Recordando al Conejo - Fernando Velasco Abad

Military spending and education ▸ Gasto militar y educación

Tomado de: Altercom
 Rosa María Torres

▸ "6 days of military spending by aid donors would close the USD $16 billion Education for All external financing gap."
▸ "6 días de gasto militar de los países ricos podría cubrir la brecha de USD 16 billones de ayuda externa requerida para la Educación para Todos". 

Source / Fuente:
» Education for All -EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011 "The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education" (UNESCO, Paris, March 2011).
» Informe de Seguimiento de la Educación para Todos (EPT) en el Mundo 2011 "Una crisis encubierta: conflictos armados y educación" (UNESCO, París, Marzo 2011).

▸ It costs USD $1 million to keep one U.S. solider in Afghanistan for one year.
▸ Cuesta USD $ 1 millón sostener a un soldado estadounidense en Afganistán durante un año.

Source / Fuente:
 » The Washington Post, 10 things you didn’t know about the Afghan war

El gasto militar anual por habitante en España es 368 Euros.

▸ España arrastra una deuda de 27.000 millones de Euros en los Programas Especiales de Armamentos (PEAS).

Annual military spending per capita in Spain is 368 Euros.
▸ Spain has a debt of 27.000 million Euros in Special Weapon Programmes (PEAS).


Fuente/Source
» El gasto militar de España en cifras sencillas (Rebelión) 
  
▸ 21 países en vías de desarrollo gastan más en armamento que en escuelas primarias (UNESCO)


To know more / Para saber más:

» The world in over-armed and peace is under-funded (infographic)
» Informe sobre mercenarios estadounidenses: Contratos caros, malos y corruptos

Estados Unidos desperdició entre 31.000 y 60.000 millones de dólares en las guerras de Irak y Afganistán en la última década, debido a problemas como la escasa supervisión de contratistas, corrupción y mala planificación, según un informe divulgado ayer. (Página/12, Buenos Aires, 1 sep. 2011)

Related texts / Textos relacionados:


The Million Paulo Freires




On the night when Paulo Freire died on 2 May 1997, Rosa María Torres wrote this text, published in issue 53 of our journal, as a personal memorial. She updated the text on the 10th anniversary of his death.
- DVV International, Adult Education and Development, Number 69, Bonn, 2007.

They don’t understand me,” he told me during an interview in São Paulo back in 1985. “They don’t understand what I have said, what I say, what I have written.

Mystified by some, demonized by others, misunderstood by many, Paulo Freire often distanced himself from the images about him and his work that came from both theoreticians and practitioners, left wing and right wing, all over the world. Over and over again he asked his critics – but he might as well have asked his followers – to contextualize his work historically, to acknowledge the evolution of his thought and his self-criticism, and to allow him, in sum, the right to continue thinking, learning and living beyond his books and, in particular, beyond Education as a Practice of Liberty (1967) and Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1969), two of his most famous books, and where many, admirers and critics, left him virtually suspended. The Paulo Freire of the last few decades, he who died last 2 May 1997, is just as or even more alive than that of the 60s and 70s, although unfortunately unknown by the majority of the people.



Followers and detractors have often coincided in reducing Freire to a caricature of himself, locking up his thought in a single field (generally, that of adult literacy), reducing it to a number of clichés, and even to a method and a set of related techniques. Around the world, Freire evokes terms such as literacy, adult education, conscientization, dialogue, banking approach to education, circle of culture, generative word and generative theme, thematic universe, action-reflectionaction, praxis, coding and decoding, participatory research, critical knowledge and critical reflection, dialectical relationship, speaking the word, transforming reality, pedagogy of the oppressed, culture of silence, cultural invasion, cultural liberation. 

Some refer to Paulo Freire’s method (or methodology), others to Paulo Freire’s theory, others to Paulo Freire’s pedagogy, others to Paulo Freire’s philosophy (and philosophical anthropology), others to Paulo Freire’s program, others to Paulo Freire’s system. I asked him once which of those denominations he felt most comfortable with. “None of them”, he answered. “I didn’t invent a method, or a theory, or a program, or a system, or a pedagogy, or a philosophy. It is people who put names to things.

A citizen of the world, the name of Freire remained closely linked to Latin America. In Europe, North America, Africa and Asia many educators identify Latin America with Paulo Freire just as many others associate it with the salsa, the guerrilla, the revolution, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Pelé or Maradona. And yet, it is probably in Latin America, and particularly in Brazil, his own country, where Freire has been the object of both the warmest reception and the hardest criticism. In life and in death, his ideas and positions generated and will continue to generate strong sentiments, passionate adherents and rejecters, very different and even diametrically opposed interpretations. For some, a subversive, a revolutionary, thus confronting prison and exile, and associated by many with Marxism, socialism and even communism. For others, a romantic and an idealist, a lukewarm “humanist and culturalist,” an ideologue of conscientization without a clear political base and proposal for social transformation. For some, a complex and advanced educational philosophy, theory and praxis. For others, an incomplete thinking, lacking scientific rigor, and in need of further theoretical elaboration.

Inside and outside of Latin America, many admirers credit Freire with insights and developments that form part of the historic legacy of democratic and progressive educational thinking worldwide and in which Freire himself found sources of inspiration. There are thus those who believe to be original Freirean contributions issues such as the respect for the learner and his/her knowledge, the acknowledgment of the learner’s reality as the starting point for the teaching-learning process, the importance of dialogue as a pedagogical tool, and even the invention of terms such as “praxis” or “conscientization”.  Others, on the other extreme, deny him all originality or else have long claimed to have “surpassed” Freire, either on theoretical, political, ideological or pedagogical grounds, particularly in the field of literacy and adult education.

Thus, from the early 1970s and up to now many have proclaimed they have surpassed Freire’s literacy method, a method seen by some simply as a set of techniques (generative word, dialogue between teachers and learners, coding and decoding of pictures, etc.) and by others as a broad philosophical-ideological framework (conscientization, critical thinking, unity of theory and practice, social transformation, liberation project, etc.). Also, while most people see Freire as the main instigator and inspirer of the Latin American movement of educación popular [popular education], many within the movement see it rooted in a critical approach to Freire’s work.

