La Nueva Contribución a la Crítica de la Educación, del profesor Villegas, expone lo que llama inhibidores del aprendizaje y propone cómo podría ayudar a superarlos el aprendizaje basado en problemas. Establece con mayor fundamentación los principios de la teoría de la educación interactiva: la inversión copernicana en educación que cambia el sentido unilateral y vertical maestro-alumno del flujo conocimiento, el principio de educar por omisión que libera la mente del alumno de creencias y dogmas y, especialmente, de lo que llama la alienación epistemológica o falta de confianza en la propia capacidad de pensamiento, y el principio de conocer como acción-cognición con el concepto del sujeto de aprendizaje como receptos pero también como productor de conocimiento. El tema principal de la obra es el aprendizaje basado en problemas y el Sistema ABP, pero en el capítulo IV siembra lo que llama el germen de la universidad-proyecto y de la sociedad que se da un modelo educativo conformado por la tríada mente-escuela-sociedad. Fiel a su propio principio de que conocer es crear y que crear es hacer primero, tomados el primero del maestro mexicano Guillermo Héctor Rodríguez, y el segundo de la epistemología japonesa, baja sus teorías del cielo a la tierra e inicia una aventura editorial propia con la preparación y publicación de compendios que contienen lo esencial de cada disciplina, "lo que no puede dejar de saberse", para educación media y primera mitad de superior. Invita además a los maestros, al diseño de contenidos no lineales con los principios de la educación interactiva porque está consciente de que la formación de trabajadores del conocimiento, como se les llama, es una cuestión estratégica de supervivencia para cualquier sociedad y especialmente para las que están en vías de desarrollo y sufren los embates de la globalización financiera sin prevenirse contra ella.

In this volume fourteen fellows of the International Academy of Education, whose research work is known internationally, reflect upon the ways in which their careers have been shaped by early family influences, by random events and surprise opportunities, and by nascent intellectual interests and academic mentoring. The authors come from many different countries (Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Israel, Mexico, South Africa, and the USA), and from a number of disciplinary or intellectual orientations including curriculum development, economics, educational measurement and statistical analysis, history, philosophy, policy analysis, program evaluation, psychology, and sociology. They come from diverse social and cultural backgrounds; and in many cases rose above the travails presented by wars, social unrest, and social injustice to attain an education that launched them eventually into a research career. On this path, many were unexpectedly assisted by established researchers who served as mentors or “enablers.” Their personal stories, then, are of broad interest – and may even be a source of comfort and inspiration to younger colleagues who are commencing their careers in the international educational research community.

The goal of this text is to help teachers in diverse classrooms understand the importance of students’ culture, languages, and schooling experiences to curriculum, assessment, and student achievement. Readers will learn about aspects of specific cultures and languages that are important to their understanding of their students, and they will discover that cultures that are often considered similar may not be so (and why they aren't). Finally, the text focuses on how teachers can integrate languages and cultures into classrooms and how to account for students' backgrounds and funds of knowledge when devising tasks. The text starts with an introduction to language and culture that presents a research?based explanation of why these concepts are important for teachers to understand (Chapter 1). Then, the middle 28 chapters each address one country/culture. Each chapter starts with a school scenario in the US. Part 2 of each chapter includes evidence?based demographic and background data on the country, including historical events that may have an impact on our students and their families. Part 3 includes a look at education, schooling, and culture, including famous people, contributions to the world, personal characteristics, important religious information, focal customs, and other aspects that are important to cultural insiders. Part 4 is about language and literacy traditions and how they relate to the culture, a number of words that teachers can learn (e.g., yes, no, thank you, please, hello), how the language is different from and similar to English, and what those differences and similarities might mean for English language learners from that culture. Part 5 comprises advice, resources, and ideas for teachers (for example, if it is an oral culture, the teacher might consider working with students on oral storytelling before transitioning to written stories, or incorporate both using technology). Each chapter also contains recommended readings and resources and short exercises that extend the chapter information. The final chapter presents parting notes for teachers and additional suggestions for addressing diversity.