A DRAMATIC EDUCATION SITUATION

Without cross-party consensus, Spanish students will never bridge the gap that separates them from the best performers EL PAÍS 4 ABR 2014 

Time and again, the PISA report has warned that the educational level of Spanish students is far from what it should be. If earlier testing yielded mediocre results in mathematics, science and reading proficiency, the latest evaluation shows that results are even worse when it comes to practical skills.

Faced with questions that measure one’s ability to deal with everyday things such as programming an air conditioner or purchasing a combined public transit ticket, Spanish 15-year-olds scored 23 points below the average for OECD countries and 30 points below France, Italy and Germany. This is a dramatic situation about which the relevant officials do not seem fully aware.

Too much time has been lost —for too many years— on sterile ideological fights regarding the role of religion at school or the values it should teach, instead of seeking the necessary consensus to produce the changes that education in this country really needs. No reform has been able to redress the situation, and it remains to be seen whether the latest one will bring about any substantial changes.

What is needed is a “radical change in teaching methodology,” said the state secretary of education, to move beyond “old-fashioned” models based solely on memorizing content. What the PISA report suggests is that students must be given the necessary skills to apply the knowledge that they gain; the important thing is not how much you know, but what you are able to do with what you know, and being capable of learning what you still do not know.

But with a dispirited, decimated teaching community that has few options for career reinvention, it will be difficult to overcome the inertia that has led to the current results. Education once required – and still does – the kind of cross-party consensus that will pave the way for a reliable diagnosis of our system’s shortcomings and required changes.

In the first place, we urgently need much more of an educational focus on developing personal abilities and creative skills. Secondly, we need measures to reinforce the teachers’ work through programs aimed at improving their own teaching abilities and helping student stragglers meet class goals. Without extraordinary measures, it will be difficult to bridge the gap separating us from the best performers.


Find expressions in the text that mean the following:

• acortar distancias:
• una y otra vez/ reiteradamente:
• cuando se trata de...:
• parecer plenamente conscientes: 
• queda por ver:
• consenso entre partidos:
• allanar el camino, preparar el terreno:
• deficiencias:
• alumnos rezagados:
• lograr los objetivos:

Now find synonyms of the following:

• produce, give:
• buy:
• beneath, under:
• in relation to, concerning:
• rather than:
• important:
• exclusively:
• disillusioned, disheartened<.
• destroyed:
• win, surmount:
• present, most recent:
• able to be trusted:
• failing, defect, deficiency:
• have as a goal:

http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/04/03/inenglish/1396542037_823168.html

Spanish students lagging behind in problem solving, PISA report shows

Low scores do not reflect 15-year-olds’ theoretical skills in math, reading and science

Spanish 15-year-old students come out 23 points below average among developed economies in ordinary problem-solving skills, according to the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, a triennial study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The performance by the 2,709 Spanish students who participated in the program – which evaluated 85,000 youngsters from 44 countries – shows that they are less well prepared to tackle the problems of everyday life than their scores in math, reading and science would suggest.

Their problem-solving skills were 20 points below those expected based on their theoretical knowledge. In other words, they are unable to use what they learned.

“The world economy does not focus on what one knows, but on what one can do with what one knows,” noted the OECD’s education chief, Andreas Schleicher, who traveled to Spain to present the test results.

“What’s needed is a radical change in the teaching methodology,” added Montserrat Gomendio, state secretary for education, during the presentation of the report. Gomendio said current methods were “old-fashioned” and based only on memorizing content. Responsibility for this change, she said, falls mostly on the shoulders of teachers.

The PISA report shows that 28 percent of Spanish 15-year-olds failed to reach a minimum baseline level of proficiency in problem solving, compared with a 21-percent OECD average. Spain obtained a mean score of 477 points (500 is the OECD average), ranking between 27th and 31st out of 44. The list leaders are Singapore and South Korea with 562 and 561 points, respectively.

