Latina Magazine and the Invocation of a Panethnic Family: Latino Identity as It Is Informed by Celebrities and Papis Chulos

Latina magazine is a bilingual women’s magazine that was launched in 1996 for a target audience of bicultural college-educated Latinas between the ages of 18 and 45. In an attempt to reach such a wide range of Latinas, the magazine makes an appeal to familial forms of identification, often presenting discourses of familial allegiances alongside calls for panethnic solidarity. This article presents a case study of the construction of Latinidad through a textual analysis of Latina articles on entertainment and romance and through interviews with the magazine’s editorial staff. Latina oscillates between celebrating the inclusion of Latina/os in the U.S. entertainment industry and speaking out against the criminalization of Latino men and the hypersexualization of Latina/os. This study situates the creation of Latino media in relation to theories of panethnic identification and research on the ideological function of popular culture and the marketing of ethnicity.     

The Consumption of Cultural Products: An Analysis of the Spanish Social Space

This article analyses the social consumption of cultural products by Spaniards from the standpoint of microeconomics and sociology. By comparing Lancaster's ``new consumer theory' to Bourdieu's theory, we show the usefulness of simultaneous analysis of consumption from both perspectives. The results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis of expressive functions, distinction and symbolic properties of cultural products. In addition, the ``new consumer theory' has various implications for both cultural policymaking and marketing of cultural products.     

The IE A preprimary project in Ireland

Despite great changes in the level and type of early childhood services in Ireland over the last decade, relatively little research has been carried out on this topic. We know little about the types of services used, the reason for particular choices, the numbers of children attending different settings and the experiences such children are having. In an effort to broaden the research base and learn more about the lives of our young children the authors undertook to take part in an international comparative study investigating the early experiences of children—the IEA Preprimary Project. This article provides an account of the recent developments in early education in Ireland, addresses the question of quality in service provision and describes Ireland's participation in the research project.     

Play-based art activities in early years: teachers’ thinking and practice

The present study reports findings on pre-service teachers’ thinking during planning and implementing play-based art activities. ‘Thinking’ (in the present study) is informed by discourses emphasising art teaching and learning in relation to play and theoretical assumptions conceptualising planning as ‘practice of knowing’. Pre-service teachers’ thinking was explored through: (a) a tool ‘sk?ptikó’ (a series of questions), created by the researchers to initiate inquiry during planning and provide evidence about participants’ ‘practice of knowing’, and (b) a semi-structured interview using the method of photo-elicitation. Classroom observation, researchers’ reflective notes, document analysis (‘sk?ptikó’) and photographs were used in conjunction with data gathered from semi-structured interviews to confirm the findings. The findings suggest that there is a relationship between pre-service early childhood teachers’ thinking (planning) and practice (implementation). The rationale behind their decisions appears to compete with their thinking on philosophical/moral choices (knowing why). The notion of space has been challenged through artistic practices incorporating ‘play’, while art activities were characterised as playful, reinforcing active learning. The study highlights the significance of thinking through documentation, as this was found to contribute to reflective pedagogical practices.     

Exploring the Links Between Visual Arts and Environmental Education: Experiences of Teachers Participating in an In‐Service Training Programme

An in‐service teachers' training programme was designed aiming to encourage art teachers to learn through theoretical and artistic experiential activities in a specific environmental setting (Lemithou environmental education centre, Cyprus). The programme was based on the use of the environment as an educational resource, and sought to develop participants' environmental perception through artistic activities. Teachers (N=12) from public nursery, elementary and secondary schools, with particular interests and backgrounds in visual arts were invited to participate. The present study is particularly concerned with participants' artistic work inspired by the environment in three different settings of the area: (1) natural (e.g. forest) (2) the rural‐building (e.g. the village) and (3) culture and tradition (e.g. myths and people). Qualitative methods based on observation; diary reports and photographic material were applied on a case study basis. Results revealed teachers': (1) abilities in integrating environmental aspects in their artistic work, (2) positive attitude and interest for environmental art, (3) abilities in enhancing their personal power of artistic expression based on their experiences and the world around them. The findings highlight the significance of artistic experiential activities (hands‐on activities) and critical enquiry in developing teachers' environmental perception.     

Increasing interest in social studies: Social perspective taking and self-efficacy in stimulating simulations

This study examined the potential of simulations to bolster interest in middle school social studies classrooms. Using a pre–post-design, we examined 305 middle school students (49% female) who participated in the web-based GlobalEd simulation. In contrast to the motivation declines middle school students usually experience, participants in this simulation became more interested in social studies. We investigated four hypotheses as to why these increases may have occurred. We found no support for the possibility that, (a) students’ interest in a particular issue area or (b) their increased valuing of the subject matter, were related to their increased interest. However, results suggested that, (c) the challenging nature of the activity and (d) students’ increased propensity to engage in social perspective taking may have bolstered their interest in social studies. The discussion explores future research directions and whether implications for classroom teachers are warranted given the correlational nature of the research.     

Mobile game-based learning in the era of “shifting to digital”

Educational technology research and development -     

Moving Bodies to Moving Minds: A Study of the Use of Motion-Based Games in Special Education

From an embodied learning perspective, the active human body can alter the function of the brain and therefore, the cognitive process. In this work, children’s activity using motion-based technology is framed as an example of embodied learning. The present investigation focuses on the use of a series of Kinect-based educational games by 31 elementary students with special educational needs in mainstream schools, during a five-month intervention study. Results based on psychometric pre-post testing in conjunction with games-usage analytics, a student attitudinal scale, teachers’ reflection notes and teacher interviews, demonstrated the positive impact of the games on children’s short-term memory skills and emotional stage. Overall, the study improves our understanding of embodied learning via motion-based technology in teaching and learning with children with special educational needs.