Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The dual system is currently one of the most valued VET systems on aninternational level and is being transferred to many countries as a measure to improve youth unemployment rates and adjust training to the productive sector.It began to be implemented in Spain in 2013 and the available data shows a progressive increase in the participation of students, centers and companies.However, it is necessary to analyze the perception of the key agents, such as teachers, about the facilitators and the elements that hinder the development of the system: this is the main goal of this study.A questionnaire designed ad hoc was administered to a representativesample of training centers (management teams, tutors and coordinators) in five regions.The results show some positive elements, such as the decision to carryout the dual model by consensus and the students’ motivation. However,other results show difficulties on the part of the centers when adapting tothe implementation of dual training: teacher training deficiencies regardingthe system, insufficient resources, lack of recognition of the role played bythe teaching staff and lack of time among school tutors. Moreover, findings indicate that public schools express more difficulties; and that teachers in the centers where dual training is already being implemented perceive more favorable conditions, identifying fewer barriers, compared to those that have not yet begun the implementation. The study provides the basis for future, more specific research on these key factors of implementation and their relationship with the learning outcomes in the students.

We vindicate something when it is defended, especially in writing, something or someone who has been reviled, slandered or unjustly treated. It is true that nowadays it is more difficult to use, but in this work it is not only to argue in favor of something or someone, but to defend something, in this case schools. This paper will maintain that schools, the special temporary and spatial conditions they offer, make of them a propitious place to cultivate two fundamental moral practices for the possibility, continuity and extension of democracy: recognition and respect. After clarifying what it is meant here mean by “moral practices”, the paper will turn to Axel Honneth and Richard Sennett respectively for the development of the conceptual content of each one of these practices. The paper hopes to provide strong arguments to stress how the schools are, by their peculiar characteristics, a preferred place for immersion in these moral practices which foster democratic life experiences.

The principal objective of this study is to evaluate the level of development of the Generic Competences in the professors, students and graduates of the university Education degrees, using the Teacher Competence Evaluation (TCE) scale. The sample was formed of 1,243 Students, 491 Graduates and 351 Teachers from 23 Spanish universities. This study was carried out as part of the other R&D research project. The statistical analyses employed in order to achieve the objectives of this study were carried out using the following procedure: we first carried out a Conformational Factorial Analysis (CFA) of the TCE scale in order to compare the factorial structure of the instrument used and we went on to calculate the basic descriptive statistical analyses of the items of which the scale is composed. We subsequently carried out a variance analysis (ANOVA) with the objective of analysing the differences among the groups. The results obtained from the group of students and the groups comprising graduates and teaching staff demonstrate that certain competences from the Instrumental Competences, i.e. competence in a foreign language and technological competency, are perceived to be less developed. We noted that there were significant differences in the three groups as regards the questionnaire as a whole. It concludes with the need to encourage the development of these competences in Initial Teacher Training. Between the instrumental competences, the domination of a second language and technological ability continue to play a very relevant role as regards to guaranteeing a quality education. This study is useful for curricular reform in the European Higher Education’s study plans.

Introduction: The employment and educational situation of young people is a subject of special concern for Governments and international organizations, as it affects issues as important as social cohesion, inequality, the educational model, productivity and the sustainability of social protection systems. In this sense, the school dropout rate presents, at present, one of the most important educational problems and a determining factor in the success of the educational policies. The early dropout rate in Spain stands in 2016 at 19%, much higher than the average of the EU-28 (10.7%), despite the decline in recent years; and still far from the target of 15% marked in the European Strategy 2020. Method: From this reality, from the Observatory of Social Exclusion of the University of Murcia, a qualitative study developed with the intention of examining the diversity of causes that derive in processes of school dropout. Specifically, an extensive review of recent studies that addressthis phenomenon in Spain through primary sources took place, and withtheir own sources in the context of the Region of Murcia, three qualitativetechniques were applied: life stories (24), interviews with professionals (16) and discussion groups (1). Results and discussion: This research confirms the wide spectrum of causes that explain early school abandonment and includes two factors not directly contributed by other studies: the conflicts with relation to the peer group and the loss of the social value of the studies. The results show that knowledge of the factors of early school dropout is mediated by the research technique used and by the type of informant selected, focusing on the complementarity of the techniques and the participation of diverse agents.

The positive parenting perspective is contributing towards changing theintervention model with families involved in the child welfare system. Fromthis perspective, the participation of the biological family is seen as a keyfactor which facilitates the returning home of children, promotes parentinvolvement and helps to create awareness about the real reasons for thefamily separation. This research shows the results of a study carried out inSpain, the aim of which was to analyze the participation of the family atthe beginning of the separation, a crucial moment for the intervention. Toachieve this goal, a qualitative study was carried out using an exploratorydesign with focus groups and semi-structured interviews of 135 participants:63 professionals who worked in child welfare, 30 fostered children and adolescents and 42 fathers and mothers who were the parents of these children and adolescents. The results of the study consider some areas related to the information that families received in depth, as well as their involvement and participation in the fostering process. Some findings may be highlighted include the lack of information provided about the legal aspects of fostering, the lack of knowledge related to the characteristics of foster placement and the few opportunities for parents to be involved in decision making. In this regard, the article proposes different socio-educative key actions to improve professional practices and to reinforce the involvement of parents.