The children of very educated parents perform worse than expected, the study finds

Spain is dragged back by several factors. First there is the fact that the difference between problem solving by kids from low and high socioeconomic backgrounds is not nearly as marked as in other countries: 42.7 points compared with an average of 68.8. In other words, the children of highly educated parents perform worse than expected, bringing the average down. State secretary Gomendio said the “rigidity” of the education system establishes “an equity which is taken to mean that everyone must be uniformly mediocre.”

The high rate of students who repeat a grade (33.2 percent compared with the OECD average of 17 percent) also brings the scores down. Without them, Spanish students would obtain a score of 512 points, in line with the OECD average.

The PISA report notes that Spanish students seem unfamiliar with computer use, based on their digital reading scores. Yet 96.6 percent of Spanish teenagers have a computer at home, and 75.3 percent use computers or tablets in their houses, five points above the OECD average.

http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/04/01/inenglish/1396364218_557397.html
READ BOTH TEXTS AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:
According to the previous articles, what are the main reasons for the bad results? What needs to be done?
THEN POST YOUR OPINION

Classrooms stay empty as Balearics teachers strike enters second week

Thousands march against PP premier's new trilingual learning model
ANDREU MANRESA Palma de Mallorca 25 SEP 2013 - 13:47 CET
Protestors converge on the regional assembly in Palma de Mallorca on Tuesday. 

An unprecedented strike by teaching staff in the Balearic Islands has entered its second week, bringing the public education system to a virtual standstill at the start of the new school year. The sector has taken to the streets to protest against a trilingual learning model imposed by the Popular Party regional government of José Ramón Bauzá, which has demoted the vehicular language, Catalan, in classrooms in favor of English.

The scale of support for the strike is undeniable, with thousands marching in Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera. A social fund set up to offset the salary losses suffered by striking teachers has raised more than 100,000 euros and renowned Mallorcan artist Miquel Barceló has donated an etching to be auctioned for the cause.

In Ibiza and Formentera the authorities admit a 27-percent following, which labor unions place at 90. In Mallorca, the government claims a 9.5-percent turnout and the strikers 55 percent. In Menorca, the intensity of the strike has lessened. There appears to be no immediate solution on the horizon with both parties holding firm. The government has called the unions to the negotiating table but there is no concrete dialogue aimed at bringing the strike to an end.

A fund set up for lost earnings has raised more than 100,000 euros
Last Friday parents kept their children home and demonstrations were organized Sunday in Palma, Mahón, Ibiza and Formentera. On Tuesday, a large crowd descended on the regional assembly to reiterate its rejection of the new education model, which the regional PP pushed through just before the school year began to avoid a legal wrangle. The Balearics Supreme Court had temporarily suspended the implementation of the decree pending further study.

"It is a serious situation that we have gone a week without classes but the government takes two to three weeks to assign a substitute for an absent teacher," said a spokesman for the strikers. There are 164,000 schoolchildren in the Balearics of whom 54,000 attend private schools, where the strike is not an issue. Around half of the 10,500 teachers in public centers remain on strike.

In every center there is a nucleus of unions and associations that reject the trilingual model, including conservative groups. "We have ended with the imposition of immersion classes and moved toward freedom," said Bauzá, who blames the high drop-out rate (39 percent) on the model, though without statistical support.

The trilingual system is being rolled out in phases, with full implementation envisaged across all age groups within five years.

On Monday, in Porto Cristo, Manacor, just one child turned up for class. In Son Gotleu, Palma, 60 of the usual 300 students answered the roll call. "We are prepared to go on this week and the next," said a teacher Monday. "There is no talk of backtracking; we will continue." While many families support the strike, the PP says there is great social pressure to keep children home and has threatened sanctions for those who do so.

"Some teachers are trying to persuade parents not to bring their children to school," said PP deputy Magda Prohens. "They have an obligation; they are paid a public salary to give classes."

