Promoting the health of marginalized populations in Ecuador through international collaboration and educational innovations

This paper examines two innovative educational initiatives for the Ecuadorian public health workforce: a Canadian-funded Masters programme in ecosystem approaches to health that focuses on building capacity to manage environmental health risks sustainably; and the training of Ecuadorians at the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba (known as Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina in Spanish). We apply a typology for analysing how training programmes address the needs of marginalized populations and build capacity for addressing health determinants. We highlight some ways we can learn from such training programmes with particular regard to lessons, barriers and opportunities for their sustainability at the local, national and international levels and for pursuing similar initiatives in other countries and contexts. We conclude that educational efforts focused on the challenges of marginalization and the determinants of health require explicit attention not only to the knowledge, attitudes and skills of graduates but also on effectively engaging the health settings and systems that will reinforce the establishment and retention of capacity in low- and middle-income settings where this is most needed.

Education system institutions and educational inequalities in Uruguay

This article shows how certain aspects at the secondary level of Uruguay’s public school system produce inequalities in student achievement. The 2006 edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (pisa) (oecd, 2006a) points to three key aspects of the institutions that regulate secondary education that play a part in reproducing inequalities of origin, hindering the equalizing role that guides the education system. First, the teacher assignment mechanism has the dual effect of sending a revolving door of young and inexperienced teachers to schools in unfavourable sociocultural contexts as well as concentrating teachers with more experience in schools in favourable contexts. Second, the geography-based system for assigning students to schools reproduces the residential segregation process. Lastly, the centralized system for supplying educational and technological materials is inadequate to the needs of the schools.

Practising Arithmetic Using Educational Video Games with an Interpersonal Computer

Studies show the positive effects that video games can have on student performance and attitude towards learning. In the past few years, strategies have been generated to optimize the use of technological resources with the aim of facilitating widespread adoption of technology in the classroom. Given its low acquisition and maintenance costs, the interpersonal computer allows individual interaction and simultaneous learning with large groups of students. The purpose of this work was to compare arithmetical knowledge acquired by third-grade students through the use of game-based activities and non-game-based activities using an interpersonal computer, with knowledge acquired through the use of traditional paper-and-pencil activities, and to analyze their impact in various socio-cultural contexts. To do this, a quasi-experimental study was conducted with 271 students in three different countries (Brazil, Chile, and Costa Rica), in both rural and urban schools. A set of educational games for practising arithmetic was developed and tested in six schools within these three countries. Results show that there were no significant differences (ANCOVA) in the learning acquired from game-based vs. non-game-based activities. However, both showed a significant difference when compared with the traditional method. Additionally, both groups using the interpersonal computer showed higher levels of student interest than the traditional method group, and these technological methods were seen to be especially effective in increasing learning among weaker students.

Psychological, Educational and Sociological Perspectives on Success and Well-Being in Career Development

Back Cover Text This collection covers how success and well-being relate to each other in early career development in the domains of employment and education. It gives a conceptual overview of success and well-being as established in the psychological research tradition, complemented by educational and sociological approaches. The volume presents articles on success and well-being in applied contexts, such as well-being as an individual resource during school-to-work transition, or well-being and success at the workplace. Work psychologists, social psychologists, educational researchers, and sociologists will find this book valuable, as it provides unique insights into social and psychological processes afforded by the combination of disciplines, concepts, and a diversity of approaches. Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Robin Samuel, Manfred Max Bergman, Anita C. Keller and Norbert K. Semmer 2. The Influence of Career Success on Subjective Well-Being Andrea E. Abele-Brehm 3. Upper-Secondary Educational Trajectories and Young Men’s and Women’s Self-Esteem Development in Switzerland Sybille Bayard, Monika Staffelbach, Phillip Fischer and Marlies Buchmann. 4. Young People’s Progress after Dropout from Vocational Edu-cation and Training: Transitions and Occupational Integration at Stake. Longitudinal Qualitative Perspective Barbara Duc and Nadia Lamamra 5. Success, Well-Being and Social Recognition: An Interactional Perspective on Vocational Training Practices Stefano A. Losa, Barbara Duc and Laurent Filliettaz. 6. Agentic Pathways toward Fulfillment in Work Jeylan T. Mortimer, Mike Vuolo and Jeremy Staff 7. The How and Why of the Relationship between Job Insecuri-ty, Subjective Career Success, and Turnover Intention Cécile Tschopp and Gudela Grote 8. Work Experiences and Well-Being in the First Years of Professional Work in Switzerland: A Ten-Year Follow-up Study Wolfgang Kälin, Anita C. Keller, Franziska Tschan, Achim Elfering and Norbert K. Semmer 9. The Meaning and Measurement of Well-Being as an Indicator of Success Anita C. Keller, Norbert K. Semmer, Robin Samuel and Manfred Max Bergman

Counselors' education in complex contexts with special reference to Latin America

This paper makes reference to the importance lying, at present, on the professional education of counselors. It goes through the history of the different pre-scientific and scientific stages of counseling, and it points out the main representatives in Latin America . It also shows the current state of the specialization, taking as an antecedent some in-depth, widely encompassing research carried out in the European Union in this area. Coincidences and differences are exposed here in terms of professional profiles, university degrees, institutional dependence, up-dating processes and modes of intervention. The current state of postgraduate studies at university is also touched upon, and the different proposals for further education in Latin America are analyzed as well as their dependence upon an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Educational Sciences or Psycho-pedagogy. Finally, this paper places counseling within the complexity and the need to provide all-encompassing and integrative answers which require a wide and deep enough education so as to answer all these issues and problems.