Los múltiples Paulo Freires


Rosa María Torres



La noche en que murió Paulo Freire, el 2 de mayo de 1997, Rosa María Torres escribió como homenaje personal este texto que habíamos publicado en el número 53 de nuestra revista. Con motivo del décimo aniversario de su muerte, la autora actualizó su artículo. (DVV Internacional, Educación de Adultos y Desarrollo, número 69, Bonn, 2007).
 
 
«No me comprenden», me decía en una entrevista en Sao Paulo, allá por 1985. «No comprenden lo que he dicho, lo que digo, lo que he escrito». Mistificado por unos, demonizado por otros, incomprendido por muchos, Paulo Freire frecuentemente no se sentía reconocido en las versiones de sí mismo que, citando su pensamiento, le devolvían teóricos y prácticos, sectores progresistas y sectores reaccionarios, en el mundo entero.

Una y otra vez reclamó a sus críticos (pero podría haber reclamado con igual fuerza a sus seguidores) ubicar históricamente sus obras, reconocer la evolución de su pensamiento y su propia autocrítica, seguir su trayectoria más reciente y permitirle, en definitiva, el derecho a seguir pensando, a seguir aprendiendo y a seguir viviendo más allá de sus obras y, en particular, más allá de
La educación como práctica de la libertad (1967) y la Pedagogía del oprimido (1969), dos de sus obras más conocidas, y en la que muchos, seguidores y críticos, lo dejaron virtualmente suspendido. El Paulo Freire de las últimas décadas, el que murió en Sao Paulo el 2 de mayo de 1997, es un Freire tanto o más vivo que aquel de la década de los 1960s y los 1970s, pero lamentablemente desconocido para muchos.

Seguidores y detractores han coincidido a menudo en reducir a Freire a una caricatura de sí mismo, encasillando su pensamiento en un único campo (por lo general, la alfabetización de adultos) y restringiéndolo a una serie de clichés e incluso a un método. Mundialmente, el nombre de Freire evoca términos como alfabetización, concientización, educación de adultos, educación popular, educador-educando, educación bancaria, círculo de cultura, palabra generadora, tema generador, universo vocabular y universo temático, diálogo, codificación y descodificación, unidad teoría-práctica, acción-reflexión-acción, investigación participativa, problematización, crítica, pensamiento dialéctico, transformación de la realidad, pedagogía del oprimido, cultura del silencio, invasión y liberación cultural

Algunos hablan del método (o de la metodología) Paulo Freire, otros de la teoría Paulo Freire, otros de la pedagogía-filosofía (y de la filosofía antropológica) de Paulo Freire, otros del programa Paulo Freire, otros del sistema Paulo Freire. Alguna vez le pregunté con cuál de esas denominaciones se sentía más cómodo. Me contestó: «Con ninguna. Yo no inventé ni un método, ni una teoría, ni un programa, ni un sistema, ni una pedagogía, ni una filosofía. Es la gente la que necesita ponerle nombre a las cosas».

Ciudadano del mundo, el nombre de Paulo Freire permaneció estrechamente vinculado a América Latina. En Europa, Norteamérica, África y Asia, muchos educadores identifican a América Latina con Paulo Freire, como tantos otros la asocian con la salsa, la guerrilla, la revolución, El Che, Fidel, Pelé o Maradona. Y, sin embargo, es quizás en América Latina, y en particular en Brasil, su propio país, donde Freire ha sido objeto al mismo tiempo de la acogida más cálida y de la crítica más dura.

Lo cierto es que, en vida y en muerte, sus ideas y posturas generaron siempre sentimientos fuertes, adhesiones y rechazos apasionados, interpretaciones muy diferentes y hasta opuestas de su pensamiento. Para unos, un subversivo, un revolucionario, un exponente de la izquierda radical, sometido como tal a prisión y exilio, y asociado por muchos al marxismo, al socialismo y hasta al comunismo. Para otros, un educador apolítico, un tibio «humanista y culturalista», un ideólogo de la «concientización» sin un planteamiento político de transformación social. Para unos, un pensamiento complejo, una teoría y una praxis educativa avanzada. Para otros, un pensamiento incompleto, falto de rigor científico, necesitado de elaboración teórica, que continuó repitiéndose a sí mismo y perdió vigencia.

Dentro y fuera de América Latina, muchos admiradores le atribuyen a Freire cuestiones que forman en verdad parte del legado histórico de la tradición educativa democrática a nivel mundial y en la cual Freire encontró, precisamente, él mismo, fuentes de referencia e inspiración. Así, hay quienes atribuyen como aportes originales de Freire cuestiones como el respeto al educando y a su saber, el reconocimiento de la realidad del educando como punto de partida e insumo fundamental en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, la importancia del diálogo como recurso pedagógico, o incluso la invención de términos como «praxis» o «concientización».

Al mismo tiempo, otros le niegan toda originalidad o bien reclaman para sí haber «superado» a Freire, ya en el plano teórico, en el político-ideológico, o en el pedagógico, particularmente en el terreno de la alfabetización y la educación de adultos. De hecho, desde los años 70 e ininterrumpidamente, muchos han proclamado haber superado el método Freire de alfabetización, reducido por unos a un conjunto de herramientas y técnicas (técnica de la palabra generadora, diálogo entre educador y educando, codificación y descodificación de láminas, etc.) y entendido por otros como un encuadre amplio de orden filosófico, sociológico e ideológico (concientización, pensamiento crítico, unidad teoría-práctica, transformación social, proyecto de liberación, etc.). Asimismo, mientras unos ven en Freire al iniciador e inspirador del movimiento latinoamericano de educación popular, otros consideran que la educación popular se asentó fundamentalmente en un distanciamiento y una superación del pensamiento freiriano. 

Text in English:  The Million Paulo Freire
Text en français: Les multiples Paulo Freire

Otros artículos míos sobre Freire
» Un Congreso de Alfabetizandos en Sao Paulo
» "Yo quisiera morir dejando un mensaje de lucha": entrevista con Paulo Freire
» Paulo Freire, los sexshops y la comida tailandesa
» Paulo Freire, Guinea-Bissau y la alfabetización

Para saber más
Instituto Paulo Freire
Centro de Referencia Paulo Freire

Homenajes póstumos a educadoras y educadores latinoamericanos
108 citas de Paulo Freire - Red Paulo Freire Perú
 

¿Educar para adaptar? ▸ Education for Adaptation?

