This article reviews the didactic units in biology and environmental education in the context of Latin America, analyzing their design, implementation, and effectiveness in the teaching of environmental and biological topics. Through a literature review and case analysis, the most commonly used teaching strategies are identified and their impact on student learning is evaluated. It highlights best practices and proposes recommendations to improve the quality of biology and environmental education in the region.

The concept of simplexity, as proposed by Alain Berthoz, is based on the assumption that solutions elaborated by living organisms to decipher and face complexity could be applicable to all complex adaptive systems. Within the pedagogical and didactic context the proposai of the French physiologist could provide a scientific research trajectory aiming at solving the tension between theory, praxis, descriptive approaches and practical needs. Thus, simplexity seems to be an operational strategy based on the identification of the principles that (...) rule and guide the didactic action through patterns of adaptation, which allow to decipher complexity in terms of data elaboration and decision making among different opportunities. (shrink)

The purpose of this text is to present the different approaches and mechanisms of a training engineering based on the current analysis of the work of the "clinic of activity". Called clinical didactic engineering of activity, this approach is based on the principles of the clinic of activity to design and implement professional training systems and thus solve a recurring question that all professional training engineers come up against, which is that of transposing work activity, without distorting it. Illustrated (...) by two examples in health and services, this text proposes a first structuring of such engineering. (shrink)

All modern critics have read verses 128–36 of Pseudo-Scymnus’ iambic Periodos to Nicomedes (c.133–110/109 b.c.e.) as a description of the personal autopsies of the author. However, close analysis of both the literary dynamics of the poem and the syntax of the lacunose text that precedes this passage shows that this cannot be the case. This article proposes that Timaeus of Tauromenium (c.350–260 b.c.e.) is a superior candidate for the referent of these lines, and offers a coherent approach to emending the (...) manifestly corrupt text. This reinterpretation makes better sense of the extant text of the Periodos, and allows these verses to be read as a second-century witness to Timaeus’ autoptic prowess. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Self-Reference:Theory and Didactics between Language and LiteratureSvend Erik Larsen (bio)Semiotics of Self-ReferenceLiterary metafiction constitutes the extreme case of self-referential texts. Therefore we can either discard it as generally irrelevant for the understanding of the cultural functions of texts, or use it as a point of departure for the formulation of both general and basic aspects of such functions. The position taken in this essay will opt for the last (...) possibility, although I know full well that already the term "metafiction" itself inevitably triggers a variety of skeptical reactions. Does it not just refer to some author's self-centered ruminations in the ivory tower? Or a topic for the nerds of literary studies with a taste for theoretical acrobatics? If so, in both cases following metafictional inclinations results in complete isolation from both the context of literature and its readers.However, one may also adopt the opposite position. The metafictional features of literature constitute one of the means by which literature reaches out to its context and also engages its readers. And critical endeavors are not necessarily devoid of anything but their own concepts. They may instead pave the way for methodological and didactic considerations that ultimately make difficult literature more accessible as a cultural phenomenon. Rather than dwelling upon subtle theoretical differences in the definition of what metafiction is, I will therefore engage in a methodological approach: what kind of questions can we put to the texts, and what kind of answers can we reasonably come up with when using metafiction in a methodological and didactic framework?I shall begin by proposing a set of definitions broader than metafiction that will allow me to zoom in on it as a relevant methodological concept that opens for didactic reflections. The notion of metalevel will constitute my starting point. In its broadest sense, a metalevel indicates a position outside a given field of objects or meanings and in relation to it. But rather than relating [End Page 13] to the content of the field in question, the metalevel is supposed to serve as a platform enabling us to observe and evaluate basic principles and function of the field. This is the role of, for example, the theory of science or of epistemology in relation to the particular knowledge of various sciences. We may call it an epistemological metalevel.In a more restricted sense, a metalevel comprises a level in relation to a given sign system — rather than to a given field of objects — from which we can observe and evaluate the basic principles defining the function, range and validity of the sign system. This is the role of, for example, musicology in relationto the acoustic arts, art criticism in relation to the visual arts, medicine in relation to bodily symptoms. We may call it an inter-semiotic metalevel.Finally, in its most restricted sense, a metalevel points toward a level inside a given sign system from which we can refer to this sign system itself,but not in relation to a given field of objects or in relation to another sign system. We may call this level an intra-semiotic metalevel. In this context, language is a unique system, which in this capacity shapes literature as a particular linguistic phenomenon. Only inside the semiotic system of language can the intra-semiotic metalevel have two different functions:The first function is as a science of language, linguistics, which is itself a verbal sign system. In verbal scientific descriptions and arguments we may scrutinize the natural or everyday language as a medium, that is, its basic linguistic structures and principles, without taking into consideration its content, which it may share with other media. Texts and pictures may refer to the same phenomenon even if such references do not overlap completely. All other sciences differ from linguistics in this respect, because they cannot deal scientifically with their non-verbal objects through the same non-verbal medium as that which makes up the object, but need the support of a linguistic metalevel or at least of signs that are linguistically anchored. Even mathematics or other strictly formal sign systems are based on natural languages. We may refer to... (shrink)

Currently, students in basic secondary school in Colombia have a low performance in reading comprehension at the inferential level. This pedagogical proposal aimed to strengthen the level of inferential reading of students who attend elementary school, through the application of a didactic sequence from the cognitive-discursive perspective. Theoretically, the concepts proposed by Cisneros, Olave and Rojas regarding four types of inferences were assumed. Likewise, the theoretical orientations of Van Dijk (1978), Solé (1992) and Martínez (2002) were taken into (...) account to support the cognitive-discursive perspective adopted in the study. Methodologically, the qualitative approach was used with the action research method, and techniques such as observation, questionnaire, field diary and didactic sequence were used. In relation to the results, it is evident that the participants in the closing questionnaire increased significantly compared to the four types of inference evaluated, thus demonstrating greater interpretation when facing the texts. (shrink)

In this article, I propose a systematization of various aspects of Bildung-supportive teaching, as described in the context of German-language general didactics. I start by describing teaching as the basic form of education in which one person helps another to acquire knowledge. I then clarify the concept of Bildung. It is suggested that Bildung be understood as a process in which an individual deals self-actively with the world and thereby develops a multi-dimensioned ability to self-determination under the claim of morality. (...) Finally, against this background, I develop a description for Bildung-supportive teaching. The proposed answer: teaching aims to support the development of independence of thought; summons the student to deal with teaching contents that reveal potential present and future relevance as well as exemplary significance; and it draws the student into the practice of giving and asking for reasons, in order to trigger activities of recognition, valuation and radical consideration. (shrink)

The didactic proposal of the post-constructivist (Grossi, 2005), takes into account the relationship between the subject, reality, others and the Other interior and considers the learning potential of all students. Its theoretical foundation is, among other things, the principle that learning is a social phenomenon, and that the spatial organization of the class, in groups of adults, promotes the teaching-learning process. Post-constructivism is a didactic proposition that allows us to respond to the purpose of teaching all students. (...) This article on group work in post-constructivism aims to analyze the change in posture of teachers, and the professional development that follows, and which demonstrates a break with the traditional form of education. The trick of the identified researcher is then to take up in a teacher training, through the aulic groups in the Geempa class and the weekly study group, the scientific approach of post-constructivism. (shrink)

Considering the transformation of educational scenarios, we recognize the need to train foreign language teachers with high pedagogical, research, and technological skills. This recognition considers the new challenges of education and aligns with the educational discourses and commitments that are shaped by the curricular proposals of foreign language programs in higher education. It is necessary to know the level of competencies of teacher trainers, university lecturers, to identify possible ongoing training needs. This research uses a mixed-methods design with an exploratory-descriptive (...) approach that contributes to the educational instructions to start continuous training plans for their teachers under the policies, global dynamics, and demands of education. The research shows that there are still challenges to confront, as teachers still have opportunities to strengthen their pedagogical, educational, and new technology competencies. This is a challenge that institutions should address in the rigorous implementation of lifelong learning programs. (shrink)

The author discusses in detail the basic issues related to the practice of philosophical discussions with children. He identifies and problematizes the different methods or modalities for doing philosophy with children currently practised throughout the world. He presents a series of pedagogic and didactic issues and puts forward some proposals and directions for the future that might allow us to facilitate philosophy-oriented discussions with children.

