Espergesia

Fostering critical literacy in secondary education through short stories in English

Udrinet Elías Anaya Diaz — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 -0600

The present study focused on the use of short stories as a pedagogical tool to cultivate critical literacy in secondary school students learning English as a foreign language, it was carried out in a public institution in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, Colombia. Its main objective was to describe short stories as a pedagogical tool to foster critical literacy in the teaching of English. This qualitative research was based on the sociocritical paradigm with an inductive method and a spiral design, using participatory action approach. A lesson plan was developed and executed that strategically incorporated short stories, assessing their impact through observations in field notes, recordings, and focus group discussions. The results highlighted the advantages of short stories in education: as a powerful pedagogical resource to foster critical perspectives on social and cultural reality, and as a useful tool to improve linguistic aspects. The short stories also proved to be motivating, enriching English learning and promoting a meaningful educational experience. In summary, the study underlined the effectiveness of short stories in boosting critical literacy and improving language skills, advocating for the exploration of critical literacy practices throughout secondary education and their integration from primary education.

The education concept and its false dichotomies

María Dolores Segura González — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Introduction: The conceptual complexity inherent in the term "education" has been associated with numerous analyses from various disciplinary approaches, paradigms, and theoretical currents. Objective: This article aims not to offer a univocal definition of the meaning of education but to consider it from a sociological perspective that integrates the false dichotomies of individual/society, continuity/discontinuity, and reproduction/change. Development: In the first part, the text presents a theoretical proposal on the articulation between culture, identity, and memory. Culture is understood as the set of objectified and subjectivized forms in historically specific contexts, which provides the individual with intersubjective elements for identity formation, where memory acts as an active dialogue between the psycho-individual and the socio-collective dimension. In the second part, education is proposed as a complex and dynamic process of cultural communication, identity formation, and social construction of memory. It emphasizes the importance of analyzing education from a theoretical perspective that considers the interaction between the individual and society, offering the possibility to understand its crucial role in processes of social reproduction and continuity, as well as in those of change and discontinuity. Conclusions: The mentioned false dichotomies in approaches to studying education polarize and create an antagonism between structures and subjects, individual and society, and reproduction and social change, consequently providing little understanding of how these phenomena articulate with educational processes, overlooking the multiple possibilities of co-participation and mutual determination.

Influence of Transformational Leadership on Teaching Performance in a Peruvian Educational Institution

Rossmery León Pretel, Yolanda Carolina Gallardo Sáenz — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500

The objective of this research was to determine the transformational influence on teacher performance in I.E. Mariano Santos Mateo de Trujillo – 2023. A causal correlational descriptive design was carried out; sample: 55 participants, 71% women and 29% men. Study variables: Transformational Leadership (TL) and dimensions: idealized influence, inspiring motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration; Teacher Performance (DD) and dimensions: preparation for student learning, teaching for student learning, participation in school management articulated with the community, development of professionalism and teacher identity. Two Likert questionnaires were applied for each variable. It is verified with the Nagelkerke coefficient that LT influences 44.8% of the variation in DD. Teachers with medium transformational style, 75% regular performance and teachers who evidence high transformational style, 85.1% excellent performance. It is concluded: transformational leadership has a significant influence; on Student Learning Readiness chi square value 19.146 (sig <0.05); on Teaching for student learning with a chi square value of 19.319 (sig <0.05) and on School management participation linked to the community with a chi square value of 31.622 (sig <0.05).

Oil Dependency: Impact on the economy of Ecuador

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Oil is Ecuador's main export product and its financial income an important part of the General State Budget. Being Ecuador a country dependent on crude oil is the reason why this investigation is carried out. For this purpose, an investigation with a quantitative approach was used, with a descriptive and explanatory scope strengthened in the Solow model, for which an econometric model with time series data was estimated using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. The results show that oil barrel exports have a positive effect on economic growth. Likewise, it is concluded that oil imports, the price of oil, will have a greater dynamism in economic growth, since there is a strong causality with the aforementioned variables.