Conditioning Factors of Sustainability of Dual Vocational Educational Training in Andalusia (Spain): Case Study of Three Educational Centres

From the incorporation of the Dual Vocational Educational Training (dual VET) in the Spanish educational panorama in 2012, and in the midst of the economic and financial crisis, this dual VET educational scheme has been a political priority of national and regional governments, who see it as a strategy for socioeconomic growth, employability, and youth entrepreneurship framed under an educational sustainability model. Despite the growing number of companies involved in the scheme, this model of educational training has not been free of debate and controversy. This study focuses on the autonomous community of Andalusia with the objective of identifying—using a complementary methodological perspective—the key factors that condition the successful implementation of dual VET in this region based on the experience of three educational centres and the opinions of those educators involved. Some of the weaknesses of dual VET identified in the autonomous community include the ambiguity of regulations, budgetary sustainability, governance models, the relationship between the training o ered and industry, the involvement of companies, and the recognition of the teaching sta involved

Cultural diversity, educational achievements and school. Arguments from educational community

Questo studio costituisce la prima fase di un lavoro più ampio la cui i nalità è quella di contribuire al miglioramento della scuola attraverso l’identii cazione, elaborazione e dif usione di una casistica di buone pratiche scolastiche in contesti culturalmente diversi. Questa ricerca incomincia revisionando il concetto di “successi educativi” e “buone pratiche” da una doppia prospettiva: analizzando la letteratura specii ca per quanto riguarda i contributi più signii cativi degli ultimi anni sul miglioramento dell’ei cacia scolastica e, in aggiunta, analizzando le opinioni dei rappresentanti dei diversi collettivi che hanno a che fare con la materia e denominati in questo studio, “esperti” (docenti, assessori, famiglie, accademici, tecnici e agenti socioculturali). L’articolo si focalizza sulla descrizione del supporto metodologico che ci ha permesso di portare avanti questo processo di consultazione (il metodo Delphi) e sulla presentazione dei principali risultati. In dei nitiva, presentiamo i punti d’accordo e le discrepanze trovate in riferimento al concetto di “successo educativo”. Il processo Delphi sviluppato in questo lavoro è stato iterattivo e interattivo. Nel processo si è garantito l’anonimato dei partecipanti, la retro alimentazione costante e controllata e la presenza, nel risultato i nale, di tutte le opinioni individuali. Lo strumento per la raccolta d’informazione è stato il questionario. Nella prima fase di consulenza, ci sono state domande aperte che hanno permesso di fare un’analisi qualitativa delle risposte. Partendo da questa analisi abbiamo elaborato un secondo questionario di tipo scalare la cui analisi ha permesso di conoscere il grado di consenso sulle questioni sottoposte a dibattito. La ricerca del consenso e la stabilità sono stati i criteri che hanno guidato le analisi realizzate sull’informazione raccolta nelle due fasi di consultazione e anche i criteri di saturazione di questa.h is paper is the i rst stage of a broader study that intents to improve schooling ei cacy by identifying, describing and disseminating the best practices developed in Spanish schools from diverse cultural backgrounds. It reviewed two main concepts – “educational achievement” and “best school practices” – from a double perspective: i rst, analyzing the most meaningful research contributions made in this area over the last ten years; and second, taking into account the opinions of experts (teachers, educational advisors, families, students, theorists, social players…) on these subjects. h e paper had two main objectives: describing the methodological framework used in the expert consultation process (the Delphi method) and presenting the main points of consensus and discrepancy regarding the concept of “educational achievement in culturally diverse educational contexts”. h e Delphi consultation carried out was an iterative and interactive process. h e process was coni dential and special care was taken to ensure continuous feedback and representation of all individual opinions in the i nal results. Information was collected using questionnaires. In the i rst consultation round, the questionnaire included openended questions, whose responses were analyzed using a qualitative approach. A second questionnaire was designed on the basis of this information. It provided quantitative information that was useful to measure the level of agreement on the various issues discussed. h e search for consensus and stability and information saturation were the basic criteria that guided the analysis of information provided by the experts consulted

El uso de indicadores de sostenibilidad cualitativos en el campo del medio ambiente en Iberoamérica