Reports and policies of digital inclusion on an international level highlightthe importance of increasing the role of women in the knowledge societyby promoting their skills in the use of the internet and social networks.This paper presents three scales used to measure their learning and somepreliminary results obtained with them. We applied scales composed of10 items each, which measure motives, strategies and learning resourcesrespectively to 1,340 Spanish women aged 18 to 65, selected throughstratified sampling by quotas considering age and employment status. Theresults indicate an optimal construct validity and a high reliability indexof the three scales (motives, α = .890, strategies, α = .900, and resources, α = .872). The results show that women learn to use social networks and the internet for a wide variety of reasons, highlighting at a specific level the performance of administrative procedures, the development of hobbies or the management of their training. We also find that women deploy a variety of strategies using more frequently autonomous learning actions with support from friends and family, consulting websites and videotutorials, observing how other people do it and experimenting with technology itself.In conclusion, the scales are valuable to know how women learn about theinternet and social networks. This study opens the way to rethinking thetraining offer aimed at increasing the visibility and prominence of women in the knowledge society, considering the nature and diversity of learning.

Introduction: In recent years, the interest of research has been strengthened around the variables that determine academic success within the university context. Different studies have analyzed the role of reading in achievement, but, nevertheless, the possible joint contribution with respect to leisure in the academic success of university students has not been considered.Methodology: The aim of this research is to analyze how voluntary readingis inserted in the leisure time of university students and to study theinfluence of the relationship of leisure and reading with academic success in university. The Reading Habits Questionnaire, the Leisure Activity Scale and one academic achievement measure have been used. The questionnaire was completed by 1,614 university students. Results: The results confirmed the relationship between academic achievement and cultural and technological leisure, and with reading practices, particularly of a professional nature.Discussion: It would be necessary to continue to examine this line of research in order to design proposals for intervention at the university focused on improving reading skills and leisure time management.

From the 1980s onwards, a new political interest started to emergein relation to the quality of education, which renewed the pedagogicaldiscourse and brought a reinforcement of evaluation activities, beingevaluation considered a key instrument for achieving the expectedimprovement. In this context, a common policy on school evaluationstarted to be built in Spain, as schools were considered the places in whicheducation must be incarnated and improvement achieved. This policy waschanging along the years, in accordance with changes in general politicalorientation, distribution of responsibilities in education and concreteinitiatives developed by different agents and administrations. In this articlethe characteristics of policies and practices developed in Spain for schoolevaluation in the last thirty years are analyzed. A political perspective isadopted for carrying such an analysis, focusing on the approaches taken and the practices developed by different administrations. Academic and research literature, official reports, legal regulations and «grey literature» have been identified and checked. After carrying such an analysis, the article concludes that the policy adopted can be characterized by advances and retreats, changes of orientation, lack of coherence between intentions and practices, and inadequacy of actions developed.

The development of education faces a constant evolution and the adoptionof new information and communication technologies (ICTs) for educationis reflected in the inclusion of virtual courses in the educational process.However, accessibility in virtual platforms and courses has not been takeninto account in the educational process, especially in developing countriesthat do not have legislation that encourages the consideration of accessibility, a very important benefit for students with disabilities.This paper proposes a methodology to take accessibility into account inthe different processes of the life cycle of a virtual educational project. Thecreation of this methodology has taken place under an iterative process,based on an international standard, and complemented with practicalexperiences.In order to validate the proposed methodology, an accessible virtualtraining course for teachers was prepared. The methodology was validatedwith an iterative design consisting of three phases. Following this experience, comments and suggestions were gathered from several stakeholders in the virtual education process. As part of a cooperation initiative between European and Latin American universities, the proposed methodology was distributed through mass training for teachers. A total of 12 editions of the prepared course have been taught, 8 editions in a blended-learning approach and 4 courses with an online learning focus. A total of 1,182 teachers have participated in the training experience (509 men and 673 women).This study provides a methodology based on a framework for describingthe quality of educational processes. This will allow any institution to usethis methodology as a reference in order to work on the changes needed to incorporate accessibility into their own production processes for virtual courses.

Over the last few years, the effect that teachers’ beliefs have on the results achieved by their students has been widely studied. Educational research has shown that the self-efficacy beliefs of teachers in their work influence their professional behavior and are associated with students’  achievement and motivation. The main aim of this work is to study the personal and contextual factors determining the level of self-efficacy  perceived by teachers in countries of the European Union which participated in TALIS 2013. Specifically, it attempts to answer the following questions: What are the main determinants of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs? Are  these factors individual or contextual? Do these determinants vary from country to country? Taking into account the multistructural level of available data (teachers —Level 1— are nested within schools —Level 2— in each country), data analysis has been carried out by means of multilevel structural equation modeling. More specifically, a multigroup multilevel model has been designed to study the effect of teachers’ traits (Level 1 predictors) and school traits (Level 2 predictors) on the perceived level of self-efficacy in different countries. The results show that variables relating to the teachers as professionals (cooperation with their colleagues, encouraging self-evaluation by the students, teachers’ perception of satisfactory class discipline, a need for professional development in the contents of the subject taught and in teaching skills, and having a constructivist teaching approach) are the ones most closely related to their self-efficacy beliefs. These are more important than factors associated with the institutional setting in which they work (ownership, ratio, or shortage of resources), or strictly personal traits (age, gender, or work situation).