Author: Noticias

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La expropiación cultural de los símbolos

Noticias

Por: Raúl Olmedo/Iberoamerica Social/16-05-2018

El término expropiación lleva implícito un acto de violencia en el sentido de no respetar los derechos que poseen los individuos de la cultura mercantilizada.

En los últimos años se ha dado paso a una apertura comercial entre los países; el mercado autorregulado y la internacionalización del capital hacen que los individuos desarrollen capacidades y mercancías para vender ante las nuevas demandas sociales, mismas que no solo satisfacen el sentido el sentido material, sino también el sentido inmaterial.

En estas circunstancias se encuentra la cada vez mayor inclusión de las culturas dentro del mercado económico; muestra de ello es el turismo cultural que se ha visto en crecimiento en México, derivado de la riqueza que la historia y sus individuos han forjado. No obstante, dentro de este proceso, se ha dado cuenta que los individuos presentan una guerra contra las grandes empresas que han descubierto que la “creatividad” que radica en la cultura se puede volver objeto de lucro; el problema de fondo es que los individuos que integran su cultura al circuito de la producción lo hacen con la finalidad de incrementar sus ingresos, por lo que se enfrentan a una competencia injusta que tiene sus bases en la legalidad y la legitimidad modernas.

La cultura es propia de un grupo social; ella está determinada por las reglas de selección, producción y reproducción sociales que intervienen en el día a día de los individuos. Ella es parte ineludible de la identidad de los individuos, no obstante, el cambio de sentido se da en primera instancia cuando la producción cultural adquiere una temática comercial, es decir, cuando deja de reivindicar la identidad y pasa a ser una mercancía, un producto que no requiere el productor y que por ende puede intercambiar en un mercado por aquellas que satisfacen ciertas necesidades que la primera no puede.

Una vez que la producción cultural se da en el plano comercial, se sigue un segundo cambio, esta vez en el ámbito simbólico, es decir, en el concepto de la relación significado y significante. Es en ese momento en que se desarrolla el proceso de mercantilización de la cultura, el cual se caracteriza por la dotación de significados ajenos al producto a priori.

Si cuando se produce la mercancía cultural y ésta se inserta en un mercado, entonces responde a una demanda producida por compradores que requieren satisfacer una necesidad cultural. A esto, el turismo ha tenido mucho que ver; él se ha convertido en el tren del siglo XXI en materia de mercantilización cultural ya que presiona a los individuos a este proceso; su imposición revestida de modernidad  a través de políticas de desarrollo social hace que los individuos agreguen un valor simbólico a sus productos para que puedan ser intercambiados dentro del ciclo de la producción.

Este valor simbólico dota de clase, significación e identidad efímera a quien consume este tipo de productos. Los turistas lo adquieren como una forma de establecer una relación de parentesco cultural con los productores, sin embargo, la realidad es que ambos sujetos se encuentran en una relación de subordinación de uno hacia el otro; mientras uno lo adquiere por gusto (el turista) el segundo lo produce por necesidad (artesano).

Bajo esta nueva dinámica, el artesanado como clase social se ve desfavorecido ante la mercantilización de su cultura, aunado a la falta de claridad legal que proteja el derecho inalienable que poseen por ser los autores creativos. Es la paradoja del siglo XXI: mientras que ellos siempre han poseído el derecho legítimo de producción, ahora deben buscar el derecho legal y garantía normativa para que las grandes empresas no lucren con dicha creatividad cultural. Aun no existe un marco regulatorio que pueda ser certeza jurídica a los patrones e ideas plasmadas en la cultura.

En México, este tipo de carencias han derivado en varios casos en los que las empresas o artistas reproducen los patrones de bordados generados por artesanos de culturas indígenas. Tal es el caso difundido en 2015, en la que una artista francesa “diseñó” una prenda que tenía los patrones de los bordados mixes en Oaxaca. La presión mediática y la duda sobre la autenticidad de sus diseños derivaron en la salida de sus productos de los anaqueles.