Rosa María Torres

 (see English below)


¿Educar para adaptar?

«Somos seres de transformación, no de adaptación» Paulo Freire

«El deber de un ciudadano es no creer en ninguna profecía del futuro, sino actuar para realizar el mejor futuro posible» Richard Stallman

«Piensa diferente» Steve Jobs

«Ojalá estemos celebrando todos el sagrado derecho a la indignación, que es la prueba de que estamos de veras vivos y de que somos dignos» Eduardo Galeano
«Frente a los peligros que afrontan nuestras sociedades interdependientes es tiempo de acción, de participación, de no resignarse» Stéphane Hessel
«Convoquemos una verdadera insurrección pacífica contra los medios de comunicación de masas que no propongan como horizonte para nuestra juventud otras cosas que no sean el consumo en masa, el desprecio hacia los más débiles y hacia la cultura, la amnesia generalizada y la competición excesiva de todos contra todos» Stéphane Hessel, Indignáos.


La "sociedad de la información", el "mundo de cambios acelerados", la "era de la incertidumbre" que nos ha tocado vivir están ampliando las fronteras de la información, la comunicación, el conocimiento, la ciencia y la tecnología, pero también exacerbando el consumismo, el despilfarro, el desempleo, el individualismo, el narcisimo, la pérdida de empatía y de altruismo, la competencia, la desconfianza hacia los demás, las migraciones, la destrucción del planeta, los riesgos para la vida humana, las guerras, la crisis alimentaria, la escasez del agua, las brechas entre ricos y pobres, entre el Norte y el Sur, entre los obsesos y los que padecen hambre, entre los "incluidos" y los "excluidos", entre los "conectados" y los "desconectados", entre los con conexión rápida y los sin banda ancha...

No obstante, "adaptarse al cambio" es hoy considerada por muchos una "cualidad del futuro", parte de los listados de "competencias del siglo 21" propuestos desde el Norte, junto con cuestiones tales como el pensamiento crítico, la creatividad, la capacidad para resolver problemas, el espíritu emprendedor o el trabajo en equipo. Hay quienes incluso ... plantean la "adaptabilidad" como un posible indicador de la calidad de la educación (BID-Banco InterAmericano de Desarrollo).

Hoy más que nunca, la educación necesita negar el pensamiento único, generar pensamiento crítico y alternativo, debate de ideas, conciencia social y conciencia planetaria, cultura ciudadana, acción contestataria, transformación social y política, antes que la mera repetición, la resiliencia, la adaptación o la inclusión a secas.

Hoy más que nunca la educación debe renunciar a la trampa de la competencia, los puntajes y los ránkings, en nombre de la ansiada "excelencia". Necesitamos educación en y para la equidad, en y para la colaboración, en y para la democracia. Educación para la emancipación, no para mejorar ránkings.

En el contexto actual, "educación para adaptarse a un mundo cambiante" y "educación para la inclusión" - consignas de la época - equivalen a hacerle el juego al sometimiento y a la resignación.


Education for Adaptation? 


«We are transformative beings, not beings for accommodation» Paulo Freire
«I did not want to predict the future. I want to prevent it»  Ray Bradbury

«
It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society» Jiddu Krishnamurti
«
Think different» Steve Jobs

«
People said I should accept the world. Bullshit! I don't accept the world»  Richard Stallman

«
Faced with the dangers facing our interdependent societies, it is time for action, participation, not resignation» Stéphane Hessel


The "information society", the "rapidly changing world" and the "age of uncertainty" we are living in is expanding information, communication, science and technology, but it is also exacerbating consumerism, waste, unemployment, individualism, narcissism, loss of empathy and of altruism, competitiveness, mistrust, violence, deteriorating the planet, threatening human life, generating new wars, widening the gaps between the rich and the poor, the North and the South, the included and the excluded, the obese and the hungry, the connected and the disconnected, those with rapid Internet connections and those with painfully slow ones...

However, "adapting to change" is considered today a "quality of the future", one of the "21st century skills" together with critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving skills, enterpreneurship or team work. Some even consider "adaptability" as a potential ingredient for quality education! (IDB - InterAmerican Development Bank).

More than ever, education must promote alternative thinking, citizenship-building, empathy, social and global awareness, political mobilization and transformation, rather than mere resilience, adaptation or inclusion. In the current context, "education to adapt to change" and "Inclusive education" - much repeated mottos in current times - can only be calls for resignation.
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Escuelas para madres de tiempo completo



Sabemos que el sistema escolar está desactualizado en muchos aspectos. Nos referirnos aquí a uno solo: la escue­la sigue contando con madres amas de casa, dedicadas a tiempo completo a sus hijos y habilitadas - a menudo desde el simple amor de madres - para servir de auxiliares de la escuela.

El mundo cambió mucho en las últimas décadas,  y muy especialmente para las mujeres. Pobres y acomodadas, de todas las edades, con poca o con mucha educación formal, millones de mujeres salimos a trabajar fuera del hogar. La mayoría sin abandonar por ello el trabajo doméstico, el invisibile, el más pesado de todos, el poco valorado y no remunerado. Muchas mujeres se graduaron de «jefas de familia», madres solteras, abandonadas, divorciadas, o emparejadas pero forzadas a mantener a consortes desempleados. Mujeres con doble y triple jornada de trabajo que llegan cansadas al hogar, les falta tiempo libre y les sobra problemas y responsabilidades. Agréguele al cuadro datos alarmantes de pobreza, violencia doméstica y bajos niveles educativos, que afectan a millones de mujeres en todo el mundo.

Y, sin embargo, el sistema escolar sigue anclado en la familia ideal y la madre clasemediera, educada y disponible, que sigue alimentando el ideario escolar, los programas de estudio, los deberes en casa, los materiales de enseñanza, las pruebas, las reuniones de padres de familia. Varias veces, siendo madre de hijos escolares, reclamé por formula­rios que  seguían registrando el rubro «dirección del trabajo» únicamente para los padres, y reservando para las madres el de «dirección del domicilio».

