Juan José Vergara is a teacher and educator specialized in the management and guidance of educational centers and holds postgraduate studies in sociocultural animation and adult education. He is specialized in active methodologies: project-based learning (PBL), service learning, social entrepreneurship, active techniques for authentic and formative assessment, and models for project programming and learning situations. He also covers the use of appropriate tools for proactive approaches, technology, creativity, motivation, and collaborative structures. He is a speaker at teacher training courses and conferences on educational innovation, school improvement, and the application of project methods in various countries (Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Puerto Rico). He collaborates in training programs with national and international universities, professional associations in the field of education, and a network of public and private training centers.
A Classroom, A Project. PBL and the New Education 2020* is a text that describes the moments that shaped PBL projects and offers different tools to achieve this goal. This article presents, develops, and synthesizes every minute of the work that Juan José Vergara has done in PBL training with hundreds of teachers from different countries and educational levels. This book is written during a critical moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, which represents a turning point in teaching for all educators.
The PBL approach (project-based learning) is understood as a way of working in which students must design, apply, and evaluate plans to solve real or simulated tasks close to professional domains (Larmer and Mergendoller, 2010). Project-based learning (PBL) is a proactive approach used by innovative teachers at all educational levels when they want to improve the teaching and learning process. What distinguishes PBL from other methodologies is that it turns students into protagonists of their own teaching process, learning by doing. This means that teachers must plan each activity, determine the objectives to be achieved, and prepare the materials to be used.
The text is divided into three parts to form a coherent global text. Miguel Ángel Zabalza, professor of Pedagogy and School Organization at the University of Santiago de Compostela, writes the preface.
Part I: Scenarios: (i) Classrooms full of projects that transform classrooms; (ii) What PBL is not: PBL is not a methodology, nor an interdisciplinary activity, nor a passing trend…, nor a recipe to break with school reality; (iii) An “educational manifesto” to build learning programs; (iv) I don’t like fireworks: let’s design some strategies to keep us engaged with learning; Characteristics that become engines of change in schools; (v) We learn through stories.
Part II: Adventure. Every minute of the PBL journey; (i) Minute 1: the idea that led us to the project; (ii) Minute 2: PBL must be useful for my course; (iii) Minute 3: develop skills, not accumulate content; (iv) Minute 4: Is it okay in my center?; (v) Minute 5: I’m organized!; (vi) Minute 6: The adventure of learning leads to a surprising journey; (vii) Minute 7: Empower students; (viii) Minute 8: Start from the group’s knowledge; (ix) Minute 10: No mentor; (x) Minute 11: Implement the project with others; (xi) Minute 12: Final action; (xii) Minute 13: Commitment to reality; (xiii) Minute 15: Narrating the structure of learning.
Part III: A Companion for Educational Adventures. (i) Companions in the adventure of learning; (ii) Longevity of projects; (iii) It’s better to be together than alone; (iv) Project-based learning and new education in a world in crisis: (a) The environment we live in is a mix, communication and technology are exclusive factors, the goals of education remain the same, and education in a world in crisis.
We believe this is an appropriate and recommended book for teachers who want to embark on the design, development, and evaluation of this active learning approach at any level.
Esperanza Bausela Herreras
Early Childhood Education is recognised as a crucial stage in the integral development of individuals. Moreover, its importance has undergone a remarkable evolution over time, especially in recent decades. This is why it is now widely recognised as a fundamental period in which the foundations for learning are laid and essential aspects of early childhood cognitive, emotional, social and motor development are shaped.
In a society marked by technological evolution and changing social demands, teaching and learning have undergone a remarkable metamorphosis, requiring innovative and effective pedagogical approaches. Recognising the importance of Early Childhood Education and early childhood, this book proposes a transformative approach centred on Learning Projects. This methodology not only promotes the acquisition of knowledge and skills, but also fosters the curiosity, creativity and autonomy of students, making them active protagonists of their own process.
