Lisbeth Eriksson

Signed and spoken language perception studied by positron emission tomography

Sign and spoken language seem to be localized in the same brain areas. They elicit similar regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) patterns, even though sign language is dependent on spatial information. We investigated sign and spoken language perception in a group of healthy bilingual subjects. Four videotaped activation conditions were used during PET imaging: (1) sign language, (2) spoken language, (3) spoken language with mouth covered, and(4) spoken language on a sound track while showing a motionless face. Spoken language (condition 4) activated significantly the perisylvian cortex(Brodmann areas 22 and 43) bilaterally. Sign language activated the visual association areas (Brodmann areas 37 and 19) but did not selectively activate parietal regions. A reciprocal relationship was observed between the level of activation in visual language perception areas and that in auditory perception areas. We conclude that when healthy bilingual subjects use the visual route for sign language perception, the functional anatomy overlaps that of language processing containing both auditory and visual components.

The understandings of social pedagogy from northern European perspectives

Summary This study examines understandings of social pedagogy. Interviews were conducted with nine social pedagogical researchers from Northern Europe. The interviewees were selected as representatives of their cultural and professional context and provided insight into their countries’ social pedagogical discourses. The interviewees were asked to talk about their understandings of social pedagogy from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Findings The empirical data were divided into two discourses; the universalistic and the particularistic. In the interview statements it was evident that interviewees leaned towards one of the two discourses as a starting point for their understanding of social pedagogy. However, the way the two discourses were combined varied among the interviewees. In further analysis, three models were constructed, which can be regarded as ideal types. These models shows that social pedagogical way of thinking extend from an individualistic, adaptive, starting point through a democratic approach to a mobilising collective approach. Application These models can be seen as an important contribution to understanding of social pedagogy that illustrate three different ways of understanding social pedagogy from northern European perspectives. The models elucidate the complexity embedded in the concept, but can also be used to facilitate analyses and interpretations of various social pedagogical activities. This findings has implications for how education in the field is constructed and implemented. Social pedagogy may not be definable in a simple way, but it can nevertheless be understood and described by the models constructed in this study.

The part played by popular education in local development processes in suburban and rural areas of Sweden

On the basis of a three‐year study of the role of popular education in local development processes in Sweden (2006–2008), this paper sets out to outline the role of popular education as a development actor in rural and urban contexts. Two different scenarios and approaches are discussed. One is the role of popular education in rural areas, which is interlinked with the village movement, dominated by bottom‐up approaches and strongly linked to voluntary work carried out by local inhabitants themselves. Another scenario is the role of popular education in urban areas, which is dominated by top‐down approaches in which popular education has taken on the role of implementing and running projects funded by the government and public sector, for local inhabitants. Our findings on the role of popular education in local development processes in urban and rural areas are discussed in relation to theories on community development and community identity, and to a theoretical model that illustrates the different ways in which popular education relates to local communities.