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19 pages, 347 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“Our Needs Our Solutions”: Workshop with Migrant Adolescents on Their Emotional and Relational Needs

by Elena Rodríguez-Ventosa Herrera, María Angustias Roldán Franco and Isabel Muñoz-San Roque

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(11), 617; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13110617 - 13 Nov 2024

Viewed by 419

Abstract

Migrant adolescents face unique emotional and relational challenges that can hinder their well-being and development. While prior research has identified many of these challenges, there is limited work exploring migrant adolescents’ perspectives on their needs. This study aims to bridge that gap by [...] Read more.

Migrant adolescents face unique emotional and relational challenges that can hinder their well-being and development. While prior research has identified many of these challenges, there is limited work exploring migrant adolescents’ perspectives on their needs. This study aims to bridge that gap by adopting a participatory approach to investigate the emotional and relational needs of migrant adolescents in Spain and the solutions they propose to address them. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory as the theoretical framework, we conducted qualitative participatory research with migrant adolescents. They identified their emotional and relational needs, which were categorised into six thematic areas distributed across the ecological levels. The themes include supporting their families, receiving recognition and emotional support from relatives, improving school and societal experiences, learning the host language, gaining empathy from the local population, and regularising their legal status. The key actors identified to help meet their needs include parents, teachers, peers, society, and policymakers. The participants proposed self-directed solutions to these challenges, such as fostering peer relationships and advocating for policy reforms. The findings suggest that migrant adolescents have valuable insights into their emotional and relational needs, emphasising the importance of involving them in shaping interventions that support their inclusion and mental health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

11 pages, 1195 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coalition: Mapping the Development of Inclusive Practices in Initial Teacher Training for Fostering Student Participation

by Elia Fernández-Díaz and Carlota San-Miguel-Guerrero

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(11), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13110584 - 29 Oct 2024

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Abstract

In this article, we present the progress of the Erasmus+ Coalition European project. The aim of this project is to promote the development of inclusive practices in higher education so that optimal learning scenarios can be experienced which allow for the rethinking of [...] Read more.

In this article, we present the progress of the Erasmus+ Coalition European project. The aim of this project is to promote the development of inclusive practices in higher education so that optimal learning scenarios can be experienced which allow for the rethinking of participation processes in an educational context. In the first phase of the project, a study was carried out using a mixed methodological approach of teaching competences for the development of inclusive practices. University teaching staff and students from several European institutions participated in this study with the aim of gathering information on the following key areas: academic perceptions of possible institutional obstacles and resources; beliefs of the teaching body with regard to inclusive pedagogical approaches; and strategies for adapting to different learning styles and encouraging student participation. Here, we present the results obtained in relation to the implementation of procedures for inclusive teaching, placing our emphasis on the strategies used to favour the monitoring of student learning. Based on the achievements of the initial stage, our intention is to generate a community of practice that supports the training scaffolding of those concerned, and to develop online processes of inquiry to improve initial teacher training in fomenting student participation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

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16 pages, 1656 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Are Our Schools Carrying Out Effective Environmental Education? In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions

by Eugenio Salvador Ivorra-Catalá, María Catret-Mascarell and Elena Moreno-Gálvez

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(8), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13080425 - 14 Aug 2024

Viewed by 780

Abstract

Faced with the environmental challenges facing today’s society, it is necessary to form critical, conscious, committed and competent citizens that can take action. Children represent, at the same time, the need for care and hope for a better and more sustainable world. The [...] Read more.

