E hnog aphy, isual na a i es and lea ning ecologies. The 'Uni e sidad
Ru al Paulo F ei e' case.
Pablo Co és-González
José Ignacio Ri as-Flo es
Ma cial Ga cía-López
Uni e sidad de Málaga
INTRODUCCTION (600w.)
In his pape , we p esen some o he esul s o he R&D P ojec called
"Ecologies o lea ning in mul iple con ex s: analysis o expanded educa ion
p ojec s and ci izenship con igu a ions" unded by Minis e o Economy and
Compe i i eness (Spain).
The in e es o his p ojec a ises a e conside ing ha much o he indi idual
and o ganiza ional lea nings ha e been u ning in isible in di e en educa ional
spaces. The e o e, ou pu pose is o s udy he di e en socio-educa ional
mechanisms ha indi iduals and o ganiza ions pu in o play in di e en
scena ios: schools, asocia ions, i ual academical con ex s, e c.
On his ocassion, we p esen some o he me hodological issues and esul s o
a speci ic case: "La Uni e sidad Ru al Paulo F ei e de la Se anía de Ronda"
(onwa ds URPF), a u al socio-educa i e o ganiza ion. The e hnog aphy is
being de eloped in Benalau ía (Ronda moun ain ange). This o ganiza ion is
ocused in he eco e y o adi ional lea nings ha people used o ha e a ound
he u al wo ld. I is se led in a c i ical pe spec i e ha connec s hei
educa ional ac ions unde he app oaches o sus ainabili y, digni y, eminism,
e c.
The gene al objec i es we conside o his p ojec a e he ollowing:
! To know li e s yle o people in Benalau ía con ex .
! To unde s and he con igu a ion o URPF g oup and i s impac in he
e i o y.
! To p omo e lea ning communi ies o p ac ice wi h o he o ganiza ions.
As speci ic objec i es, we emphasize:
- To e iew he concep ual amewo ks hose allow us o unde s and he
p ac ices o in isible lea ning in his expe ience.
- To gene a e isual na a i es hose e idence he wo k and iden i y ea u es o
he URPF.
- To analyse he li e s o ies o he people who a e pa o his expe ience (as
well as he collec i e s o y), o he unde s anding o socio-educa ional ac ion in
u al con ex s h ough dialogue o knowledge, gene a ion o democ a ic
p ac ices and collabo a i e pa icipa ion.
- To gene a e spaces o dialogue wi h o he o ganiza ions, g oups and people
o he c ea ion o ne wo ks and lea ning communi ies.
Theo e ical amewo k
The beginning o he ecological me apho s a ed wi h he in en ion o a new
pa adigm o unde s anding knowledge. The i s indings we e abou plan and
animal ecology (Bu gues, 1920), la e on poli ical ecology (Club de Roma,
1972), which wen o human ecology and o u ban ecology (Nicolas, 2004). This
me apho was also c ossed wi h he ecosys ems app oach. Consequen ly, he
concep is ex ended o cha ac e is ics o adap a ion, e olu ion, and sel -
o ganiza ion o communi ies wi h common in e es s (Ma ínez-Rod íguez,
2015).
Ini ially, he ecology o lea ning is conside ed in o mal educa ional con ex s in
o de o gene a e a s uc u e ha exceeds he ansmission o unique
knowledge. In his pa adigma ic ansi ion, he ideas o Ecology o educa ion
(Cobo and Mo a ec, 2011) and Ecology o knowledge (Sousa San os, 2010)
begin o coalesce. "No medium acqui es i s meaning o exis ence alone, bu
only in cons an in e ac ion wi h o he meanings" (McLuhan, 1964: 43).
In his poin , he concep o lea ning ecologies eme ges om wo heo ies o
lea ning: cons uc i ism and connec i ism. I also manages o in eg a e and
ex end elemen s beyond eaching and lea ning models. I allows he
conside a ion o knowledge in he se ice o he cons uc ion, adap a ion and
sel -su iciency o he subjec in a con ex o eal educa i e ac ion. Fo his
eason, o mal con ex s a e no he only ocus o his pe spec i e.
Finally, o he case ha we a e dealing wi h, i is necessa y o e e o he
concep o Ecology as lea ning communi ies ha is an analysis o social
ne wo ks as a communi y (Siemens, 2003). Tha makes sense in he ac ions
ca ied ou by he URPF, he nuclea agen o ou e hnog aphy.
METHODOLOGY (400 w)
In o de o d aw on hese gene al pu poses and a e an ag eemen p ocess
wi h he URPF collec i e, we designed an e hnog aphy (Spa kes, 2017; Ellis,
2004), based con pe sonal accoun s.