Spectroscopy is a scientific topic at the interface between Chemistry and Physics, which is taught at high school level in relation with its fundamental applications in Analytical Chemistry. In the first part of the paper, the topic of spectroscopy is analyzed having in mind the well-known Johnstone’s triangle of chemistry education, putting in evidence the way spectroscopy is usually taught at the three levels of chemical knowledge: macroscopic/phenomenological, sub-microscopic/molecular and symbolic ones. Among these three levels, following Johnstone’s recommendations the macroscopic (...) one is the most useful for high school students who learn spectroscopy for the first time. Starting from these premises, in the second part of the paper, we propose a didactic sequence which is inspired by the historical evolution of spectroscopic instruments from the first spectroscopes invented by Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen in 1860 to the UV–vis spectrophotometers which became common since the 1960s. The idea behind our research is to analyze the conceptual advancements through the history of spectroscopy and to identify the key episodes/experiments and spectroscopic instruments. For each of them, a didactic activity, typically an experiment, is then proposed underlining the relevant aspects from the chemistry education point of view. The present paper is the occasion to reflect on the potentialities of an historical approach combined with a laboratorial one, and to discuss the role of historical instruments and related technological improvements to teach spectroscopy. (shrink)

The need to be surrounded by stories, through a continuous production of and listening to narrations, is a distinctive feature of humankind. Even biology, although part of the Natural Sciences, is a discipline that “tells stories”, because it has to do with time, with the relationships between organisms and with the depths and transformations of life. Starting from the assumptions of a reading pedagogy that promotes the pleasure of reading among children, without the aim to educate and conform, the purpose (...) of this contribution is to bring out a specific didactic potential scattered throughout children’s novels, to propose interdisciplinary learning-teaching paths in biology at school by including children’s literature in science classes. (shrink)

Nuestro objetivo es unir la Teoría de las Inteligencias Múltiples a la metodología organizativa del trabajo por rincones en las aulas del segundo ciclo de Educación Infantil. Llevando a cabo una investigación- revisión de los distintos conceptos abordados y una investigación en la acción, a través de grupo focal con muestra in- tencional de grupos de expertos, para conseguir una propuesta integradora, donde se propone un modelo de educación en el que el niño sea sujeto activo de su propio aprendizaje (...) y se potencie su talento innato junto con el desarrollo de las distintas habilidades. (shrink)

Resumen: El objetivo es presentar una propuesta didáctica que permite que los centros educativos sirvan como instrumentos de cohesión social y como lugares de posibilidad de transformación social y educativa. El texto está estructurado en tres partes. En primer lugar, se reconoce la necesidad de las propuestas innovadoras y se alerta del riesgo que pueden conllevar al perpetuar un sistema de desigualdad. A continuación, se propone un cambio en la cultura organizativa de los centros educativos de la mano de las (...) Comunidades de Aprendizaje; tras analizar sus fundamentos, se exponen tres de las acciones didácticas que pretenden lograr la igualdad en los resultados. Finalmente, se repasan las ventajas y desventajas y se presentan las conclusiones. Palabras clave: filosofía, aprendizaje dialógico, democracia, comunidades de aprendizaje, igualdad de oportunidades. English tilte: The Challenge of Philosophy Subjects: Towards Equality of ResultsAbstract: The paper aims to present a didactic proposal which enables educational centres to serve as mechanisms of social cohesion and as places where social and educational transformation is possible. The text is structured in three parts. After acknowledging the need for innovative proposals, I point out the risk of perpetuating a system of inequality that they can entail. Next, I propose a change in the organisational culture of schools brought about by Learning Communities—I analyse its bases and present three didactic actions that aim to achieve equality of outcomes. Finally, I comment on the advantages and disadvantages of this proposal. (shrink)

Identifying the expression of anger in a foreign language and reproducing it appropriately and precisely are skills whose relevance and lack of satisfying proposals have been pointed by research on the pedagogy of emotions (Dewaele, 2010; Toya & Kodis, 1996). This paper combines an identification of lacks in the pedagogy of emotional intonation with an analysis of spontaneous samples of anger as a basis to didactic guidelines for the introduction of the contextualized teaching of anger expression in Spanish. Through (...) colloquial samples, key features for the expression of anger in Spanish are identified. A selection of technical features is adapted in an accessible didactic proposal that is conformed of the stages of identification, induction of recurrent patterns, guided and free production. The proposal offered here is a starting point for the design of didactic units on emotional and expressive speech, an area that lacks didactic guidelines. (shrink)

Starting from the Italian results of the PISA 2015 surveys as regards the competence of young students in collaborative problem-solving, in this paper we conduct a critical analysis of the concept of competence, as seen through the lens of the Capability Approach. The Philosophy for Children curriculum is presented as a pedagogical and didactic proposal capable of re-conceptualizing the constructs of ‘problem-solving’ and ‘collaboration’. In the light of ‘Complex Thinking’ theory and the ‘community of inquiry’ classroom methodology, the (...) general theoretical frame of the PISA and DeSeCo approach to problem-solving has been criticized for its focus on what has been defined in terms of “internal mental structures in the sense of abilities, dispositions or resources embedded in the individual”. The proposal of Philosophy for Children and its ‘community of inquiry’ methodology are considered and discussed. This educational curriculum provides a real opportunity to rethink citizenship education by concentrating on the value and power of collective agency and the ability to wonder about our world. The pedagogical implications are significant because this means that we should be aiming to align academic education not with what society is, but with what it could or should be. To achieve this, education policies and planning actions need to focus on values and principles, on matters such as freedom, social equity and participation. These matters are not exclusive to the realms of individual endowment and performance. They have fundamental ethical and cultural components. Philosophy for Children can be considered as an opportunity to work towards the educational and political goal of creating “flourishing communities”. (shrink)

Professional didactic engineering is essentially based on didactic analyses of work activities in order to design or improve training devices, focusing on the problem of competencies in characteristic situation classes. This article proposes an enrichment of this approach by focusing on professional concerns, either in a pedagogical adjustment approach or to understand specific organizers of the activity. In this second perspective, this contribution submits a multi-agenda generic analysis model of professional concerns, with a view to professional didactics.