El problema aquí radica en la ambigüedad y facilidad con la que se pueden replicar los patrones y estilos para comercializarlos por cualquier persona física o moral; de allí que en este apartado esta acción es definida comoexpropiación cultural.

Esta definición está muy en oposición del término “apropiación cultural” que se maneja en la academia, ya que connota un proceso diferente al que se vive actualmente. No hay que confundir entre apropiar y expropiar; el primero denota una acción de posesión sobre algo que en términos culturales implica su reivindicación, mientras que el segundo es un proceso de alienación y separación del valor cultural original para su lucro, lo cual le quita su valor simbólico y lo desplaza por el valor de uso, es decir, por el simple hecho de satisfacer una necesidad.

Además, el término expropiación lleva implícito un acto de violencia en el sentido de no respetar los derechos que poseen los individuos de la cultura mercantilizada; cuando una cultura se comercializa, se desteje la cohesión social del grupo, debido a que una parte de sus elementos identitarios y característicos queda a merced del mejor postor y por ende cualquiera puede “pertenecer” a dicho grupo.

Así, el mercado y su forma de establecer una relación entre los productores y los consumidores pervierte ámbitos de la vida humana como lo es la cultura, el arte, la lengua y la historia… Es por ello necesario realizar un cambio en el modelo que desplace la necesidad de mercantilizar elementos desarrollados por los individuos en suLebenswelt y en su caso, establecer una legislación que pueda dar prioridad a aquellos artesanos que día a día se apropian de su cultura, pero que son objeto de expropiaciones.

Bibliografía

Escobar, Ana Cecilia, (22 de mayo de 2015). “Acusan a diseñadora francesa de plagio a comunidad mixe” enMilenio, http://www.milenio.com/tendencias/Mixe_Tejido-Isabel_Marant-Neiman_Marcus-Susana_Harp-Santa_Maria_Tlahuitoltepec_0_522547950.html

*Fuente: https://iberoamericasocial.com/la-expropiacion-cultural-de-los-simbolos/

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United Nations to help Africa harmonize education standards

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África/ From: www.xinhuanet.com.

Resumen:  Las Naciones Unidas se comprometieron el lunes a ayudar a los estados africanos a armonizar sus estándares educativos. La falta de reconocimiento mutuo de las calificaciones académicas en África está obstaculizando la movilidad laboral, dijo Abdul Rahman Lamin, especialista del programa en la oficina de Nairobi de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO) en un foro de jóvenes en la capital de Kenia. «Por lo tanto, estamos ayudando a los estados miembros de la Unión Africana (UA) a armonizar sus estándares educativos en el nivel terciario para promover la integración continental», dijo Lamin durante la Conferencia de Diálogo Juvenil sobre Educación Inclusiva y Sensible al Género. La conferencia, que tiene como objetivo proporcionar una plataforma para que los jóvenes de África compartan sus experiencias sobre la educación en diferentes contextos nacionales, fue organizada por Plan International y organizaciones asociadas. En 2014, los miembros de la UA acordaron firmar una convención sobre el reconocimiento de las calificaciones académicas en los estados africanos en la ciudad capital de Etiopía, Addis Abeba. La UNESCO está ayudando a los Estados africanos a ratificar la convención. Lamin dijo que la ONU espera crear una plataforma donde los estados africanos puedan intercambiar y discutir el progreso que han logrado hasta ahora en la implementación de la convención de armonización de la educación superior. Un régimen armonizado de estándares de educación beneficiará al continente porque promoverá la movilidad estudiantil y laboral, dijo. Agregó que muchos estados africanos están pasando por conflictos sociales y políticos que han provocado que muchos de sus ciudadanos busquen refugio en países vecinos. «Sin embargo, debido a la falta de estándares educativos armonizados, los refugiados no pueden continuar su educación o encontrar empleo en sus países de acogida», dijo Lamin.»Al final, la nación anfitriona no puede beneficiarse de las habilidades de los refugiados debido a las políticas restrictivas», dijo.

