Education In Catalonia Research Articles

Young Educators’ Voices on Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Diversity in Leisure Time Education: Towards an Effective Policy Framework and Training

This paper examines a study that aimed to fill in the gap in research about interfaith dialogue and leisure time education in Catalonia (Spain). Combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods, we analyzed the role that interfaith dialogue plays for leisure time educators. The research was carried out between 2021 and 2022 in three phases: one descriptive through an ad hoc questionnaire, a second one comprehensive by exploring educators’ voices in focus groups, and a third one prescriptive to design evidence-based policy recommendations and training frames. The whole research allowed us to state the low status that interfaith dialogue plays within the leisure time education in the research context, as well as the high expectations and positive attitude by educators to improve interfaith dialogue in these educational settings. Further research considering more voices (children, families, administration, religious groups) could be explored in the future to increase the knowledge on the subject.

The linguistic model for education in Catalonia in the Council of Europe.

L’article revisa les avaluacions del règim lingüístic de l’ensenyament a Catalunya en seu del Consell d’Europa, desplegades en el marc dels diversos cicles de control de compliment de la Carta europea de les llengües regionals o minoritàries. Més concretament, s’hi revisarà l’avaluació del model prenent en consideració els informes del Comitè d’Experts i recomanacions del Comitè de Ministres del Consell d’Europa. Formalment, l’article s’estructura en tres parts. La primera part revisa la posició de la Carta europea de les llengües regionals o minoritàries dins el sistema de fonts del dret, i fa un apunt especial al valor jurídic i interpretatiu que li reconeix la jurisprudència constitucional. Partint d’aquesta base, la segona part de l’article s’endinsa en una revisió de les obligacions contretes per l’Estat espanyol en el seu instrument de ratificació del conveni, en l’àmbit dels usos lingüístics en l’ensenyament. S’hi revisen els compromisos adquirits, jurídicament vinculants, d’ampli espectre. Finalment, l’article proposa una revisió de les avaluacions de què ha estat objecte el règim lingüístic en l’ensenyament a Catalunya i també el previst en altres comunitats autònomes, als cicles de control de compliment del conveni. Per fer-ho, es tindran en compte els exàmens periòdics desplegats als informes del Comitè d’Experts i a les recomanacions del Comitè de Ministres del Consell d’Europa.

“Taking context seriously”: Exploring the enactment of gender policy mandates in Catalan education

Several laws and plans contemplate the incorporation of a gender perspective in education in Catalonia. This article analyzes how the relevant policy mandates are transferred, recontextualized and implemented in Catalan secondary schools. Drawing on 15 focus groups with representatives of teachers, students, management teams and families (N=103) from 12 secondary schools in the region, the paper explores the multiple forms of enactment that take place according to the particularities of each of the contexts. Using the analytical framework established by Braun et al. (2011), the results show how the material, the situational, the external, and particularly, the professional context shape the enactment of gender policies in Catalan education. Likewise, the article highlights how actors at the school level develop gender-sensitive practices based on their values and beliefs. Finally, we discuss how, far from a top-down approach, there is also policymaking at the lowest level of the educational system: the school.

The promotion of self-regulation of children's behaviour, an unresolved issue in initial teacher education in Catalonia (Spain)

The growing concern in classrooms over the increase in disruptive behaviour and its management poses the need to investigate the teaching competences that can help teachers to promote self-regulation of behaviour (SRB) among children. This requires an inclusive approach that understands behaviour in a holistic way, taking into account the whole context. Therefore, different competences need to be activated that together enable teachers to promote children's SRB. This article identifies which specific competences of 923 teaching plans of the five public Catalan universities would contribute to preparing student teachers to foster children's SRB. The perceptions of 929 final-year student teachers on the training they had received were collected using a questionnaire. The most present competences in the teaching plans are pedagogical, inclusive, teacher reflection and collaboration. Among the least present are communication and classroom management, although they are the most essential for promoting children's SRB. Participants reported that the contribution of university subjects to promoting children's SRB is scarce and is largely limited to external regulation strategies instead of supporting children's SRB. In terms of behaviour management as a fundamental and incipient aspect of fostering children's SRB, student teachers do not feel that they even have the key competences for managing behaviour in the classroom, although there are differences between universities and degrees. The active role of student teachers in children's SRB should be enhanced during initial teacher education, even in the attention to diversity specialisation and in the dual system programme. There is an urgent need for universities to equip student teachers with competences to promote children's SRB. The competence profile should be clarified and unified, so that this set of competences can be worked on in a complementary, cross-curricular and practical way in different subjects, regardless of teaching specialisation.

