Higher education as formation of the self and citizenship: an ethnography of the University Students from Amman, Jordan

My interest in higher education and citizenship in the Middle East at large and in Jordan in particular is fostered by some of the reflections Eickelman proposed (1992). Being a quite recent phenomenon, intimately linked with the more general topic of state formation it seemed to me more suitable to study it in a little country with a recent history (a field study left almost unexplored until now as far as Jordan is concerned, to the best of my knowledge, since Antoun 1994 focuses on the migration as a quest for higher education). The process of state formation in Jordan is quite studied. I thus intended to study the higher education policies as an attempt both to create a national citizenry and more recently as a way of controlling the more problematic part of the population (youth, which constitutes more than the double of the population. See UNDP and Ministry of Planning 2000). How do the young students enter the university system, and in which way does this system work? How is this system designed, in order to retain social control of the students (since they are usually perceived to be a factor of social and political instability, as in Iran or in Egypt)? Is there any significant difference between different faculties? And if so, why? My conclusions at this stage are that the university system is an integral part of the survival of the regime. The system works quite well, and Jordan has one of the best educational position in the region. Yet there are important distinctions to be made: the access to the better faculties is socially selective while the less valued faculties are left to the poorer and less wealthy youth. This results in a different treatment of the students and of the courses that I analysed. In the better faculties the teaching standards are quite high, and the relationship between professors and students is almost on a same-level base, while in the less privileged faculties the opposite is true. Thus we can observe a concrete politics of divide et impera intended to split the youth in two. For the more privileged there are some freedoms, both within and outside classes, designed I guess at forging them as autonomous individuals. On the opposite the less privileged are kept under tight control, even if also these students are a privileged category among youth at large.

Infancias y adolescencias rumanas,en las migraciones transnacionales

Este libro ofrece al lector el estudio y las conclusiones obtenidas en la investigaciónrealizada en España en el marco del proyecto JUST/2009/FRAC/AG/0933,“Children’s rights in action. Improving children’s rights in migration across Europe.The Romanian case”, proyecto financiado por la Dirección de Derechos Fundamentalesy Ciudadanía de la Comisión Europea. Esta investigación se ha llevadoa cabo en España, Italia y Rumanía entre octubre de 2010 y junio de 2012, realizándoseacciones de difusión de los resultados obtenidos hasta marzo de 2013.

Roumanian childhood and adolescence in transnational migrations

This book offers the reader the study and the conclusions obtained from theresearch made in Spain in the frame of the JUST/2009/FRAC/AG/0933 project,“Children’s rights in action. Improving children’s rights in migration acrossEurope. The Romanian case”. A project funded by the Department of FundamentalRights and Citizenship of the European Commission. This research wascarried out in Spain, Italy and Romania between October 2010 and June 2012,performing activities to spread the results obtained until March 2013.

El canto coral y las orquestas infantiles, una educación en valores = Choir singing and children’s orchestras, an education in values

This article looks at the musical activity carried out at Palafrugell Music School as a musical education centre over the past forty years. After giving a brief description of the work carried out there by vocal and instrumental groups, the article analyses and offers examples and tangible motives that use activities to show that forming part of a coral or instrumental group helps personal development and promotes the acquisition of habits, alongside musical training and learning. In short, an education in values

Approaching the experiences of young immigrants for the citizenship learning

This thesis seeks to answer the question: how do the participation experiences of young girl immigrant contribute to citizenship learning? Citizenship learning in youth comes from different contexts(family, school, friends and leisure and ambiguous) –where participation experiences take place–, combined with interpersonal relationships and personal dispositions (BiestaLawy& Kelly, 2009). So that, I want to know which are the young girl immigrants’ contextsand relationships and which kind of learning comes from each one. In addition, being young, girl and immigrant, are categories to take into account to understand their learnings.