Dieser Artikel enthält eine Übersicht alternativer Ansätze, die während der letzten beiden Jahrzehnte in der iberoamerikanischen Umweltforschung entwickelt wurden, sowie hieraus folgende Implikationen für die Evaluation nachhaltiger Entwicklung mittels qualitativer Indikatoren. Deren standardisierte Verwendung in internationalen Studien belegt den Wert und die Bedeutung, die Experten in unterschiedlichen Kontexten ihnen beimessen. Es wird aber auch gezeigt, dass Vereinbarungen zwischen verschiedenen Ländern hier zwar zu wesentlichen Fortschritten geführt haben, die aktuellen Diskurse über Nachhaltigkeit zugleich aber Fragen der Verantwortung, der Kontrolle und auch des Designs von Indikatoren weiter konfus behandeln. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0604338In this article we include a revision of alternative approaches developed throughout the two last decades in Iberoamerican environmental research and possible implications for the evaluation of sustainable development with qualitative indicators. The standardized use in diplomatic reports and international studies reveals their value and acceptance in communities of experts in different contexts. It is stated that international alliances between countries have brought about important changes, although the new discourses on sustainability leave the responsibility, the control and the design of indicators in a state of confusion. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0604338En este artículo se presenta una revisión de los enfoques alternativos desarrollados a lo largo de las dos últimas décadas en el campo del medio ambiente y sus implicaciones para la evaluación del desarrollo sostenible a partir de indicadores cualitativos de nueva generación. Su uso normalizado en informes diplomáticos, barómetros, sondeos y estudios de rango internacional pone de manifiesto su reconocido valor y la aceptación manifiesta por parte de comunidades de expertos de los diferentes campos disciplinares ligados al medio ambiente. Se constata que las alianzas internacionales entre países han propiciado escenarios de cambio importantes, si bien los nuevos discursos sobre la sostenibilidad llevan la responsabilidad en el control y diseño de indicadores al terreno de nadie. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs060433

Quality Criteria to Evaluate Performance and Scope of 2030 Agenda in Metropolitan Areas: Case Study on Strategic Planning of Environmental Municipality Management

The United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda brings new governance challenges to municipal environmental planning, both in large urban centres and in metropolitan peripheries. The opportunities of the new framework of action proposed by the United Nations (UN) and its integrative, global, and transversal nature constitute advances from the previous models of municipal management based on the Local Agenda 21. This text provides evidence to apply quality criteria and validated instruments of participatory evaluation. These instruments have been built on the foundation of evaluative research, a scientific discipline that provides rigour and validity to those decisions adopted at a municipal level. A case study focused on a metropolitan area serves as a field of experimentation for this model of the modernization of environmental management structures at a local level. Details of the instruments, agents, priority decision areas, methodologies, participation processes, and quality criteria are provided, as well as an empirically validated model for participatory municipal management based on action research processes and strategic planning that favours a shared responsibility across all social groups in the decision-making process and in the development of continuous improvement activities that are committed to sustainability. Finally, a critical comparison of weaknesses and strengths is included in light of the evidence collected.Project: ‘Sustainability in Higher Education: Evaluation of the scope of the 2030 Agenda in curriculum innovation and teacher professional development in Andalusian Universities’. B-SEJ-424-UGR18. Principal researchers: José Gutiérrez-Pérez and María de Fátima Poza-Vilches

Identidad y competencias interculturales

Nos proponemos los siguientes objetivos: Identificar las circunstancias personales y familiares relacionadas con el proceso de integración social de los inmigrantes en Granada, conocer sus expectativas de promoción personal y social, así como identificar el desarrollo de competencias interculturales como base para la constante reconstrucción de la identidad. Tres han sido los colectivos de estudio: inmigrantes magrebíes, latinoamericanos y europeos del este. La metodología utilizada ha sido la entrevista y el cuestionario. En los resultados aportamos importante información para la caracterización de la inmigración en Granada y las competencias interculturales para una integración social y cultural de los mismos

Water, Waste Material, and Energy as Key Dimensions of Sustainable Management of Early Childhood Eco-Schools: An Environmental Literacy Model Based on Teachers Action-Competencies (ELTAC)