Acculturation preferences, conflict and cultural enrichment on secondary education in Western Catalonia

PurposeLocated in Western Catalonia (Spain), the article’s aim is to analyse the acculturation preferences of majority group high-school students towards their peers of Moroccan and Romanian descent. Furthermore, it aims to delve deeper into the influence on the perception of conflict with these groups mediated by cultural enrichment.Design/methodology/approachThe data are the result of conducting a questionnaire among 349 autochthonous students enrolled in Compulsory Secondary Education in Catalonia. The data have been analyzed using cluster analysis, ANOVA and mediation analysis.FindingsThe findings show that a small number of high-school students construct integration acculturation preferences towards Moroccans and Romanians, while the majority of the preferences are of assimilation or segregation. In addition, the perceived conflict is higher for Moroccans than Romanians, and the cultural enrichment is higher for Romanians than for Moroccans. Finally, there is a low mediating effect of cultural enrichment on the relationship between acculturation preferences and degree of conflict.Originality/valueThe relevance and originality of this article stems from the application of acculturation theory on the construction of acculturation preferences in the educational domain. Additionally, it is a context characterized by an exceptional cultural and linguistic diversity. Furthermore, acculturation preferences, perceived degree of conflict and perceived cultural enrichment are analyzed comparatively regarding descendants of Moroccans and Romanians. This approach has scarcely been used at an international level, and practically never at the Spanish and Catalan level.

The politics of educational transitions: Evidence from Catalonia

Transitions to upper secondary education are of crucial importance to understanding educational inequalities. They are also vital in explaining the contemporary dynamics of Early School Leaving. Global hegemonic discourses around educational transitions and Early School Leaving shape student pathways in terms of rational and linear choices, assuming equal opportunities for lifelong learning. Simultaneously, the European Strategy attributes key roles to Vocational Education and Training and to guidance in order to smooth educational transitions, reduce Early School Leaving and meet the needs of the knowledge-based economy. The aim of the article is to problematise the linear relationship between Early School Leaving, Vocational Education and Training, and guidance policies representing the dominant contemporary rhetoric concerned with ensuring smooth transitions and opening up long-term educational pathways for young people. The article provides an in-depth analysis of the political construction of the transition from lower to upper secondary education in Catalonia, identifying how it is conceptualised at a discursive level by policy actors and also how it is implemented at the institutional level. The results aim to be regarded as a useful analytical resource to inform critical policy analyses of educational transitions and their implications in terms of social inequalities.

Nursing Education in Catalonia: Novice Professionals' Appraisal of Its Quality and Usefulness. Does Mobility Play a Role?

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between the quality of undergraduate education perceived by novice nurses and their retrospective satisfaction with their education. It also studied the relationships between the perceived usefulness of their education for their current jobs and the quality of the jobs held by novice nursing professionals. The moderator role of mobility in this relationship was also analyzed, as it reflects a boundary condition in which additional preparation or job opportunities may occur. The study used data from the graduates’ survey carried out by the Agència per a la Qualitat del Sistema Universitari de Catalunya (AQU) in 2017. The analysis of data from 644 graduates of Catalan Universities in 2014 highlights different functions of two types of knowledge and skills; those directly related to science and the practice of nursing are stronger predictors of retrospective satisfaction with nursing education. In turn, the perception of the usefulness of horizontal skills, such as transversal and communication skills, plays a stronger role in predicting job quality. The results about the role of mobility were not conclusive, and more research is needed to clarify its influence on nursing education and subsequent professional practice.