El léxico es uno de los componentes más indispensables en la enseñanza de lenguas, ya que desempeña un papel relevante en el desarrollo de las destrezas tanto escritas como orales. Es un elemento que los aprendientes deben adquirir y mejorar para conseguir la competencia lingüística deseada. El objetivo de este artículo es reflexionar acerca de la adquisición del léxico árabe como lengua extranjera por los estudiantes españoles, poner el dedo sobre algunas dificultades semánticas del árabe y presentar propuestas didácticas para (...) superar los obstáculos. (shrink)

This article proposes to develop the notion of professional situation from the standpoint of professional didactics. To do so, it proposes to first examine the notion of professional situation from the perspective of its contributions in terms of thinking about a few questions relating to vocational training. The notion of professional situation is then re-examined in connection with the notion of the work situation as used in professional didactics, then with the notion of situation: what it is, what it is (...) composed of, how it is learned, and how one can learn from it. -/- Cet article propose de développer la notion de situation professionnelle, d’un point de vue de didactique professionnelle. Pour cela, il propose d’examiner d’abord la notion de situation professionnelle du point de vue de ce qu’elle peut apporter pour penser quelques questions de la formation professionnelle. La notion de situation professionnelle est ensuite reprise en relation avec la notion de situation de travail telle qu’elle est utilisée en didactique professionnelle, puis avec la notion de situation : ce qu’elle est, de quoi elle se compose, comment on l’apprend, comment on apprend d’elle. (shrink)

Traces of and tracks towards philosophy and philosophizing in Flemish secondary education At present philosophy has only a minor place in the Flemish secondary education curriculum. In the first part of the article, I defend the view that philosophy deserves a place as an autonomous subject in the final two years of secondary school. I sketch the content of such a philosophy course and I propose a didactical model for this course. The second part of the article discusses social tendencies (...) that explain the current debate over whether there should be more philosophy in secondary schools. In the third part I try to explain why philosophy still lacks a structural place in Flemish secondary education. Finally I present a survey of ‘traces’ of philosophy and philosophizing in Flemish secondary education and I formulate a conclusion. (shrink)

An experiment teacher of elementary school try te become an educational adviser. He accepts the collaboration with the researchers, the first one in didactics of history and the second in professional didactics, to get success with examination necessary to become an educational adviser. The didactic experiment concerns an historical debate with pupils to orient them in an historic investigation from an engraving dating from 1787. The analyse shows that the didactic experiment was abandoned for the benefit of institutional (...) prescriptions in which this teacher aims to conforms, its principles of actions and the significantly associations with his future job. It’s in contradiction with the sens of the activity proposed by the researcher in didactics of history. Our longitudinal analysis concerns, first, the teacher analyses the activity of a beginner, second, the experimentation of the debate in his classroom and finally his theorization about the driving of this type of debate in a document required in the examination. (shrink)

The subject of the proposed paper is the disclosure of prerequisites and determinants of the implementation of the soteriological concept of studying the interdisciplinary course of bioethics, the structural model and synectic algorithm of its comprehension and epistemological map of formation of soteriological competence of the future specialist during the study of bioethics. The methodological basis for the implementation of the proposed project is the theory of research-oriented professional education and, thereafter, technology of advanced learning, which provide wide opportunities to (...) study the course of bioethics in the form of observation of remote virtual experiments on the portal Go-Lab; GRAASP environment for the implementation of author's developments and pedagogically structured programs in the process of performative interaction between teacher and students. The scientific novelty of the material is to substantiate the content of anthropological competencies of future specialists in biomedical specialties and the strategies of obtaining them on the basis of the principles of hermeneutic didactics. Conclusions. Today, obviously, the task of bioethics is not only to protect nature and human life, but also to participate in the realization of the high mission of Salvation. This defines the research field of bioethics as a space of secret dialogue, in which it is desirable to find a place not only for the voice of clinicians, pharmacists, engineers, philosophers, public figures, but also the pastoral voice of the Church. (shrink)

This study intends to question the theoretical and epistemological basis of research practices that give rise to the production of spontaneous oral commentary by teachers watching their own teacher action. What clues can the researcher use to impart on these discourses their ability to reveal that which is related to the link between discourse, action and teacher thinking? To address this question, we propose to concentrate more specifically on planning incidents, challenging moments, dilemmas and regrets in which, according to Schütz’s (...) expression (1998), the teacher faces a world that is not self-evident. Here we will consider corpus sequences in which relationships to knowledge and opportunities - both missed and taken advantage of - play out. In these moments of fracture, hints of an evolving didactic repertoire seem to appear. This will bring us to question the discourses of self-confrontation as textual material, the study of which informs of the construction of professional knowledge and its evolution. (shrink)

The article proposes to re-examine the Lucretian formula naturae species ratioque (1.146–148 = 2.59–61 = 3.91–93 = 6.39–41), the meaning of which has prompted some critical debate. The examination begins from an analysis of rhetoric and argument in the sections in which the phrase occurs, with the goal of demonstrating that the meaning ‘rational vision of nature’ is more apt to the context and to Lucretius’ poetic and philosophical programme, which often relies on metaphors drawn from the semantic field of (...) vision to describe the comprehension of natural phenomena and the didactic aim of the work. In the light of this, the final part of the paper discusses the textual problem concerning lines 6.56–57 (= 90–91), which are normally considered spurious but which can be understood better in the light of the Lucretian conception of philosophy (and of poetry) as penetrating vision. (shrink)

The pace of change in the world is accelerating, yet educational institutions have not kept pace. Indeed, schools have historically been the most static of social institutions, uncritically passing down from generation to generation outmoded didactic, lecture-and-drill-based, models of instruction. Predictable results follow. Students, on the whole, do not learn how to work by, or think for, themselves. They do not learn how to gather, analyze, synthesize and assess information. They do not learn how to analyze the diverse logic (...) of the questions and problems they face and hence how to adjust their thinking to those problems. They do not learn how to enter sympathetically into the thinking of others, nor how to deal rationally with conflicting points of view. They do not learn to become critical readers, writers, speakers and listeners. They do not learn how to use their native languages clearly, precisely, or persuasively. They do not, therefore, become ‘literate’, in the proper sense of the word. Neither do they gain much in the way of genuine knowledge since, for the most part, they could not explain the basis for what they believe. They would be hard pressed to explain, for example, which of their beliefs were based on rational assent and which on simple conformity to what they have been told. They have little sense as to how they might critically analyze their own experience, or identify national or group bias in their own thinking. They are much more apt to learn on the basis of irrational than rational modes of thought. They lack the traits of mind of a genuinely educated person: intellectual humility, courage, integrity, perseverance, and faith in reason.Happily, there is a movement in education today striving to address these problems in a global way, with strategies and materials for the modification of instruction at all levels of education. At its foundation is an emerging new theory of knowledge, learning, and literacy, one which recognizes the centrality of independent critical thinking to all substantial learning, one which recognizes that higher-order, multilogical thinking is as important to childhood as to adult learning, and as important to foundational learning in monological as in multilogical disciplines. This educational reform movement is not proposing an educational miracle cure, for its leading proponents recognize that many social and historical forces must come together before the ideals of the critical thinking movement will become a full academic reality. Schools do not exist in a social vacuum. To the extent that the broader society is uncritical so, on the whole, will be society's schools. Nevertheless, the social conditions necessary for fundamental changes in schooling are increasingly apparent. The pressure for fundamental change is growing. Whether and to what extent these needed basic changes will be delayed or side-tracked, thus requiring new periodic resurgences of this movement, with new, more elaborate articulations of its ideals, goals, and methods — only time will tell. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is fundamentally didactic, in that it approaches in a descriptive way some of the basic notions of the philosophical-political thought of Alexis de Tocqueville including democracy and social equity and the dialectical concept of freedom. This paper focuses mainly on some chapters of the Tocqueville’s masterpiece ‘Democracy in America’ and ends with an epilogue where interpretative ideas are proposed in order to provide an updated framework for his thought.

