Building Knowledge

We are pleased to introduce the first lines of this book which presents a series of research contributions focusing on various relevant aspects in two fundamental and deeply interrelated areas of knowledge: Education and Humanities. It covers essential topics such as tutoring at different educational levels; linguistic and communicative issues from cultural, intercultural, historical and gender perspectives, also in relation to technology; and a critical look at the role of the artist from the historical avant-garde to the present day.

The book the reader holds in their hands is a valuable contribution to knowledge and debate on education in comparative perspective. The experience and academic rigour of its authors shed light on a number of highly topical issues. It brings together a series of theoretical and empirical studies on the most relevant issues in educational and humanistic research. Specifically, it addresses issues of particular interest to teacher training and educational improvement at different stages of education, such as interculturality, gender perspectives, arts education, the use of active learning methodologies and quality management.

This volume, now being released to the education community, is particularly timely in the aftermath of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic across the education sector and at all levels. As many experts have since pointed out, the global health and social crisis has also been a wake-up call to some of the shortcomings of 21st century education. On another front, the recent and growing emergence of artificial intelligence has also challenged the humanistic underpinnings of those who dedicate themselves to education. In this context of accelerated paradigm shifts that the current century has brought us, understanding and taking advantage of the opportunities that technology undoubtedly offers must not undermine the ultimate subject and purpose of education systems: to educate and prepare 21st century citizens for a sustainable, free, just and equitable world.

With this landscape in mind, the studies presented here are rich in data that rigorously document the complex educational scenario of the post-Covid world. Although it has now been launched, the research presented here is in fact a transition between the world we knew before Covid-19 and the world to come. This is worth noting because, as we shall see, some of the effects attributed to the pandemic situation have their origins further back, in a system that has been sending out alarm signals for a long time, at least since the systemic financial crisis of 2008, and which, as is well known and analysed by numerous political scientists around the world, has called into question the very functioning of our democratic systems.