Facing Resignation and Silence: A Transforming Action-Research Experience in Brazil

"This article aims to discuss how the action research process can allow socially and historically constructed silences to be overcome. These kinds of silences prevent the emergence of dialogues necessary to the investigation mode. The necessary dialogues are built through the creation of a common participatory universe, and the construction of a consensual space between researchers and subjects of the practice, between those who are different and those who are the same. The article analyzes an action research project with women embroiderers in the suburbs of a large Brazilian city, directed at the formation of a working collective. Focusing on this experience, the authors discuss the strategies used to break the silence between the researcher and the group, considering the differences between researcher and group that could reinforce silences that already existed for participants. In a joint conclusion, the authors point out that action research can work as a critical instrument for breaking silence, allowing subjects to produce communicative processes that make it possible to overcome “resigned states” in order to transform their reality." (author's abstract

DA NECESSIDADE/ATUALIDADE DA PEDAGOGIA CRÍTICA: CONTRIBUTOS DE PAULO FREIRE

This article discusses the epistemology of Critical Pedagogy emphasizing its origin in the foundations of Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of oppressed. Emphasizes the inherence of this critical pedagogical rationality to the processes of reflexivity; dialogicity and politics, as well as discusses the incompatibility of this rationality in neoliberal spaces / times. It concludes by affirming the necessity / actuality of the critical pedagogical principles next to the educative practices, in perspective of movement of resistance to the neoliberal logic.En este artículo se analiza la epistemología de la pedagogía crítica destacando sus orígenes en las bases de la pedagogía del oprimido de Paulo Freire. Destaca la racionalidad inherente a estos procesos de reflexividad pedagógicos críticos; la naturaleza dialógica y política, así como analiza la incompatibilidad de la racionalidad en espacios / tiempos neoliberales. Concluye la necesidad / principios pedagógicos críticos actuales con las prácticas educativas en la resistencia a la lógica de movimento em la perspectiva neoliberal.O presente artigo discute a epistemologia da Pedagogia Crítica realçando a sua origem nos fundamentos da pedagogia do oprimido de Paulo Freire. Realça a inerência desta racionalidade pedagógica crítica aos processos de reflexividade; dialogicidade e politicidade, bem como discute a incompatibilidade desta racionalidade em espaços/tempos neoliberais. Conclui afirmando a necessidade/atualidade dos princípios pedagógicos críticos junto às práticas educativas, na perspectiva de movimento de resistência à lógica neoliberal

Use of portfolios in teaching communication skills and professionalism for Portuguese-speaking medical students

Objectives: This study aimed to analyse the effect of a portfolio with three activities fostering students' reflection, self-efficacy and teaching of communication skills and professionalism. Methods: A cross-sectional study was applied with a sample of third- and fourth-year medical students in one Portuguese and three Brazilian universities. A three-activity portfolio (course evaluation and learning, self-efficacy activity and free reflective writing) was used during a two-month course on communication skills and professionalism. The 69 students enrolled in the course were invited to complete the three-activity portfolio via Likert-type questionnaires, open-ended questions and narrative. Content and lexical analysis and the Reflection Evaluation for Learners' Enhanced Competencies Tool (REFLECT) were used for assessing the qualitative data. The questionnaires were evaluated using principal components analysis and Cronbach's α. Pearson's correlation was applied to portfolio activities. Results: Of the 69 participants, 85.5% completed at least one activity. Reflecting on what they learned in the communication module, the students did not mention professionalism themes. In the self-efficacy activity on communication, 25% of the fragments were related to professionalism themes. There was a negative correlation between students' self-efficacy and the REFLECT rubric score (r(19)=-0.744; p< 0.0001). Conclusions: Teachers must consider the activity's influence on the reflections when assessing the portfolio. This model of a three-activity portfolio provided diverse ways of encouraging and assessing reflections, supporting teaching improvement and adaptation, evaluating students' self-efficacy and showing that students' higher reflective capacity may promote feelings of low effectiveness.Financial support for the authors was provided by scholarships from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Brazilian National Council of Technological and Scientific Development, 229753/2013-2) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, Brazil, 13271/13-0)

