El sentido de vida erigido en torno a la humildad

This chapter evaluates rural teachers’ participation in continuing professional teacher development (CPTD) by investigating the enablers and constraints for rural secondary school teachers in two rural education districts in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The chapter is underpinned by Vygotsky’s (1978) theory of social constructivism, which is grounded in the understanding that knowledge is constructed in a social context where learning occurs through discourse with others. A qualitative research design was adopted to collect data from 16 rural teachers in two districts and provinces of South Africa. Two sets of focus group discussions were conducted with teachers to determine the nature of the participation of teachers from rural backgrounds in continuing professional development (CPD) and how it enables them to perform their teaching responsibilities better. We analysed data using an inductive thematic framework following the approach of Braun and Clarke (2006). The following four themes emerged from the analysis, which highlights the factors that enhance the participation of teachers in CPTD and the provision of quality CPTD programmes: teachers’ understanding of the concept of CPTD, access to a variety of CPTD activities, CPTD implementation gaps, and the needs of the teachers. Findings revealed that a significant number of teachers feel that CPTD has not been adequately introduced to them, and not all teachers have been allowed to attend these preparatory workshops. This study concluded that if orientation to CPTD is done correctly, it will enable all teachers to realise that their current practice is insufficient, and they will see the need to improve performance. Addressing constraints identified and strengthening the enablers will ensure that the programme is implemented effectively and yields the desired outcomes.

This article deals with two examples of failure in educational planning, which were largely due to neglect of the social and economic context in which the schools were operating. In Guatemala, a system of stiff annual examinations from the first year of primary school onwards was designed to provide an academic elite in the senior secondary schools. Analysis of student expectations among primary and secondary school students shows however that access to further education is more heavily influenced by the economic class of the student's parent than by his own level of academic success. The attempt to impose high standards may have increased the natural bias against bright students from a lower income group. Vocationally oriented secondary schools were established to meet alleged manpower shortages of middle level technicians and rural teachers. The training the students have received, however, has made them eligible for careers with much more substantial rewards than those available in the occupations fo...

Gourmet PD is a Professional Development (PD) programme for rural teachers in the Australian State of Victoria. Although it began in a small way in 1995, it is, in 1998, catering for the PD needs of over 4000 rural teachers. At a time of economic, social and educational crisis in rural Victoria, the success of Gourmet PD, which runs counter to rural decline, is founded on its grassroots philosphy, its culture of active partnership and its ability to match practice with theory. This article describes the political, social and educational context of Gourmet PD, its structure and process, and accounts for its success

Young people often turn to their teachers for information on sexuality and HIV and Aids. Consequently teachers need to be not only knowledgeable about these issues but also able to integrate them into their teaching. As part of an umbrella study to investigate and promote HIV and Aids education and support in schools, this article reports on a qualitative study conducted among a purposively selected sample of teachers in Shurugwi schools to ascertain their response to the challenges resulting from the pandemic. The findings suggest that the participating teachers held complex and contradictory views about HIV and Aids education; that they were constrained by the prevailing social and cultural background; and that their responses were inhibited by the lack of adequate social welfare support systems. These factors combined to make it difficult for them to interpret and implement policy that calls for a coherent and collaborative response. This study will hopefully inform professional development interventions to ensure that future HIV and AIDS teaching and learning is relevant and effective, given the social and educational context.

The concept of professional learning, with the principal as lead learner working towards the institutional goal of social justice, is the focus of this descriptive qualitative study. The purpose was to examine the actions and behaviours of US rural principals as they demonstrate professional learning to ensure social justice for marginalised students. Multiple iterations of coding the field notes and interview data resulted in the following themes: Professional Learning in a Social Context; Professional Learning in a Culture of Care; and Professional Learning for Positive Change. This study confirmed that social justice practices for marginalised children may be taught by leading through informal professional learning and is accomplished through learning in a social context for others to observe and hear, development of a culture of care, and focus on positive change in beliefs and attitudes. Professional learning that is embedded in the daily work of schools is the most viable strategy for rural teachers to incorporate social justice practices in their daily work. One implication from these findings is that principals must first become social justice role models and competently practice socially just behaviours themselves. Based on findings from this study, a model for professional learning is offered.

Research in Australia’s ethnically diverse rural and regional communities requires an approach that is informed by notions of space, place and culture, and which recognises race as a relational social construct mediated by social and political discourse and context, and prone to change overtime. This review examines how teacher education researchers connect culturally competent research and rural ethics with the view to improving education systems, addressing rural teacher workforce issues, informing the preparation of pre-service teachers, and, most importantly, ensuring that rural students have access to educational opportunities that are engaging and meet their needs. It focuses specifically on researcher positionality on the insider-outsider continuum and how this informs ethical research in diverse rural communities, particularly those in which visible new migrants reside. Peer-reviewed journal articles that discuss how education researchers negotiate working in rural space are examined and considered in relation to discourse about ethics in practice and the insider/outsider continuum. Scholarship reflected in the literature spanned the fields of rural/research ethics, inclusive education, education research methodology and research with new migrants, minority and marginalised groups.