This esea ch s a ed on Janua y 2015 o he p esen . I was p oposed as
e hnog aphy ocused on he expe ience o he pa icipan s in he URPF
collec i e and o he neighbou s and o he illage agen s. We ocus on
expe iences as a means o unde s anding la ge s uc u al p oblems on u al
con ex s: exodus, p oduc i e model, educa ional models, u al knowledge,
social pa icipa ion, e c.
Me hodologically he esea ch is s uc u ed in h ee phases:
1. Nego ia ion. Ou en y in he ield was possible om ou ela ion wi h
any o membe s o URPF. So, we p oposed ou aims and p oposals and
ask hem o hei in e es in ela ion o ou esea ch. A p elimina y
documen was elabo a ed, ha was discussed wi h all pa icipan s in a
mee ing. Join ly we ag eed objec i es, p ocedu es and pa icula
in e es s. This ag eemen included: li e his o ies o URPF membe s, hei
pa icipa ion on esul ’s discussions, local e hnog aphy and he
elabo a ion o audio- isual documen s o make isible he ac ions o
URPF.
2. Li e his o ies o URPF membe s we e elabo a ed in o de o
unde s and he pe sonal p ocesses and hei implica ion and
commi men in he p ojec . The objec i e was o unde s and he eali y
h ough he heo y ha di e en pa icipan s ha e cons uc ed acco ding
how hey ead hei en i onmen and hei expe ience as membe s o
URPF
3. Local E hnog aphy o he con ex in which URPF wo ks. We
in e iewed di e en inhabi an s o u al con ex ; ideo eco ds we e
doing; and we made pa icipan obse a ions along di e en s ages in
he con ex . We a e in e es ed o know how hese people li e, hei
expe ience, hei ways o li e, how hey in e p e hei eali y and how
hey a e unde s anding he wo k o URPF
A e his da a collec ion p ocess, se e al mee ings we e held in o de o back
da a analysis and o discuss hem wi h all pa icipan s. So, we buil di e en
pape s, which we e pu in o deba e. Along i s semes e o 2017 we p e end
held se e al mee ings wi h his p oposal, and elabo a e a sha ed epo , a
documen a y ilm and a i ual ca og aphy o show whe e a e loca ed RRPF
ac ions.
CONCLUSIONS (300 W)
Today he amewo k o ecological lea ning and he p ocesses o building
ci izenship a e pe cei ed as an in isible, gene a i e o hizoma ic lea ning.
Howe e , he almos unlimi ed possibili ies o communica ion ( ela ionships)
open he uni e se o o he o ms o lea ning ha con ibu es o he p ocesses o
pe sonal and collec i e de elopmen .
We a e obse ing ha na a i e wo k h ough s o ies and li e s o ies is allowing
us o isualize and unde s and pa o ha hidden lea ning. They a e on he
expe iences o he subjec s ha make up he e i o ies.
I goes beyond he esul s ha URPF as a socio-educa ional o ganiza ion
p oduce, in o de o del e in o knowing wha happens behind he isible, behind
he scenes. In some ways, he epe cussions o hese conside a ions a e
unde s ood o be poli ical p ac ices in hemsel es, which humanize he
educa ional ac ions ha a e ca ied ou (F ei e, 1990; Van Manen, 1998). On
he con a y, we obse e how he signi ican lea nings and he causes and
d i e s o collec i e ac ions ha e o do wi h how hey a e in e p e ed
in e subjec i ely h ough expe ience (Ricoeu , 1999). This posi ion allows us o
en e whe e ac ually he educa ional ac esides: expe ience, ela ionship,
con adic ion, lo e, disag eemen … (Mei ieu, 2006).
In he case ha conce ns us wi h he URPF, we see how in he indi idual
s o ies ha deal wi h he ajec o y o each membe , he p ope meaning o he
collec i e is cla i ied. Each expe ience is e lec ed, in u n, in he ac cons i u ing
he collec i e. All his, ine i ably ans e s o he ea men o o he issues o
equal impo ance and ha ha e gene a ed signi ican lea ning: amily ela ions,
pa en ing, pa icipa ion in socio-poli ical o ganiza ions, social mo emen s, social
con ex s, e c.
Specially, we will alk abou he ollowings eme gen ca ego ies as esul o he
esea ch p ocess: social and poli ical con ex and amily con ex , ideologis s,
belie s and con lic s, ac i ism and u al wo d, li e p ojec s. solida i y and
educa ion aining.
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