The notion of individuation has both a semantic and an ontological face. More exactly, the claim can be defended that individuation has a proprietary linguistic or conceptual aspect as distinct from an ontological one. Ontologists such as W. V. Quine would credit neither the possibility of such a divergence nor the intelligibility of its proposal. The ontology of a language, for Quine, is inseparable from its individuative resources, mechanisms such as identity, pluralization, pronouns, and so forth. I aim here (...) to pick apart the ontological from the semantic aspect of individuation at one place where they interact, thereby to show that the distinction, far from being a mere abstraction lacking explanatory leverage, is vital for achieving an adequate characterization of the representational powers of language. I begin by attempting to put the issue into some kind of perspective, a didactic move prudent in virtue of the brassiness of the subsequent tacks. (shrink)

Context: Immunity includes cognitive concepts: the organism is thought to specifically recognize foreign materials and develop a memory of these encounters. Vaccines are thought to work by enhancing this immunological memory. Lymphocytes are key cells and specific antibodies are key molecules in immune recognition. Antibodies are blood proteins called “immunoglobulins.” Spontaneously formed immunoglobulins are seen as “natural” antibodies to dietary components and commensal bacteria. Immune cognition is used simply as a didactic metaphor. Problem: Do the cognitive aspects of immunology (...) stem from the activities of cells and molecules, or are they ascribed by the immunologist operating as a human observer? (1) An immense variety of immunoglobulins may bind to the same antigen with different binding energies. It is the immunologist who arbitrates the boundary between those that are specific (and declared antibodies) and those that are not. Specific antibodies serve as functional labels pasted onto natural immunoglobulins, as if they were recognizing elements. Is this “arbitration” the true cognitive event ascribed to immunoglobulins and lymphocytes? (2) A major impasse exists between progress in experimental immunology and its translation into clinical results. A proper understanding of immunological activity demands a wider view of an organism’s biology and, also, of the interference of human observers in delineating experimental realities, such as the specificity of immune recognition. Maturana’s biology of cognition and language provides one such approach. Method: Use of Maturana’s biology of cognition and language concepts to describe immunological activity. Results: A whole new understanding of immunological activity is suggested. Implications: A major change in the way of seeing is proposed that may eventually help the translation of this knowledge into clinical results. Furthermore, the immune system may also become a proper model for cognitive analyses. (shrink)

Movies can serve valuable didactic purposes teaching clinical ethics to medical students. However, using film sequences as means to develop critical thinking is not a straightforward task. There is a significant gap in the literature regarding how to analyse the ethical content embedded in these clips systematically, in a way that facilitates the students’ transition from anecdotal reflections to abstract thinking. This article offers a pedagogical proposal to approach the ethical analysis of film sequences in a systematic fashion. (...) This structured stepwise method encourages students to identify the main ethical problem of a selected scene and to reflect on the theoretical principles involved, emphasizing the application of these norms and values in a contextually situated analysis. We believe this method in film studies both reinforces the students’ comprehension of the theoretical framework of an ethical topic, and casts light on its pertinence and limitations under the circumstances of the scene, thus proving a constructive tool to strengthen the bridge between the theoretical teaching of clinical ethics and clinical practice. (shrink)

A aprendizagem filosófica na formação de professores: proposta de um Ateliê Filosófico Transdisciplinar Resumo: Este artigo é uma reflexão sobre a criação de um Ateliê Filosófico Transdisciplinar para fazer-pensar a formação de professores e a aprendizagem filosófica, a partir de oficinas didático-formativas que possibilitem aos estudantes de diferentes cursos de licenciaturas a experienciarem em seus processos formativos a prática da meditação como possibilidade didática para o desenvolvimento da aprendizagem filosófica do autoconhecimento. Busca-se fortalecer e promover experiências que estimulem a reflexão, (...) o cuidado com a alteridade, a comunicação dialógica e a ética, a partir de uma visão complexa, fenomenológica, transdisciplinar e polilógica. A formação institucional tradicional é tensionada a repensar o papel da filosofia na formação de professores para além de uma disciplina monológica, específica de conteúdos da tradição canônica, porém sem discriminá-los, mas fazer vê-los emergir das inquietudes humanas dos sujeitos educadores em transformação. Palavras-chave: Ateliê Filosófico; Aprendizagem Filosófica; Autoconhecimento; Formação de Professores. Philosophical learning in teacher education: proposal of a Transdisciplinary Philosophical Workshop Abstract: this article is a reflection on the creation of a Transdisciplinary Philosophical Workshop to make teacher education and philosophical learning think-through, from didactic-formative workshops that enable students from different undergraduate courses to experience their formative processes. The practice of meditation as a didactic possibility for the development of philosophical learning of self-knowledge. We seek to strengthen and promote experiences that stimulate reflection, care for otherness, dialogical communication and ethics, from a complex, phenomenological, transdisciplinary and polylogical view. The traditional institutional formation is tensioned to rethink the role of philosophy in the formation of teachers beyond a monological discipline, specific of canonical tradition contents, but without discriminating them, but seeing them emerge from the human concerns of the changing educating subjects.. Keywords: Philosophical Studio; Philosophical learning; Self knowledge; Teacher training. Aprendizaje filosófico en la formación docente: propuesta de un taller filosófico transdisciplinario Resumen: Este artículo es una reflexión sobre la creación de un Taller Filosófico Transdisciplinario para reflexionar sobre la formación docente y el aprendizaje filosófico, a partir de talleres didáctico-formativos que permiten a los estudiantes de diferentes cursos de pregrado experimentar sus procesos formativos. La práctica de la meditación como una posibilidad didáctica para el desarrollo del aprendizaje filosófico del autoconocimiento. Buscamos fortalecer y promover experiencias que estimulen la reflexión, el cuidado de la otredad, la comunicación dialógica y la ética, desde una visión compleja, fenomenológica, transdisciplinaria y polilógica. La formación institucional tradicional está tensada para repensar el papel de la filosofía en la formación de docentes más allá de una disciplina monológica, específica de los contenidos de la tradición canónica, pero sin discriminarlos, pero al verlos emerger de las preocupaciones humanas de las materias educativas cambiantes. Palabras clave: Philosophical Studio; Aprendizaje filosófico; Conocimiento de sí mismo; Formación de profesores. Data de registro: 05/10/2019 Data de aceite: 22/09/2021 O presente trabalho foi realizado com o apoio da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) –Brasil –Código de Financiamento 001. (shrink)