The United Nations on Monday pledged to helping African states to harmonize their education standards.

Lack of mutual recognition of academic qualifications in Africa is hindering labor mobility, Abdul Rahman Lamin, program specialist at the Nairobi office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), told a youth forum in the Kenyan capital.

«We are therefore assisting African Union (AU) member states to harmonize their educational standards at the tertiary level in order to promote continental integration,» Lamin said during the Youth Dialogue on Education Conference on Inclusive and Gender Responsive Education.

The conference, which aims to provide a platform for young people in Africa to share their experiences on education in different national context, was hosted by Plan International and partner organizations.

In 2014, AU members agreed to sign a convention on recognition of academic qualifications in African states in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa.

UNESCO is assisting African states to ratify the convention.

Lamin said the UN hopes to create a platform where African states can exchange and discuss the progress they have achieved so far in implementing the convention of harmonization of higher education.

A harmonized education standards regime will benefit the continent because it will promote student and labor mobility, he said.

He added that many African states are undergoing social and political conflicts that have resulted in many of their citizens seeking refuge in neighboring countries.

«However, due to lack of harmonized education standards, the refugees are unable to continue their education or find employment in their host countries,» said Lamin.

«At the end, the host nation is not able to benefit from skills of the refugees due to restrictive policies,» he said.

Fuente: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/23/c_137131526.htm

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Think Tank: States Aren’t Teaching Consent in Sex Ed

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By: usnews.com/16-05-2018

Not all require teachers to mention ‘healthy relationships,’ ‘sexual assault’ or ‘consent’ in class.

The Center for American Progress recently released an analysis of what it called «the current state of sex education standards» across the U.S., focusing on discussions of consent and healthy relationships in those teaching standards. Analysts at the think tank considered state laws in 24 states and Washington, D.C., that require sex education in public schools and found that not all states address those topics in their sex education standards.

According to the review, just 10 states and Washington, D.C., reference «healthy relationships,» «sexual assault» or «consent» in their sex education programs.

Rhode Island, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., mandate detailed state standards that «address aspects of sexual health and clearly categorize topic areas» by age, according to the analysis. Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina and Vermont don’t spell out these requirements, but they have revamped state standards to address consent or health relationships.

Moreover, the review found that California, New Jersey and Oregon have comprehensive sex education standards, requiring teachers to discuss healthy relationships as part of sex education. Each state, CAP says, requires educators to use medically correct materials, as well as incorporate lessons on healthy relationships or consent. California, New Jersey and Oregon also boast teen pregnancy rates 3, 4 and 11 percent lower than the national average, respectively. 

The majority of the states analyzed – Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota,Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and Utah – reportedly provide teachers with little guidance on which subjects should be covered in sex education curriculums. Those teachings cover pregnancy prevention and preventing sexually transmitted diseases, but don’t address the development of healthy relationships and don’t divide standards by age, according to the review.

Still, the think tank reports that a number of reforms are building momentum in state legislatures across the country.

*Fuente: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-05-15/cap-states-arent-teaching-consent-healthy-relationships-in-sex-education

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Learning from Liberia’s educational partnerships

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By: Marcus S. Wleh/ newtimes.co.rw/ 16-05-2018

MONROVIA – Around the world, some 263 million children remain out of school, and of those who do attend classes, 330 million are receiving substandard education. As a result, an estimated 617 million school-age children are unable to read at grade level.

The problem is a global one, but it is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 88% of young students– some 202 million boys and girls – are not achieving a sufficient level of reading proficiency. And it is also here where solutions are being tested.

African governments and international donors have long paid lip service to improving educational outcomes, especially in basic skills like reading, writing, and math. At a financing conference for the Global Partnership for Education in February, developing countries vowed to increase spending on education by $110 billion, and wealthy donors pledged an additional $2.3 billion to improve school systems in poor countries.

