Covid-19 Pandemic and the Freedom-Security Tension: Calibrating their Fragile Relationship

Grounded in a will to adapt to dangers, and espouse both responsibility and resilience, voluntary measures have largely replaced one of the oldest public health strategies, quarantine. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, elicited a broad sweep of tactics from the archive of public health armoury. On a general level, this review essay addresses the common measures rolled out by various authorities against the pandemic - the lock-downs, reopening process, financial support and vaccination. By relating these measures to 1) the "plague-stricken town", deployed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe by the Polizeistaat; 2) the "self-regulation strategy" that emerged with liberal ideas at the end of the eighteenth century; and 3) the "minimum security" programmed by neoliberal governmentality in the second half of the twentieth century, it is suggested that tensions between freedom and security during, and after, the pandemic can be better understood. To end, the essay noticed that the pandemic has enforced tensions in the administration and calibration of individual wishes and collective wellbeing, creating a fragile “freedom-security relationship” and new problem space for self-regulation.Fil: Méndez, Pablo Martín. Universidad Nacional de Lanus. Rectorado. Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnica. Instituto de Cultura y Comunicacion.; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Lanus. Departamento de Humanidades y Artes; Argentin

Ethnography inquiry and teacher education. The use of diaries for the comprehension of educational practice

We present in this communication a work of inquiry carried our using the diaries of students participating an educational experience in a primary school. Along a semester, a group of 10 students was workomg with a community learning project. These students were engaged with a teacher training experience which is being developed in the Education College at the University of Málaga. In this experience some teacher students attended two subjects of his education as collaborators in this school. His experience was collected systematically in field diaries in which they reflected their everyday experience in the school, as well as his insights, assessments, feelings, etc. These diaries become into the working material to study the school functioning and their experience. For that reason, working meetings were held with teachers of their subjects at the university. Collaboratively, diaries were analyzed, categorized and interpreted in an attempt to understand the school practice, and thus, progress their training process.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Assortment of GABAergic Plasticity in the Cortical Interneuron Melting Pot

Cortical structures of the adult mammalian brain are characterized by a spectacular diversity of inhibitory interneurons, which use GABA as neurotransmitter. GABAergic neurotransmission is fundamental for integrating and filtering incoming information and dictating postsynaptic neuronal spike timing, therefore providing a tight temporal code used by each neuron, or ensemble of neurons, to perform sophisticated computational operations. However, the heterogeneity of cortical GABAergic cells is associated to equally diverse properties governing intrinsic excitability as well as strength, dynamic range, spatial extent, anatomical localization, and molecular components of inhibitory synaptic connections that they form with pyramidal neurons. Recent studies showed that similarly to their excitatory (glutamatergic) counterparts, also inhibitory synapses can undergo activity-dependent changes in their strength. Here, some aspects related to plasticity and modulation of adult cortical and hippocampal GABAergic synaptic transmission will be reviewed, aiming at providing a fresh perspective towards the elucidation of the role played by specific cellular elements of cortical microcircuits during both physiological and pathological operations

Experiences from the academic training. Study about the identity of the novice teacher, second part.

We present some progresses of the current research project we are developing called "The professional identity of teacher studies”. It aims to analyse the training received by students in the faculties of education in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, especially in the degrees of pre-school education and primary education. To that effect we enquiry about the influence of the experience as school student in their training and what kind of professional identity they are generating along the formation period and after five years of activity as teachers. We present some results from the second phase of the research project: The analysis of the teacher students experience accounts in the collegeUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Ethnography, visual narratives and learning ecologies. The 'Universidad Rural Paulo Freire' case.

In this paper, we present some of the results of the R&D Project called "Ecologies of learning in multiple contexts: analysis of expanded education projects and citizenship configurations" funded by Minister of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain). The interest of this project arises after considering that much of the individual and organizational learnings have been turning invisible in different educational spaces. Therefore, our purpose is to study the different socio-educational mechanisms that individuals and organizations put into play in different scenarios: schools, asociations, virtual academical contexts, etc. On this ocassion, we present some of the methodological issues and results of a specific case: "La Universidad Rural Paulo Freire de la Serranía de Ronda" (onwards URPF), a rural socio-educative organization. The ethnography is being developed in Benalauría (Ronda mountain range). This organization is focused in the recovery of traditional learnings that people used to have around the rural world. It is settled in a critical perspective that connects their educational actions under the approaches of sustainability, dignity, feminism, etc. The general objectives we consider for this project are the following: - To know life style of people in Benalauría context. - To understand the configuration of URPF group and its impact in the territory. - To promote learning communities of practice with other organizations. As specific objectives, we emphasize: - To review the conceptual frameworks those allow us to understand the practices of invisible learning in this experience. - To generate visual narratives those evidence the work and identity features of the URPF. - To analyse the life stories of the people who are part of this experience (as well as the collective story), for the understanding of socio-educational action in rural contexts through dialogue of knowledge, generation of democratic practices and collaborative participation. - To generate spaces for dialogue with other organizations, groups and people for the creation of networks and learning communities.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Systematic process evaluation of the conjugation of proteins to gold nanoparticles