The objective was to propose an educational management model from the constructivist perspective to improve teacher performance in primary and secondary education institutions. The research was basic, quantitative approach, non-experimental design, cross-sectional and descriptive-propositional in scope. The sample consisted of 92 teachers from an educational institution in Lambayeque, Peru. The results obtained in the surveys place teacher performance at a low level in all its dimensions: preparation for student learning (60.90%); teaching for student learning (70.70%); participation in the management of (...) the school articulated to the community (66.30%); and development of teacher professionalism and identity (64.10%). Similarly, the information obtained regarding the management of the educational institution allows it to be classified as deficient in the four dimensions: organizational, (59.80%); administrative, (57.60%); pedagogical-didactic (60.90%) and community (62.00%). It was concluded that proposing an educational management model from the constructivist perspective will contribute to improving teacher performance in primary and secondary education institutions, which was validated by the criteria of five experts. (shrink)

The study of philosophical terms and doctrines in the Mahābhārata touches not only on important aspects of the contents, composition and the historical contexts of the epic, but also on the historiography of Indian philosophy. General ideas about the textual history of the epic and the distinction between “didactic” and “narrative” parts have influenced the study of epic philosophy no less than academic discussions about what is philosophy in India and how it developed. This results in different evaluations of (...) the place of philosophical texts in the epic and their relationship to the history of Indian philosophy. While some scholars have suggested that there is a “philosophy of the epic” its composers wished to propagate, others have argued that “philosophy” is included in the epic either in a “proto” form or in a variety of doctrines they deemed relevant. The article discusses these views and some of the heuristic assumptions on which they are based. It proposes to widen the scope of analysis by paying more attention to the interplay of narrative and didactic passages, the various ways in which philosophy is presented in the epic, and its connection to a larger spectrum of the reception of philosophy in textual genres and by audiences outside the expert circles of the philosophical schools. (shrink)

This work will examine the main issues generated in the discussion about social justice, freedom and equality from a Marxist and egalitarian liberalism perspective, which would require an answer if the search for a good society continues. Since the world’s economic, social, political and cultural situation has changed in the last decades, nowadays the necessary ethic-political foundations for a fair and free social order must be discussed. The problem is to clarify, in the light of political philosophy and human sciences, (...) the proposals made about such social order and for the current moment, and from the socialist and egalitarian liberal theories with thinkers such as Marx, Cohen and Roemer, for the first, and Rawls, Dworkin Nagel and Sen, for the second, among others. The purpose of this work is mainly didactic and deals with a description of situations such as poverty, exclusion and social inequality that the world lives in. It also deals with the authors’ proposals about such topics, analyzing if there is incompatibility between the capitalist institutions and the socialist project for the achievement of these ideals/values that give origin to the title. (shrink)

Context: Cognitive science, as an interdisciplinary research endeavour, poses challenges for teaching and learning insofar as the integration of various participating disciplines requires a reflective approach, considering and making explicit different epistemological attitudes and hidden assumptions and premises. Only few curricula in cognitive science face this integrative challenge. Problem: The lack of integrative activities might result from different challenges for people involved in truly interdisciplinary efforts, such as discussing issues on a conceptual level, negotiating colliding frameworks or sets of premises, (...) asking profound questions challenging one’s own paradigm, and differences in terminologies, as well as from the “personal” challenge of realising one’s own limits of knowledge and, hence, the need to trust in another person’s expertise. This implies that the proposed curriculum structure provides an “epistemic laboratory”: a space for experiencing and negotiating, as well as constructing different viewpoints in a trustful setting. Approach: A newly-designed interdisciplinary cognitive science curriculum is presented that is based on a constructivist epistemology. We suggest that a careful construction of the learning space is a necessary requirement. The MEi:CogSci curriculum is designed and structured in such a way that enables didactical measures that allow for collaborative construction of meaning by discussing concepts, methods and terminologies and also hidden assumptions. Findings: The experience with four cohorts of students has shown that a truly interdisciplinary approach to cognitive science demands a different attitude towards knowledge as well as towards teaching and learning on both sides: the teacher and the student. The research orientation promotes an understanding of knowledge as something that is actively constructed, rendering the role of the teacher that of a co-learner rather than a transmitter of knowledge, thereby also changing the responsibility of students. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:American Journal of Philology 126.1 (2005) 135-138 [Access article in PDF] Jenny Strauss Clay. Hesiod's Cosmos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. xii + 202 pp. Cloth, $65. This book, following on The Wrath of Athena (1983), The Politics of Olympus (1989), and a number of articles, continues Clay's distinctive work on "early Greek theology" (1), that is, the nature of gods and their relations with human beings as treated (...) in archaic epic poetry. For Clay, the works of early Greek epos can be seen as a coherent and interconnected whole, in which the combined subject matter of the Homeric Hymns, Iliad, and Odyssey is book-ended, as it were, by the two major Hesiodic poems: Theogony tells the story from the beginning of things to the accession of Zeus, whereas Works and Days describes life in the post-heroic Iron Age. Hesiod's Cosmos argues for a closely interrelated and complementary relationship between these two works, in which one poem looks at the world from a divine standpoint, paying little attention to human life, while the other focuses on the here-and-now exigencies of human existence, considering the gods mainly as they intersect with those realities. Together they make up a view of the world that transcends any single perspective, displaying the superior skill, intelligence, and inspiration of their poet. As a pragmatic explanation for this thoroughly intertextual relationship, Clay proposes that Hesiod may have been at work simultaneously on both compositions.Dealing succinctly with the Hesiodic Question about authorship and authorial persona, Clay locates the composition of Theogony and Works and Days in a middle ground, somewhere between the work of a historical poet, whose biography is reflected in the poems, and the product of a didactic tradition in which "Hesiod" is the persona that a performer of this poetry adopts (a view developed especially by Gregory Nagy). A historical Hesiod seems likely to Clay, but even so, "the voice we hear is constructed within the text for its own ends" (3). Although she maintains that this question is not central to her analysis of the Hesiodic poems, the nuanced and subtle cross-references that she postulates between the two works prompt her to write as if there were an individual, thoughtful author behind the texts—one working with ideas that will be taken up later by acknowledged "philosophical" writers. Further, and central to her methodology, Clay maintains (9) that it is both possible and desirable, if hardly simple, to seek authorial intentions in the works under discussion. The admittedly provocative goal of Hesiod's Cosmos, then, is to "demonstrate a coherent plan that unites the poems into a consistent vision that is both thoughtful and subtle" and thereby "to recover the reputation the Hesiodic poems long enjoyed in antiquity" (2: a discussion of Hesiod's ancient reputation would have been welcome here). [End Page 135]The book is well organized to achieve that end. It begins with a general chapter on Theogony and another on Works and Days, summarizing each work while emphasizing its structural peculiarities and teasing out the meanings suggested thereby. The five chapters that follow compare salient aspects of the two poems: their divergent proems, what they say about the origins of humankind, their two versions of the Prometheus story, the presentation of gods in Works and Days and men in Theogony, and finally each poem's treatment of what Clay terms "hybrids" (monsters and heroes, both being of mixed birth) in a chapter that includes substantial discussion of the Hesiodic Catalogues. A brief conclusion, focusing on the ancient theme of a contest between Hesiod and Homer, argues that Hesiodic poetry makes a claim to broader knowledge and scope than Homeric.A conspicuous and valuable characteristic of Clay's approach is her insistence on treating both texts in their entirety. Each poem is reviewed in linear sequence in the two introductory chapters, with an eye to its "intratextual" content—especially the relation of digressions to the structural backbone. The Theogony's basic structure is obviously genealogical, but its narrative digressions come at unpredictable junctures, some of them (such... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ibsen's Drama of Self-Sacrifice William A. Johnsen Michigan State University Henrik Ibsen, like Flaubert, is a fundamental precursor of all subsequent modern literature. His development, which takes place over a lifetime of playwriting, is nevertheless only obscurely recognized in theories ofthe modern. Critics quarrel about his antecedents: Scribe, Feydeau, as well as Norwegian and Scandinavian dramatists and poets. Yet nothing in any of his predecessors could prepare one for (...) the great prose plays of the last twenty-five years of his career. How did he modernize himself? Ibsen said ofhis transition to prose, that he could no longer allow his characters to speak in verse, the language of the gods.1 It is tempting to begin reading Girard in here, because Ibsen offers us a fascinating variation on the historical moment ofcrisis represented by Flaubert, the moment of modernization itself, where the disintegration ofan accepted political and cultural aristocracy forced everyone to compete for prestige and for unique being in a common marketplace. In the case ofNorway during Ibsen's time, it is the crisis caused by the delegitimation ofDano-Norwegian as the uncontested literary language, in favor of competing versions of an emerging national language for a 1 Ibsen's famous comment is in a letter to Edmund Gosse, 15 January, 1874: "Speaking generally, the dialogue must conform to the degree of idealization which pervades the work as a whole. My new drama is no tragedy in the ancient sense. What I sought to depict were human beings, and therefore I would not let them talk the 'language of the Gods'" (Sprinchorn 145). 142William A. Johnsen uniquely national literature that provokes a rivalry for atavistic or nativist preeminence: Who is the most Norwegian ofall? Ibsen and Henry James (as well as Borges) do not choose chauvinist atavism, yet they also avoid becoming mere disciples of the dominant philosophical traditions which have marginalized them. They are more outspoken discussants of the significant historical and cultural developments analyzed in Girard's Deceit, Desire, and the Novel because they are from "new" countries, outsiders to European culture. It is here we must avoid the occupational hazard ofcritical theory: we must not permit a resemblance between a literary and a theoretical text to degenerate into a transcoding of the former into the latter, without ever considering that their resemblance means that each proposes some contribution to a converging theory ofhuman behavior. Critics who merely convert literature into the theories they already know contribute little to literary knowledge, and nothing to theory. Girard has insisted on the quasitheoretical potential of literary texts from the beginning. Only by staying as close to Ibsen as possible, can we ever hope to add to the considerable work that Girard's hypothesis has already achieved. If there is a general principal at stake in not prematurely transcoding the language of Ibsen's plays into theoretical language (not being prematurely theoretical for the sake of a more inclusive theory), there is also the specific risk of burying the peculiar diversity of his dramatic accomplishment. Ibsen is above all the playwright of complex characterization —no one before him was as subtle in motivating the ordinary characters ofeveryday life. Yet during his time, his plays were awaited for the intense discussions of ideas that they were certain to provoke. How is it that Ibsen is not considered the most theoretical and didactic of writers? Partly, the sheer number of controversial ideas and positions dramatized in play after play kept him from being seen (for very long) as the propagator ofany one ofthem. Michael Meyer reproduces in his biography ofIbsen a contemporary Norwegian political cartoon, which depicts Ibsen flailing first right, then left, then all (Meyer 447). More importantly, Ibsen, beginning with Samfundets Stotter (1877) [Pillars ofSociety], created a drama of ensemble theorizing conducted by characters themselves. Ibsen's work, beyond the creation ofcharacter, was to imagine the conditions and events that might make it possible for ordinary individuals to contribute discoveries about human behavior which, collectively, allow amplification and consolidation as a hypothesis. Ibsen 's Drama ofSelf-Sacrifice143 The mimetic hypothesis first found itself explaining the spectacular results of negative reciprocity in modern resentment, the unperceived commonality ofan isolation... (shrink)

