No abstract

Thanks to the joint struggle of rural teachers and other social agents, since the end of the 20th century, the reviled image of rural schools has been reversed and their potential has become evident, until they are now perceived as educational institutions of great value. This paper analyses the current situation of rural schools. Specifically, it aims to look in depth at its strengths and weaknesses, emphasising four aspects which stand out in previous studies: organisation of the school, teaching team, students, relationship with families and material resources. This is based on a set of in-depth interviews and a survey, carried out in the first phase of the project, aimed at 240 representatives of the management teams of the nursery, primary, compulsory secondary, secondary school and vocational training centres in the province of Lleida, of which 71 were rural schools. The quantitative results, limited to schools located in rural environments and analysed in this study, show that the rural school is full of potential thanks largely to an organisation that makes the most of limited resources and makes it possible to create better coordinated working environments. The involvement of families is also highlighted and a very positive view of the school climate and good coexistence in rural schools is detected, an issue that has not been identified in recent scientific literature on this type of centre.

El texto presenta la población inmigrante, con especial interés en la de origen africano, en el medio rural catalán. Para ello muestra la distribución de la población inmigrante en España y Cataluña, como marcos de referencia, y analiza los procesos sociales que se producen en un medio rural que vive una profunda transformación. Para su realización se han utilizado los datos demográficos del padrón continuo de la población del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Estos datos permiten dibujar un mínimo escenario donde se desarrolla el proceso inmigratorio. Por otro lado, la realidad cotidiana de este proceso migratorio se analiza a partir de entrevistas en profundidad y grupos de discusión con los protagonistas, autóctonos e inmigrantes, que permiten observar las barreras reales y percibidas en este encuentro así como los retos que se vislumbran ante esta nueva realidad.

This article focuses on cultural mediation by discovering its potential and relevance in Italy, during a project on intercultural education, that has been undertaken in Rome by us. And four intercultural singular initiatives are described. Specifically, this article is the result of the empirical work following a qualitative methodology. In the first phase (September - December 2019), 6 in-depth interviews were conducted with expert university professors on the subject, as well as visits to various formal and non-formal training centers. Based on the results, in the second phase (February 2020), 4 initiatives were selected, and 8 in-depth interviews were conducted with their managers and teachers. They are described in this article as an example of good educational practices in interculturality, characterized by their proposal for inclusive activities for immigrant groups, their networking with the community, and in which intercultural mediation plays a key role directly or indirectly.

Resumen: Este texto da cuenta del proyecto “Infancias mediadas”, un proyecto mixto de Investigación-acción y de Investigación educativa basada en las artes, llevado a cabo en la Facultad de Educación Psicología y Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Lleida. Su objetivo es incorporar los discursos y las mediaciones tecnológicas como contenidos educativos y, en concreto, explorar la utilización de narrativas visuales y de imágenes mediáticas en educación artística, en los diferentes grados de formación del profesorado de la FEPTS. Para ello indaga en las narrativas visuales realizadas por el alumnado de la Facultad: imágenes autobiográficas –en relación a sus propias experiencias mediáticas infantiles– y, así mismo, en la creación de contra-discursos visuales entorno al imaginario mediático. Se analiza la interconexión entre imágenes y textos, entre la creación y la interpretación, entre explorar las imágenes y mediaciones de la propia infancia y la interrelación con otras imágenes y tiempos. La investigación muestra las dificultades de pensar sobre nuestros roles como consumidoras de cultura visual en relación con la construcción de las identidades docentes; y constata la importancia de cuestionar algunos mitos y discursos sobre “la infancia”, a fin de asumir responsabilidad educativa hacia las diferentes infancias. En unos tiempos de hipervisibilidad mediática, esta investigación propone otras formas de construcción crítica de identidades docentes, relacionando las prácticas artísticas, las visualidades y las pedagogías críticas.  Palabras clave: Artes visuales; educación; formación del profesorado; investigación artística; influencias mediáticas; pedagogías críticas.  Abstract: This text recounts the project “Mediated childhoods”, a mixed action-research and arts-based educational research project, conducted at the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work at the University of Lleida. Its aim is to incorporate technological discourses and mediations as educational content and, in particular, to explore the use of visual narratives and media images in art education in the various teacher training degrees of the FEPTS. To do so, it investigates the visual narratives created by the Faculty’s students: autobiographical images –in relation to their own childhood media experiences– and, at the same time, the creation of visual counter-discourses on the media imaginary. The interconnection between images and texts, between creation and interpretation, between exploring the images and mediations of one’s own childhood and the interrelationship with other images and times is analysed. The investigation reveals the difficulties of thinking about our roles as consumers of visual culture in relation to the construction of teacher identities; it demonstrates the importance of questioning certain myths and discourses about “childhood”, in order to take educational responsibility for different childhoods. In times of media hypervisibility, this investigation proposes other forms of critical construction of teacher identities, relating artistic practices, visual studies and critical pedagogies.   Keywords: visual arts; education; teacher training; arts research; media influences; critical pedagogies.