The sciences of education have always, but even more at the present moment, felt the need of a paradigmatic “umbrella” that could offer both a real bases as well as a large and adequate covering. The changes on the philosophical level and, at the same time, the dilemmas in the social life and in the educational process have generated simultaneous and interdependent reshapings. This explains the fact that the new exigencies that education faces, especially from the perspective of the work (...) market, of social insertion and personal achievement constitute powerful current challenges for the philosophy of education as well. From this perspective, we shall try to: 1. formulate the notions student-centred philosophy and constructivism; 2. argue if, to what extent and within what boundaries can constructivism become the head stone for student-centred philosophy; 3. analyse the hypothesis according to which “Constructivism is the paradigm that will change the science of education” (K. Tobin). Attracted by the force and coherence of the constructivist theory as well as by the generosity and humanism of thestudent-centred paradigm, we cannot but wonder whether their being used together could become a solution to the current educational crisis? (shrink)

In the context of the perpetual reproduction of consumerism in contemporary western societies, the varied and often contradictory principles of third wave feminism have been misunderstood or redefined by the dominant economic discourse of the markets. The lack of homogeneity in the theoretical debates of the third wave feminism seems to be a vulnerable point in the appropriation of its emancipatory ideals by the post-modern consumerist narratives. The beauty norm, particularly, brings the most problematic questions forth in the contemporary feminist (...) dialogues. In this paper I will examine the validity of the concept of empowerment through practices of the body, practices that constitute the socially legitimized identity of women in a consumerist western society. My thesis is that the beauty norm is constructed as a socio-political instrument in order to preserve the old, patriarchal regulation of women’s bodies. Due to the power of invisibility of the new mechanisms of social control and subjection, the consumerist discourse offers the most effective political tool for gender inequality and a complex discussion about free will and emancipation in third wave feminism debates. This delicate theoretical issues question not only the existent social order, but the very political purposes of contemporary feminism. (shrink)

In the passage from the Enneads devoted to discussing and defining the nature of time, it is written that first one must experience eternity, which, as everyone knows, is the model and archetype of time. This initial warning, which is especially serious because we trust in its sincerity, appears to wipe out all hope of finding common ground with its author.Jorge Luis Borges, History of EternitySo let us leave the Platonists to wander off down a blind alley. Poor simpletons, they (...) think they will find the secret of discourse about time in the link with eternity. Whereas I, who am powerless in the face of eternity, would prefer to ask: what link can be retained, in discourse about time, between past, present, and future? If there is some link, can the three kinds of time break free of their mutual bonds? Can predicting the future, a time that will be but has never existed before, be disconnected from what determines the future as a product of what already exists and what has already existed? Can the past be what it once was or will it always be what each age decides it should have been? (shrink)

Boas, according to Harris, put the matter very succinctly: ‘Anthropology is a science, but science is history’. Malinowski sought a scientific definition of culture in his turn. In a posthumous text entitled A Scientific Theory of Culture, he offered a minimal definition of ‘science’ for the humanistic scholar, which would thus be differentiated simultaneously from abstract thought and from common sense.

The proposed study is based on a double causality, such as: the need to improve the counselling tools for high school students for the appropriate choice of a career development path; the existence of the category of disadvantaged students from an economic perspective, whose difficulties in choosing a training path for their career have been augmented during the pandemic. Our research provides an analysis of how the motivational essay can be substantiated as a useful tool in career counselling activities, as (...) well as how it can be integrated into counselling approaches for the economically disadvantaged teenagers to choose the academic development path. We have used a mixed research methodology, which complements the peer review approach with the qualitative analysis of a set of motivation essays developed by the 11th and 12th Grade students. The research aims to identify the level of development of self-analysis, self-reflection and self-assessment of motivational factors, which may be decisive in choosing a future career. The essay analysis highlights a series of elements, which reflects the dynamics of the change of motivational resources in the context of the digitalisation acceleration, of the upheavals on the labour market generated by the new social and economic context. The obtained results allow the formulation of conclusions: confirming the need for such an approach; certifying the possibility and usefulness of integrating the motivational essay into the career counsellor’s methodological portfolio and professional counselling approaches; illustrating useful effects and limits of the reflective effort generated during the essay. (shrink)

The educational area is a social sector where the COVID-19 pandemic impact involves making many exponential changes. In many countries, the transition from face-to-face education to on-line education implies a revolution in the hierarchy of job domains/jobs offer. Young people’s career plans may be different under the impact of internal and external factors generated by this new context. Theoretical framework revealed that under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the career decision-making process becomes more difficult to assume by taking into (...) consideration the job nature, the sense of belonging, and the balance between passions and risks involved. By referring to these aspects a question arises: Will the pandemic also create a crisis in the career-making decision process for young people? The research group consisted of 108 undergraduates' from 12 grades, attending high schools from cities under 10,000 inhabitants. Hypothesis: There is a tendency to focus on training areas dominated by the practical aspects than the theoretical one as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a Romanian adapted version of the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator Questionnaire used in counseling and carrier orientation services for identification of professional interests of the students. The obtained results show that it is important for high school students to receive quality services for carrier guidance and psycho-educational support to prevent over-introversion and over-critical attitude about others and themselves, self-isolation correlated with a high level of sensing and sensitiveness. (shrink)