The citizens' urban extitutional processes in Madrid

Talking about participation is always taking into account economics, capitals and resources. Who can participate? How citizens can afford time and space resources to participate? We don¿t like to speak about participation rather than collective processes of empowerment. Connecting the personal and the social, a different analysis of the relations between the public sphere and the domestic space is needed. There is an emergent new collective realm based on networks opening and distributing domestic practices within the city. These processes are developed as extitucional informal processes around the house, revealing other forms of urban and citizen assemblages in Madrid. Studies on the urban citizen organization have not developed a system to explain the different modes and processes as a movement-rhizome formed around the housing. It is the purpose of this research to explain and track how they are formed, how they operate in the city, how the action enables trading and how other non econonomical capitals are at stake in this process. The article investigates the different modes in which the creation of citizen networks not come only from public space and squares but also from finantial negociations, banks, housing and bodies. House is not any more an individual, particular and intimate space. That is the main teaching that the Mortage citizens¿ platform show us in Madrid. The empowerment citizen initiative PaH and all the citizen initiatives around the access to housing perform another urbanism as an extitutional process. Madrid is also today a collective laboratory around the house.

Everything in di Dark Muss Come to Light: A Postcolonial Investigation of the Practice of Extra Lessons at the Secondary Level in Jamaica's Education System

Despite the vast research examining the evolution of Caribbean education systems, little is chronologically tied to the postcolonial theoretical perspectives of specific island-state systems, such as the Jamaican education system and its relationship with the underground shadow education system. This dissertation study sought to address the gaps in the literature by critically positioning postcolonial theories in education to examine the macro- and micro-level impacts of extra lessons on secondary education in Jamaica. The following postcolonial theoretical (PCT) tenets in education were contextualized from a review of the literature: (a) PCT in education uses colonial discourse analysis to critically deconstruct and decolonize imperialistic and colonial representations of knowledge throughout history; (b) PCT in education uses an anti-colonial discursive framework to re-position indigenous knowledge in schools, colleges, and universities to challenge hegemonic knowledge; (c) PCT in education involves the "unlearning" of dominant, normative ideologies, the use of self-reflexivity, and deconstruction; and (d) PCT in education calls for critical pedagogical approaches that reject the banking concept of education and introduces inclusive pedagogy to facilitate "the passage from naïve to critical transitivity" (Freire, 1973, p. 32). Specifically, using a transformative mixed-methods design, grounded and informed by a postcolonial theoretical lens, I quantitatively uncovered and then qualitatively highlighted how if at all extra lessons can improve educational outcomes for students at the secondary level in Jamaica. Accordingly, the quantitative data was used to test the hypotheses that the practice of extra lessons in schools is related to student academic achievement and the practice of critical-inclusive pedagogy in extra lessons is related to academic achievement. The two-level hierarchical linear model analysis revealed that hours spent in extra lessons, average household monthly income, and critical-inclusive pedagogical tents were the best predictors for academic achievement. Alternatively, the holistic multi-case study explored how extra-lessons produces increased academic achievement. The data revealed new ways of knowledge construction and critical pedagogical approaches to galvanize systemic change in secondary education. Furthermore, the data showed that extra lessons can improve educational outcomes for students at the secondary level if the conditions for learning are met. This study sets the stage for new forms of knowledge construction and implications for policy change.

Psychometric Investigation of the Check-In, Check-Out Fidelity of Implementation Measure

Suspension and expulsion are utilized frequently and disproportionality in schools in the United States. Many schools utilize Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a tiered framework to prevent problem behavior and reduce the use of discipline practices (Sugai et al., 2000). Check-In, Check-Out (CICO) is a targeted group behavioral intervention that is utilized within this framework in schools to prevent severe problem behavior in students that are beginning to exhibit externalizing and/or internalizing behavioral needs; thus, preventing the use of exclusionary discipline practices (Crone et al., 2010; Hawken & Horner, 2003). As the use of CICO in schools continues to grow, so too does the need for an instrument measuring its fidelity of implementation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Check-In, Check-Out Fidelity of Implementation Measure (Crone et al., 2010), an instrument created to measure the fidelity of implementation of CICO intervention. This study assessed the psychometric properties of the instrument utilizing an archival data set collected by the statewide PBIS initiative in a western state in the U.S. The results demonstrated promising content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and interrater reliability. A unidimensional structure was determined to be the best structure for the instrument based on parsimony and the strong results obtained from the item loadings, internal consistency, and interrater reliability. Implications for use and future research are discussed.