¿Cuántas veces le han convocado a usted, señora madre de familia, a reuniones escolares o entrevistas con profesores, a media ma­ñana o a media tarde?. ¿Cuántas veces le ha tocado llegar al fin del día y encontrarse con el pedido urgente de conseguir, para el día siguiente, ese artefacto inaccesi­ble que su hijo o hija nece­sita para la clase de mañana, o los dos me­tros de tela verde a cuadritos que deberá llevar para la clase de actividades prácticas?.

El director o directora asume que usted es desocupada y está dispuesta a cualquier hora. La maestra cuen­ta con que usted tiene tiempo para dedicarse a reco­rrer almacenes, librerías, papelerías, bibliotecas, fábricas, aserraderos, mecá­nicas, en búsqueda de los mil y un objetos que se le ocurren al sistema escolar.

La cultura de los deberes cuenta por lo general con madres de tiempo com­pleto. Apuesto a que le resulta familiar la queja de «mami, no entiendo la tarea». ¿Cuántas veces le ha tocado llegar a su casa y encontrarse con que la estaban esperan­do para explicar esas palabras que no se entienden, ayudar a dibujar ese mapa que no se puede copiar de ningún lado, ir a buscar los apuntes a la casa del amiguito o tratar de suplir esa computadora o impresora que no existe en casa?.

La situación se agrava cuando la mujer asume sola el papel escolar, ya porque no hay padre a mano, ya porque el que hay se desentiende de estos menesteres. «La vida escolar de los hijos» ha sido vista tradicionalmente como tarea femenina, reino y responsabilidad de las madres. Y así continúa siendo, en gran medida. Sólo por curiosidad, cuente, en la pró­xima reunión de padres de familia, cuántas mujeres y cuántos hombres hay...

La escuela condena y penaliza a las madres que no son de tiempo completo. La que no lo es, vive apesadumbrada y culpabili­zada. Cuando llegan las calificaciones, se pregunta cuánto mejores podrían haber sido si estuviese disponible y equipada para apo­yar a los hijos en las tareas, estudiar con ellos los exámenes, explicar lo que no se comprendió en clase.

Cierto que a la familia le toca acompañar, apoyar, esti­mular y complementar la labor de la escuela, con los recursos - afectivos, materiales, de conocimiento, de tiempo - que cada familia tiene. Cierto también que no sólo las madres sino también los padres deben asumir esta responsabilidad. Pero no menos cierta la cirugía mayor que debe hacer puertas adentro el sistema escolar, descartando de una vez por todas a la madre de tiempo completo y al servicio de la escuela.

Textos relacionados
Rosa María Torres, El tormento de los deberes

Mi mamá me mima, mi papá fuma pipa (Sexismo en los textos escolares)


Rosa María Torres





MI MAMA ME MIMA, MI PAPA FUMA PIPA: oraciones triviales de textos escolares triviales con los que millones de niños y niñas de ha­bla hispana en nuestro país y en el mundo entero aprenden no sólo a leer y escribir sino a ver como natural una realidad igualmente trivial: el sexismo, vale decir, la discrimina­ción de la mujer   ­frente al hombre. El sistema educativo y, en particular, los tex­tos escolares, suelen ser portadores privilegiados de este virus.

Eche usted una mirada a cualquier texto escolar y encontrará muy probablemente que...

Tomasa amasa la masa mientras Tomás se sienta a la mesa
Lupe pela la papa mientras Lupo patea la pelota
Lola lava la loza mientras Lolo lee La Ilíada
Eva ve la uva mientras Ivo ve a Eva
La nena menea la melena mientras El nene menea a la nena
Tania tiene tenia mientras Toni tiene tino
Brenda borda la bata mientras Boris bate la batería
Malú se pone mala mientras Milo no se amilana
Camila come coles mientras Camilo come lomo
Roberta barre las ramas mientras Roberto borra las rimas
Soledad sala la salsa mientras Saúl se asolea
Quica se queda quieta mientras Quico es un pequeñín inquieto 
Nela mira la telenovela mientras Jairo lee el diario
Teresa es chismosa mientras Tirso es chistoso
Silvia es suave mientras Silvio es solvente
La niña baña a su muñeca mientras El niño se baña solo 
La muchacha enchufa la plancha mientras El muchacho choca el coche
Olga cuelga las algas mientras Holger cabalga con holgura
Doña Juana tiene un juanete mientras Don Juan tiene una damajuana
Juliana juega a la Pájara Pinta mientras Julián juega al ajedrez
Angela es una gemela ingenua mientras Angel es un genio sui generis
Rosa repasa la ropa en el ropero mientras Ramiro reposa en la ribera
Vera es una buena enfermera mientras Pedro es un buen ingeniero
Alina trabaja contenta en la cocina mientras Alsino trabaja contento en la oficina

¿Pura coincidencia?. No. Parecen trabalenguas inofensivos, pero no lo son. Parecen simplones juegos de sílabas y letras, pero son mucho más que eso. Son primitivos reductos escolares en los que anida el sexismo, disfrazando de natural y risible lo que no lo es, haciéndonos creer desde pequeños que las niñas son para la cocina y los niños para las cosas grandes. Haga usted el ejer­cicio de inter­cambiar hombres y mujeres en cada oración, y vea qué resulta. Sin duda, más de una situación le parecerá ridícula y hasta absurda...

Y, sin embargo, una sociedad más igualitaria sería definitivamen­te aquella en que, al menos de vez en cuando, fuese Lupo quien pela la papa y Lupe quien patea la pelota.
 

Lalo y Lola no valen lo mismo en el aparato escolar



Para Lolita

El machismo - ese que hace de las suyas todos los días en la casa, en el trabajo, en la calle, en la política, en los medios de comunicación - tiene en el sistema escolar uno de sus nidos preferidos. No se trata únicamente de los estereotipos en los textos escolares. Se trata de la percepción, las expectativas y el trato diferenciados que se aplican a alumnOs y alumnAs en la rutina escolar.