Spain: Indefinite teachers’ strike provoked by language rights' attack

Monday, September 23, 2013 By Dick Nichols, Barcelona

Thousands of university lecturers protest in front of the rectory of the University of the Balearic Islands in support of striking teachers.

The school year should have already begun on the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula), but it hasn’t. Since September 16, high school and primary teachers have been on an indefinite strike.

In Palma, capital of Mallorca, up to 6000 teachers have been demonstrating daily outside the main government building. When the ceremony marking the start of the Balearic Islands’ university term was held, a swathe of lecturers walked out to express their solidarity with the thousands of teachers protesting outside.

What has it taken to drive the teachers to such an extreme ― with no wages and dependent on voluntary contributions to their strike fund?

Why do all public sector teachers’ unions support the strike, both the “non-political” professional associations and the “political” unions associated with the major parties ― including the Balearic Island branch of the tame-cat National Association of Teachers of Education (ANPE), viewed as closest to the right-wing People’s Party (PP) that runs the islands’ regional government?

Two assaults on education and culture by regional and national PP administration have combined to drive the teachers to such high-stakes action.

Cuts and cultural attacks

There are the vandalising cuts to education funding, wages and working conditions, accompanied by the “reform” of the national syllabus by national education minister Jose Ignacio Wert.

These assaults have already produced huge stoppages and protests elsewhere in the Spanish state (especially in Madrid, where teacher’s resistance took the form of a “green tide” of protesters wearing the movement’s emblematic green T-shirt).

The Balearic Islands, under the PP government of premier Jose Ramon Bauza and education minister Joana Maria Camps, is where the PP axe has cut deepest. Since May 2010, the teachers’ working week has risen from 35 hours to 37.5 hours and their wages have fallen on average by 25%.

The 2013-2014 school year is set to start 1000 teachers short (8.3% of the teaching body) for the same enrolment of students.

The second factor is the Balearic Islands’ government’s new Integrated Language Procedure (TIL). This downgrades the Balearic variant of Catalan, the language of the islands for 800 years and of its school instruction up until now, into one of three languages to be taught in the education system, along with Castilian (Spanish) and English.

This has turned teacher anger into extreme outrage.

Bauza’s pretext for the move on Catalan’s status as the main language of instruction is the need to make more syllabus time available for teaching in English, portrayed as the passport to “a decent future for our kids”.

Further fuelling the fire of teacher fury has been the despotic response of the Bauza government to any opposition. In July, when three high school headmasters on Menorca simply communicated to the education department the disagreement of their school councils with the proposal, they were suspended.

When the education department’s representative on Menorca then resigned in protest, he was replaced by a reliable-looking priest from the ultra-conservative Catholic grouping Opus Dei. However, the curate had to resign before even starting the job because the outrage from big sections of the local Catholic community was so great.

Only now has Bauza been able to find a stooge willing to take the job ― a PP local councillor innocent of any connection with education.

On September 5, the timetable for TIL implementation was provisionally suspended by the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands on appeal from one of the teaching unions. Bauza immediately repackaged the timetable as an emergency regulation to sideline the court.

As for the tone from the government benches, here is PP deputy Antoni Camps: “The positive side of this strike is that will know the name and surname of those who are concerned about the future of our children and those, on the other hand, who are playing with the students to achieve political goals.”

During the present strike high school students supporting the strike have been detained by police (with their number badges hidden) and had mobile phones confiscated. Staff and students have been threatened with suspension for wearing red-and-yellow bows at school to show support for Catalan and opposition to TIL.

However, none of this has intimidated the movement―in the schools the students are putting out YouTube videos expressing their hatred of TIL and their solidarity with the teachers, often in songs that cleverly parody recent Catalan hits.

Why TIL?

TIL has not come out of the blue―it is simply the latest attack of the Bauza government in its war to reverse the 30 years of gradual consensus-based normalisation of the role of the Catalan language in the Balearic Islands, a recovery after its effective outlawing from public life during the years of the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975).

