Education and Social Change: A View From Europe and Latin America

This article is based on the economic, political, cultural, social, and educational changes produced as a result of globalization. We focus on the universalization of education and its importance to achieving sustainable human development while respecting the cultures and ethnic groups in a region. Within higher education in the world, we delve more deeply into the creation of the European Higher Education Area and the Latin American Higher Education Area. This work allows us to highlight the problems, challenges, and needs that education is facing worldwide.     

Transnational Alliances: La Clase Mágica—Nepohualtzitzin Ethnomathematics Club

This article exposes the ancient Nepohualtzitzin as an important contemporary mathematical tool. The design and development of Nepohualtzitzin Ethnomathematics Clubs (NECs) in predominantly Latina/o and low-income schools is also presented. NECs provide informal learning opportunities to develop and strengthen cultural connections to and abilities in mathematics for bicultural-bilingual learners, their parents, and teacher candidates. The formation of NECs is made possible through transnational alliances developed over time between the University of Texas at San Antonio, Secretaría de Educación Pública de México (Ministry of Public Education of Mexico), Coahuiltecan Indian Nation, Aztlán Associates, Danza Azteca Xinachtli, and Tzicatl—Community Development Corporation.     

READING MATHEMATICS REPRESENTATIONS: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

We use eye tracking as a method to examine how different mathematical representations of the same mathematical object are attended to by students. The results of this study show that there is a meaningful difference in the eye movements between formulas and graphs. This difference can be understood in terms of the cultural and social shaping of human perception, as well as in terms of differences between the symbolic and graphical registers.     

Adoption of Agri-Environmental Measures by Organic Farmers: The Role of Interpersonal Communication

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of interpersonal communication on the adoption of agri-environmental measures (AEM) by organic farmers in Germany.

Methodology: The study used the logit model to predict the probability of adoption behaviour, and Social Network Analysis (SNA) was conducted to analyse the question of whether validating information about organic farming provided by interpersonal information sources is associated with communication frequency.

Findings: Our findings demonstrate that being an early adopter of organic farming practices and frequent contact with young and highly educated farmers increases the probability of adoption of other AEM. However, contact frequency in interpersonal networks was found not to be a significant determinant for explaining adoption decisions. Frequently communicating farmers in the network are more likely to attribute higher levels of importance to organic farming information received from formal actors than to information received from informal actors.

Practical Implications: If young and highly educated farmers, who can be considered as informal opinion leaders, are approached by the extension services, then an effective diffusion of information on AEM can be expected. To support the AEM adoption, a platform should be provided by state agencies that would enable organic farmers to understand the environmental benefits achieved over the time.

Originality/value: This study contributes to the scientific discussion on the role of interpersonal communication on AEM adoption. A new aspect is our consideration of organic farmers adopting additional AEM. Moreover, we highlight organic farmers' validation of the importance of formal and informal information sources on organic farming.     

Responsible action research for the pursuit of justice

The pursuit of justice has concerned human beings for centuries and, despite its importance, often remains outside the boundaries of our educational systems. This article reports on a study of an action research seminar for a group of teacher leaders in a position to instigate positive change within their educational context, and make their actions occasions for justice. In order to better understand the textual data generated by the teacher leaders, we devised an analytical lens that draws from modern rabbinical scholarship, eco-political (socio-political) studies, and existentialism. We found at this intersection that, despite the teacher leaders recognizing injustice, and at times protesting against it, their ability to act, formulate solutions, and conduct action research – and even their very concept of justice – was heavily influenced and constrained by the dominant political regime of the US educational system. An explanatory framework emerged that sheds light on the dynamic interplay among justice, politics, and beliefs, while also revealing the constraints to pursuing justice from within a leadership structure. We conclude that for action research to be a means for teachers and teacher leaders to begin to modify their practice so they are sensitive to the voices of the marginalized, to see their actions as opportunities for justice, and to provide collaborative experiences that help other teachers develop their ways of thinking, acting, and interacting in pursuit of justice, those who teach action research must be willing to do the very same.     

Postmodern footballers and their ‘second skin’: emotional narratives ranging from solidarity to intimacy

This article underlines some key traits in the make-up of postmodern footballers. Specifically, we discuss the changes in celebrating goals as sporting events in recent years. We contribute a new perspective on the birth of the postmodern ‘me-event’ compared with the ‘goal-event’ typical of modern times. To support our contribution empirically, we use two methodological dimensions: the discourse analysis of international football legislation and photographic and video archive to illustrate the diversity of phenomena with hermeneutic sampling criteria. The differences between the modern and postmodern way of celebrating a goal, individually and/or collectively, highlight a process of social change in which the individual way of celebrating advances rapidly in a society where there is ever greater media coverage and commercialism.     

Emotional connections and caring: ethical teachers of physical education

The field of physical education (PE), as it exists in teacher education, is dynamic as ways of preparing teachers to meet the needs of young people in contemporary times change. Such endeavours are underpinned by concerns about school-based PE, the alienation of students from PE, and responsibility for producing healthy students. Concerns also exist around a perceived propensity amongst pre-service teachers of PE to steadfastly retain initial beliefs and values and resist more socially critical perspectives and pedagogies. An engagement with socially critical discourses in teacher education is critical if PE is to be a site of inclusion rather than marginalisation and exclusion. This paper examines how a group of pre-service teachers of PE, who experienced a teacher education programme, at an Australian university, that was infused with strong social justice discourses constituted subjectivities and pedagogical practices. We explore how, emotional connectivity, and an ‘ethic of care’, instil broadened perspectives and engagement with socially critical pedagogical practices. Whilst emotions and caring are generally perceived as marginal attributes in the field of PE, we suggest that the affective domain is significant to effective pedagogical practices, subjectivities of teachers of PE and the reality of teaching. We seek to trouble ‘truths’ disseminated by hegemonic discourses that construct PE teaching as a technical undertaking, founded on disciplinary knowledge and curricular expertise. We close by providing possibilities for others working with PE pre-service teachers around foregrounding affective dimensions of pedagogical practices and teacher subjectivities and propose that these possibilities might address calls for a new type of PE teacher.     

Influence of different sports on bone mass in growing girls

The aim of this study was to analyse whether there are differences in bone mass in girls playing different sports. Two hundred girls (10.6 ± 1.5 years old, Tanner stages I–III) participated in the study and were divided into groups of 40 (swimmers, soccer players, basketball players, handball players and controls). Bone mineral content and bone mineral density (BMD) (whole body and hip) were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The degree of sexual development was determined using Tanner test, and physical activity habits were recorded through a questionnaire designed ad hoc for this research. Girls were divided by pubertal stage and the type of sport. In the prepubertal group, intertrochanteric BMD was significantly higher in both handball and soccer players compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, in the pubertal group, total BMD, mean arms BMD, pelvis BMD, femoral neck BMD, intertrochanteric BMD and Ward’s triangle BMD were significantly higher in soccer and handball players compared with the control group (P < 0.05), and the swimmers showed significantly higher values in the mean arms BMD compared with the control group (P < 0.01). Our data suggest that sport practice during puberty, especially in activities that support the body weight, may be an important factor in achieving a high peak bone mass and improving bone health in girls.