De Lalo se espera que sea inquieto, inquisitivo, independiente, rebelde. De Lola se espera que sea una «princesa» dócil, obediente, pasiva, dependiente de la ayuda, la autoridad y el criterio de otros.

De Lalo se esperan comportamientos inmaduros. De Lola se espera que se comporte como una «mamita» en potencia, dispuesta a servir, sacrificarse y renunciar.

De Lalo se espera que se desentienda de la limpieza y el orden en el ámbito escolar. A Lola se le pide que empiece a ejercitarse desde temprana edad como «amita de casa», asumiendo tareas de limpieza y ornamentación.

De Lalo se espera que sea travieso, que corra y salte, que se ensucie, que defienda sus puntos de vista. De Lola se espera que se comporte como una «damita». Recato, ausencia de curiosidad y de espíritu de aventura, esmero en la apariencia personal, prolijidad con los cuadernos y las tareas escolares, predisposición a ocupar los segundos lugares, vocación de sumisión.

De Lalo se espera que sea inteligente. De Lola se espera que sea aplicada.

De Lalo se espera que sea bueno para las Matemáticas y las Ciencias. De Lola se espera que sea buena para las Manualidades, y, más adelante, para Literatura o Sociales.

Si Lalo hace mal un trabajo, el problema será de conducta, falta de atención y, por último, de esfuerzo. Si Lola hace mal un trabajo, lo que entra en duda no es su esfuerzo sino su capacidad intelectual.

Lalo es nombrado Presidente; Lola es nombrada Secretaria o Tesorera. A Lalo se le encarga dar el discurso, presidir la comisión; a Lola se le encarga repartir los cuadernos, recoger las cuotas, preparar los sánduches para la kermesse. Lalo es el capitán del equipo de fútbol; Lola es la madrina. Lalo participa en el concurso intercolegial de Física; Lola concursa para reina de belleza del plantel.

Poco a poco Lola termina aceptando como natural que Lalo y ella sean tratados de manera diferente. Cualquier comportamiento afirmativo o disruptivo - discrepar, interrumpir, argumentar - es visto como rasgo de masculinidad.

Lola entiende que ser mujer implica ocupar posiciones subordinadas. El propio campo educativo le muestra que esto es así: hay más hombres que mujeres en cargos de dirección (rectores, supervisores, inspectores); hay más mujeres que hombres en tareas intermedias y de servicio (secretaría, limpieza, cocina); hay menos mujeres y más hombres profesores a medida que se avanza en la escalera escolar, se especializan las materias e incrementan los sueldos y el prestigio profesional.

Así es como el aparato escolar - a menudo en sintonía y complicidad con la familia - contribuye a reforzar, desde temprana edad, la mentalidad y la actitud machista de Lalo, socializado en una supuesta superioridad respecto de las mujeres, en el estereotipo del niño que domina y manda, que ejerce la fuerza, que no expresa sus sentimientos.

Así es como, cotidiana y sistemáticamente, el aparato escolar va domesticando a Lola. La niña potencialmente triunfadora que entró al primer grado, y que aprendió a leer más rápidamente que sus compañeros varones, va siendo derrotada en el camino, minada en su autoconfianza y autoestima. Los puntos fuertes con los que inició su vida escolar van convirtiéndose en desventajas antes que en ventajas. Ser «buena estudiante» - dedicada, esmerada, prolija - pasa a ser objeto de burla antes que de admiración. De Lalo se espera que siga estudiando; de Lola se espera que busque marido y forme una familia, y consiga un empleo mientras tanto. Ella misma llegará a afirmar, convencida, que el estudio no es lo suyo o escogerá carreras consideradas «femeninas», segura de que «la ciencia» (así se llama a las ciencias duras) y la tecnología no son para ella.

La igualdad de oportunidades de acceso a la escuela por parte de niños y niñas sigue no siendo tal en muchos países del mundo y, en todo caso, no resuelve la desigualdad que persiste en el trato, las condiciones de enseñanza y de aprendizaje, y las expectativas de futuro respecto de unos y otras.

Afortunadamente, cada vez son más las Lolas que se sacuden los estereotipos y que logran avanzar desafiando al sistema escolar, a su familia y a sí mismas. Hacen falta más políticas, medidas y voluntad política y social para impulsarlas y acompañarlas.

* Publicado originalmente en la revista Familia del diario El Comercio de Quito, 6 marzo 1994.

Textos relacionados en OTRAƎDUCACION
Rosa María Torres, Mujeres, indígenas y discapacitados
Rosa María Torres, Carta abierta para niños y niñas que van a la escuela
Rosa María Torres, Escuelas para madres de tiempo completo
Rosa María Torres, Imagine una profesora
Rosa María Torres, ¡Reacciona Ecuador! El machismo es violencia
Rosa María Torres, Mi mamá me mima, mi papá fuma pipa (Sexismo en los textos escolares)

Lifelong Learning: moving beyond Education for All


The Eternal Circle 7 - David Pyatt 

Keynote speech delivered at the Shanghai “International Forum on Lifelong Learning”
at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 (19-21 May 2010)

UNESCO, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy (CSEDS) and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.

Included in the book
Conceptual evolution and policy developments in lifelong learning, UIL-UNESCO, 2011 (PDF)

Introduction

Over the past two decades, the world has experienced profound changes. A rapid globalisation process has resulted in a highly connected world, with economic and political power more concentrated than ever. Many old structural problems have further deteriorated or become more evident to public awareness, while new ones have emerged. Technology has undergone impressive leaps, bringing with it new possibilities as well as new threats. All these developments have major consequences on people’s lives around the world, as well as on education and learning systems.

However, the education field continues to revolve around the traditional “education reform” mentality. More money and resources devoted to doing basically more of the same. Top-down policies and measures. “Improving the quality of education” instead of revisiting it. Quantities predominating over qualities. Education understood mainly or solely as school education. Access, retention and completion rates as main (school) education indicators. Tests aimed at evaluating how much information students are able to digest and retrieve. Weak attention to learning, easily confused with testing and school achievement. Overburdened curricula attempting to capture as much content as possible. And so on and so forth.