Since he won a majority at the June 2011 regional elections, Bauza ― who had been preselected within the PP by faking sympathy for its more “Mallorcan” wing ― has been dutifully carrying out a program of de-Catalanisation that was never even hinted at in his election campaign.

Bauza's actions include: eliminating knowledge of Catalan as a requirement of public service employment (described by the University of the Balearic Islands as condemning the language to “progressive eradication” and opposed by all public sector unions); reducing the use of Catalan by the public broadcaster; and closing or defunding a range of cultural institutions.

Particularly important was the 2011 upgrading of Castilian as a language of instruction alongside Catalan, and segregating students according to their choice (against all pedagogical advice, including that of the Schools Council of the Balearic Islands).

Such moves were enough to enrage tens of thousands, including many PP voters, leading to a 50,000-strong “Yes to Our Language” demonstration in Palma on March 25 last year. The PP-backed counter-demonstration attracted 34.

Yet in June this year, Bauza’s main plan ― to show that, once parents had the choice of having their children schooled in Castilian, enrolment in Catalan education would drop sharply ― flopped miserably.

The education ministry claimed that about 70% of parents enrolled their children for Catalan schooling, and 30% for Castilian schooling.

However, a thorough survey of primary school enrolment by the main teachers’ union, the Interunion Syndicate of Workers (STEI-i), revealed that the ministry had been lying: enrolments for three-six year-olds revealed an 86% to 90.5% preference for schooling in Catalan. Only in a few Catholic schools did the breakdown approach the ministry’s figures, by 71% to 29%.

The reaction of the government to that defeat was to press ahead stubbornly with the TIL, avoiding any real consultation with the education community.

Crash through?

To introduce a “trilingual” syllabus TIL will reduce the obligatory minimum hours of teaching in Catalan from 50% to 30% or less. Teachers with only basic English will now have to teach subjects like mathematics and ecology in that tongue, “helped” by the most rudimentary of textbooks.

What explains this anti-educational madness, which has even led to the resignation of PP office-holders? It’s not due to the Balearic Islands’ students’ low level of Castilian ― that’s already better than that of students in several mainland Castilian-only regions.

At its heart lies the conservative, neo-Francoist, obsession that Spain, “one and indivisible”, is under threat from the Catalan, Basque and Galician minorities. In particular, every advance for the Catalan identity ― borne along by the burgeoning Catalan independence movement and the spread of Catalan language and culture ― just has to be stopped.

Bauza’s war is thus part of the endless PP-driven moves to force the Catalan government to introduce Castilian as a language of instruction. It is part of the same offensive as grotesque operations like the Aragonese PP government’s decision to redefine the Catalan spoken along the border with Catalonia as the “Aragonese Language Specific to the Eastern Region”.

At the time of writing, the strike, which began with 90% participation, is holding up, although participation had fallen to 55% by day five. Yet the daily protests show no sign of waning and the members of the Balearic Islands government simply cannot appear in public.

A strong point of the strike is the role of the cross-union teachers’ assembly, with group in every school and a website also keeping teachers and the public informed and inoculated against Bauza’s black propaganda.

All the signs are of a vicious drawn-out fight. The Bauza government has decided that it must win the confrontation, rejecting all offers of mediation, including by the chancellor of the University of the Balearic Islands.

If the teaches are to win, they will need every bit of support they can get.

TEACHERS' STRIKE - Balearic style 17 / 9 / 13

The education system in the Balearic islands has been thrown into total chaos due to what is claimed to be an illegal implementation of a totally crazy, bizarre, stupendous new law. Read a summary of the situation on The Ibiza Sun:

Difficult Situation

Headlines were dominated this week by the new law concerning the integration of languages which will see children being taught in Castillian Spanish, Catalan and English at all levels, which some education experts insist is just not viable at the present time. They claim it would mean that certain subjects would have to be taught in a language that the pupils are not used to; for example, to learn mathematics in English when the teacher’s command of that language is sketchy would be very difficult. The prime mover of this new legislation is Joana María Camps, the Balearic Education Councillor, and all eleven headmasters of the secondary schools in Ibiza and Formentera have demanded that she resigns over her handling of the new system. By the time this edition of the Ibiza Sun hits the streets, it is highly likely that teachers at these schools will have gone on strike, action which had been threatened since well before the beginning of the new school year, and has no timescale, although with teachers not being paid whilst on strike, it is unlikely to last too long.