But as important as these commitments are, Africa’s education crisis will not be overcome by donations and pledges alone. A new approach is needed to strengthen struggling schools, train teachers, and ensure that every child can obtain the necessary skills to succeed. One pilot programme being tested in my country, Liberia, has shown considerable promise.

Because low-income countries rarely have enough money to implement needed education reforms, pooling public and private resources is an attractive alternative. Since 2016, Liberia’s education ministry has merged select public schools with various independent operators in an effort to increase educational quality in a tight budget environment. Early results are impressive.1

For example, at the free public schools currently managed by expert contractors participating in the program, learning outcomes improved by 60% in the first year. At the 25 schools operated by my employer, Bridge Partnership Schools for Liberia, average student test scores doubled in just nine months. Parents and pupils have embraced these reinvigorated schools, with many calling them the best they have ever experienced. As a result, the previous government expanded the program, and the current one is committed to continuing support.

One of the most powerful components of a Bridge Partnership School is the pedagogy. For every lesson in every subject across every grade, educators have access to detailed lesson plans developed by academics. These plans help teachers prepare and deliver instruction to maximise learning outcomes. By assisting in classroom planning, Bridge ensures a degree of standardisation across schools, and helps teachers focus more attention on individual students.

At first glance, Liberia’s school system might seem a poor fit for such an innovative experiment. Today, some 58% of Liberian children are out of school, the literacy rate is among the lowest in the world, and teachers are in short supply. Moreover, the current government budgets just $50 annually for each child attending elementary school. The average in the OECD in 2013 was $9,200.

But programmes like these are attractive for two reasons: they deepen a country’s access to educational expertise, and, more important, they open up new funding streams.

Developed countries have already recognised the value of strong public-private partnerships in education. Notably, the United Kingdom’s 2018 education policy encourages the expansion of such programs because they have been found to “improve access to education for poor and marginalized children.”

Not everyone will agree; partial partnerships with the private sector and NGOs in education generates considerable controversy, and there is little doubt that in Liberia, the Bridge model remains a work in progress. (A new impact analysis is due in the next academic year.)

But while costs were high, they are quickly falling. And continuous teacher training for those who are part of Bridge PSL is helping to increase the quality of instruction. As test results in Liberia demonstrate, children are learning more than ever. With the support of prominent global investors, our schools are achieving outcomes that were previously unthinkable.

From my perspective, the public-private partnership model has revolutionised education in Liberia, and I am confident that it can work in other parts of Africa, too. In countries where learning outcomes continue to lag, governments need collaborative solutions. And, as past failures have demonstrated, education systems in much of the Global South cannot succeed alone.

To achieve “education for all” by 2030, the target set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, educators must embrace bold solutions like Bridge Partnership Schools. With millions of children still being denied the right to an education, the world can no longer afford the status quo.

The writer is the country director of Bridge Partnership Schools for Liberia.

*Fuente: http://www.newtimes.co.rw/opinions/learning-liberias-educational-partnerships

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Fighting Inequality in Asia and the Pacific

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By Shamshad Akhtar/thediplomat.com/16-05-2018

The region’s remarkable economic success story belies a widening gap between rich and poor.

Inequality is increasing in Asia and the Pacific. Our region’s remarkable economic success story belies a widening gap between rich and poor. A gap that’s trapping people in poverty and, if not tackled urgently, could thwart our ambition to achieve sustainable development. This is the central challenge heads of state and government will be considering this week at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). A strengthened regional approach to more sustainable, inclusive growth must be this Commission’s outcome.

It’s imperative, because ESCAP’s Sustainable Development Goal Progress Report shows that at the current rate of progress, Asia and the Pacific will fall short of achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda. There has been some welcome progress, including in some of the least developed countries of our region. Healthier lives are being led and wellbeing has increased. Poverty levels are declining, albeit too slowly. But only one SDG, focused on achieving quality education and lifelong learning, is on track to be met.

