The first people considered digital natives, the millennials, have already entered the teaching profession. As a result, we are faced with a remarkable generational diversity. This survey aimed to explore the generational change in teachers and the beginning of the incorporation of the first millennials (digital natives) into teaching. It was carried out through a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews with a total of 147 teachers. The main results found establish a generational clash between migrants and digital natives. This difference is present in the use and understanding of ICTs in the teaching task across the different teaching generations and in a generational diversity within the educational centres that has not been seen so far. However, this difference between teachers is also a condition that facilitates exchange between teachers of different generations. Junior teachers help veteran teachers in the use of ICTs and veteran teachers provide the expertise that new recruits lack.

Schools, as in the case of other organizations, face complex challenges due to generational phenomena. In addition to an increasingly aging teaching workforce, schools are becoming more age-diverse, with coexisting multiple generations. Two consequences of this situation are the declining availability of relevant and critical knowledge for schools as teachers retire and the difficulties associated with maintaining professional relationships among teachers of different generations. These challenges have highlighted the significance of understanding the relevance of generations of teachers and identifying ways to build on generational diversity. Specifically, intergenerational collaboration and learning are needed to meet these challenges. Accordingly, this study aims to (1) examine generational diversity among teachers, (2) inquire into their interactions and the learning processes accompanying collaborative experiences in professional development, and (3) explore how these experiences and processes can enhance professional learning and practice. To this end, an exploratory mixed methods research project is conducted, comprising a multiphase design with two exploratory sequential studies (QUAL→quan). The participants are a sample of beginner, veteran, and retired teachers from Spain’s publicly funded schools. In the qualitative strands of the study, data collection techniques comprise focus groups and semi-structured in-depth interviews followed by thematic analysis. In the quantitative strands, questionnaires (a multidimensional scale and a survey experiment) are the major data sources, which are subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical (factor and conjoint) analyses. The focus is primarily on the qualitative strands.

The introduction of digital information and communication technologies has influenced many aspects of the teaching profession. In addition to their changing use in the classroom, these technologies have strongly impacted the work and professional development of teachers. In this study, which was framed within the R+D+i project DePrInEd, we analyzed the perceptions, beliefs, opinions, and attitudes of teachers on this subject. We conducted a qualitative study through interviews, with a thematic analysis addressing the duality of technology and change. The results indicated that these produced benefits and created difficulties in the teaching task, with the latter being more demanding. Teachers stated that one of the main difficulties they encountered was related to the evolution of students as a result of technology, both in the school and social contexts. This highlights the risk that its extensive use did not lead to the acquisition of other key competencies, including digital and media competencies, in the school environment. Finally, other dimensions that impacted the corporate intelligence of educational centers included the continuous adaptation and mastery of digital competence required by teachers regarding the changes in their tasks, as well as the excessive bureaucratization that technologies have necessitated.

Students who leave school early is an issue of global concern, and various measures have been taken to help early leavers return to school, including second chance education programmes. This qualitative case study explores their reasons for continuing education in a second chance education programme in a successful educational centre located in Ceuta, a unique Spanish city. Our findings indicate that there is a complex interplay of educational, family and economical aspects pushing and pulling the participants to resume education, but that their beliefs on these factors and their agency are key in this process. These findings can contribute to prevent disengagement and leaving from education and training in the future by informing the measures for educational reintegration.

Objective: This contribution aims to introduce a conceptual framework on generational diversity of teachers in order to analyze and understand its influence on the processes and results of professional interaction in schools. Methodology: In this conceptual piece, first, the relevance of generational diversity among teachers in their workplace is examined and justified, emphasizing the increasing aging of teaching staff. Next, generational diversity is explored by analyzing the concept of generation and the attributes used to distinguishing generations (particularly, age). Furthermore, evidence is considered regarding the impact on the construction of teacher relationships, paying particular attention to the context of collaborative relationships between teachers belonging to different generations and its effects on teacher learning and identity. Findings: Conclusions are drawn as to the potentialities of intergenerational learning. Value added: Despite representing a clear challenge for the educational organizations, generational diversity and intergenerational collaboration among teachers and school leaders have been scarcely studied so far. Recommendations: Conclusions are drawn as to the potentialities of intergenerational learning and implications for professional induction and collegial professional development are presented as well.

Las carencias educativas resultantes de abandonar tempranamente la educación estarían contribuyendo significativamente a altas tasas de desempleo e inactividad entre los jóvenes. Sin embargo, la educación también es considerada un medio decisivo para afrontar estos problemas. Por tanto, merece especial atención obtener conocimiento sobre las condiciones en que se produce la reincorporación a la formación tras quedar esta interrumpida prematuramente. El estudio aquí presentado explora, en un centro educativo de segunda oportunidad ubicado en Ceuta (donde los indicadores mencionados alcanzan valores relativos muy elevados), la perspectiva que sus alumnos tienen de su recorrido vital previo a retornar a la formación en él y la incidencia atribuida al mismo. Para ello se recurre a datos procedentes de entrevistas individuales en profundidad realizadas a 39 jóvenes sin empleo y en riesgo de exclusión social con edades comprendidas entre los 18 y 24 años (29 en situación de abandono temprano de la educación y 10 que no se encontraban en esta situación), como parte de un estudio de caso más amplio referido a dicho centro, seleccionado por su éxito relativo y notoriedad en la mencionada Ciudad Autónoma. La información proporcionada por los participantes en forma de relatos ha sido objeto de análisis narrativo, aplicando dos procedimientos: biogramas que representan sucesos relevantes acaecidos en su vida junto a su visión de estos, y análisis temático de la información recogida en ellos. Globalmente considerados, los resultados indican que los recorridos realizados van siendo construidos mediante decisiones que los participantes adoptan entre alternativas determinadas por circunstancias personales, institucionales y sociales. Se aproximan así a biografías electivas. En este contexto, abandono educativo temprano y reincorporación a la formación revisten un carácter recurrente, transitorio y reversible, precisamente en virtud del relevante papel que desempeñan quienes viven estas situaciones, aunque lo desempeñen condicionados por su entorno institucional y social.Cómo citar este artículo: Portela Pruaño, A., Nieto Cano, J. M. y Torres Soto, A. (2019). La reincorporación formativa de jóvenes que abandonan tempranamente la educación: relevancia de su trayectoria previa | Re-engagement in education and training of young people who leave education early: the importance of earlier prior trajectories. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 77 (272), 103-121. doi: 10.22550/REP77-1-2019-07