Proceso migratorio, concentración escolar y resultados académicos en Cataluña

La concentración del alumnado inmigrante en las escuelas es vista con preocupación, ya que se relaciona generalmente con una mayor incidencia del fracaso escolar. En este contexto, y para Cataluña, se analiza la relación entre proceso migratorio, concentración escolar y resultados escolares para los alumnos que finalizan la educación secundaria obligatoria. Se emplea una perspectiva generacional, construida a partir del año de llegada a Cataluña, del lugar de origen y del de sus progenitores. Estos datos provienen del enlace realizado por el Instituto de Estadística de Cataluña entre los microdatos de los alumnos matriculados en escuelas públicas en el curso 2015-2016 y el Registro Estadístico de Población. Los resultados indican como la concentración se relaciona, para la mayoría de orígenes, con un incremento del fracaso escolar. Estos efectos se visibilizan a partir de elevados niveles de concentración, y son ambiguos en algunos orígenes, ya que no siempre se producen en el mismo sentido. Adicionalmente, estos efectos son más importantes para los alumnos autóctonos. La elevada diversidad de situaciones sugiere que la relación entre concentración y fracaso escolar no puede ser abordada desde una sola acción política.

Revolting families: The Catalan ‘opt out’ movement and practices of resistance against Standard Assessment Test (SAT). Some exploratory research

Neoliberal policy technologies are spreading across the globe. Most go unrecognised and unopposed, but in some cases, they have provoked reactions and movements that reject or resist them. In this article we focus on one such movement of resistance, consisting of a network of families (the ‘opt out’ movement) that is boycotting the Standard Assessment Tests of primary education in Catalonia. We draw on exploratory research based on in-depth interviews with six of these families, as well as a review of articles, websites and documents produced by or about the movement. The participation of these families is examined in the light of Foucault’s notion of resistance in two different respects: resistance as a ‘tactical reversal’ and refusal as an ‘aesthetics of existence’. We begin with an outline of the global ideological context in which the Standard Assessment Tests are set, and then examine the background to the opt out movement’s resistance to the Standard Assessment Tests in Catalonia. This is followed by a Foucauldian analysis of this resistance, and then a description of the methodology used and the families interviewed. We make no significant empirical claims in the paper but rather seek to theorise certain paradoxes and tensions in relation to opting out and end with some remarks on the significance of the movement.

Predictors of intentions to use cigarettes and electronic-cigarettes among high school students.

PurposeTobacco is the second most commonly used drug by Spanish high school students and e-cigarette use has increased over the last three years among this population. Students who reported smoking tobacco and/or e-cigarette use often have friends and family that also consume these substances. The aims of the present study were to: determine the prevalence of tobacco and electronic cigarette consumption among young adolescents, the age of initiation and the intention to consume both of these substances in the future; study the relationships between their current tobacco and e-cigarette consumption status, intentions to consume these substances in the future and the consumption of these substances by family members living in their home and friend’s consumption status; investigate the relationship between their current tobacco and e-cigarette consumption status, friends’ consumption status and their intention to consume each substance in the future; analyse the relationship between current consumption status, intentions to consume in the future and perceived risk; identify the main predictors of intentions to use these substances in the future.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017. The sample consisted of 468 school students in the first cycle of secondary education in Catalonia, Spain. The participants who were aged between 11 and 15 years old, with 49.4% being female.ResultsA stepwise binary logistic regression showed that the best predictors of the intention to smoke tobacco in the future were: having tried tobacco, being a current consumer, having a family member smoking at home and having a low perceived risk of smoking. The best predictors of the intention to use electronic cigarettes in the future were: having tried tobacco, being a current consumer and having friends who smoke or use electronic cigarettes.ConclusionSmoking prevention programs must consider the social network surrounding teenagers, particularly close friends and family. Intervention strategies for delaying the onset of tobacco or e-cigarette consumption are greatly needed.

