Ibis Marlene Álvarez

Initial teacher education faces a persistent challenge: helping future teachers use the cultural-historical approach not only to understand child development theoretically but to interpret concrete educational practices. Although this framework offers powerful concepts for analyzing children’s learning and socialization, students often struggle to apply them when observing real situations. This study examines the potential of a multimodal methodology, inspired by visual anthropology, to promote situated learning in teacher education. Using a qualitative, interpretive approach, it analyzes a formative experience involving 143 primary education–degree students at a public university in Barcelona. The proposal combined academic reading, systematic observation of everyday child interactions, visual or audiovisual recording, narrative-argumentative writing, and collective discussion. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted on the multimodal corpus produced by the groups, complemented by open-ended questionnaire responses. Findings indicate that the methodology acted as formative mediation, transforming observation into evidence, writing into conceptual elaboration, and audiovisual editing into reasoned analytical selection. It fostered theory–practice articulation, situated professional vision, and collaborative, ethically informed reflection on visual data involving children.

The digital transformation of higher education requires assessment approaches capable of capturing complex learning processes. In teacher education, immersive virtual reality (VR) simulations generate multimodal records, yet transforming them into pedagogically meaningful evidence for assessing classroom-management competence remains challenging. This methodological pilot study examines Mission Control–Didascalias VC, an analytics infrastructure for classroom-management simulations. Of 626 sessions, 595 were retained in the cleaned analytical corpus. Data sources comprised session metadata, verbal interactions, programmed challenging events, vocal and movement signals, dashboard exports and, for 17 focal cases, video recordings and transcripts. The analysis examined data quality, traceability and interpretability, developed and refined a multimodal coding framework, and included a worked example of sequence-based coding. Results show that simulation records do not constitute assessment evidence in themselves. Their formative value emerges through cleaning, temporal alignment, multimodal triangulation and contextual interpretation, which transform isolated technical traces into pedagogically meaningful interactional sequences. Critical verbal interactions, participant responses, emergent classroom situations, and vocal and movement patterns provided complementary evidence, including in sessions without programmed challenging events. The study concludes that VR analytics can support sustainable formative assessment when technical records are transformed into pedagogically interpretable interactional evidence for debriefing, feedback and evidence reuse over time.

This study aims at identifying pedagogical practices that demonstrate the intercultural communicative competence (ICC) of kindergarten and primary school teachers, who have worked in vulnerable educational contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. A multiple case study was conducted with two public schools in Catalonia. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with schools management teams (n=2), as well as with families (n=2); and a focus group was held with the teaching staff (n=18) for data collection. Thematic analysis in ATLAS.ti v9 revealed four key themes: personalizing teaching and understanding diversity, building an inclusive school culture, using technological and digital tools, and building positive relationships. It is proposed that a contextualized and planned training specifically oriented towards the development of ICC could be an appropriate and timely tool to address the needs of a culturally and linguistically diverse multicultural school.

Este estudio tiene tres objetivos: (1) reconstruir las trayectorias migratorias de jóvenes que migran solos en España, (2) analizar los eventos clave y su impacto en su futuro, y (3) examinar la influencia de sus redes de apoyo. Participaron 32 jóvenes de entre 15 y 21 años residentes en centros de acogida, cuyas experiencias migratorias estuvieron marcadas por el riesgo y la incertidumbre. A través de talleres participativos e instrumentos visuales y narrativos, se recogieron datos cualitativos sobre sus trayectorias, redes sociales y expectativas. Los resultados muestran un fuerte vínculo afectivo con sus familias de origen, aunque en situaciones difíciles recurren más a compañeros de los centros, quienes representan su principal fuente de apoyo emocional. Las relaciones con la población local son escasas, lo que dificulta su integración social. Pese a ello, los jóvenes demuestran agencialidad y liderazgo en la toma de decisiones, impulsados por expectativas positivas que orientan sus trayectorias. Se destaca la importancia de resignificar estas expectativas, integrar sus vivencias y fomentar una visión de futuro esperanzadora. Reconocer sus aprendizajes, tanto previos como adquiridos en el trayecto migratorio, y reforzar el papel del personal educativo como apoyo afectivo son aspectos clave para promover su desarrollo personal y educativo.

