Patricia Mata Benito

Diversidad cultural, eficacia escolar y mejora de la escuela: encuentros y desencuentros

Educational actions to address cultural diversity are based upon identifying specific groups defined using socio-cultural differences; in doing that, they essencialize, classify and hierarchize these characteristics, due to principles of cognitive and organizational simplification, on the one hand, and, on the other, to the fact that schools have to accommodate to the dominant socio-economic context who is -in turn- reproducing the social structure of inequality. This type of approach to diversity is in fact maintained because it is useful to educational institutions. Nevertheless, research shows that success or failure in the education system is strongly tied to socio-economic variables, and this fact challenges the influence of school in educational results. Since one of their main objectives is to provide equal opportunities for all, schools are facing a difficult paradox, and this paradox is forcing them to improve educational processes to reach quality and equity at the same time. The Movement of Effective School Improvement is trying to gain better knowledge regarding which are the necessary improvements to be done in schools to reach those goals, and how they should be implemented. It comes from two previous approaches (Effective School and School Improvement), the merging of which is discussed in this paper. We argue that some of the basic divergences who have not been solved, together with the impact of international comparison of educational results, have advanced two different –and very difficult to integrate- research lines. One of them has to do with developing methodologies to measure school efficacy, and the other one deals particularly with improving democracy in schools. In line with the last mentioned approach, and also in tune with Intercultural Education proposals, our text challenges the concept of “Added Value” as inadequate to understand diversity, claiming instead that it is necessary to recapture the ethic-political debate on educational goals as the baseline to improve schools.

DOS OJOS O MÁS: LIDERAZGOS COLECTIVOS EN EL MARCO DE LA ACCIÓN DE UNA CIUDADANÍA TRANSFORMADORA

A partir de los resultados de una investigacion en torno al aprendizaje y la practica de una ciudadania transformadora desde un enfoque intercultural, este articulo analiza las nuevas formas relacionales y organizativas que se estan construyendo en el interior de los actuales movimientos sociales. De forma especifica, explora la emergencia de una nueva forma de pensar sobre el liderazgo, caracterizada por el reconocimiento de la capacidad colectiva para orientar la accion y el cambio social, que conduce a la identificacion de liderazgos colectivos que desafian la concepcion individualista del liderazgo personal. Palabras claves: Liderazgo colectivo, ciudadania, movimientos sociales, transformacion social. Based on the results of a study on Transformative Citizenship Learning and Practice from an intercultural approach, this paper analyses the development of a new kind of relationships and organizational forms within the current social movements. Specifically, it explores the emergence of a new way of thinking about leadership, characterized by the recognition of the collective capacity to guide action and social change that leads to the identification of collective leaderships that challenge the individualistic conception of personal leadership.