Research-Based Learning in Initial Teacher Education in Catalonia

The teaching profession is undergoing significant changes, some of which are imposed by the new paradigm of education. This new context marks the shift from the teachers’ position as ‘knowledge users’ towards the more complex position of ‘knowledge creators’. In this new professional culture adapted to a changing society, teaching as a profession is understood as undergoing a continuous transformation and innovation process, while the professionals in the educational field appear to be research users and research promoters able to think thoroughly about their own professional needs and the new topics arising in their field. There is, therefore, a shift from a passive to an active position, enabling educators to become aware of how complex their field is and to understand that it cannot be acknowledged and managed from outside the social, cultural, historical, philosophical, and psychological contexts shaping it. Taking into consideration the characteristics of the new professional culture, this paper is focused on the development of research skills as one of the teachers’ core skills. The study is framed at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where the Student Perception Research Integration Questionnaire (SPRIQ) of Visser-Wijnveen et al. (2015) was applied to measure students’ perception of research integration in university courses (n=113). Additionally, analysis of the documents on the syllabus of each course of the BA in Primary Education programme was applied to review the research component of initial teacher education curricula. Findings from students’ responses show that they are more consumers than producers of research. We emphasise the importance of student teachers being able to both consume as well as produce research in order to develop professionally.

Fighting school segregation for inclusive education in Catalonia: The role of local governments

In recent years, school segregation of migrant students in Catalonia has remained at high levels. Education policy has responded to this enormous challenge in different and not always coherent ways. Successive Catalan governments implemented strategies to facilitate the integration of migrant students in the education system. While the most salient programmes focused on linguistic integration and support devices intended to compensate for the learning needs of disadvantaged students of migrant origin, policies to tackle school segregation at the national level were timorous at most. The best educational reforms and best practices to reduce school segregation have been found in some local governments. In this presentation we will explore which are the main conditions that have facilitated the development of successful local education policies to tackle school segregation. By exploring some examples, the paper will reflect on the structural conditions that have favoured best practices as well as on the strategic role of agents who have facilitated significant reforms in this area.

Unintended effects of the language policy on the transition of immigrant students to upper secondary education in Catalonia

AbstractThis article analyses the effects of the language policy in Catalonia on the transition of immigrant students to upper secondary education in Barcelona by focusing on the language learning experiences and academic trajectories of two case‐studies of Pakistani students whose communicative resources remain invisible despite the official celebration of linguistic diversity and which are not properly fostered to ensure their successful incorporation into post‐compulsory education, despite their initial success and high aspirations. Although indicators of educational inequality show how young people born outside the EU experience an alarming disadvantage in comparison to their Spanish‐born peers, little attention has been paid to factors related to the complex bilingual context of Catalonia. This article aims to shed light on the factors involved in the early school leaving of students from immigrant backgrounds, especially critical in the periods of transition, and the role played by the language policies, beliefs and ideology that they are exposed to.

CPR at school in Catalonia. 10 years increasing First Responders. 2018

Purpose of study: The aim of this study is to convey the implementation of a program to raise the health awareness of the school-leavers who finish compulsory education in Catalonia. Hence, they know how to act in a sudden death situation, performing Basic Life Support manoeuvres (BLS). We also expect this knowledge to be maintained over time.

The Attitudes of Future Educational Agents to Religious and Cultural Diversity in Education in Catalonia

The religious diversity in Catalonia is a challenge for the coexistence in the public space and for the education of future educators. This article emphasizes the challenge of religious diversity in the educational context, analyzing which attitudes have the educational agents of the future towards: a) the religious diversity, b) the interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and c) the role of education in the management of this diversity. In order to ask these questions has been conducted a survey study on the framework of the Project AGAUR-2014RELIG00019 named Attitudes towards religious and cultural diversity in education for intercultural dialogue and interfaith scale. The population of the study has been the students in Teacher Training in Primary and Early Childhood, Social Education, Social Work and Pedagogy degree of all catalan Public Universities. The conclusions highlight a) the favorable attitude towards cultural and religious diversity and interreligious dialogue and b) the relevance to the education given by the students, as an key role in the management of religious and cultural diversity.

Changes in language use with peers during adolescence: a longitudinal study in Catalonia

ABSTRACT This article presents a longitudinal panel study analyzing the evolution of a sample of more than 1000 informants in the language practices with peers during the period between the end of primary education and the end of secondary education in Catalonia. Results led to the identification of five clusters of informants according to their linguistic trajectories. Three of them, which together accounted for 75% of all informants, combined the strong predominance of a single language —respectively Catalan, Castilian, and other languages— and a remarkable stability in patterns of language choice during the five years’ period under scrutiny. The other 25% of informants, grouped in two different clusters, declared more bilingual/multilingual behavior and underwent more significant changes that may be related to linguistic mudes [Pujolar, Joan, and Isaac Gonzàlez. 2013. ‘Linguistic “Mudes” and the Deethnicization of Language Choice in Catalonia.’ International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism]. The study also explores the relevance of the transition between primary and secondary education as a social moment favorable for linguistic mudes and concludes thata small but still significant percentage of informants went through such changes in that transition.