The main argument defended in this article is that the involvement of teachers in decisionmaking about environmental aspects related to the management of educational institutions constitutes a powerful tool for training, teacher professional development, and environmental literacies. A group of early childhood education teachers across various institutions work under a collaborative action-research model for an entire year that is focussed on the following: (1) the institution’s water, solid waste, and energy management; (2) the planning of innovative activities related to water, solid waste, and energy, and; (3) participation in transformative actions that involve families and impact their neighbourhoods. The experience enables the building of a theoretical model of teacher training aimed at acquiring action skills from a comprehensive perspective of triple helix environmental literacy (management, research/innovation, and teaching) that affects their commitments to the management of environmental resources, the eco-auditing of their eco-school, the curricular greening of activities, the renewal of educational programs, and the implementation of an action-research focussed on aspects related to sustainability.Project: "Sustainability in Higher Education: Evaluation of the scope of the 2030 Agenda in curriculum innovation and teacher professional development in Andalusian Universities" B-SEJ-424-UGR1

Outstanding Videogames on Water: A Quality Assessment Review Based on Evidence of Narrative, Gameplay and Educational Criteria

Videogames have become educational, communicative and social tools among the young, favouring the acquisition of skills, abilities and values, encompassing an endless number of themes, and helping them to experience and to face, in the first person, a great diversity of environmental situations and ecology problems. Thus, the present article aims: (a) to evaluate a sample of 20 educational videogames about water, making use of some empirical criteria of quality; and (b) to design, validate and apply an integrated quality indicator of educational videogames on water, based on the aspects of narrative, gameplay and education, which allows us to obtain a ranking. The findings reflect a ranking of games allowing us to suggest that the nature of the game (simulation, adventures, platforms or questions) does not determine the quality of the game, although generally simulations and adventure games are placed in a range of medium- or high-quality, as well as those games that pursue objectives related to the design and management of a territory in a sustainable way. The paper provides teachers with quality criteria based on narrative and gameplay that complement and enrich the pedagogical dimension.This research received funding of the Excelence Unit of Research, Faculty of Education & Vicerectorate of Research and Transference, University of Granada

Bilingual and intercultural strategies on transmigrant families

El artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación cuyo objetivo fundamental ha sido analizar e identificar cuáles son las estrategias –tanto bilingües como interculturales– que despliegan familias transmigrantes hispano-germanas. La metodología que hemos seguido se instala en el enfoque biográficonarrativo, de tal manera que hemos reconstruido las etapas y proyectos migratorios de dichas familias, interesándonos por el discurso de los padres y madres a propósito de las estrategias, objetivos y teorías que subyacen a las prácticas, así como el interés que muestran por mantener y potenciar las competencias bilingües e interculturales en su cotidianidad. Una vez analizado todo el material empírico, los resultados que presentamos se organizan en torno a cuatro grandes dimensiones de análisis: a) «Prácticas bilingües», donde describimos qué estrategias siguen las familias para el fomento y potenciación del bilingüismo; b) «Teorías cotidianas sobre la interculturalidad», entendidas como aquellos discursos que se refieren a «teorías» y «niveles de análisis» sobre la percepción y aceptación de la diversidad cultural; c) una tercera denominada «Redes sociales», referida a la participación activa de los miembros del grupo familiar en redes –ya sean familiares, de ocio, laborales o de otro tipo– y que, según sus discursos, les permite fomentar y mantener la transmigración, el bilingüismo y las competencias interculturales; y, por último, d) el «Cosmopolitismo», referido a la selección de discursos de las familias que muestran motivos, valoraciones y actitudes positivas acerca de la diversidad lingüística y cultural, al margen de que éstas sean practicadas o no.This article presents the results of a research project whose aim is to analyze and identify the bilingual and intercultural strategies employed by the Spanish-German transmigrant families. Through the use of a biographical-narrative approach, we have reconstructed the migratory phases and itineraries of there families, emphasizing the parents’ underlying discourses on strategies, objectives and their subjacent theories on their children’s bilingual practices as well as on their specific interest on keeping and strengthening their children’s bilingual and intercultural competences. After presenting the analyzed empirical data, the results obtained are grouped into four broad dimensions: a) «bilingual practice», i.e. those strategies adopted by families to promote and strengthen bilingualism; b) interculturality life world theories, i.e. the ideas and levels of analysis about perceiving and accepting cultural diversity; c) «social networks», i.e. active participation in kin, labor, leisure or other social networks which, according to their discourse, foster transmigration, bilingualism and intercultural competences; and d) «cosmopolitanism» as a particular kind of discourse chosen by the interviewed families and which –without regard to their actual practices– reflect positive motives, values and attitudes identified with cultural and linguistic diversity, no matter if they are used or no