All this is apparent not only at the national but also at the international level. World platforms such as Education for All (EFA), coordinated by UNESCO, are not tuned with LIfelong Learning (LLL) the new emerging paradigm, adopted over the past few years by many countries in the North, especially in Europe, and promoted by many international agencies, UNESCO being one of them.

We focus here on the relationship between EFA and LLL, and argue in favour of revisiting EFA in order to better adjust it to the lifelong learning paradigm and to the changes experienced by the world since 1990, when EFA was initiated worldwide.

Education for All (EFA) – far from Lifelong Learning

The Education for All (EFA) world initiative was launched in 1990 (Jomtien, Thailand) and ratified in 2000 (Dakar, Senegal). In Dakar, a new deadline was established (2015) given the fact that the six EFA goals were not accomplished 2000 (Torres, 2000). The goals remained six but were slightly modified (Box 1).

Box 1
Education for All goals (1990-2000-2015)

Jomtien: 1990-2000
Dakar: 2000-2015
1. Expansion of early childhood care and development activities, including family and community interventions, especially for poor, disadvantaged and disabled children.
1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
2. Universal access to, and completion of, primary education (or whatever higher level of education is considered as “basic”) by the year 2000.

2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
3. Improvement in learning achievement such that an agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort (e.g. 80% of 14 year olds) attains or surpasses a defined level of necessary learning achievement.
3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.
4. Reduction in the adult illiteracy rate (the appropriate age cohort to be determined in each country) to, say, one-half its 1990 level by the year 2000, with sufficient emphasis on female literacy to significantly reduce the current disparity between the male and female illiteracy rates.
4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
5. Expansion of provision of basic education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults, with programme effectiveness assessed in terms of  behavioural changes and impacts on health, employment and productivity.
5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
6. Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sound and sustainable development, made available through all educational channels including the mass media, other forms of modern and traditional communication, and social action, with effectiveness assessed in terms of behavioural change.
6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognised and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.


Sources: WCEFA 2000a,b,c; EFA Forum 2000; UNESCO-EFA International Coordination ; Ten things you need to know about Education for All 

EFA goals replicate the conventional education mentality and do not facilitate a holistic understanding of education and of learning throughout life. This is because, among reasons,

EFA goals are a list. Each goal is treated and measured separately. The linkages between them are not apparent (eg, between child and adult education, school and out-of-school education, and so on). EFA’s traditional and ongoing focus on Goal 2 – children’s primary education – reflects and replicates the false historical “option” between child and adult education, and the neglect of early childhood care and education, despite well-known rhetoric on the subject. In fact, the EFA Development Index (EDI), created in 2003 to monitor EFA developments in countries, includes only four EFA goals, leaving out Goal 1 (early childhood care and education) and Goal 3 (youth/adult basic education).

▸ EFA goals are organised by age – early childhood (Goal 1), school age (Goal 2), youth and adults (Goals 3 and 4), in the Dakar list – without articulation between them. Learners’ segmentation according to age reflects the conventional education mentality that is behind the segmentation of education policies, goals and institutions. Focus on age contributes to losing sight of social learning organisations like the family and the community, and has institutionalised the false “option” between children’s education and adult education, whereby children and adults have to compete for their right to education, especially in circumstances of multiple needs and scarce resources such as those that characterise countries in the South (Torres, 2003). EFA Goal 6 formulated in Jomtien in 1990, which referred to family education and public information (“Increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills and values required for better living and sound and sustainable development…”) was eliminated in Dakar in 2000.

▸ EFA goals adhere to the conventional formal/non-formal dichotomy, leaving out informal learning, fundamental and expanding throughout the world given among others the expansion of life and of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs). The three-tier category (formal/non-formal/informal education) long used in the education field shows the centrality of formal education, with all other categories defined as non- or in-. In fact, the revised International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997) does not include informal education, currently acknowledged as informal learning (incidental or random learning) given the absence of an organised education activity (Box 2).

▸ EFA goals continue to view literacy in isolation, as a separate area and goal, without acknowledging that literacy is a basic learning need of the population and thus part of basic education 

▸ EFA goals adopt “basic education” as the main organising concept – not lifelong learning. The Jomtien conference spoke of an “expanded vision of basic education”, an education aimed at “meeting the basic learning needs of the population”, in and out of the school system. However, the mission of education is not only meeting basic learning needs, but also expanding them and generating new learning needs along the process. (Torres, 2003). [1]

Box 2

Education: Formal and non-formal

Education
: “Within the framework of ISCED, the term education is taken to comprise all deliberate and systematic activities designed to meet learning needs. This includes what in some countries is referred to as cultural activities or training. Whatever the name given to it, education is understood to involve organized and sustained communication designed to bring about learning. The key words in this formulation are to be understood as follows:
- COMMUNICATION: a relationship between two or more persons involving the transfer of information (messages, ideas, knowledge, strategies, etc.). Communication may be verbal or non-verbal, direct/face-to-face or indirect/remote, and may involve a wide variety of channels and media.
- LEARNING: any improvement in behaviour, information, knowledge, understanding, attitude, values or skills.
- ORGANIZED: planned in a pattern or sequence with explicit or implicit aims. It involves a providing agency (person or persons or body) that sets up the learning environment and a method of teaching through which the communication is organized. The method is typically someone who is engaged in communicating or releasing knowledge and skills with a view to bringing about learning, but it can also be indirect/inanimate e.g. a piece of computer software, a film, or tape, etc.
- SUSTAINED: intended to mean that the learning experience has the elements of duration and continuity. No minimum duration is stipulated, but appropriate minima will be stated in the operational manual.


Formal
education (or initial education or regular school and university education): “Education provided in the system of schools, colleges, universities and other formal educational institutions that normally constitutes a continuous ‘ladder’ of full-time education for children and young people, generally beginning at age five to seven and continuing up to 20 or 25 years old. In some countries, the upper parts of this ‘ladder’ are constituted by organized programmes of joint part-time employment and part-time participation in the regular school and university system: such programmes have come to be known as the ‘dual system’ or equivalent terms in these countries.

