PISA in Spain: Expectations,impact and debate

PISA, which was launched by OECD, is one of the most significant and successful initiatives on which education systems have recently collectively embarked. However, although it is a well‐coordinated international programme, its reception differs according to country. There is therefore a need to analyse specific national circumstances in order to gain a deeper understanding of the undertaking as a whole. This article specifically considers Spain's participation in PISA and focuses on a number of aspects: a) the expectations created when it joined the programme, in parallel to the implementation of its own national education evaluation system; b) the impact PISA has had, both in the media and in political and discursive spheres; and c) the technical and scientific debates generated in Spanish academic media. Finally, it is argued that, in the last few years, PISA has met with a certain disenchantment among specialists and the public opinion because of its limitations as a ranking tool, the difficulty in explaining its findings, and its inability to prescribe education policies that are suitable for very different contexts.     

Marriage,Kinship, and Islamic Law in Al-Andalus: Reflections on Pierre Guichard's Al-Ándalus

In his important book on society in Islamic Spain, Al-Ándalus, Pierre Guichard theorises that until the late fourth/tenth century Arabs and Berbers followed what he calls an Eastern family pattern, meaning that they married within the extended family, disinherited women, and calculated kinship through the male line. The subject population, whether they converted to Islam or not, maintained a Western pattern of marrying out, allowing women to inherit, and recognising kinship through the male and female lines. Recently published collections of rulings from Islamic courts, however, complicate the picture Guichard presents. They suggest that Islamic law, which neither favours nor discourages close kin marriage, allows women to inherit property, and recognizes bilateral kinship, was influential well before the late tenth century. Its influence challenged the Eastern kinship model Guichard documents, particularly in the area of women's property rights.     

Financial investment and educational regularisation: a statistical survey of primary education in Extremadura (Spain) in the second half of the nineteenth century

ABSTRACT

This paper offers a review of history of education statistics in Spain, starting in the mid-nineteenth century, describing their traditional means of operation based on censuses, flat tables, and macro-statistical data, which usually display a purely quantitative analysis. Only in recent decades have statistical analyses appeared, supported by modern office tools and parametric data processing, which facilitate qualitative research. Among other types of graphics used, for our purposes those based on serial mapping are especially revealing and useful, as they show the diachronic evolution of the variables analysed. Supported by this methodology, the present study statistically analyses the official data on state primary education in Extremadura in the second half of the nineteenth century, in order to demonstrate how significant the increase in financial investment in the late nineteenth century was and its direct impact on expanding the coverage of the educational network at a regional level. That meant the disappearance of inequalities in all educational standards (school equipment, number of appointments, salaries, gender, etc.) and, therefore, a reduction in illiteracy rates.     

Little intellectuals. Girls' academic secondary education under Francoism: projects,realities and paradoxes

The present article examines the situation of girls in Spanish academic secondary education during the first Francoism. It outlines the measures introduced by the Franco Regime that maintained the traditional access for girls to the same academic curriculum followed by boys, although in separate schools. Later, it examines the various projects put forward specifically for female secondary schooling that sought to remove girls from the academic pathway and the reasons for their failure. Finally, the article studies the paradox posed by the fact that, despite official statements against academic education for women, the number of girls in academic secondary education and universities did not stop growing during the first Francoism. For the explanation of this paradox, it seeks to address the unwanted effects of Francoist education policy, especially the effects of social elitism and single-sex education on the presence of girls.     

The British Influence in the Birth of Spanish Sport

Sports started to gain relevance in Spain around the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century as a leisure and health option of the upper classes imported from Britain. Its early development was intertwined with the spread of other kinds of physical activities with much more tradition on the continent: gymnastics and physical education. First played by the ruling classes – aristocracy and high bourgeoisie – sports permeated towards petty bourgeoisie and middle classes in urban areas such as Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián and Santander. This pattern meant that the expansion of sports was unavoidably tied to the degree of industrialisation and cultural modernisation of the country. Since 1910, and mainly during the 1920s, sport grew in popularity as a spectacle and, toa much lesser degree, as a practice among the Spanish population.     

2012欧洲足球锦标赛西班牙队技术统计分析

运用录像观察等方法对2012年欧洲足球锦标赛冠军西班牙队6场比赛的过程和技术指标进行分析,以便探寻西班牙队的攻防特征,从而掌握当今竞技足球技战术的发展趋势和制胜规律。观察结果:西班牙队6场比赛共计射门102次,共进球12个和失球1个,传球总数为4262次,场均控球率达65.7%,抢断总数是121次;比赛以"4-3-3"阵型为主。西班牙队技、战术特点总结:擅长控球打法;防守采取前场反抢、中场控制、后场密集的方式,区域防守和重点盯防相结合。启示:保持球队的稳定性;强化中场控制力;提升整体防守能力;注重对球的控制和整体的短传配合。     

Market Orientation of Spanish Public Universities: A Suitable Response to the Growing Competition

ABSTRACT

As has been the case with other public services, the Spanish university system has, over the last few years, undergone radical changes that have completely transformed the form and type of activities carried out therein. The far-reaching effect of these changes and of others that will probably occur in the not too distant future obliges the university system to adapt to the new conditions that govern it. Therefore, this research analyzes the origins of the growing competition that is being experienced by Spanish public universities. In addition, a sample of university teachers is the basis for an empirical study analyzing the relationship between market orientation as put into practice by them and the results they obtained from carrying out their university duties: teaching, research and the spreading of culture.     

Sex and relationships education and gender equality: recent experiences from Andalusia (Spain)

Despite recent advances in sex and relationships education (SRE), the Spanish education system still lacks coherent policies in this field. This paper provides an overview of the current situation, focusing specifically on Andalusia, and discusses the importance of providing SRE for young people. It first describes current Spanish education policy on gender equality and shows how this leaves little space for SRE. It then presents data on young people's sexuality and relationships collected in the course of an action research project utilising different qualitative techniques. Data deriving from 27 in-depth interviews focusing on values, norms and practices relating to young people's sexuality and relationships, conducted in two secondary schools in Granada, Andalusia, are then analysed in order to identify the degree of gender equality present within them. The results suggest that in sexual relations young people tend uncritically to accept and reproduce many of the patriarchal dimensions of gender and sexuality. Findings highlight the importance of linking more closely SRE to gender equality education policies in Spain.     

纳什均衡与民间壁垒——从博弈论角度看西班牙烧鞋事件

本文从博弈论角度研究西班牙烧鞋事件，指出了民间壁垒既是中国劳动密集型产业发展的必经之障碍，也必然会随着中国经济结构的改变、发展而失去其存在的价值基础。另一方面，中国出口经济模式的改变、发展在一定程度上是受民间壁垒的影响，是中国（作为出口国）和接受中国产品的进口国多次博弈的结果。     

第29届奥运会男篮中国—西班牙技术指标的对比分析

本文以第29届奥运会中国和西班牙比赛实况录像为研究对象,运用观察法、比较分析法,分析了中、西男篮比赛,发现中国男篮在远投、抢断指标好于对手,但在中近距离投篮、篮板和体能等与西班牙男篮存在明显差距,这是中国男篮失利的根本原因。建议中国男篮应加强投篮技战术训练,提高投篮质量,同时加强篮板拼抢和体能训练。