Faced with the environmental challenges facing today’s society, it is necessary to form critical, conscious, committed and competent citizens that can take action. Children represent, at the same time, the need for care and hope for a better and more sustainable world. The school is the ideal place to carry out this training. All citizens pass through school for many years and many hours a day. Everything in the school is designed to teach people how to learn and live together: the people who work there, the infrastructure, the rules, the resources and the opportunities to share daily actions. But are schools prepared to carry out effective environmental education? Several reasons have been pointed out as potential explanations of the lack of awareness and sustainable behavior observed in a large part of the population. Surely, one of the most important is the lack of adequate organization, which leads to a lack of long-term planning, of people in charge, or of an evaluation and communication of the results. In this paper, we present a study on environmental education carried out in a group of Early Childhood and Elementary education schools using structured interviews conducted by students of the Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir. The results obtained are congruent with the contributions made by previous studies, which have highlighted the lack of coherence between training, attitudes and teaching practices. The conclusions drawn seem to indicate that, although practicing teachers are aware of the importance of the subject, the presence of environmental policies in the school and the implementation of good educational action are far from being considered optimal, given the current need for them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

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12 pages, 278 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Teachability of Global Citizenship to Children through Empirical Environmental Education: Reflections from a Horticultural Project in a Spanish School

by Isabel Pérez-Ortega and Iñigo González-Fuente

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(4), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13040225 - 20 Apr 2024

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Abstract

In a context defined by the internationalisation of educational policies and the supranational nature of school programmes, we highlight the desirability of promoting local strategies for teaching environmental sustainability in order to contribute to the formation of global citizenship in children. Based on [...] Read more.

In a context defined by the internationalisation of educational policies and the supranational nature of school programmes, we highlight the desirability of promoting local strategies for teaching environmental sustainability in order to contribute to the formation of global citizenship in children. Based on the experience of a horticultural curricular project in a school in northern Spain, the aim of this article is to reflect on the need for socio-educational communities to transform the objectives of environmental education into tools with which children can co-responsibly build connections to modify or enrich their everyday concepts of caring for the planet. To do this, semiotic analysis of different official school documents is used as a key methodology. Our findings invite consideration of the fact that pedagogies designed to train children in global citizenship competencies should not be limited to the classroom or to reproducing the proposals of institutional documents. Rather, they should be based on the prior knowledge and experiences of all members of the community, above all, of the children. From this perspective, the promotion of empirical learning situations is essential for the acquisition of meaningful and appropriate environmental contents, in the sense that they allow children, as future global citizens, to recognise the ethical repercussions of their own actions and decisions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

17 pages, 379 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Towards Quality Education: An Entrepreneurship Education Program for the Improvement of Self-Efficacy and Personal Initiative of Adolescents

by Ángela Martín-Gutiérrez, Elisabet Montoro-Fernández and Ana Dominguez-Quintero

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13010023 - 26 Dec 2023

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Abstract

In recent decades, youth unemployment has been the focus of attention of international and community bodies in the area of social rights. Specifically, there is a need to promote attitudes and skills to access employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. The measures implemented have [...] Read more.

In recent decades, youth unemployment has been the focus of attention of international and community bodies in the area of social rights. Specifically, there is a need to promote attitudes and skills to access employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. The measures implemented have not been effective. In 2023, Spain had the highest youth unemployment rate in the European Union (29.6%). An improvement in the level and quality of education and training of young people would reduce their level of unemployment. Entrepreneurship education is, therefore, a necessary value in the society of the 21st century since it is a tool for the development and growth of the younger population. In the entrepreneurship education model proposed in this study for adolescents, we focus on the capacities of self-efficacy and personal initiative as precursors of entrepreneurial behavior. This paper analyzes the differences between the mean values of the variables before and after the implementation of the educational program and the influence or correlation between the variables. The main results are threefold: (i) the educational program implemented improves the mean values of the two variables analyzed; (ii) self-efficacy exerts a positive or direct influence on personal initiative, and (iii) the educational program improves or reinforces the positive influence of self-efficacy on personal initiative. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

18 pages, 370 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Entrepreneurial Potential in the Training of a New Generation of Change Agents in Spain

by Antonio Ramón Cárdenas-Gutiérrez, Ana María Domínguez-Quintero and Antonio Bernal-Guerrero

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(12), 680; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120680 - 10 Dec 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1497

Abstract

The development of entrepreneurial potential in the training of school-age pupils is relevant for carrying out projects of an innovative and transformative nature. Entrepreneurial training is enacted through Spanish educational regulations, in relation to the development of the key entrepreneurial competence. Thus, a [...] Read more.