Non-formal education
: “Any organized and sustained educational activities that do not correspond exactly to the above definition of formal education. Non-formal education may therefore take place both within and outside educational institutions, and cater to persons of all ages. Depending on country contexts, it may cover educational programmes to impart adult literacy, basic education for out-of-school children, life-skills, work-skills, and general culture. Non-formal education programmes do not necessarily follow the ‘ladder’ system, and may have differing duration”.

“Education, for the purposes of ISCED, excludes communication that is not designed to bring about learning. It also excludes various forms of learning that are not organized. Thus, while all education involves learning, many forms of learning are not regarded as education. For example, incidental or random learning which occurs as a by-product of another event, such as something that crystallizes during the course of a meeting, is excluded because it is not organized i.e. does not result from a planned intervention designed to bring about learning.”

Source: UNESCO, Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997)  


From education to learning and from lifelong education to lifelong learning

The shift of focus from education to learning, and from lifelong education to lifelong learning, has been on the table at least since the 1970s.[2] However, and although learning has in fact become a much repeated word, with a multitude of labels[3], disregard for effective learning continues as well the long-entrenched confusion between education and learning.[4] It is generally assumed that learningis always the result of some sort of teaching, and that teaching results automatically in learning.

The Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA V), held in Hamburg in 1997, called for such transit, ending up with the Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning.

However, few understood and adopted such change of focus in the 12 years between CONFINTEA V and CONFINTEA VI (Belém, Brazil, December 2009). (Torres, 2009) 

Lifelong Learning and the right to education

Lifelong learning is activated today as the key organising principle for education and training systems, and for the building of the “knowledge society”.

Lifelong learning acknowledges essentially two inter-related facts: (a) learning is lifelong (not confined to a particular period in life, “from the womb to the tomb”); and (b) learning is lifewide (not confined to school but taking place everywhere: home, community, playground, workplace, sports yard, mass media, through play, conversation, debate, reading, writing, teaching, problem solving, social participation, social service, travel, use of ICTs, and so on).

On the other hand, one can relate the “emphasis on learning” to two different dimensions:
- ensuring that education (formal or non-formal) results in effective learning
- ensuring relevant learning opportunities beyond the school system

Thus, the right to education can no longer be understood as the right to access the school system (and eventually complete a certain number of years of schooling). The right to education implies essentially the right to learn and to learn throughout life. The state has an obligation to ensure equal learning opportunities for all, within and beyond the school system, at all ages.

Lifelong learning can be related to various concepts:

· Learning throughout life
· Learning to live
· Life is the curriculum
· Learning to learn
· Learning families
· Learning communities
· Learning societies.

Advances in neuroscience research are contributing to a better understanding of learning, and of learning throughout life, at various ages and stages. The belief that learning occurs and can occur at any age is confirmed by such research, thus providing scientific support to the claim that school age should not be confused with learning age. Now we know that the brain is mature between the mid-20s and the 30s, and that the mature brain can focus better and is capable of deeper and more complex learning. Also, the adult brain is capable of learning new tasks and being shaped by new experiences. Cognitive decline with age is avoidable if the brain is kept active, curious, in a permanent state of learning. [5]


What Lifelong learning is NOT

Lifelong Learning is not only about adults – as many people and organisations continue to use it. Lifelong Learning is not equivalent to adult education or adult learning; it is lifelong, “from the womb to the tomb”, thus embracing children, youth and adults across the life span. Curiously, some countries in Latin American and the Caribbean that have adopted the Lifelong Learning terminology include it as an additional category or section within Ministries of Education or other ministries, as if it were separate from the rest (Torres, 2009). UNESCO itself has contributed to such confusions. The former UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE), based in Hamburg, traditionally devoted to adult education and responsible for organising the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA), was renamed UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL). EFA goal 3 – “Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes” – is the only one labelled “lifelong learning” in UNESCO’s documents and website.

The LIfelong Learning paradigm has so had far little impact in countries in the South. Many countries, especially in Africa and Asia, are still struggling with access and the completion of children’s primary education and high adult illiteracy rates. Most of them struggle with quality issues at all levels of the education system. Generally, education continues to be associated with school education, and learning with school assessment. The picture of learning within and outside the school system is still distant and considered a luxury for many governments, social organisations and international agencies engaged with education in the South. International platforms such as EFA and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) contribute in fact to the reinforcement of such trends.

There are also legitimate concerns vis-à-vis the Lifelong Learning paradigm as adopted and developed by countries in the North, mainly as a strategy for human resource development. Many fear that Lifelong Learning and its “focus on learning” may be a way to further neglect teaching and teachers, and to disengage governments from their commitment to ensure the right to education, by leaving learning in the hands of people, as their own individual responsibility. However, lifelong learning does not need to be reduced to an economic strategy; it does not imply abandoning teaching but rather strengthening it and acknowledging educators’ own learning needs; it does not have to be associated with individual learning, but as the possibility to combine social and personal learning in different contexts and moments; and it does not have to conflict with the right to education. On the contrary, the right to education expands beyond access and becomes the right to learn.

It is true that Lifelong Learning is an agenda proposed and adopted by countries in the North, whose contexts and perspectives differ considerably from those in the South. Thus there is the need to define Lifelong Learning from the perspective of the South, and of the diversity of situations and cultures characterising each region and country.


Lifelong Learning: Building learning families, learning communities and learning societies

Adopting Lifelong Learning as a paradigm is not just about introducing minor adjustments to education structures, systems and policies. It implies a major revolution of traditional education and learning cultures: 

