The idea of the university

Professor Emeritus of International Education at the University of Stock-holm and President of the International Academy of Education. Former Director of the Institute of Educational Research (1971–82), chairman of the Governing Board of the International Institute for Educational Planning (1970–80) and Chairman of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (1962–78). He is the author of some fifty books and hundreds of articles.     

Play in two societies: pervasiveness of process, specificity of structure

The present study compared Argentine (N = 39) and U.S. (N = 43) children and their mothers on exploratory, symbolic, and social play and interaction when children were 20 months of age. Patterns of cultural similarity and difference emerged. In both cultures, boys engaged in more exploratory play than girls, and girls engaged in more symbolic play than boys; mothers of boys engaged in more exploratory play than mothers of girls, and mothers of girls engaged in more symbolic play than mothers of boys. Moreover, in both cultures, individual variation in children's exploratory and symbolic play was specifically associated with individual variation in mothers' exploratory and symbolic play, respectively. Between cultures, U.S. children and their mothers engaged in more exploratory play, whereas Argentine children and their mothers engaged in more symbolic play. Moreover, Argentine mothers exceeded U.S. mothers in social play and verbal praise of their children. During an early period of mental and social growth, general developmental processes in play may be pervasive, but dyadic and cultural structures are apparently specific. Overall, Argentine and U.S. dyads utilized different modes of exploration, representation, and interaction--emphasizing "other-directed" acts of pretense versus "functional" and "combinatorial" exploration, for example--and these individual and dyadic allocentric versus idiocentric stresses accord with larger cultural concerns of collectivism versus individualism in the two societies.     

Investigating the Multidimensionality of Need Fulfillment: A Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Representation

This article assesses the multidimensionality of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) using bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (bifactor ESEM). The first study relies on a sample of community adults (N = 2,301), and revealed the superiority of a bifactor ESEM representation, supporting the 6-factor structure of BPNSFS ratings, and the presence of a single continuum of need fulfillment relative to 2 distinct dimensions reflecting need satisfaction and frustration. These results were replicated in a second representative sample of the Hungarian adult population (N = 504), as well as across gender, and found no evidence of differential item functioning as a function of age. Relative to males, females presented higher levels of relatedness satisfaction and lower levels of competence satisfaction. Finally, autonomy frustration decreased with age, whereas competence satisfaction and frustration presented opposite curvilinear tendencies, showing that the fulfillment of this need increased sharply for younger participants, a tendency that became less pronounced with age.     

Towards a controlled vocabulary on software engineering education

Software engineering is the discipline that develops all the aspects of the production of software. Although there are guidelines about what topics to include in a software engineering curricula, it is usually unclear which are the best methods to teach them. In any science discipline the construction of a classification schema is a common approach to understand a thematic area. This study examines previous publications in software engineering education to obtain a first controlled vocabulary (a more formal definition of a classification schema) in the field. Publications from 1988 to 2014 were collected and processed using automatic clustering techniques and the outcomes were analysed manually. The result is an initial controlled vocabulary with a taxonomy form with 43 concepts that were identified as the most used in the research publications. We present the classification of the concepts in three facets: ‘what to teach’, ‘how to teach’ and ‘where to teach’ and the evolution of concepts over time.     

The Latin American studies association vs. the United States: The verdict of history

This paper grew out of a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College Teachers, “Social Problems: The Constructionist Stance”, held at Southern Illinois University in 1992. The author thanks Professor Joel Best, director of the seminar, for his encouragement and suggestions.     

Comparing Southern Europe: the difference,the public,and the common

ABSTRACT

After criticising the solutionist drift, this article argues for the need for three gestures, in order to build a more problematised Comparative Education: estrangement, that is, the ability to see the unknown and therefore to distance ourselves from what is already known; intercession, that is, the ability to perceive the importance of mediators; communication, that is, the ability to work in common with others, from different positions and perspectives. Based on these three gestures, the article argues for a Comparative Education that seeks to develop three lines of work: to build a science of difference, rather than a ‘solution’ that tends to homogenise educational directions throughout the world; to strengthen the public space, instead of contributing to the authority of experts; to revitalise the common, instead of yielding to the current fragmentation, in which we interact only with what is similar to us. The arguments are not limited to Southern Europe, as they intend to open up a set of general questions about the meaning of comparative work in education.     

Indigenous languages and intercultural bilingual education in Bolivia

Cofounder of the Centre for Research into and Promotion of the Peasantry (CIPCA). Author of, among other works, Los mil rostros del quechuaand Lengua y sociedad boliviana,and editor of Raíces de América: el mundo Aymara and Para comprender las culturas rurales en Bolivia.     

Identifying characteristics of parental involvement: aesthetic experiences and micro-politics of resistance in different schools through ethnographic investigations

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the relevance that aesthetic practices play extending parental involvement and influence in school contexts in Spain. One rural, one urban and one peri-urban school have been included in the research. Participant observation and interviews were the main means of data production. In the results all the different schools promoted parents’ participation. However, differences in aesthetic practices and experiences were found. Parental involvement was developed in schools in different ways in relation to local contextual conditions and the salient characteristics of the geographic spaces the schools belonged to. Practical aesthetic knowledge produced multiple strategies of action.     

The Tutor’s Approach in Base Groups (PBL)

In this article, the concept of approach related to tutor functioning in problem-based learning (PBL) is explored and the significance of a phenomenological perspective of the body in relation to learning and tutoring is investigated. The aim has been to understand the concept of approach in a context where the individual, thoughts, emotions and body are regarded as a whole in a learning process – a non-dualistic entity. The analysis is primarily based on Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenologie de la Perception. Editions Gallimard, Kroppens fenomenologi. Oslo: Pax) and Leder (1990). The outcome of the analysis is related to the pedagogical view that characterises PBL and tutoring in base groups. An earlier study (Silén Licentiate thesis n 3/1996. Linköping University) about tutor functioning in PBL was the starting-point for the exploration. On the basis of the phenomenological analysis, I assign approach the following meaning: - the total message expressed by ‘the lived body’ in interaction with its life world. The analysis indicates that the tutor’s approach influences group work in different ways. One of phenomenology’s most important messages implies that the tutor’s approach should be characterised by ‘presence’, attention on the students and what is happening in the group, and not on the tutor’s own actions and thoughts. The ability to be ‘present’ is possible when the knowing is rooted in the lived body. This conclusion brings to the fore the necessity of the tutor’s own understanding of the ideas of PBL and the underlying theories, and also highlights the importance of regarding tutor training as an ongoing learning process. The focus of the exploration has been on the tutor in PBL. In principle, I would argue that a corresponding line of reasoning is applicable to tutoring and learning in general.     

Migrant preschool children's school readiness and early elementary school performance

Little is known about the early educational performance of children in migrant farmworker families. The authors examined the school readiness and early school success of 289 four-year-old preschool children of migrant families attending Redlands Christian Migrant Association centers. Children's school readiness was assessed and public school records were used for longitudinal follow-up. Children improved on age-4 school readiness domains, and although some struggled with emergent English literacy, many performed well on school readiness measures and later coursework. Children quickly became proficient in oral English, and had above-average school attendance. Many scored low on high-stakes tests; however, typically well enough for grade promotion. Students in the sample were comparable to similar students in poverty. School teachers and administrators should have high expectations for students from migrant families because many of them do stay in the public school system, and appear to be quite resilient despite many challenges they face.