The Need for Professional Translation and Interpretation in School Districts

The language barrier prevents Latino students from experiencing academic success, and prevents Latino parents from participating in their children's education. Through a review of journal articles, research projects, doctoral dissertations, legislation, and books, this project studies the benefits and dangers of various methods of translating and interpreting in the education system, including issues created by language barriers in schools, common methods of translating and interpreting, and legislation addressing language barriers and education. The project reveals that schools use various methods to translate and interpret, including relying on children, school staff and machine translation, although such methods are often problematic and inaccurate. The project also reveals that professional translation and interpretation are superior to the various non-professional methods.

Evaluation of the Implementation of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) Methodology in the Didactics of the English Language in Preschool Education Course Taught in the Preschool Education Teacher Undergraduate Program at the University of Alicante

Although it is known that the Spanish current Educative System promotes using the Communicate Approach to teach foreign languages in schools, other recently designed approaches are also used to help students improve their skills when communicating in a foreign language. One of these approaches is Content and Language Integrated Learning, also known as CLIL, which is used to teach content courses using the English language as the language of instruction. This approach improves the students’ skills in English as the same time as they learn content from other areas. The goal of this thesis is to present a research project carried out at the University of Alicante during the academic year 2011-2012. With this research we obtained results that provide quantitative and qualitative data which explains how the use of the CLIL methodology affects the English level of students in the “Didactics of the English Language in Preschool Education” course in Preschool Education Teacher Undergraduate Program as students acquire the contents of the course.

Effects of Dialogic Reading in the Improvement of Reading Comprehension in Students of Primary Education

Reading is an essential factor for success at school that requires certain skills and strategies of great complexity rarely taught in schools. Verbalization of comprehension strategies can be considered an effective measure in learning to read. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of a program of teaching reading strategies implemented through interactive dialogic reading groups in the learning of reading comprehension. A quasi-experimental comparison with pretest and posttest design between groups was used. A sample of 355 participants aged between 8 and 9 years aged was used. The results weigh the potential value of the program and support the development of teaching models that integrate dialogic reading practices as they facilitate learning of reading comprehension.

Europe’s most wanted? Recalibrating Trust in the European Arrest Warrant System. CEPS Paper Liberty and Security in Europe 55/21 March 2013

This paper assesses the uses and misuses in the application of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system in the European Union. It examines the main quantitative results of this extradition system achieved between 2005 and 2011 on the basis of the existing statistical knowledge on its implementation at EU official levels. The EAW has been anchored in a high level of ‘mutual trust’ between the participating states’ criminal justice regimes and authorities. This reciprocal confidence, however, has been subject to an increasing number of challenges resulting from its practical application, presenting a dual conundrum: 1. Principle of proportionality: Who are the competent judicial authorities cooperating with each other and ensuring that there are sufficient impartial controls over the necessity and proportionality of the decisions on the issuing and execution of EAWs? 2. Principle of division of powers: How can criminal justice authorities be expected to handle different criminal judicial traditions in what is supposed to constitute a ‘serious’ or ‘minor’ crime in their respective legal settings and ‘who’ is ultimately to determine (divorced from political considerations) when is it duly justified to make the EAW system operational? It is argued that the next generation of the EU’s criminal justice cooperation and the EAW need to recognise and acknowledge that the mutual trust premise upon which the European system has been built so far is no longer viable without devising new EU policy stakeholders’ structures and evaluation mechanisms. These should allow for the recalibration of mutual trust and mistrust in EU justice systems in light of the experiences of the criminal justice actors and practitioners having a stake in putting the EAW into daily effect. Such a ‘bottom-up approach’ should be backed up with the best impartial and objective evaluation, an improved system of statistical collection and an independent qualitative assessment of its implementation. This should be placed as the central axis of a renewed EAW framework which should seek to better ensure the accountability, impartial (EU-led) scrutiny and transparency of member states’ application of the EAW in light of the general principles and fundamental rights constituting the foundations of the European system of criminal justice cooperation.