▸ revisit the school-centred education culture that continues to view the school as the only education and learning system
▸ acknowledge and articulate the various learning systems, to ensure necessary coordination and synergy at both local and national level
▸ understand education/training, face-to-face/distance, formal/non-formal/informal as part of a continuum
▸ ensure effective learning within the school system, beyond tests measuring “school achievement”
▸ recognise previous knowledge and know-how as a key transectoral component of education and training policies
▸ rethink age as a central factor to organise education/training systems and opportunities
▸ abandon prejudices about age and learning, open up to new scientific evidence confirming that learning is an ageless endeavour
▸ accept literacy as a lifelong learning process rather than as a learning period
▸ go beyond the book as the single reading object that continues to define “reading habits”, and accept the wide variety that today characterises the reading world
▸ incorporate the screen as a new reading and writing device for all ages
▸ promote and support peer- and inter-generational learning at home, in school, at the community, at work, everywhere.
▸ envisage education and learning beyond classrooms and closed spaces, while ensuring outdoors learning, contact with nature, people, real-life situations
▸ combine all means and media available to make learning happen, through multimedia strategies
▸ acknowledge the importance not only of “modern” technologies but also of “traditional” ones massively available and still poorly utilised (radio, TV, blackboard, tape recorders, and others)
▸ take advantage of distance education/learning opportunities, through all available means, better if combined with face-to-face contact
▸ diversify policies and strategies to accommodate the specific needs and desires of specific communities, groups and individuals
▸ think education and learning not only in terms of isolated individuals who contribute to statistics, but also in social terms (groups, communities, networks, organisations)
▸ build learning families, with the help of specific policies and strategies aimed at enhancing the cultural and educational capital of the family as a whole
▸ build learning communities, in urban and rural areas, so that all members – children, young people, adults – are engaged in learning activities, and all local resources are utilised, with community and local development in mind
▸ work towards a culture of collaboration that promotes collective access to, and use of, resources, rather than “each one have one” (each school a library, each student a computer, each person a cell phone, and so on).

The real challenge is building a learning society – families, communities and societies that learn – a goal far more complex, democratic and egalitarian than building an information society.

Effectively adopting Lifelong Learning as a paradigm implies a major shift for education and learning cultures.
           References

Commission of the European Communities. 2000. A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning. Brussels: Commission Staff Working Paper.
Dave, R.H. (dir.).1976. Foundations of Lifelong Education. Hamburg: UIE-UNESCO.
Delors, J. et. al. 1996. Learning: The Treasure Within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century. Paris: UNESCO.
EFA Forum. 2000. The Dakar Framework for Action, World Education Forum (Dakar, 26-28 April, 2000). Paris: UNESCO.
  Faure, E. 1973. Learning to Be. Paris: UNESCO.
Torres, R.M. 2000. One decade of ‘Education for All’: The challenge ahead. Buenos Aires: IIPE-UNESCO.
Torres, R.M. 2001a. “Lifelong Learning in the North, Education for All in the South?”, in: Proceeding, International Conference on Lifelong Learning: Global Perspective in Education (Beijing, 1-3 July 2001). Beijing: BAES.
Torres, R.M. 2001b.  “What happened at the World Education Forum?”, in: Adult Education and Development, N° 55. Bonn: IIZ-DVV, 2001.
Torres, R.M. 2001c. Learning Community: Re-thinking Education for Local Development and for Learning. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Learning Communities, Barcelona Forum, Barcelona, 5-6 October, 2001.
Torres, Rosa Maria. 2003. Lifelong Learning: A new momentum and a new opportunity for Adult Basic Learning and Education (ABLE) in the South. A study commissioned by the Swedish International Development Agency. Stockholm: Sida, 2003; Bonn: IIZ-DVV, 2003.
Torres, Rosa Maria. 2009. From literacy to lifelong learning: Trends, issues and challenges of youth and adult education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Regional report prepared for the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education, Belém, Brazil, 19-22 May, 2009. Commissioned by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) with the financial support of CREFAL
UIE-UNESCO. 1997b. CONFINTEA V documents. The Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning, Hamburg, 1997.
UIL-UNESCO. 2009. 6th International Conference on Adult Education, Living and Learning for a Viable Future: The Power of Adult Learning (Belém, 1-4 December 2009) 
UNESCO. 1997. Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997) 
UNESCO. 2000a. World Education Report 2000. The right to education: Towards education for all throughout life. Paris.
UNESCO. 2000b. Final Report. World Education Forum (Dakar, 26-28 April 2000). Paris.
UNESCO. 2000c. The Dakar Framework for Action “Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments”, World Education Forum (Dakar, 26-28 April 2000). Paris.
WCEFA (World Conference on Education for All/Inter-Agency Commission). 1990a. Meeting Basic Learning Needs: A Vision for the 1990s, Background Document, World Conference on Education for All. New York.
WCEFA. 1990b. World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs (Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990). New York-Paris.
WCEFA. 1990c. Final Report, World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990). New York: UNICEF.

[1] The term basic education is understood in diverse ways. Officially, according to UNESCO’s International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997), basic education comprises primary education and lower secondary education. In Jomtien (2000), basic education was defined as “education aimed at meeting the basic learning needs” of all, in and out of school (WCEFA 1990). For the OECD-DAC and standard aid classifications basic education includes early childhood education, primary education, and basic life skills for youths and adults, including literacy (Glossary, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010).[2] See: Faure 1973; Dave 1976; Delors et. al. 1996; Commission of the European Commission 2000. [3] A few such denominations: distance learning, online learning, active learning, blended learning, distributed learning, synchronous learning, self-paced learning, self-directed learning, cooperative learning, collaborative learning, social learning, open learning, informal learning, lifelong learning, invisible learning, iLearning, fLearning, etc.
[4] Translation problems further reveal and exacerbate the lack of distinction between the two concepts. A few examples: a) the Delors report entitled “Learning, the Treasure within” (1996) was translated into Spanish as “La educación encierra un tesoro”;  b) the “Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning” (1997) was translated into Spanish as “Declaración de Hamburgo sobre la Educación de Adultos”: c) the 1st World Forum on Lifelong Learning organized by a Lifelong Learning Committee (Paris, October 2008) was translated into Spanish as Foro Mundial para la Educación y la Formación a lo largo de la vida and into French as Forum Mondial pour l'Education et la Formation Tout au Long de la Vie
[5]
See for example:* Dave Snowden’s Cognitive Edge
* UCL -Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience 
- Ability to concentrate improves during adolescence  (2010)
* Plos Biology: Axonal Dynamics of Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurons in Somatosensory Cortex (2010) 
* The Rockefeller University Newswire: New research shows how experience shapes the brain’s circuitry (2010)

* Neurociencias 


This text is included in a book organized by UIL-UNESCO with the seminar proceedings. See: Jin Yang and Raúl Valdés-Cotera (eds.), Conceptual evolution and policy developments in lifelong learning, UIL, Hamburg, 2011.

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