Educational practices to transform and connect schools and communities

Erstad, Ola, Miño, Raquel and Rivera-Vargas, Pablo Educational practices to transform and connect schools and communities. Comunicar, 2021, vol. 29, n. 66, pp. 21-31. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

The current social and educational challenges force us to rethink the role of educational institutions and digital technologies in the 21st century, which requires a deeper understanding of learning activities in schools. In this article we analyze bottom-up initiatives for educational transformation implemented in public lower secondary schools from Norway, Chile and Spain that involved 230 students and 14 teachers. Three ethnographic case studies were carried out, using individual interviews, focus groups, participant observations and document analysis in six schools. The main goal was to deeply understand how bottom-up school initiatives, with a comprehensive use of digital technologies, are contributing to generate connected practices and to involve teachers, learners and communities in the discussion about what kind of society they want in their future. The results of the analysis indicate that fostering a transformative agency in secondary schools has the potential of engaging students in the exploration of contemporary social issues and that digital connectedness can contribute to connect schools with youth life trajectories and communities. This study on transformative agency and digital connectedness reveals a new path for educational transformation that may interest everybody who, in one way or another, are involved in education systems all around the world.

Spanish abstract

Los desafíos sociales y educativos que enfrentamos en la actualidad nos obligan a repensar cuál es el rol de las instituciones educativas y de las tecnologías digitales en el siglo XXI, lo cual requiere una comprensión más profunda de las actividades de aprendizaje de las escuelas. En este artículo analizamos iniciativas para la transformación educativa implementadas en centros de secundaria públicos de Noruega, Chile y España que involucraron a 230 alumnos y 14 profesores. Se llevaron a cabo tres estudios de caso etnográficos a partir de entrevistas, grupos de discusión, observaciones participantes y análisis documental en seis centros. El objetivo principal fue comprender en profundidad cómo estas iniciativas contribuyen a generar prácticas conectadas y a involucrar al profesorado, el estudiantado y las comunidades en la discusión sobre el tipo de sociedad en la que quieren vivir en un futuro. Los resultados del análisis indican que el fomento de una agencia transformadora en los centros de secundaria tiene el potencial de involucrar al alumnado en el estudio de problemáticas sociales contemporáneas y que la conectividad digital puede contribuir a conectar las escuelas con las trayectorias de vida y las comunidades de los jóvenes. Este primer estudio sobre agencia transformadora y conectividad digital desvela una línea de transformación educativa que puede interesar a todos aquellos individuos que, de una forma u otra, están involucrados en los sistemas educativos de todo el mundo.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Transformation; agency; school; community; digital technologies; learning; Transformación; agencia; escuela; comunidad; tecnologías digitales; aprendizaje
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
G. Industry, profession and education.
G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education.
Depositing user: Alex Ruiz
Date deposited: 09 Jan 2021 06:49
Last modified: 09 Jan 2021 06:49
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/40899

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