Russian gas industry - current condition and prospects; New regional 'in-security' system in Central Asia; Caspian oil and gas: the facts at the end of the year 2000. OSW Study 1/2001

Russian gas industry: The current condition of the gas industry is one of the most crucial factors influencing the Russian state·s functioning, internal situation and international position. Not only is gas the principal energy resource in Russia, it also subsidises other sectors of the economy. Status of the main European gas exporter strengthens also Russia's importance in the international arena. New regional in-security: Ten years have passed since the Central Asian states declared their independence, but their relationship with Russia still remains close, and the latter treats them as its exclusive zone of influence. A crucial reason for keeping Central Asia within the orbit of Moscow·s influence is the fact that Russia exercises control over the most important transport routes out of the region of raw materials for the power industry, on which the economic development of Asia depends on. But this is the only manifestation of Central Asia·s economic dependence on Russia. Moscow lacks solid economic instruments (i.e. investment input or power industry dependence) to shape the situation in the region. Caspian oil and gas: Caspian stocks of energy resources are not, and most probably will not be, of any great significance on the world scale. Nevertheless it is the Caspian region which will have the opportunity to become an oil exporter which will reduce the dependence of the European countries on Arabian oil, and which will guarantee Russia the quantities of gas which are indispensable both for meeting its internal demands and for maintaining its current level of export. For Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the confirmation of the existence of successive oil strata is not only an opportunity to increase income, but also an additional bargaining chip in the game for the future of the whole region. The stake in this game is the opportunity to limit the economic, and by extension the political influences of Russia in the region.

Civilian Power Europe in the Arctic: How Far Can the European Union Go North? College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 01/2015

The EU Arctic policy, initiated in the European Commission’s Communication “The European Union and the Arctic region” in 2008, was created to respond to the rising expectations that the European Union would have a bigger stake in this region which was gaining in importance due to its ecologic vulnerability, economic potential and clashing political interests of the global powers. Whether the European Union managed to establish itself as a significant actor in the Arctic through this new policy is open for discussion. Arguably, while the genuine interest and influence of the EU institutions was there to give a kick-start to this initiative, the pressure of the traditional and still dominant members of the regional Arctic system has been sufficient so far to effectively prevent it from realizing its full potential.

The Importance of Foreign Language Skills in the Labour Markets of Central and Eastern Europe: An assessment based on data from online job portals. CEPS Special Report No. 129/January 2016

In a globalised world, knowledge of foreign languages is an important skill. Especially in Europe, with its 24 official languages and its countless regional and minority languages, foreign language skills are a key asset in the labour market. Earlier research shows that over half of the EU27 population is able to speak at least one foreign language, but there is substantial national variation. This study is devoted to a group of countries known as the Visegrad Four, which comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Although the supply of foreign language skills in these countries appears to be well-documented, less is known about the demand side. In this study, we therefore examine the demand for foreign language skills on the Visegrad labour markets, using information extracted from online job portals. We find that English is the most requested foreign language in the region, and the demand for English language skills appears to go up as occupations become increasingly complex. Despite the cultural, historical and economic ties with their German-speaking neighbours, German is the second-most-in-demand foreign language in the region. Interestingly, in this case there is no clear link with the complexity of an occupation. Other languages, such as French, Spanish and Russian, are hardly requested. These findings have important policy implications with regards to the education and training offered in schools, universities and job centres.