Emotional Grasping of the Kairos in Children’s Talk: between Philosophical Act and Didactical Gesture. An essential gesture of animating a philosophical dialogue with children consists in grasping within their talk, an opportune word or turn of phrase, the kairos, and bouncing off it to advance reasoning. Based on the analysis of expert practices, we propose a typology of the emotional grasp of Kairos that reflects the tension between investigative and educational aims in these exchanges. Beyond the effect of surprise, regulation (...) makes it possible to welcome and share one's emotions and to make them evolve into wonder, astonishment or doubt. Such trajectories are decisive for the future of the new idea. But other reactions are frequent, offering other opportunities for the current activity and children training in the long term. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Literature, as the art of words, presents its text in different forms and languages. Whether through its humanizing potential or, still, through its narrative quality, it reaches readers and offers them a plurality of tools to create texts, using established works as arguments. After all, literature holds within its scope narratives that are true treasures arranged as a testament for all of humanity. Thus, in this article, our goal is to analyze the literary work A verdadeira história de Chapeuzinho (...) Vermelho [The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood] (2020)1 by Agnese Baruzzi and Sandro Natalini, presented as a book-object with a keen materiality. We will seek to understand the characteristics of the work that promote literary aesthetic enjoyment, moving the work away from a didactic and moralizing perspective. To do so, we will comprehend the specificities of the verbal text, the imagery, and the materiality characteristics that pervade the work, understand the techniques, tools, and proposed interactions, as well as recognize the book’s multimodal capacity. (shrink)

What makes a good teacher? In 1991 Hartmut von Hentig attempted to answer this when he first formulated a "Socratic oath" for the profession and it is a question which remains relevant today. In The Socratic Oath for Teachers Klaus Zierer revisits and reframes the concept of a teacher's oath while also addressing challenges currently facing our society developments in recent didactic-methodological research, and fresh perspectives on the goals of the teaching profession. Referencing Socrates throughout, this short think piece (...) proposes a professional oath for teachers that at its core is fully committed to the successful education and well-being of students. Drawing upon key research and his own experiences within education, Zierer answers the following questions, establishing how a professional oath may support teachers. For example, What is a professional oath, and what can it do? What characterises teacher professionalism? What can be understood by teacher attitudes? Why are they crucial for a successful professional oath? Why is Socrates suitable as a guarantor for a professional oath of teachers? Why is a renewal of the Socratic Oath necessary? For whom is an oath necessary, and what must it contain? In this fascinating work, Klaus Zierer explores the principles and goals of the teaching profession and formulates theoretically sound and empirically validated principles of successful teaching. This is an essential read for any teacher, senior leader, policy maker, educationalist or researcher who wants to learn more about what makes a good teacher. (shrink)