Learning Projects (LP) are based on students’ intrinsic desire to discover the world around them. In this paradigm, children become the main actors in their learning process, while educators take on the roles of mediators, facilitators and guides. The essence of the LP lies in their ability to foster curricular globalisation, integrating diverse areas of knowledge around a shared axis of interest.
The structure of the book is composed of two main parts. First, it explores the theoretical and practical foundations of LP, from their conceptualisation to their implementation in the classroom. Key aspects such as the importance of listening to and understanding students’ motivations, strategies for self-regulation of learning and the need for innovation in early childhood education are addressed. In this way, this section of the book explains in detail how to integrate curricular content and key competences into the project itself, which is a challenge for most teachers today. Therefore, the methodology used for the development of a project is addressed, considering its structural axis and the corresponding diagram of contents.
The book not only presents Learning Projects as an educational alternative, but also addresses a series of urgent questions that often arise in this environment: Can Learning Projects be developed in Early Childhood Education? How can an educational process be established based on the interests and motivations of the students? Why is it important to innovate in Early Childhood Education?
This is followed by concrete examples of projects developed by teaching teams, accompanied by a reflective analysis of the experience, implementation and evaluation of these projects. As explained in the text itself, in order to carry out a truly reflective practice, it is essential to adopt a constant analytical character throughout the project (Perrenoud, 2017). Moreover, it is even more enriching when this reflection is carried out as a team, incorporating diverse educational perspectives in a collaborative action-research process.
The book stands out for its rigorous approach and its ability to articulate theory and practice, offering educators a detailed guide to design, implement and evaluate LP focused on Early Childhood Education. In addition, it underlines the need for a continuous process of training and pedagogical innovation and, therefore, proposes tools for training in this active methodology.
In this sense, the project-based learning approach is presented as a powerful tool to nurture critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration, preparing students at this stage to be active and competent citizens in a society in constant transformation.
In summary, Working on Learning Projects in Early Childhood Education is an essential resource for education professionals seeking to enhance the holistic development of their students, promoting meaningful, collaborative and contextualised learning in the world around them. Its in-depth content and practical approach make it a valuable tool for transforming educational practice and responding to the challenges of the 21st century.
Paula Martínez Enríquez
The book “Childhood and the Digital Transformation of Education: Diverse Perspectives” examines certain approaches and relevant questions in order to present a series of reflections and suggestions that facilitate the formulation of an appropriate understanding regarding the meaning and importance of digital educational resources in educational work. The purpose of the book is to analyze these concerns and offer reflections and proposals that help to understand the sense and significance of digital technologies in educational practice.
The importance of this book is emphasized for researchers, pre-service teachers, and families wishing to delve deeper into the topic, as well as for those seeking practical examples of how to effectively utilize digital educational resources in classrooms.
The work follows a discourse and structure typical of a research paper and is organized into two main sections: “Food for Thought,” which provides reflections on early childhood education in the digital age, and “Hands-on Practice,” which presents examples of valuable practices related to the appropriate use of resources in the early childhood education stage.
In the first part of the book, “Food for Thought: Early Childhood Education in the Maze of the Digital Society,” a profound and reflective look is provided on the relationship between digital technologies, childhood, and early childhood education. The significant increase in the presence of these technologies in both the school and home environments is highlighted, as well as the adoption of educational policies to regulate their use. Furthermore, the growth in the sale of digital resources and educational discourses addressing upbringing in a consumerist culture is noted.
The book highlights the lack of understanding regarding the importance of digital competence in early childhood education, both among families and educators. Despite children being immersed in the digital age, the responsibility falls on adults to mitigate the risks. For this reason, within the educational realm, there is an emphasis on the need for more reflective and critical training for teachers, as well as the implementation of educational projects that explicitly consider the use of technologies. Likewise, various opinions regarding the use of digital technologies in childhood are mentioned, ranging from advocating for their inclusion in early childhood education classrooms to rejecting their use before the primary education stage.