PEDAGOGIA CRÍTICA: POR UMA EPISTEMOLOGIA CRÍTICA E INSURGENTE

RESUMOEste artigo, tecido sob forma de um ensaio crítico, pautado em pesquisas anteriores dos autores, pretende responder às seguintes questões de pesquisa: que outra racionalidade, para além da técnica-instrumental, ainda é possível à Pedagogia? Em reverberação às transformações do contexto contemporâneo, ainda se pergunta:  quais novas urgências interpelam a Pedagogia e quais insurgências são demandadas para a reinterpretação de seu estatuto epistemológico? O artigo teve por finalidade buscar uma reinterpretação epistemológica crítica da pedagogia, repercutindo as novas urgências postas à prática escolar que nos induzem a pensar em uma pedagogia para a vida e para os acontecimentos na vida. Considerou-se como resultado, que essas demandas para a pedagogia deverão circular em torno de quatro princípios insurgentes que lhe darão o caráter de criticidade: a antropo-ontologia, a epistemologia, as práticas e os poderes. Com base nos fundamentos da Pedagogia Crítica de Freire e ainda nas reflexões decorrentes das Epistemologias do Sul, considerou-se como as necessárias insurgências para reafirmar as bases da epistemologia crítica da pedagogia:  a imaginação criativa como ato de resistência; a organização de práticas para visibilizar os invisibilizados, construindo solidariamente espaços de diálogo e presença; a construção de processos pedagógicos de inclusão de outras práticas educativas; abertura de espaços para práticas dialógicas e problematizadoras; e o fortalecimento de práticas de resistências à lógica neoliberal. Finalmente, aposta-se que a Pedagogia seja a ciência que fundamentará processos críticos de ensinar e aprender em espaços escolares e não-escolares

Factors Associated With Red Blood Cell Transfusions In Very-low-birth-weight Preterm Infants In Brazilian Neonatal Units

Background: Preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units frequently receive red blood cells (RBC) transfusions due to the anemia of prematurity. A number of variables related to gestational age, severity of illness and transfusion practices adopted in the neonatal unit where the neonate was born may contribute to the prescription of RBC transfusions. This study aimed to analyse the frequency and factors associated with RBC transfusions in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants. Methods: A prospective cohort of 4283 preterm infants (gestational age: 29.9 +/- 2.9 weeks; birth weight: 1084 +/- 275 g) carried out at 16 university hospitals in Brazil between January 2009 and December 2011 was analysed. Factors associated with RBC transfusions were evaluated using univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 2208 (51.6 %) infants received RBC transfusions (variation per neonatal unit: 34.1 % to 66.4 %). RBC transfusions were significantly associated with gestational age (OR: -1.098; 95% CI: -1.12 to -1.04), SNAPPE II score (1.01; 1.00-1.02), apnea (1.69; 1.34-2.14), pulmonary hemorrhage (2.65; 1.74-4.031), need for oxygen at 28 days of life (1.56; 1.17-2.08), clinical sepsis (3.22; 2.55-4.05), necrotising enterocolitis (3.80; 2.26-6.41), grades III/IV intraventricular hemorrhage (1.64; 1.05-2.58), mechanical ventilation (2.27; 1.74-2.97), use of umbilical catheter (1.86; 1.35-2.57), parenteral nutrition (2.06; 1.27-3.33), > 60 days of hospitalization (5.29; 4.02-6.95) and the neonatal unit where the neonate was born. Conclusions: The frequency of RBC transfusions varied among neonatal intensive care units. Even after adjusting for adverse health conditions and therapeutic interventions, the neonatal unit continued to influence transfusion practices in very-low birth-weight infants.1

Study of the Interference Affecting the Performance of the Theremin

The theremin is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments. It is named after the Russian physics Professor Lev S. Termen who invented it in 1919. This musical instrument belongs to a very short list of devices which are played without physical contact between the musician and the instrument. theremin players complain about the interference that any object in a radius of approximately 3 meters produces when playing the theremin, modifying the intonation of the instrument. This is a problem when playing in small scenarios, with other musicians which move around it. With the aim of reducing the degree of interference from nearby obstacles, some metallic isolating bars conforming an antenna array can be placed around the theremin pitch antenna. The paper shows different simulations calculated with the commercial software Ansoft HFSS, a tool which allows three-dimensional full wave electromagnetic field simulation, with radio frequencies, millimeter and micro waves, and experimental measures, both showing a reduction in the effect of the interference.Bachiller Martin, MC.; Sastre Martinez, J.; Ricchiuti, AL.; Esteban González, H.; Hernandez Franco, CA. (2012). Study of the Interference Affecting the Performance of the Theremin. International Journal of Antennas and Propagation. 2012:1-9. doi:10.1155/2012/348151S192012Buller, W., & Wilson, B. (2006). Measurement and Modeling Mutual Capacitance of Electrical Wiring and Humans. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 55(5), 1519-1522. doi:10.1109/tim.2006.88029