RESUMEN Introducción: No todos los especialistas en formación en Anestesiología y Reanimación revelan una actuación eficiente en la atención al paciente en shock. Objetivo: Exponer elementos relacionados con un sistema de talleres docentes para potenciar la preparación del especialista en formación en Anestesiología para la atención médica integral al paciente en shock. Material y método: Se realizó un estudio prospectivo con enfoque cualitativo que tiene en cuenta la sistematización de los referentes teóricos esenciales que posibilitan la satisfacción del objetivo declarado. (...) Resultados: se definió operacionalmente la categoría preparación del especialista en formación en Anestesiología y Reanimación para la atención médica integral al paciente en shock, y se diseñó un sistema de talleres docentes que puede guiar el trabajo metodológico del colectivo de profesores para la consecución de este propósito. Discusión: Se propuso una modelación didáctica del proceso de preparación de este especialista en formación, que puede tributar a una transformación cualitativamente superior del proceso de formación, y a la profesionalización pedagógica del docente. ABSTRACT Introduction: Not all the specialists in formation in Anesthesiology and Revival reveal an efficient performance in the attention to the patient in shock. Objective: To exhibit elements related to a system of teaching workshops to promote the preparation of the specialist in formation in Anesthesiology for the integral medical attention to the patient in shock. Material and method: A pilot study was carried out with qualitative approach that bears in mind the systematization of the essential theoretical basis that make possible the satisfaction of the declared objective. Results: it was defined operationally the category preparation of the specialist in formation in Anesthesiology and Revival for the integral medical attention to the patient in shock, and it was designed a system of teaching workshops that can guide the methodological work of the teachers' group for the attainment of this intention. Discussion: There was proposed a didactic modeling of the process of preparation of this specialist in formation, which it can contribute to a qualitatively top transformation of the process of formation, and to the pedagogic professionalization of the teacher. (shrink)

PurposeHelping Autism‐diagnosed teenagers navigate and develop socially is an EU research project in progress. The aim of HANDS is to investigate the potential of persuasive technology as a tool to help young people diagnosed, to whatever degree, as autistic. The HANDS project set out to develop mobile ICT solutions to help young people with autism become more fully integrated into society and the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the design behind the HANDS toolset.Design/methodology/approachThe topic of (...) credibility is approached from an analytical, as well as an ethical, angle in order to address issues of credibility in relation to designing assistive technological tools. In addition, the authors set out to explore possible ways in which credibility can be evaluated. The paper presents a preliminary method for the evaluation of credibility; but which requires further refinement, as well as empirical support in order to inform us about issues of system credibility. Therefore, the suggested method reflects a working hypothesis which may serve as a springboard for further investigation.FindingsThe authors propose a preliminary method which reveals the necessity of certain preconditions requisite for evaluating the credibility of a system; and, in this way, seek to establish an ethically sound evaluation procedure for analysing credibility, by combining quantitative and qualitative assessments of system credibility.Research limitations/implicationsFurther investigation of the evaluation process is needed to develop a standard for resolving the credibility of a system. Naturally, such a standard would serve not only as a tool for measuring credibility but also as a didactic tool for scaffolding a pedagogic dialogue between teacher and learner. It becomes important, therefore, to undertake the task of developing this standard in collaboration with the teachers in the HANDS project.Originality/valueThe paper discusses credibility issues and ethical concerns with a view to designing mobile solutions for autism‐diagnosed teenagers. The ideas expressed and developed herein are applicable to many assistive, technological tools available to persons with special needs. (shrink)

This book is not a list or an overview of various theories of ethics. Nor is it a didactic manual for specific teaching units on moral education aimed at some group based on age or a particular theme (although some educational frameworks will be proposed). As the title suggests, the book intends to seek the starting points or foundations without which no moral education would be possible. The goal is to formulate and tackle the key questions that precede all (...) moral education. What makes ""good vs. evil"" language possible and meaningful? Can virtue be taught and learned? What makes our actions good? What is the condition of human nature? Are we naturally good, or evil? What constitutes an educator's right to morally influence anyone else (not just a child)? What is the goal of moral education? What does a morally educated person look like? And how can we ensure the coveted moral result? Or--in the words of Jan Amos Comenius, the ""teacher of nations""--how to educate a person to not only know what is good, but also to want what is good, and to do what is good ""even when no one is looking?"" ""I wish I would have had Jan Habl's concise, passionate, and eminently readable book available as a text for my ethics courses during my thirty-six years of teaching at colleges and universities in Canada. Habl not only raises the alarm about a moral crisis in Western societies today, but also provides a careful treatment of some oft-neglected presuppositions of moral education. The concluding chapter introduces us to Jan Amos Comenius, a seventeenth century Czech philosopher, theologian, and pedagogue, from whom we have much to learn about a better approach to moral education."" --Elmer Thiessen, Emmanuel Bible College ""With a sound and broad grasp of ethical (moral) theorists, Jan Habl incisively critiques the fallacies of popular theories, rendering them ineffectual if not dangerous. Then, drawing on Czech educator/philosopher Comenious, he persuasively advances a theistic proposal for nurturing moral persons and communities. Immensely timely, never more needed, a rich, compelling read for our contemporary societies if we wish for a civil and peaceful existence for ourselves and future generations. Highly recommended."" --Duane H. Elmer, Trinity International University ""You have in your hands a text by someone I take to be one of the very serious young moral philosophers of our time. The profundity of his analysis of the need for moral education reminds me of the style of analysis of one of the great moral philosophers of the final decades of the twentieth century, Alasdair MacIntyre."" --Thomas K. Johnson, World Evangelical Alliance Jan Habl is a professor of pedagogy at universities in Hradec Kralove and Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic). He has taught systematic theology and ethics at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Prague. He has authored a number of books and studies in the areas of philosophy of education, ethics, and pedagogy, including On Being Human(e) (2016); Teaching and Learning Through Story, Comenius' Labyrinth and the Educational Potential of Narrative Allegory (2014). (shrink)

Issues of race have traditionally been addressed in medical school curricula in a didactic manner. However, medical school curricula often lack adequate opportunity for the application of learning material relating to race and culture. When confronted with acts of racism in clinical settings, students are left unprepared to respond appropriately and effectively. Forum Theatre offers a dynamic platform by which participants are empowered to actively engage with and become part of the performance. When used in an educational context, Forum (...) Theatre can be a powerful tool for students to interact with a wide variety of social issues. This paper describes the process by which one medical school designed a workshop in the Forum Theatre style to equip students to respond to racism observed in clinical settings. Based on real student experiences, the Responding to Racism in the Clinical Setting workshop was designed to give students an opportunity to combine cultural humility, communication theory and conflict resolution skills in order to prepare for interactions in clinical stages of medical education. As a result of workshop evaluations, surveys, and written reflections, the authors propose that Forum Theatre is a novel teaching modality for incorporating issues of race and culture into medical curriculum. (shrink)

New findings from the neurosciences receive much interest for use in the applied field of education. For the past 15 years, neuroeducation and the application of neuroscience knowledge were seen to have promise, but there is presently some lack of progress. The present paper states that this is due to several factors. Neuromyths are still prevalent, and there is a confusion of tongues between the many neurodisciplines and the domains of behavioral and educational sciences. Second, a focus upon cognitive neuroimaging (...) research has yielded findings that are scientifically relevant, but cannot be used for direct application in the classroom. A third factor pertains to the emphasis which has been on didactics and teaching, whereas the promise of neuroeducation for the teacher may lie more on pedagogical inspiration and support. This article states that the most important knowledge and insights have to do with the notion of brain plasticity; the vision that development is driven by an interaction between a person’s biology and the social system. This helps individuals to select and process information, and to adapt to the personal environment. The paper describes how brain maturation and neuropsychological development extend through the important period of adolescence and emergent adulthood. Over this long period, there is a major development of the Executive Functions that are essential for both cognitive learning, social behavior and emotional processing and, eventually, personal growth. The paper describes the basic neuroscience knowledge and insights – or “neuroscientific literacy” – that the educational professional should have to understand and appreciate the above-described themes. The authors formulate a proposal for four themes of neuroscience content “that every teacher should know.” These four themes are based on the Neuroscience Core Concepts formulated by the Society for Neuroscience. The authors emphasize that integrating neuroscientific knowledge and insights in the field of education should not be a one-way street; attempts directed at improving neuroscientific literacy are a transdisciplinary undertaking. Teacher trainers, experts from the neuroscience fields but also behavioral scientists from applied fields should all contribute to for the educational innovations needed. (shrink)