Reflections on vocational guidance and counselors' training in contexts of global change

Vocational guidance (V.G.) is currently facing both theoretical and methodological reconsiderations. This demands rethinking ethical and scientific assumptions, counselors' role and training. V.G. provides a space to receive information about oneself as well as about labor world and for the elaboration of projects for the future. Many guidance situations in teenagers and young adults are described in this paper, highlighting the main current emergent aspects. There was a remarkable protagonism of those seeking guidance and the reflective frame of the guidance. This frame prepares for the educational stage changes and also for occupational insertion working on aspects that widen autonomous choice and the development of social abilities and attitudes to carry out the vocational project and the development in work. Troubled sociocultural and economic transformations demand an on-going training on the part of counselors. To that end, possible fields of concern and subjects to be worked in said training are suggested.

Counselors' education in complex contexts with special reference to Latin America

This paper makes reference to the importance lying, at present, on the professional education of counselors. It goes through the history of the different pre-scientific and scientific stages of counseling, and it points out the main representatives in Latin America . It also shows the current state of the specialization, taking as an antecedent some in-depth, widely encompassing research carried out in the European Union in this area. Coincidences and differences are exposed here in terms of professional profiles, university degrees, institutional dependence, up-dating processes and modes of intervention. The current state of postgraduate studies at university is also touched upon, and the different proposals for further education in Latin America are analyzed as well as their dependence upon an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Educational Sciences or Psycho-pedagogy. Finally, this paper places counseling within the complexity and the need to provide all-encompassing and integrative answers which require a wide and deep enough education so as to answer all these issues and problems.

Reflections on vocational guidance and counselors' training in contexts of global change

Vocational guidance (V.G.) is currently facing both theoretical and methodological reconsiderations. This demands rethinking ethical and scientific assumptions, counselors' role and training. V.G. provides a space to receive information about oneself as well as about labor world and for the elaboration of projects for the future. Many guidance situations in teenagers and young adults are described in this paper, highlighting the main current emergent aspects. There was a remarkable protagonism of those seeking guidance and the reflective frame of the guidance. This frame prepares for the educational stage changes and also for occupational insertion working on aspects that widen autonomous choice and the development of social abilities and attitudes to carry out the vocational project and the development in work. Troubled sociocultural and economic transformations demand an on-going training on the part of counselors. To that end, possible fields of concern and subjects to be worked in said training are suggested.

Counselors' education in complex contexts with special reference to Latin America

This paper makes reference to the importance lying, at present, on the professional education of counselors. It goes through the history of the different pre-scientific and scientific stages of counseling, and it points out the main representatives in Latin America . It also shows the current state of the specialization, taking as an antecedent some in-depth, widely encompassing research carried out in the European Union in this area. Coincidences and differences are exposed here in terms of professional profiles, university degrees, institutional dependence, up-dating processes and modes of intervention. The current state of postgraduate studies at university is also touched upon, and the different proposals for further education in Latin America are analyzed as well as their dependence upon an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Educational Sciences or Psycho-pedagogy. Finally, this paper places counseling within the complexity and the need to provide all-encompassing and integrative answers which require a wide and deep enough education so as to answer all these issues and problems.

Reflections on vocational guidance and counselors' training in contexts of global change

Vocational guidance (V.G.) is currently facing both theoretical and methodological reconsiderations. This demands rethinking ethical and scientific assumptions, counselors' role and training. V.G. provides a space to receive information about oneself as well as about labor world and for the elaboration of projects for the future. Many guidance situations in teenagers and young adults are described in this paper, highlighting the main current emergent aspects. There was a remarkable protagonism of those seeking guidance and the reflective frame of the guidance. This frame prepares for the educational stage changes and also for occupational insertion working on aspects that widen autonomous choice and the development of social abilities and attitudes to carry out the vocational project and the development in work. Troubled sociocultural and economic transformations demand an on-going training on the part of counselors. To that end, possible fields of concern and subjects to be worked in said training are suggested.