The second part of the book, “Hands-on Practice: Experiences of Digital Education in Childhood,” is particularly interesting as it proposes, across ten chapters, strategies aimed at the optimal utilization of resources in early childhood education. All of these strategies constitute a fundamental pillar in the development of educational environments that strive for effectiveness and richness in student formation. They are strategies that make it possible to optimize the use of tangible and intangible resources, such as didactic materials, pedagogical tools, and educational technologies, with the purpose of fostering meaningful learning.
Among the proposals, it is worth mentioning the incorporation of educational robotics from a programming perspective for learning, which represents a liberating approach in education, going beyond mere traditional literacy. This approach enables students to understand and actively participate in the digital world in a critical and responsible manner.
Furthermore, it provides concrete examples of how to apply other innovative approaches in educational practice. These include the use of online training courses aimed at both teachers and families, the employment of video games for educational purposes, and the analysis of television series with pedagogical content. These practical examples illustrate how the mentioned resources can be effectively integrated into the educational environment to enhance the learning and development of early childhood education.
Therefore, reading the book “Childhood and the Digital Transformation of Education: Diverse Perspectives” is an essential requirement for individuals committed to the integration and efficient application of technologies in the educational sphere. Given the increasing relevance of digital tools in the teaching and learning process, this book not only constitutes recommended reading but also an indispensable resource for those aspiring to understand the complexities, implications, and potential benefits of this digital transformation in the educational context.
Isabel Cerezo Cortijo
The expression ‘adaptive education’ was coined by Glaser in 1977, bringing together the terms individual diversity and educational diversity. Víctor García Hoz, in 1960, formulated ‘differential pedagogy’ to systematise educational approaches related to diverse ways of teaching, taking into account relevant group differences and individual differences.
This book, published by the renowned publishing house Síntesis, consists of five chapters written by four authors who are specialists in the field, who are part of the adaptive pedagogy research group at the Complutense University, and is the result of work carried out over the last decades.
The book provides an innovative vision on how to approach education from an inclusive and personalised perspective. It highlights the importance of understanding that each student is unique and that teaching strategies should reflect this diversity. The first chapter discusses the historical evolution from differential pedagogy to adaptive pedagogy and the different approaches that have been used to address diversity in the classroom, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL). It includes sections entitled ‘guidelines for reflection’ that engage the reader through reading.
The second chapter sets out the key concepts and theories underpinning adaptive pedagogy to improve quality from a differentiated perspective, focusing on the individuality of learners. It concludes by describing the adaptive principles relevant to 21st century educational institutions. In addition to the ‘guidelines for reflection’, it adds the sections ‘situation’ and ‘completeness’, which raise case studies and questions, respectively, of interest to the reader.
The third chapter is devoted to the study of individual differences and educational methods in research.
It covers the most appropriate research design for adaptive education, the ATI model, the design known as aptitude-treatment interaction, its origin and evolution to the present day, the phases involved in ATI research and practical guidelines for the design of adaptive research. In short, it offers methods and techniques for personalising teaching according to the needs, interests and abilities of each student, as well as teaching tools and resources for implementing effective adaptive pedagogy.
The fourth chapter discusses ways of diagnostic and ongoing assessment to identify individual student characteristics and adjustments in lesson planning and delivery to respond to the assessments made. Examples and case studies facilitate the understanding and application of the strategies proposed.
The fifth chapter presents case studies and real examples of implementation of adaptive strategies in different educational contexts. Testimonies and results obtained by applying differential pedagogy in various educational institutions, with a section dedicated to highlighting the importance of mediation in the classroom.
The book provides concrete and applicable tools for the educational community to design and implement a teaching-learning process that considers individual differences.
This includes assessment techniques, curriculum planning and teaching methods. It invites the educational community to reflect on their current pedagogical practices and to consider changes that can lead to more effective teaching.
‘Adaptive Differential Pedagogy’ is an essential work for the entire educational community and all those interested in improving the quality and effectiveness of teaching. Its focus on adapting and personalising the educational process offers practical and theoretical solutions to the challenges of individual differences in the classroom.
Patricia Diez Ortego