For contemporary critical philosophers of education, the thought of Paul Tillich, a protestant theologian, does not seem to be a very likely point of reference. Nevertheless, we decided to read some of his works within a philosophical-educational context. Reading those works of Tillich we realized that they required a pedagogical-philosophical acknowledgement. Scarce as the educational analyses of Paul Tillich’s writings are, they concern mostly either religious education or some specific issues connected with teaching. Our proposal was to read him (...) differently: as a critical tool for grasping contemporary educational issues, independent from a religious or didactic approach. In the article, referring to the thoughts of Tillich, we analyze the three most important tensions of the last and present centuries: kairos I and II, referring to the human condition after World Wars I and II, and kairos III, related mainly to the war on terrorism and to the growing climate crisis. The analysis of these special moments in the history of humankind is related to the postulates and pedagogical attitudes articulated by us. We conclude that as a result of the deepening climate crisis and the looming specter of a cataclysm, the transition to a better aion may enable the pedagogy of radical hope. The essence of this pedagogy is to shape the “courage to be” during grassroots, collective and political action - an existential attitude saturated with resistance, concern and hope that such grassroots, cultural-religious practices can contribute to social change and reduce the fear of inevitable death associated with the risk of annihilation of the Earth. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Semina Ignis:The Interplay of Science and Myth in the Song of SilenusMichael Paschalis1. Introductionhinc lapides Pyrrhae iactos, Saturnia regna,Caucasiasque refert uolucris furtumque Promethei(Virg. Ecl. 6.41-42)The list of myths in Virgil's Eclogues 6.41-42 has intrigued critics since the time of Servius. The problem most commonly pointed out is its lack of chronological and logical order vis-à-vis the mainstream mythological tradition. Virgil does not mention the first creation of man but (...) passes directly to his regeneration from Pyrrha's stones. This is the story of the repopulation of the earth after the Flood and hence ought to have preceded Saturn's reign, which presumably represents man's initial happy state. In addition, Prometheus' punishment comes before his theft of fire; this could indeed be interpreted as a hysteron proteron, but there remains the difficulty that Prometheus is Deucalion's father and Pyrrha's uncle1 and his furtum ought to have preceded Pyrrha's creation of mankind.The majority of critics believe that there is indeed a lack of chronological order and that it is deliberate. I will give a few examples. Zeph Stewart claims that the chronological problem is explicable in terms of Virgil's intention to give random examples of one branch of didactic poetry associated with the name of Hesiod, that is, genealogical and mythological tales of the origin and early history of mankind.2 According to Eleanor Leach the displacement of chronology aims at puzzling readers and causing them to seek an explanation. She furthermore makes the [End Page 201] important observation that these myths "may even seem contradictory for they are not all commonly found in the same accounts" and proceeds to explain that "they provide three distinct ideas of the nature of mankind."3 Charles Segal thinks that behind the deliberate chronological disorder, there is a theme which is central for the song of Silenus, namely "the flawed character of human existence and man's removal from any absolute purity of life or spirit."4 Other critics, however, see no chronological problem in the order of myths. Boyle and Clausen, for instance, note a progression from the creation of mankind (the myth of Pyrrha) to the golden age (Saturn's reign) and from there to the age of technology (Prometheus' theft of fire), which they interpret either as mankind's fall from a happy state or as morally indifferent.5 Patricia Johnston has argued that the relation of men generated from stones to the Saturnia regna conforms to a consistent chronological pattern in Virgil's works and to an overall conception of the Golden Age, which in her view "appears to require that it be preceded by a race of mortals hardened either by primitive existence or by military activities."6In what follows I intend to suggest a somewhat different approach to the passage in question. The interpretation I propose is based on arguments derived from the close relation of these myths to the preceding "scientific" section. The two sections share thematic and semantic features which, as I show in part 4 of this essay, are also prominent in other parts of Eclogue 6.In an article published in 1923 Günther Jachmann7 made two points which are important for any discussion of Virgil's cosmogony and the section on Pyrrha and Prometheus:1. Jachmann objected to Servius' observation that line 41 begins a new section ("relictis prudentibus rebus de mundi origine, subito ad fabulas transitum fecit"), which the majority of Virgilian scholars have adopted without giving it much thought. He pointed out that the initial cosmogony forms a thematic whole with the section treating the origin (Pyrrha) and early history of man (Saturn's reign and the theft of fire by Prometheus). Jachmann noted in this respect that a similar pattern is visible in Orpheus' song in Apollonius (Arg. 1.496-511.), one of the models of Virgil's cosmogony. The difference is that Orpheus' cosmogony [End Page 202] is followed by a theogony and focuses on the gods (503-11), while Silenus' cosmogony is followed by an anthropogony and focuses on man, approximately as Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.76-150... (shrink)

Murdoch’s moral philosophy stresses the didactic theme of active self-improvement. To this end, she argues, we can work to amend the quality of our states of consciousness, and hence of our conduct. But while such work undoubtedly involves cognitive effort, Murdoch has much to say about the hazards of a specious or misguided intellectualism. By way of commentary on these views, the present paper suggests that Murdoch’s early apprenticeship in Marxist politics—and her subsequent rejection of Marxism—may have left a (...) trace both in the idea that ‘our states of consciousness differ in quality’ ; and in the specific, distinctively ‘idealist’ course proposed by her mature philosophy for the project of moral self-criticism. (shrink)

Columella's poem on horticulture, which forms Book 10 of his prose treatise De re rustica, has predominantly been edited by experts in agricultural writings rather than in Latin poetry, leaving many textual problems unsolved or even unrecognized. This article discusses a number of passages and proposes some thirty emendations.

Drawing from a wide array of disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts, this volume offers new insights for critically engaging with the problem of vulnerability. The essays here contained take the move from the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to explore the inherent vulnerability of individuals, but also of social, economic and political systems, and probe the descriptive and prescriptive import of the concept.Each chapter provides a self-contained perspective on vulnerability, as well as a specific methodological framework for questioning its meaning. Taken (...) together, the chapters combine into a multi-disciplinary toolkit for approaching the various forms and structures of vulnerability, with a special attention to the intersectional factors shaping the individual experience of it: from gender to age, from disability to mental illness, from hospitalisation to incarceration. The book explores the theoretical richness and complexity of the concept and proposes new analytical approaches to it, before illustrating its multifariousness through empirically grounded case studies. The closing section engages with “the future of vulnerability”, as a hermeneutic, epistemological, and critical-normative perspective to be deployed beyond the domain of global crises and emergencies.The volume is primarily intended as a reference for scholars in the human, social and health sciences. The accessible structure and plain language of the chapters make it also a valuable didactic resource for graduate courses in philosophy, the social sciences and public health. (shrink)