The article “Beyond Kohlberg: Ethical Learning for Coherence between Judgement, Feelings and Moral Actions”, written in Catalan by Dr. Amèlia Tey and Dr. Maria Rosa Buxarrais, has recently been published in the Anuari de Psicologia de la Societat Valenciana de Psicologia.

Abstract

Moral development is still a matter of concern within the educational community. Different education agents devote time and effort to a topic that currently shows a clear separation between theory and practice, between reasoning and moral actions. The objectives and intentions of schools and families are laudable, but children and teenagers act too impulsively and find it difficult to acquire certain behaviours.

Kohlberg’s approach, focuse don’t hedevelopment of judgement and moral reasoning, seems to provide students with formal discursive elements. However, there is not enough of the deep reflection that would make students adopt his approach as part of their own personalities. In other words, the evolution of the approach to analyse value-laden situations has no direct correlation with a real capability to take decisions at the same level.

Based on this analysis, we propose an inclusive view of the person in order to enhance their moral development. Ethical learning, like any other type of learning, implies a transformation of theway of interpreting and reacting to all that happens in the world. This transformation must take place in the superior psychological processes and in motivation, based on sensitivity and interiority, to promote awareness of the consequences of actions and their real scope.

The article is available to download in the article section.

The article “ICT Use and Parental Mediation Perceived by Chilean Children” has been recently published in the journal Comunicar (E-ISSN: 1988-3293 / ISSN: 1134-3478) written by Llarela Berríos Valenzuela, Maria Rosa Buxarrais Estrada and María Soledad Garcés.

Abstract:

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has extended to all contexts of our lives in the last few years, modifying our communication, learning, entertainment and socialization habits. The aim of the present research is to investigate about primary-age children’s habits with these tools, as well as these children’s perception of parental mediation in this area. In this study we used an ex post facto descriptive methodology by survey. A questionnaire was applied for data recollection to 422 children of private schools in Santiago de Chile aged between 9 and 12 years old. The results point to an early access to electronic devices and the transversal and homogeneous use during childhood. There is no doubt that ICTs play an active role in daily life for most of these children. No significant differences in age or sex were detected in our study, but we encountered risky behaviours in how children use ICTs and in their perception of parental mediation. The complexity becomes more evident the more time they have with electronic devices connected to the Internet without adult supervision. This finding raises the need for the application of intervention programs on parental mediation of children’s use of ICTs in order to promote a safe, responsible and ethical use of these tools.

The full article can be downloaded from the journal’s website, in pdf, eput or html format.

Octaedro Publishers have just published the book “Retos educativos para el siglo XXI. Autonomía, responsabilidad, neurociencia y aprendizaje” (184 p., ISBN: 9788499216553), edited by Maria Rosa Buxarrais and Miquel Martínez.

This work deals with two key values in education: autonomy and responsibility. The book consists of a group of studies about the relationshibs between both concepts from different points of view: philosophy, family, school, spaces generated by ICTs and contributions of neuroscience on learning and education. This book is addressed to both, academics and teachers and also to parents. Educators and families must establish alliances in order to promote optimal levels of autonomy and responsibility in younger generations. Both editors are professors at the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona, members of the Research Group in Moral Education (GREM in Catalan) and they coordinated the International Conference on Theory of Education, where the papers in this book were presented.

Table of contents:

Presentación (Maria Rosa Buxarrais, Miquel Martínez).
1. Autonomía relacional (Nel Noddings).
2. Aprendizaje y ciudadanía en las pedagogías del siglo XXI: entre la autonomía y la responsabilidad (Marta Burguet , Xavier Laudo).
3. Autonomía, responsabilidad y familias: conexiones y complejidades (Ruth Thomas).
4. Familia: algunas claves para fomentar la responsabilidad y la autonomía (Ana Maria Novella, Montserrat Payá).
5. ¿Qué queda de la responsabilidad y la autonomía en la escuela contemporánea? (Gabriela Diker).
6. ¿Qué escuela, qué autonomía y qué responsabilidad? (Laura Rubio, Francisco Esteban).
7. Autonomía y responsabilidad en el contexto de la sociedad de la información y las tecnologías (Enric Prats, Mariona Graell).
8. Plasticidad cerebral y experiencia: fundamentos neurobiológicos de la educación (Margalida Coll Andreu).
9. Neurociencia, aprendizaje y educación (Joaquín García Carrasco).
10. Neurociencia y educación: trazos para un tejido común hacia la autonomía y la responsabilidad (Mónica Gijón, Amèlia Tey).

The book can be purchased in Amazon.es clicking on the following botton:

UB Edicions has recently published the book “La conciliación familiar, laboral, social y personal: una cuestión ética” (136 pp.), ISBN 978-84-475-3879-9, edited by Maria Rosa Buxarrais and Marta Burguet. The book includes articles written by the following authors (by alphabetical order): Marta Burguet Arfelis, Maria Rosa Buxarrais Estrada, Fernanda Duprat, Alexandro Escudero Nahón, Francisco Esteban Bara, Amèlia Tey Teijón and Isabel Vilafranca Manguán.

Abstract

Work and family balance can be examined from different angles, be it Philosophy, Psychology, Politics or Sociology, but in all of them there is a common topic: shared time. This is a moment in history when everything takes places in a hurry, when time is a seen as a commodity and everyone’s dayly routine is organised around the work timetable. Therefore, it is neccesary to develop strategies and cultivate values to not only balance work and family, but also to favour personal growth. From this point of view, work and family balance would be in the field of Ethics and it becomes something that can be taught and learnt.

The articles collected in this book show that, besides the neccesary application of appropriate public policies, balancing work and family implies learning to manage shared spaces and individual times, as well as being aware that balancing the different aspects of our life is, basically, a matter of a values scale.

Book index

– Introducción.

– La familia como comunidad moral: consideraciones filosóficas para la educación en valores basándose en la conciliación, by Francisco Esteban Bara.

– La educación para la igualdad: un reto universal del siglo XXI, by Isabel Vilafranca Manguán.

– Romper tópicos en la conciliación familiar. Cuando la conciliación adquiere sentido, by Marta Burguet Arfelis.

– La conciliación familiar: una condición necesaria para educar en valores hoy, by Maria Rosa Buxarrais Estrada, Francisco Esteban Bara and Isabel Vilafranca Manguán.

– El vínculo educativo basado en la corresponsabilidad afectiva de la familia, by Amèlia Tey Teijón.

– Los Planes Estadísticos Nacionales: un espacio de conformación social, by Fernanda Duprat.

– Ocio en familia: una estrategia para promover el valor de la corresponsabilidad en la familia by Maria Rosa Buxarrais Estrada and Alexandro Escudero Nahón.

– A modo de conclusión.

El libro está disponible en la tienda online de Ediciones Universitat de Barcelona en este link.