Representation and interpretation : textbooks, teachers, and historical culture

This article presents a study of how contemporary Swedish lower secondary school textbooks present the emergence of the Cold War and how 10 active lower secondary school history teachers interpreted a quotation that was ambiguous in relation to the general narrative in the studied Swedish textbooks, seeking to analyse textbooks both from the perspectives of content and reception. Applying a theoretical framework of uses of history, the study finds that the narratives presented in the studied textbooks are what could be called traditional in the sense that they do not acknowledge perspective and representation in history. While the interviewed teachers generally acknowledged that textbook narratives are representations of history and contingent on perspective, few teachers extended this to include how their own views affect their interpretations, suggesting an intermediary appreciation of the contextual contingency of historical narratives.

Popular history magazines and history education

This paper argues that popular history magazines may be a welcome complement toother forms of historical media in history teaching. By outlining a theoretical framework thatcaptures uses of history, the paper analyses popular history magazine articles from five Europeancountries all dealing with the outbreak of World War I. The study finds that while the studiedarticles provide a rather heterogeneous view of the causes of the Great War, they can be used todiscuss and analyse the importance of perspective in history, thus offering an opportunity tofurther a more disciplinary historical understanding.

English as the target language : A literature study on teachers’ and L2 learners’ language use in the upper elementary classroom

Even though English is a subject where Swedish pupils do well compared to pupils in other countries, research indicates that pupils are not always motivated to learn in the English classroom. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find research relating to the use of the target language in classrooms for pupils at the upper elementary level, particularly language learners in Sweden. The focus of this thesis is to find out what benefits and challenges accompany the use of the target language during English lessons, as well as what pupils’ opinions are on the consistent use of the target language in the classroom. This literature review of five research articles shows that it is beneficial for pupils’ language development to have lessons where mainly the target language is used. It is for example beneficial for pupils’ ability to speak, their pronunciation, vocabulary and ability to use language strategies. The results show that there are challenges as well, especially for the teachers, since use of the target language presumes that the teacher has good language skills and is capable of scaffolding each pupil at their individual level and in their zone of proximal development. Furthermore, there are challenges like differences in pupils’ skill level, creating tasks that both motivate and stimulate, and creating a safe learning environment. Even though the results in this thesis are limited, it is still obvious that it is an important area, where more research is necessary in order to assist teachers in how to teach English as effectively as possible.

Sleep and school education

Sleep has emerged in the past decades as a key process for memory consolidation and restructuring. Given the universality of sleep across cultures, the need to reduce educational inequality, the low implementation cost of a sleep-based pedagogy, and its global scalability, it is surprising that the potential of improved sleep as a means of enhancing school education has remained largely unexploited. Students of various socio-economic status often suffer from sleep deficits. In principle, the optimization of sleep schedules both before and after classes should produce large positive benefits for learning. Here we review the biological and psychological phenomena underlying the cognitive role of sleep, present the few published studies on sleep and learning that have been performed in schools, and discuss potential applications of sleep to the school setting. Translational research on sleep and learning has never seemed more appropriate.

Human development and distance education: how are interactivity and interaction articulated?

Currently the achievements of technology have not been enough to overcome the misery, in which are numerous human groups. Relegated to its background, the human being sees those scenarios, which brings out discussions about its formation, in which values are regarded as the scientific and technological aspects. The educational research inspired by this framework involving the theme of human development, update and re-frame concepts related to the linkage between interactivity and interaction, two important features presented in the process of Distance Education (DE). The research inquired about how these features have been articulated. It conducted a field study in which two professors were interviewed. The results showed that the integration between interactivity and interaction, involving aspects such as autonomy, critical awareness, relationships among students, the sharing of values and worldviews, is at the base of the educational processes of the DE. They also showed that, on these processes, there are shortcomings regarding the development of values and having to be thought the tutor training strategies from an interdisciplinary view.

A construção teórica do real: Uma questão para a produção do conhecimento em educação

The central theme of this article is the research in education. The aim is to bring up the contribution developed by Mirian Limoeiro Cardoso in Brazil for the production of knowledge in education, besides the propositions of foreign authors, often used as references to base of the research. The starting point, here described, is the statement that the empirical real is not the object of knowledge, but what is presented as an object to be known, is always the real that, in different forms, is an object involved by theory. Thinking about the research in this view the necessecity of revision of the meaning of the object to be known, the object that is also an educative action in its different and several manifestations and the discussion of its importance for the teachers? and researchers? formation.

Grupo de estudos de professores e a produção de atividades matemáticas sobre funções utilizando computadores

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Construção de leitores e escritores: um processo que se desenvolve na educação infantil

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Investigação sobre um grupo de pesquisa como espaço de formação inicial de professores e pesquisadores de Biologia

Pós-graduação em Educação para a Ciência - FC

A formação inicial de professores de física e a construção de uma identidade

Pós-graduação em Educação para a Ciência - FC

Refletindo uma prática pedagógica no ensino de ciências baseada na alfabetização científica: relato de uma parceria entre professora e pesquisador

A alfabetização científica vem se destacando já há alguns anos como tendência metodológica no ensino de ciências. Seu principal objetivo é educar cidadãos para participarem dos rumos da ciência através de uma compreensão mais clara de seus fins. Todavia, para que isso ocorra é necessário que professores reflitam sobre as limitações que se impõem à prática docente antes de se aventurarem em adotar alguma nova metodologia. Nesse sentido, parcerias entre pesquisadores e professores podem se mostrar mais eficientes na condução do processo de mudança no ensino tradicional. A eficiência dessas parcerias encontra-se nos momentos de reflexão ocorridos durante a prática conjunta de pesquisadores e professores. Além disso, as transformações no ensino tendem a ser mais duradouras e eficientes quando os conhecimentos dos professores são levados em consideração, possibilitando um refazer pedagógico mais autônomo aos professores. Neste trabalho, apresentamos, discutimos e analisamos as reflexões de uma professora de ciências em torno de uma proposta pedagógica baseada na alfabetização científica. Utilizamos a pesquisa-ação como meio de efetivar uma parceria entre professora e pesquisador. Para isso, inicialmente resgatamos a formação inicial da professora e o perfil de seu cotidiano escolar. Posteriormente, destacamos as reflexões da professora sobre a atividade pedagógica. Nosso objetivo é ressaltar a importância de parcerias entre professores e pesquisadores na busca do desenvolvimento da prática de professores por meio da reflexão. Constatamos que a parceria efetuada foi útil nos termos de possibilitar à professora um olhar mais investigativo sobre sua prática, no sentido de questioná-la e propor novos encaminhamentos.