Reviewed by: Modern Mexican Culture: Critical Foundations ed. by Stuart A. Day Rebecca Janzen Day, Stuart A., editor. Modern Mexican Culture: Critical Foundations. Tucson: U of Arizona P, 2017. 330 pp. ISBN: 978-08-1653-426-5. Day's edited collection surveys aspects of Mexican culture. Its definition of Mexican culture is vast, including print culture, such as novels, as well as visual culture, which encompasses art and film, and new media. Each chapter in Modern Mexican Culture centers around a single topic. Analisa Taylor's, for instance, focuses on "Milpa," Jacqueline E. Bixler's on "1968," and Dana A. Meredith and Luis Alberto Rodríguez Cortés on "Feminicide." The chapters also have subtitles that point to their dialogue with existing scholarship. In the case of "Milpa," Taylor has given the subtitle, "Mesoamerican Resistance to Agricultural Imperialism." This is followed by a list of primary materials, such as films, artwork or literary texts. The chapter then explains how these primary materials relate to Mexico's social, political and historical context. Modern Mexican Culture includes contributions by well-known scholars, such as Jacqueline E. Bixler, Robert McKee Irwin, Ryan Long, Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, and Emily Hind alongside of works by emerging scholars, like David S. Dalton. This variety of scholarship is one of its strengths. At the same time, even though several scholars received their early academic training in Mexico, all of these scholars are currently based in the US academy. This is likely because the approach to the collection is one primarily adopted by the US academy. Day introduces the structure of the book and surveys Mexican history. He skillfully describes how he has already used these strategies in his classroom, and the ways that he has already made these topics come alive for his students by relating them to current social issues in the US. At the same time, Day tries to do justice to Mexican history in a few pages, and makes some remarks more appropriate to a specialized audience, such as jumping from the issue of impunity after the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968 to impunity in Mexico in the first decades of the twenty-first century. The work continues with Marta Caminero-Santangelo's chapter, titled, "DREAM-ers," subtitled, "Youth and Migration: American DREAMers and Mexico," and begins with a list of relevant novels, films, cartoons, and testimonies. She then offers a historical [End Page 141] context of the failed DREAM act and elaborates on the problems with the narrative of the good immigrant. She discusses some of the primary materials, such as Julia Álvarez's novel, Return to Sender and Gabriela Adera et al.'s collection of testimonies of undocumented students at UCLA. She concludes by considering those DREAMers who have returned to Mexico, the increasing presence of unaccompanied minors in the US, and questions of how cultural production around immigration might develop following the election of the current president of the US. The book then moves to Analisa Taylor's work on "Milpa. Mesoamerican Resistance to Agricultural Imperialism," which analyzes posters from resistance movements to agri-business. Christopher Conway's chapter on charros follows this intervention. He successfully demonstrates the ways that the charro has become a complex symbol of Mexican nationalism that relates to Mexican gender ideals. His notes at the end of the chapter are especially helpful to introduce the topic to scholars beginning to approach Mexico. The collection then focuses explicitly on earlier decades of the twentieth century. Ryan Long's chapter, "Print," for instance, discusses the Taller de Gráfica Popular and the circulation of images from this workshop from the 1930s to the 1950s. This chapter sheds light on an understudied art movement and includes several images. Long ties their linocuts and posters to famous Mexican muralists, and convincingly demonstrates that their work —although promoting Mexican state ideology—confronted global fascism. Following Long's contribution, Dalton discusses the role of education in the Revolution, and, in a welcome departure from typical discussions on the topic, relates rural teachers and Juan Rulfo's short stories. Then, Fernando Fabio Sánchez analyzes murder and democracy in Mexico, expertly using key works to analyze specific periods in the twentieth century...

This research aims to unearth the educational challenges experienced by teachers and communities in rural Turkey. The research employs Nancy Fraser’s three dimensional justice approach – distribution, recognition and participation – to frame these challenges and to argue that rural challenges go beyond economic rationalities and concerns of infrastructure and resources. The study draws its data from 29 in-depth interviews with 20 teachers working in 16 different villages; 9 interviews with community members; and 2 focus group interviews, 1 with rural dwelling women and the other with rural dwelling men. The findings point out four significant difficulties that impede community and educational development: scarcity of resources; insufficient understanding of social, cultural and economic contexts that constrain educational attempts; lack of collaboration between teacher and communities; and irrelevant education. The study concludes by scrutinising how these difficulties interact with one another and result in marginalisation or casting out of rural lives.

The dilemma of time: Student-centered teaching in the rural classroom in China

This autoethnographic study explores how the subjectively experienced ecological context of a rural Chinese EFL teacher facilitates the evolution of her teacher identity across three distinct phases. The focus is on examining the teacher’s transformation from a reality dissident to a realist, and ultimately to a pioneering educator while analyzing the factors that drive these shifts. The findings highlight the significant influence of the rural social context, closely linked to the teacher’s subjective experiences, and emphasize the critical role of core reflection in this process. This research offers valuable insights into the development of rural teachers’ professional identity, underscores the importance of understanding the complex interplay between the social environment and personal core qualities, and provides actionable implications for enhancing the professional growth and effectiveness of rural teachers.

In recent decades, the growing trend of post-structuralist research on teacher emotional labor has offered a discursive lens to elucidate rural teachers’ identities and their teaching practices. To date, however, few studies have explored the emotional labor of special-post teachers in rural China. Through a post-structuralist framework, this study aimed to explore the emotional labor of special-post teachers. Ethnographic qualitative data from a rural primary school in northern China showed that special-post teachers experienced various emotional conflicts embedded in multiple discourses. As teaching experience increases, special-post teachers obtain agentive emotional and practical responses to lighten their negative emotional burden for work. The findings suggested that the role overload and conflicts of special-post teachers were especially prominent in the social context of the urban–rural dichotomy. Emotional reflexivity and vulnerability of special-post teachers in their identity construction as educator, professional-service-provider, and also passer-by were also discussed.