Developing the practice of educational psychologists through theory and research

Recent research in literacy acquisition has generated detailed programs for teaching phonological awareness. The current paper will address three issues that follow from this research. Firstly, much of the past research has been conducted under conditions that are divorced from the classroom. As a result, it is not known whether the suggested teaching strategies will lead to an increase in children’s attainments when integrated into a broad reading curriculum implemented by teachers in mainstream classrooms. Secondly, these phonological interventions have been designed either to prevent the occurrence of reading difficulties or to meet the needs of failing readers. Therefore, it is not known whether the same methods would advantage all children. Thirdly, teaching children to read takes a minimum of two to three academic years. We herefore need to develop a reading curriculum that can provide the progression and differentiation to meet a wide range of needs over several academic years. We report two studies that have addressed these issues through monitoring the impact of a reading curriculum, implemented by teachers, which integrated children’s acquisition of phonological skills with broader aspects of teaching reading over three academic years. The attainments of children at all levels of ability in the experimental group were raised relative to controls, and importantly, these gains were maintained after the intervention was withdrawn. These results demonstrate that phonological awareness training can be successfully integrated into real classroom contexts and that the same methods raised the attainments of normally developing children, as well as those at risk of reading failure.

Motivation and Vocabulary Breadth in CLIL and EFL Contexts. Different age, Same Time of Exposure

Numerous studies have found a positive connection between learners’ motivation towards foreign language and foreign language achievement. The present study examines the role of motivation in receptive vocabulary breadth (size) of two groups of Spanish learners of different ages, but all with 734 hours of instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL): a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) group in primary education and a non-CLIL (or EFL) group in secondary education. Most students in both groups were found to be highly motivated. The primary CLIL group slightly overcame the secondary non-CLIL group with respect to the mean general motivation but this is a non-significant difference. The secondary group surpass significantly the primary group in receptive vocabulary size. No relationship between the receptive vocabulary knowledge and general motivation is found in the primary CLIL group. On the other hand, a positive significant connection, although a very small one, is identified for the secondary non-CLIL group. We will discuss on the type of test, the age of students and the type of instruction as variables that could be influencing the results.

A realist synthesis of educational interventions to improve nutrition care competencies and delivery by doctors and other healthcare professionals

Objective: To determine what, how, for whom, why, and in what circumstances educational interventions to improve the delivery of nutrition care by doctors and other healthcare professionals work?

Design: Realist synthesis following a published protocol and reported following Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards (RAMESES) guidelines. A multidisciplinary team searched Medline, CINAHL, ERIC, EMBASE, PsyINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Science Direct for published and unpublished (grey) literature. The team identified studies with varied designs; appraised their ability to answer the review question; identified relationships between contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes (CMOs); and entered them into a spreadsheet configured for the purpose. The final synthesis identified commonalities across CMO configurations.

Results: Over half of the 46 studies from which we extracted data originated from the US. Interventions that improved the delivery of nutrition care improved skills and attitudes rather than just knowledge; provided opportunities for superiors to model nutrition care; removed barriers to nutrition care in health systems; provided participants with local, practically relevant tools and messages; and incorporated non-traditional, innovative teaching strategies. Operating in contexts where student and qualified healthcare professionals provided nutrition care in both developed and developing countries, these interventions yielded health outcomes by triggering a range of mechanisms, which included: feeling competent; feeling confident and comfortable; having greater self-efficacy; being less inhibited by barriers in healthcare systems; and feeling that nutrition care was accepted and recognised.

Conclusion: These findings show how important it is to move education for nutrition care beyond the simple acquisition of knowledge. They show how educational interventions embedded within systems of healthcare can improve patients’ health by helping health students and professionals to appreciate the importance of delivering nutrition care and feel competent to deliver it.

Balancing cultural diversity and social cohesion in education: The potential of shared education in divided contexts

This article considers how the education systems of divided societies have been shaped in response to the experience of ethnic and religious conflict. The analysis identifies two competing priorities in such contexts – the development of social cohesion and the protection of cultural, ethnic and religious identities - and explores how these may be reconciled through a model of ‘shared education’. Drawing on research evidence and recent experience of shared education in relation to Northern Ireland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Cyprus, we reflect on the advantages and challenges of this model in areas experiencing conflict and division.

Identity Text: an educational intervention to foster cultural interaction

Background: Sociocultural theories state that learning results from people participating in contexts where social interaction is facilitated. There is a need to create such facilitated pedagogical spaces where participants share their ways of knowing and doing. The aim of this exploratory study was to introduce pedagogical space for sociocultural interaction using ‘Identity Text’.
Methods: Identity texts are sociocultural artifacts produced by participants, which can be written, spoken, visual, musical, or multimodal. In 2013, participants of an international medical education fellowship program were asked to create their own Identity Texts to promote discussion about participants’ cultural backgrounds. Thematic analysis was used to make the analysis relevant to studying the pedagogical utility of the intervention.
Result: The Identity Text intervention created two spaces: a ‘reflective space’ helped
participants reflect on sensitive topics like institutional environments, roles in
interdisciplinary teams, and gender discrimination. A ‘narrative space’ allowed
participants to tell powerful stories that provided cultural insights and challenged cultural hegemony; they described the conscious and subconscious transformation in identity that evolved secondary to struggles with local power dynamics and social demands involving the impact of family, peers and country of origin.
Conclusion: Whilst the impact of providing pedagogical space using Identity Text on
cognitive engagement and enhanced learning requires further research, the findings of
this study suggest that it is a useful pedagogical strategy to support cross-cultural
education.