A potential case of attitude change: The Spanish spoken in the city of Malaga and used on social network sites

The Spanish spoken in the city of Malaga, as Andalusian Spanish in general, was in the past often times considered an incorrect, low prestige variety of Spanish which was strongly associated with the poor, rural, backward South of Spain. This southern Spanish variety is easily recognised because of its innovative phonetic features that diverge from the national standard, even though in the past years in the case of some features a convergence to the standard could be observed. Despite its low prestige the local variety of Spanish is quite often used on social network sites, where it is considered as urban, fashion and cool. Thus, this paper aims at analysing whether the Spanish used in the city of Malaga is undergoing an attitude change. The study draws on naturally occurring speech, data extracted from Facebook and a series of questionnaires about the salience, attitude and perception of the local variety of Spanish. The influence of the social factors age and gender is analysed, since they are both known to play a crucial role in many instances of language change. The first is of special interest, as during the Franco dictatorship dialect use was not accepted in schools and in the media. Results show that, on the one hand, people from Malaga hold a more positive attitude towards non-standard features used on social network sites than in spoken language. On the other hand, young female users employ most non-standard features online and unsurprisingly have an extremely positive attitude towards this use. However, in spoken Spanish the use and attitude of some features is led by men and speakers educated during the Franco dictatorship, while other features, such as elision of intervocalic /d/, elision of final /ɾ/, /l/ and /d/ and ceceo, are predominantly employed by and younger speakers and women. These features are considered as salient in the local variety and work as local identity markers.

List of references on moving pictures in education, June, 1914-.

Mode of access: Internet.

Learning difficulties in numeracy in Australia

In this article, we provide an understanding of the term numeracy as it is used in Australia and a description of numeracy education in this country. In particular, we discuss the role of outcomes-based curriculum frameworks and outline the dominant teaching approaches. The focus is on students with learning difficulties and how they are identified and supported in schools. We create two vignettes based on real students with difficulties in numeracy, which highlight two of the most common problems. We report on the prevalence of learning difficulties in numeracy in Australia and describe some of the initiatives related to the assessment and enhancement of learning in numeracy that are being undertaken in various states in Australia. Finally, we identify some of the future challenges facing the Australian education system in this area. These challenges relate to teacher knowledge, mandated assessment, and the role of parents. We conclude the article by calling for the evaluation of current assessment and intervention initiatives as well as the development of a national program to support the goal of numeracy for all students.

Issues in boys' education: A question of teacher threshold knowledges?

This paper explores the effects of specific teacher threshold knowledges about boys and gender on the implementation of a so-called 'boy friendly' curriculum at one junior secondary high school in Australia. Through semi-structured inter-views with selected staff at the school, it examines the normalizing assumptions and 'truth claims' about boys, as gendered subjects, which drive the pedagogical impetus for such a curriculum initiative. This research raises crucial questions about the need for the formulation of both school and governmental policy grounded in sound research-based knowledge about the social construction of gender and its impact on the lives of both boys and girls and their experiences of schooling. This is crucial, we argue, in light of the recent parliamentary report on boys' education in Australia which rejects gender theorizing and given the failure of key staff in the research school to interrogate the binary ways in which masculinity and femininity are socially constructed and institutionalized in schools through a particular 'gender regime'. While some good things are happening in the research school, the failure to acknowledge the social construction of gender means that ultimately the school's programs cannot be successful.

Productive leaders and productive leadership: Schools as learning organisations

This paper draws on a three-year study of 24 schools involving classroom observations and interviews with teachers and principals. Through an examination of three cases, sets of leadership practices that focus on the learning of both students and teachers are described. This set of practices is called productive leadership and how these practices are dispersed among productive leaders in three schools is described. This form of leadership supports the achievement of both academic and social outcomes through a focus on pedagogy, a culture of care and related organizational processes. The concepts of learning organisations and teacher professional learning communities as ways of framing relationships in schools, in which ongoing teacher learning is complementary to student learning, are espoused.