The development of entrepreneurial potential in the training of school-age pupils is relevant for carrying out projects of an innovative and transformative nature. Entrepreneurial training is enacted through Spanish educational regulations, in relation to the development of the key entrepreneurial competence. Thus, a training programme in entrepreneurial potential for school-age students, who are considered as agents of change, was evaluated under the approach of “enterprise education pedagogy”. For this purpose, an experimental research study, pre-test and post-test, with a control and experimental group, was designed. The sample consisted of 1036 participants from eight autonomous communities in Spain. The data analysis was carried out by means of a t-test to compare the mean before and after the application of the programme on the total number of participants, as well as on the subgroups with and without entrepreneurial intentions. The results show that the PEIEO programme had a positive effect on entrepreneurial potential. The experimental group, compared to the control group, significantly increased their total score in the t-test, as well as for each dimension of entrepreneurial potential. Similarly, the participants considered to have entrepreneurial intentions further increased their entrepreneurial potential compared to the group considered to have no entrepreneurial intentions. Consequently, the results indicate that entrepreneurship education, in a holistic sense, has a relevant impact on entrepreneurial potential in a programme aimed at training agents of change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

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24 pages, 1507 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Scoping Review of Children, Empowerment, and Smartphone Technology Regarding Social Construction Theory with the Aim of Increasing Self-Direction in Democracies

by Carol Nash

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(4), 196; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13040196 - 31 Mar 2024

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Abstract

Children are Dependents in a version of social construction theory regarding their inability to self-direct their behavior in democratic society. In this regard, childhood represents a lack of self-direction, a life period when people require the guidance and protection of adults. The assumed [...] Read more.

Children are Dependents in a version of social construction theory regarding their inability to self-direct their behavior in democratic society. In this regard, childhood represents a lack of self-direction, a life period when people require the guidance and protection of adults. The assumed necessity of adults supervising children in democracies necessitates substantial social resources, reducing the self-direction of those charged with overseeing children. Given that self-direction defines the optimal experience of people within a democratic society, finding ways to increase the self-direction of children is an individual and a social benefit. In this regard, smartphones have improved self-direction in children. How children have become empowered to self-direct their lives with smartphone use considering social construction theory—as Advantaged, Contenders, or Deviants—is the focus of a scoping review conducted on “children, empowerment, smartphones” of the following databases: OVID, JSTOR, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The result is that children permitted to self-direct their activities aided by smartphone technology have comparable social behavior to adults positioned as Advantaged, Contenders, or Deviants, and as such, they should be encouraged to utilize smartphone technology to improve their self-direction, as doing so will augment individual and caregiver self-direction, providing increased social benefit. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

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Other

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13 pages, 498 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Childhood, Education, and Citizen Participation: A Systematic Review

by Arminda Álamo-Bolaños, Itahisa Mulero-Henríquez and Leticia Morata Sampaio

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(8), 399; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13080399 - 29 Jul 2024

Viewed by 1560

Abstract

Citizen participation among children and adolescents is key for the development of society. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the legal and ethical recognition of public, education, and social policies for children is vital for ensuring an active and [...] Read more.

Citizen participation among children and adolescents is key for the development of society. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the legal and ethical recognition of public, education, and social policies for children is vital for ensuring an active and critical society. The aim of this research paper is to analyse the characteristics and challenges of citizen participation during childhood as an educational process. The methodology employed was a systematic review carried out using the WOS, SCOPUS, and ERIC databases, taking into account the PRISMAS 2020 protocol. The results show that the incorporation of a culture of participation in children and adolescents will guarantee the persistence of democratic systems, although there are still challenges to overcome. The conclusions suggest that it is crucial that educational institutions, families, and society as a whole commit to promoting the philosophy of citizen participation at an early age in formal and non-formal educational contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood and Rights in a Global World)

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