In several critical areas, the region’s heading in the wrong direction. Environmental stewardship has fallen seriously short. The health of our oceans has deteriorated since 2015. On land, our ecosystems’ biodiversity is threatened. Forest conservation and the protection of natural habitats has weakened. Greenhouse gas emissions are still too high. But it’s the widening inequalities during a period of robust growth that are particularly striking.

Wealth has become increasingly concentrated. Inequalities have increased both within and between countries. Over thirty years, the Gini coefficient increased in four of our most populous countries, home to over 70 percent of the region’s population. Human, societal and economic costs are real. Had income inequality not increased over the past decade, close to 140 million more people could have been lifted out of poverty. More women would have had the opportunity to attend school and complete their secondary education. Access to healthcare, to basic sanitation or even bank accounts would have been denied to fewer citizens. Fewer people would have died from diseases caused by the fuels they cook with. Natural disasters would have wrought less havoc on the most vulnerable.

The uncomfortable truth is that inequality runs deep in many parts of Asia and the Pacific. There’s no silver bullet, no handy lever we can reach for to reduce it overnight. But an integrated, coordinated approach can over time return our economies and our societies to a sustainable footing. Recent ESCAP analysis provides recommendations on how to do just that.

At their heart is a call to in invest in our people: to improve access to healthcare and education.

Only a healthy population can study, work and become more prosperous. The universal basic healthcare schemes established by Bhutan and Thailand are success stories to build on. Expanding social protection to low income families through cash transfers can also help underpin a healthy society.

Increasing investment in education is fundamental to both development and equality. Here the key to success is making secondary education genuinely accessible and affordable, including for those living in rural areas. Where universal access has been achieved, the focus must be on improving quality. This means upskilling teachers and improving curricula, and tailoring education to future labor markets and new technologies.

Equipping people to exploit frontier technologies is becoming more important by the minute. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a rapidly expanding sector. It can quicken the pace of development. But it is also creating a digital divide which must be bridged. So investment in ICT infrastructure is key, to support innovative technologies and ensure no one is left behind. Put simply, we need better broadband access across our region. Geography can’t determine opportunity.

This is also true when it comes to tackling climate change, disasters and environmental degradation. We know these hazards are pushing people back into poverty and can entrench inequality. In response, we need investment to help people to adapt in the region’s disaster hotspots: targeted policies to mitigate the impacts of environmental degradation on those most vulnerable, particularly air pollution. Better urban planning, regular school health check-ups in poorer neighborhoods, and legislation guaranteeing the right to a clean, safe and healthy environment into constitutions should be part of our response.

The robust growth Asia and the Pacific continues to enjoy, gives us an opportunity to take decisive action across all these areas. But for this to happen, fiscal policy needs to be adjusted. More effective taxation systems would increase the tax take, and better governance would increase people’s willingness to contribute. Public expenditure could then be made more efficient and progressive, the proceeds of growth shared more widely, and inequalities reduced.

My hope is that leaders will seize the moment, strengthen our commitment to fighting inequality on all fronts and put us back on track to sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.

Shamshad Akhtar is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

*Fuente: https://thediplomat.com/2018/05/fighting-inequality-in-asia-and-the-pacific/

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EEUU: NC march leaders want teacher pay and education spending to reach national average

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Por: hastingstribune.com/16-05-2018

RALEIGH, N.C. — The group organizing Wednesday’s mass teacher rally in Raleigh says it wants state lawmakers to sharply raise education spending — including pay raises for all school employees — and to reverse many of the education changes made in the past seven years.

More than 15,000 teachers have signed up to attend the “March for Students and Rally for Respect,” an event that’s causing at least 38 school districts, including Wake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Durham and Johnston counties and Chapel Hill-Carrboro, to cancel classes Wednesday.