Este estudio subraya la importancia de utilizar escenarios realistas para evaluar la Competencia en Gestión de Aula (CGA), tradicionalmente medida mediante cuestionarios. Se evaluó la CGA de futuros docentes de secundaria con Didascalia Virtual Classroom, una plataforma de simulaciones en realidad virtual para fomentar esta competencia. El objetivo fue identificar y categorizar las estrategias de afrontamiento del profesorado en formación para gestionar incidentes en un entorno de Realidad Virtual Inmersiva. El estudio, realizado en el máster de formación del profesorado, incluyó a 39 estudiantes de ocho disciplinas de dos universidades españolas. Se diseñaron tres escenarios simulados que representaban comportamientos disruptivos: perturbaciones en la relación profesor-alumno, entre compañeros y durante el trabajo en grupo. Se utilizó un enfoque metodológico mixto con una aproximación exploratoria-descriptiva. Los datos se recogieron mediante vídeos de las actuaciones de los participantes y se realizó un análisis de contenido temático basado en los estilos de gestión de conflictos de Thomas y Kilmann (2008): cooperación, compromiso, complacencia, evitación y dominación. Los resultados mostraron que los participantes tendían a usar estrategias asertivas y reactivas, como dominación y compromiso. Se identificaron dos subgrupos con perfiles distintos: uno asertivo, pero no cooperativo y otro con baja asertividad y moderada cooperación. Se observaron diferencias en la implementación de estrategias según los escenarios. Esto sugiere que los futuros docentes deben desarrollar flexibilidad en la gestión del aula, adoptando un enfoque proactivo y adaptando estrategias a diferentes contextos y comportamientos disruptivos.

Introducción: El Aprendizaje Basado en Retos (ABR) es una metodología activa en la que estudiantado colabora con profesorado y agentes del territorio para resolver problemas sociales locales o globales, cuyo objetivo es preparar al alumnado para solucionar problemas presentes con efectos duraderos. Metodología: En nuestro caso de estudio, implementamos el ABR en una asignatura de Educación Primaria con la Escola del Consum de Catalunya (ECC) como agente del territorio. Las y los 250 estudiantes por equipos aplicaron teoría del desarrollo infantil para mejorar talleres de educación en consumo para niños y niñas. Utilizaron el Design Thinking en tres fases: Comprometer, Investigar y Actuar. Resultados: Las soluciones propuestas por los equipos incluyeron: modificar talleres, modificar actividades, crear guías del desarrollo infantil para la ECC, eliminar las franjas de edades de los talleres, mejorar guías docentes de la ECC, crear encuestas sobre los hábitos de consumo del alumnado, crear una checklist para que la ECC evalúe sus talleres y crear una revista dirigida a familias para educar en consumo sostenible. Conclusiones: Las ventajas del ABR incluyen la relevancia de la teoría y la colaboración con especialistas. Sin embargo, también discutimos limitaciones como la falta de profundidad en las soluciones y restricciones de programación.

Enhancing the educational experience through Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) is a promising avenue, elevating the authenticity and responsiveness of simulations. Particularly in educational settings, IVR holds the potential to augment accessibility and engagement in learning. However, one pivotal aspect lies in assessing the learners' acceptance of such environments to ensure optimal and effective utilization of these technologies. This paper delves into the Didascalia Virtual-ClassRoom usability testing —an immersive IVR environment tailored for pre-service secondary school teachers. The platform transports users into a simulated classroom, where they are invited to play the role of a teacher. During the simulation, three scenarios are recreated, reproducing disruptive behaviours commonly faced in real classrooms. 84 participants (28 teachers and 56 pre-service teachers) engaged in decision-making to manage the classroom climate influenced by the simulated situations. To collect data, we used a questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to assess and gauge users' inclinations and attitudes towards embracing the technology in question. To gain deeper insights into the user experience, participants were further invited to participate in semi-structured interviews, offering reflections and suggestions for potential enhancements. The evaluation process encompassed the perceived usefulness of the Didascalia Virtual-ClassRoom, shedding light on factors that could either facilitate or impede the adoption of this platform to enhance classroom management competence. The participants' perspectives serve as a valuable foundation for refining the tool's functionality, and their feedback fuels recommendations for its seamless integration into initial teacher training programs.

Com o centenário da educação a distância (EAD) no Brasil, completado em 2023, o artigo traz estudo exploratório descritivo de comparação das representações sociais negativas sobre a modalidade de ensino antes e depois da pandemia do coronavírus (2019 e 2023). O objetivo é refletir sobre a formação de um aparente preconceito em relação à EAD no país - de origem histórica, econômica e sociocultural - a partir da presente pesquisa do campo psicossocial, realizada com 1.000 candidatos do Vestibular Cederj – Centro de Educação Superior a Distância do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, nos referidos anos. A obra “Cem anos de solidão” de García Márquez inspira analogia sobre o “isolamento” da EAD, pelo pouco reconhecimento que parece ter marcado seus cem anos de existência. O percentual de participantes que apresentaram percepções negativas relacionadas à EAD esteve praticamente sem alteração nos períodos pré e pós-pandemia (42% em 2019 e 43% em 2023). Os dados foram coletados pela técnica de evocação de palavras inspirada em Abric, por meio de indagações ao ego (eu) e ao alter (outro). Amparados pela abordagem teórico-metodológica das Ágoras de Viana, analisamos os resultados com destaque para o fato de que as avaliações negativas sobressaíram significativamente em ambos os anos quando os pesquisados foram indagados a partir do alter e não do ego. O fato evidenciou que a construção do pensamento do indivíduo, influenciada pela sua condição de ser social, é fator preponderante para a formação das Ágoras: agrupamentos por afinidades de representações sociais. Palavras-chave: Educação a distância. Representações sociais. Preconceito. Pandemia do coronavírus. Ágoras.