Understanding the gendered coaching workforce in Spanish sport

The present study focuses on the demographic and labor characteristics of coaches in Spain. Kanter’s theory on occupational sex segregation will be used as a guiding framework. The study was conducted with 1685 coaches (82.3% men and 17.7% women) from different sports and performance domains. The results show that there is an underrepresentation of women as coaches in Spain and data highlight that coaches’ gender is related to three structural factors: opportunity, power, and proportion. The present data reveal that women are younger, less likely to be in a marriage-like relationship, less likely to have children, and more likely to have competed at a high level as an athlete when compared to their male counterparts. However, fewer women than men access and participate in coach education in Catalonia and the working status of women was different to that of men. To expand, women worked less hours, were more likely to be assistant coaches, and had less years of coaching experience. Understanding of how gender influences women’s access, progression, and retention in coaching in Spain illustrates the need for gender sport policies and practices in sport organizations. This approach can benefit not only women, but the diversity and enrichment of the coaching system.

Expectations and perceptions of primary healthcare professionals regarding their own continuous education in Catalonia (Spain): a qualitative study

BackgroundThe planning and execution of continuous education in an organization that provides health services is a complex process. The objectives, learning sequences, and implementation strategies should all be oriented to improving the health of the population. The aim of this study was to analyse the expectations and perceptions of continuous educations by primary healthcare professionals (physicians and nurses) and identify aspects that hinder or encourage the process.MethodsA qualitative study with 5 focus groups made up of 25 primary healthcare professionals from the Catalan Health Institute, Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). The focus groups were audio-recorded and the results transcribed. The analysis involved: a) Reading of the data looking for meanings b) Coding of the data by themes and extracting categories c) Reviewing and refining codes and categories d) Reconstruction of the data providing an explanatory framework for the meanings e) Discussion about the interpretations of the findings and f) Discussed with relevant professionals from PHC (physicians and nurses)“Data regarding thematic content were analyzed with the support of Atlasti 5.1 software.ResultsThe health needs of the population were often at the core of the learning processes but the participants’ views did not always spontaneously refer to improvements in these issues. Common themes that could hinder learning and where identified, including contextual aspects such as work constraints (timetables, places being covered during training) and funding policies. New learning strategies to improve the effectiveness of continuous education were proposed such as the exchange of knowledge, the activation of personal commitment to change, and the improvement of organizational aspects.ConclusionsThe primary healthcare professionals in our study viewed continuous education as a professional necessity and would like to translate the knowledge acquired to improving the health of the population. Nevertheless, professional, structural, and organizational issues impede the process.

The Intersection of Cultural Diversity and Special Education in Catalonia: The Subtle Production of Exclusion through Classroom Routines

Drawing on ethnographic data collected in two primary schools, this paper examines the nature of the exclusion experienced by three children of linguistically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse families labeled as having special education needs. Ambiguities and dilemmas surrounding the intersection of cultural diversity and special education are described, and ways in which the routines performed in mainstream classrooms produce a seemingly harmless, but pervasive, form of exclusion are discussed.

The integration of music and mathematics education in Catalonia and England: perspectives on theory and practice

ABSTRACTThe relationship between music and mathematics has often been the subject of discussion, both inside and outside the field of education. As part of an exciting project on a European scale, the paper explores the changing contexts in Catalonia (Spain) and England (UK) in relation to the integrated approach to the teaching of music and mathematics. We analyse three areas: academic literature, the curriculum frameworks and publications and resources prepared by and for teachers. Our findings suggest that due to the more favourable attitude towards cross-curricular approaches in education, more progress has been made in England, in terms of developing resources to support an integrated approach to the teaching of music and mathematics, than in Catalonia. Nonetheless, teachers in both locations are very interested in developing these approaches. Although there is a need for further teacher training and support, there is evidence of progress already being made in schools.