Tres pies al gato: significado,sentido y cultura cotidiana en la educación

Resumen

Se pasa revista en este artículo a los tres ejes que conforman la línea de investigación de los autores en psicología de la educación, a saber, considerar la arquitectura, no sólo cognitiva, sino instrumental y cultural, del significado; la necesidad de unir en la investigación y en el diseño educativo las vertientes de significado y de sentido que caracterizan el funcionamiento psicológico de los individuos, y que solo se articulan sobre la base de sistemas de actividad; por último, la necesidad de contemplar las formas de representación humanas menos formalizadas y desdeñadas hasta hace muy poco por la psicología de la educación: las denominadas bajo el epígrafe de conocimiento informal. En torno a estos tres ejes, se exponen ejemplos de investigación y de intervención que conforman lo que hemos denominado diseño cultural.     

Evaluating a Constructivist and Culturally Responsive Approach to Environmental Education for Diverse Audiences

The NorthBay Adventure Center offers five-day residential programs that meld environmental and character education using experiential techniques and multi-media messaging. This article explores the influences of these programs on urban and non-urban middle-school participants in three areas: character development and leadership; environmental responsibility, and attitudes toward school. The authors found significant positive short-term effects on all outcomes of interest. Three-month delayed posttests indicate retention of significant gains in character development and leadership and environmental responsibility, while gains in school-related outcomes faded. Urban students responded more positively to the NorthBay program than did students from suburban and rural areas.     

Rotary inverted pendulum with magnetically external perturbations as a source of the pendulum’s base navigation commands

The main objective of this paper is to drive a rotary inverted pendulum by following a desired navigation instruction. This navigation is commanded by the user through a new electromagnetic device which is allowed to perturb the pendulum from its upright position. This apparatus consists of an electronic magnetic driving circuit to introduce commands and realized via two operated magnetic coils. So, the external programmed magnetic perturbation can be seen as external commandments. Therefore, the control problem statement is solved via a modified regulation control implementation, to maintain the pendulum on its upright position and giving free manipulation of the base of the rotary inverted pendulum. Hence, by using the corresponding H_∞-linear matrix inequality technique, a static state controller is designed and tested experimentally so supporting our findings.     

Physical education teachers’ perceptions of perceived mattering and marginalization

Background: In many countries around the world, physical education (PE) has been identified as a marginalized subject. PE teachers have been found to feel negative consequences associated with marginality, such as stress, burnout, and early career attrition. Recent evidence also indicates that physical educators can develop a sense of perceived mattering both in relation the subject of PE and their role as that teacher of that subject. Less is known, however, about the relationship between perceived mattering and marginalization, and how teachers navigate social messages associated with each that they receive while teaching. Role socialization theory has emerged as an approach to studying teachers’ experiences in school environments, and can be used to understand their experiences with marginality and mattering.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to understand how the social environment of schools influences PE teachers’ perceptions of marginalization and perceived mattering, and how these two constructs interact.

Method: The investigation was conceptualized as an interview study, and framed using a social constructivist epistemology. Participants included 30 in-service PE teachers (16 males, 14 females) from the Midwest region of the US. Data were collected using in-depth qualitative interviews, and analyzed through a collaborative approach to data analysis that drew upon both inductive and deductive forms of analysis.

Results: Participants identified experiences with both perceived mattering and marginalization in their work, and noted that sometimes these messages were contradictory. Some participants felt the effects of marginalization as their discipline was viewed as a dispensable commodity that is only meaningful for the service it provides to other teachers (e.g. gives elementary classroom teachers a break for planning). Some of the teachers internalized their marginal status and began to see their primary function as supporting the work of teachers in other subjects. Nevertheless, the participants derived a sense of mattering by building relationships with colleagues, administrators, and students, and by advocating for the discipline. Teachers also felt validated when colleagues acknowledge their attempts to implement effective practices, but struggled when working with colleagues who are resistant to change.

Conclusions: PE teachers experience both marginalization and perceived mattering, which are shaped largely by social interactions within the school environment. This study specifically lends to the view of marginalization and perceived mattering as two constructs at opposite ends of a continuum, rather than a binary conceptualization. This suggests that it could be the summation of marginalizing experiences and those that promote mattering that lead physical educators to develop overall impressions of their role in schools. Furthermore, this study adds to the literature indicating that physical educators may eventually internalize feelings of marginalization when consistently told that they do not matter. This has implications related to the washout effect whereby teachers who no longer feel as if they are making meaningful contributions to children’s education may compromise their teaching practice.     

Entering the Field of Physical Education: The Journey of Fifteen First-Year Teachers

Purpose: Given the significant challenges facing today’s physical educators, the purpose of this study was to examine the expectations of induction teachers and identify the factors in both their personal and organizational environments enhanced or constrained their assimilation into the field during their 1st year. Method: Using occupational socialization theory as a guide, data from demographic surveys and a series of formal interviews with participants at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year were inductively analyzed for theme development. Results: Results revealed positive acculturation experiences and unity regarding the purpose of physical education as preparing students to be fit for a lifetime. Barriers were noted to be family and personal crises, role conflict, isolation, marginalization, issues with classroom management and discipline, and difficulties in developing positive relationships with stakeholders. Enhancers were identified as positive interactions and rapport with students, colleagues, and administrators and favorable individual dispositions. Conclusion: Implications indicate a need for purposeful physical education teacher education training to proactively address these barriers during professional preparation as well as the creation of additional support systems for beginning teachers.