HR4RS stamp
Irene Vega
The objective of the research, carried out by the cyberimaginary research group of the URJC with the collaboration of Northwestern University (Qatar), has been to identify the forces of change to improve intervention mechanisms in the educational field in Spain, aimed at promoting the commitment and social participation of young people. The results of this study, recently published in the scientific journal Communicate, have materialized in a series of recommendations, aimed at technicians, managers, trainers of trainers -people in charge of training other teachers-, teachers and researchers, to promote citizen involvement and social change in the school.
“The climate crisis and the environmental emergency predict a future of uncertainty for the planet. The European and national educational directives establish the frameworks for action and the commitments that each agent must assume to achieve the new sustainable paradigm based on the Circular Economy”, says Alejandro Carbonell, researcher at the Ciberimaginario group and co-author of the study.
During the research process, interviews were carried out with technicians and directors of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, as well as the educational ministries of the 17 Autonomous Communities. Discussion groups were also established with trainers of trainers, with teachers from different educational levels (nursery, primary, secondary, high school and vocational training) and with researchers from Spanish universities.
Once the data has been analyzed, the results obtained point to three possible future scenarios: unwanted, transitional and desired. "In order to achieve the desired scenario and avoid dystopia, we have proposed recommendations for practical application in the educational field," highlights the URJC researcher. Among these recommendations, some are aimed at educational centers as engines of social change: "The center must dialogue with its immediate environment to generate collaborative synergies that allow linking educational action with change and social innovation", as stated in the published work. In addition, this document also addresses some points to teachers to encourage their direct involvement: “Teachers are modeling agents capable of encouraging reduction, reuse and recycling processes in the classroom. For this reason, the actions carried out by the teaching staff must be included in all educational levels, from elementary and primary levels, to higher education and vocational training”.
This work is part of BIOTRES-CM Project, co-financed by the Community of Madrid, the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, and is available open: Recommendations to promote citizen involvement and social change at school.