On Monday, the North Carolina Association of Educators released its priorities for the march, which coincides with the opening day of this year’s state legislative session. The list includes raising both teacher pay and per-pupil spending to the national average over the next four years. The group also wants “significant and livable raises for all public school employees.”

The National Education Association estimates that North Carolina’s average teacher salary is $9,622 below the national average and per-pupil spending is $2,406 below the national average. The NCAE says lawmakers should not cut corporate taxes until both teacher pay and per-pupil spending reach the national average.

“North Carolina public school educators, parents, and our communities demand better for our students,” NCAE President Mark Jewell said in a statement. “These specific public education priorities will give every student an opportunity to succeed and help recruit and retain educators as we face a critical shortage in our classrooms and school buildings.”

Senate Leader Phil Berger’s office responded Monday by pointing to how the Republican-led state legislature has increased public education spending by nearly $2 billion since 2011. Berger’s office also noted that lawmakers have promised a fifth consecutive teacher pay raise that will lead to an average 6.2 percent raise next year.

“Over 44,000 teachers in North Carolina — half the state’s workforce — are receiving at least a $10,000 raise since 2014 under the General Assembly’s budgets,” added Joseph Kyzer, a spokesman for House Speaker Tim Moore. “That’s why North Carolina has ranked No. 1 and No. 2 the last two years for teacher pay growth by the NEA.”

Other big-ticket items for the NCAE, which is the state affiliate of the NEA, include adding at least 500 school nurses, social workers and counselors this year and expanding Medicaid to improve health options for students. The group also wants lawmakers to put a $1.9 billion statewide school construction bond referendum on the ballot “to fix our crumbling schools and large class sizes.”

In the face of rising health insurance premiums, the NCAE also wants legislators to provide school employees with “enhanced and protected health insurance and pension.”

Some of the NCAE’s “expectations” for legislators would require reversing changes made since Republicans gained the majority in 2011, including:

— Restoring extra pay for teachers with advanced degrees.

— Restoring longevity pay for school employees based on their years of service.

— Restoring career status, colloquially called teacher tenure, that gives due process rights to teachers before they’re fired or demoted.

— Ending pay for performance based on student test scores for teachers and administrators.

“There isn’t a vision here for increasing student achievement,” said Terry Stoops, vice president of research for the conservative John Locke Foundation. “There’s a vision for increasing the amount of money we spend on public schools but with very little sense on how that money would be used.”

*Fuente: http://www.hastingstribune.com/nc-march-leaders-want-teacher-pay-and-education-spending-to/article_8dd0ef1d-2b2d-5e85-b112-ec2a0e3aaa37.html

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Oman: Ministry of Education signs pact to promote technology

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Oman/May 15, 2018/by Times News Service/Source: http://timesofoman.com/

The Ministry of Education signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Oman Oil Production Company and Innovation (Ebtikar) for Intelligent Solutions Company.

The MoU comes to implement a number of technical projects that promote the use of technology in the field of education. It also seeks the integration of innovative digital projects that promote the educational process in the Sultanate.

With the presence of Dr Homoud Al Harthi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Education and Curriculum, Yahya Al Harthi, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Curriculum Development at the Ministry of Education, signed the MoU with Ashraf Al Mamari, vice-chairman of Oman Oil Company, and Eng Tamer Al Abri, Executive manager of Innovation Company.

The MoU is part of the Ministry of Education’s efforts to develop innovative electronic services that enhance the educational process in the Sultanate. It is also within the framework of the Oman Oil Exploration and Production Company’s keenness to support innovative scientific projects that enhance the educational aspect. The MoU also comes in line with the fact that Ebtikar (Innovation) for smart solutions is an Omani company characterised by the industry of smart applications and new technologies as well as innovating a new concept through the delivery of knowledge in entertainment.

Source:
http://timesofoman.com/article/133893/Business/Economy/Ministry-of-Education-signs-Memorandum-of-Understanding-with-Oman-Oil-Company-and-Innovation-Company
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