The present work addresses some fundamental aspects in the preparation of protein-conjugated gold nanoparticles, in order to ensure an appropriate final product. Ten broadly available and/or easy to implement analytical tools were benchmarked and compared in their capacity to provide reliable and conclusive information for each step of the procedure. These techniques included transmission electron microscopy, UV/VIS spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, zeta-potential, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, colloidal stability titration, end-point colloidal stability analysis, cyclic voltammetry, agarose gel electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Four different proteins widely used as adaptors or blocking agents were tested, together with 13 nm gold nanoparticles containing different surface chemistries. Among all tested techniques, some of the least popular among nanomaterial scientists probed to be the most informative, including colloidal stability, gel electrophoresis and SEC; the latter being also an efficient purification procedure. These three techniques provide low-cost, low time consuming, sensitive and robust ways to assess the success of the nanoparticle bioconjugation steps, especially when used in adequate combinations.CSIC: C-164-348ANII: POS_NAC_2016_1_13035

Work, Professional Development And Teaching Commitment: Deconstructing Meanings

The paper we present is part of the research project "The professional identity of teacher studies", that we are development for last 3 years. The third phase of this research put the focus on the experience of job placement of novel teachers, graduated no more than 5 years. We work with focal groups and professional experience and teacher education accounts of teachers implied in this research. Also, for any teachers, we do biographical interviews to deepen on processes of construction of professional identity. In this paper we present the Ana Belen History, a female teacher of pre-school education with an experience of 4 years in school, working in a urban school with students in risk of exclusion. This school have a educative project, commitment with the neighbourhood, joint with the community and other social groups. Ana Belen story, from professional perspective, is linked with the social politic and educational commitment of this school. Our interest is focused in the comprehension of professional identity that Ana Belen has gone forging along her personal story and how her education and job placement has contributed for it. Also we are interested in knowing how early professional experiences have influenced in her professional development as teacher. Specifically we ask ourselves about what influence have for her professional identity, that her career starts in this particular school. In consequence, this paper leads us to question the current teacher education model. In particular we are interested on the kind of professional experience that have place and, so, the kinds of commitments that enables. We understand that frameworks in which professional education and experience have place are relevant to enable more or less transformer understandings about teaching. From conceptual perspective this paper adopts a socio-critical point of view (Gergen, 1985; Kincheloe, 2001; Wenger, 1988, etc.). We understand that teaching has to be analysing according work contexts and personal stories of teachers, because we face processes historical and collective building. Teaching is the result of action of their actors, over time, and in specific stage. So, with this research we intend to break with the old gap between pre and in-service education. We think that both of them are part of the same process and are formed according similar logical; although scenes change. We understand that they are part of a continuous process in which is giving sense to different and complex settings where teaching profession is built, but they are not differenced and independent stages. The teacher work, so, is subject to particular conditions, generated from such different fields as institutional, corporative, cultural, social, political, moral, etc. It displays a kaleidoscopic view on space, time, context, ... These are the axis in which the teaching is formed, from the complexity and heterogeneity. How this complexity is articulated results in different ways to face the teacher work, according different personal and professional stories. The teacher acts with subjects in instituted contexts from relationships he has with them, which gives a situated and contingent character. But, these contexts are strongly structured and ruled according centralized and generalized positions; which is, at the very least, paradoxical. Possibly, from our point of view, same of the crisis of teaching have to explain from this paradoxical perspective and the conflict, which characterize this job (Rivas, Leite y Cortés, 2011)Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Teacher education by volunteering in learning communities

El trabajo presentado forma parte del proyecto I+D+I “Ecologías del aprendizaje en contextos múltiples: análisis de proyectos de educación expandida y conformación de ciudadanía” financiado por MIMECO, España.El artículo presenta parte de los resultados de investigación sobre el trabajo del voluntariado en centros educativos que son comunidades de aprendizaje como una forma de avanzar en procesos de formación docente diferentes a los vigentes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de la Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech