literacia-cidadania. No trabalho que se apresenta, pretende-se expor à crítica, a tríade estabelecida a partir do conceito de consequencialidade e apresentar alguns dados do projecto de investigação em curso sobre a K SIC - o canal temático da SIC - especializado na programação infanto-juvenil, entre os 4 e os 14 anos de idade e criado em 18 de Dezembro de 2009. Sublinhar-se-á a filosofia do canal, o compromisso com os telespectadores, quotidianamente dinamizado pela equipa Kapa SIC, através de multiplataformas on-line e evidenciar-se-á a participação das crianças, nomeadamente no facebook. A nossa finalidade é contribuir para o conhecimento do único canal português, que privilegiando o grupo dos 6-12 anos, contribui para a promoção e desenvolvimento da condição de Hominidade da literacia e de práticas de cidadania activa das crianças telespectadoras. A tese que defendemos é a de que comunicação-cidadania-literacia são estados da natureza humana que a K SIC, canal temático da SIC, através da programação dirigida aos diversos públicos infanto-juvenis, promove e desenvolve

Significados sobre la adolescencia y la salud entre los participantes de un grupo educativo de adolescentes

As ações voltadas à saúde integral dos adolescentes por vezes assumem um caráter moral e regulador sem levar em conta as visões dos próprios adolescentes sobre seu desenvolvimento. O objetivo foi compreender as significações sobre adolescência e saúde, na perspectiva de 10 adolescentes de ambos os sexos, entre 13 e 19 anos de um programa de atenção integral à saúde do DF. Foram realizados seis grupos temáticos, com periodicidade quinzenal e duração de duas horas por encontro. A metodologia grupal foi baseada no método sociodramático que facilitou a participação, reflexão e compreensão dos temas abordados pelos participantes. A Epistemologia Qualitativa foi adotada para a análise das informações e possibilitou a construção de indicadores de saúde na adolescência, a partir de cinco zonas de sentido: Adolescência é mais do que sexo, drogas erock and roll; Porque a família tem que adolescer com a gente; O projeto de vida começa agora, agora?; Em busca de um ideal de saúde; e Porque sexualidade, antes de tudo, se expressa. Conclui-se que é necessário superar a visão estereotipada da adolescência pelo paradigma do risco e ampliar a reflexão sobre os modos de vida do adolescente considerando os contextos para o desenvolvimento de sua subjetividade.Sometimes, the actions addressing health care of adolescents assume a moral and regulatory character without taking into account the views of adolescents on their own development. The purpose was to understand the meanings of adolescence and health from the perspective of 10 teens of both sexes aged between 13 and 19 years from a comprehensive health attention program located in Distrito Federal. Six thematic group sessions were conducted bimonthly, with two-hour meetings. The group methodology was based on the sociodramatic method, which facilitated participation, reflection, and understanding of the topics discussed by the participants. Qualitative epistemology was adopted for the information analysis, and this enabled the construction of indicators about adolescence and health, emerging from five indicators of meaning costructed by researchers: (1) adolescence is more than sex, drugs, and rock and roll; (2) the family must “grow up” with us; (3) must the life plan begin now?; (4) seeking ideal health; and (5) first of all, sexuality is expressed. It follows that we must overcome the stereotypical views of adolescence present in the paradigm of risk discourse and extend our thinking about adolescents’ way of life by considering the contexts for the development of their subjectivity.Las acciones dirigidas a la salud integral de los adolescentes a veces asumen un carácter moral y regulador, sin tener en cuenta las opiniones de los adolescentes sobre su propio desarrollo. El objetivo fue comprender los significados de la adolescencia y de la salud desde la perspectiva de 10 adolescentes de ambos sexos, entre 13 y 19 años de un programa de atención integral de salud del DF. Se realizaron seis grupos temáticos, cada 15 días y con duración de dos horas por sesión. La metodología de grupo se basó en el método sociodramático que facilitó la participación, la reflexión y la comprensión de los temas tratados por los participantes. Se adoptó la Epistemología Cualitativa para el análisis de las informaciones, que a su vez permitió la construcción de los indicadores de salud en la adolescencia, a partir de cinco zonas de sentido: La adolescencia es más que sexo, drogas y rock and roll; Porque la familia tiene que “adolecer” con nosotros; El proyecto de vida empieza ahora, ¿ahora?; En busca de un ideal de salud; y Porqué la sexualidad, antes que nada, se expresa. Se concluye que hay que superar la visión estereotipada de la adolescencia basada en el paradigma del riesgo y extender la reflexión sobre las formas de vida de los adolescentes, considerando los contextos para el desarrollo de su subjetividad