Itxaso Tellado

Moroccan mothers’ involvement in dialogic literary gatherings in a Catalan urban primary school: Increasing educative interactions and improving learning

This article analyses a case study on Moroccan mothers’ involvement in the Dialogic Literary Gathering (DLG) in an urban primary school in Catalonia (Spain). DLG is a dialogic learning environment that improves reading skills and communicative abilities and promotes school–community links. This activity has been identified in previous European Union (EU)–funded large scale research, the INCLUD-ED project, as a successful educational action. Children’s results in standardised tests reported a significant improvement in communicative skills over the academic year. The case study highlights evidences on how this action contributed to transform family interactions at home. Discussions about classic works of literature were transferred to the child–parent interactions and were part of their daily lives. According to the data analysed, this experience affected mothers’ and children’s motivation to read and helped migrant mothers to improve the language acquisition of the host country. Mothers confirmed becoming more able to understand the schoolwork of their children and they felt more confident to help them with their homework.

Dialogic Design of Qualitative Data Collection for Researching the Mirage of Upward Mobility

The mirage of upward mobility is the mistaken perception of linking the fact of having a romantic relationship with people responding to a model of dominant traditional masculinity to raising their status and attractiveness, when in fact the contrary occurs, and both status and attractiveness decrease. Investigating the phenomenon of the mirage of upward mobility as a cause of gender violence poses additional difficulty to its idiosyncrasy. To analyze this phenomenon as part of a research study, specific data collection techniques were needed and designed in dialogue with researchers and adolescents. This article involved participants from the design of the data collection techniques and the pilots carried out until the development of the research project. This dialogic design process has allowed the inclusion of true stories into the analysis of the mirage of upward mobility helping researchers and participants to advance the related knowledge.

Learning about the Importance of Education for Labour Market Transitions.

This article centres on the importance given by individuals to the process of education in labour market transitions and how they manage to overcome obstacles to achieve their goals. Many of the stories in the Spanish research were transformative and innovative despite the context of high levels of unemployment in Spain due to the global economic crisis. In this article the educational context is explained together with the educational paths available to go to university, to vocational education and training, or towards abandonment. Qualitative data analysis has been conducted to analyse the narrative interviews. The stories highlight the transformative results of those who participate in formal education, and that learning from experience and cultural intelligence are used as strategies to follow for overcoming the challenges of labour market transitions.