The head teachers of the secondary schools in Ibiza and the one in Formentera have not rejected the idea of presenting their resignations en masse, but are waiting to see the reactions of their counterparts, both in Mallorca and Menorca. In the latter Island, disciplinary action has already been taken out on three schools there due to their refusal to implement the new law.

The Parents Associations of the various education centres are understandably concerned about the situation, and the President of the Association which governs Ibiza and Formentera, Conchi Romero, said that they fully appreciate the position that the teachers find themselves in, adding that they have had to pay for the consequences of decisions which have been made in the public education system by the current head of the Govern, José Ramón Bauza and his team over the past two years, but that their main concern is for the people who will be most seriously disadvantaged by the strike - the children. Education has been one of the departments which has experienced the most cuts, with wages being slashed, jobs lost, class sizes increased and auxiliary teachers, who had been helping children with learning problems, dismissed.

It was initially hoped that a last minute meeting between the two sides would lead to an agreement, but it was reported that negotiations had broken down on Friday, resulting in the indefinite strike starting on Monday.

In a nutshell, the teachers are being forced to teach many subjects in English. Anyone who has had dealings with teachers at schools in Ibiza know that the vast majority of teachers cannot speak a jot of the language!

At a time when the schools have record numbers of pupils and less teachers, having taken pay cuts on the chin, this latest move is just plain crazy.

It is hard to envisage what the outcome will ultimately be, but this is one strike that is entirely reasonable.

http://forum.ibiza-spotlight.com/threads/teachers-strike-balearic-style.69647/

Teachers in the Balearic Islands in general strike for "inclusive, quality and Catalan language" education

Balearic Government cuts budget, seeks to introduce new system that substantially reduces position of Catalan • Unions, civil society associations and parties support the strike, ask Balearic Government to negotiate with teachers.

Teachers in the Balearic Islands' public schools have started today a general strike against recent education policies by the Balearic Government. Strikers consider  that the islands' executive (in the hands of Spanish nationalist Popular Party, PP) is acting against the public system of education. On the one hand, protesters say José Ramón Bauzá-led government is reducing the education budget more than other autonomous communities in Spain. On the other, they argue that the Balearic Government seeks to impose a new trilingual model (known as TIL ) that, according to strikers, will not help pupils to improve their skills in English but will negatively affect the position of Catalan in schools. Protesters vow to continue fighting  for an "inclusive, quality and Catalan language" education system in the Balearic Islands.
The strike is supported  by the main trade union among teachers (STEI), the two main Spain-wide unions (UGT and CCOO) and the Assembly of Teachers. It also has the support of several civil society associations in the Balearic Islands. All political parties in the Balearic Parliament (except for the PP) have asked Bauzá to start negotiations with the teachers in order to substantially change, or even to withdraw, the TIL and the budget cuts.
STEI has said  that 93% of teachers have endorsed the strike today.
Court says introduction of TIL should be suspended.
Two weeks ago, the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB, Catalan acronym) provisionally suspended  the introduction of the TIL into the education system. The Court argued that the TIL should not be implemented while the appeals against it had not been settled by the judiciary. The Court also said that the way the TIL was being introduced had not all legal guarantees.
But the Balearic Government decided, the day after the suspension, to force  the implementation of the TIL, despite the court's opinion. Bauzá's executive, in an extraordinary session, passed a new decree-law in which some articles of the original law were altered but that kept its basic provisions.

"Balance" between Catalan, Spanish and English
The Government argues that the TIL is only seeking to introduce a "balanced" use of Catalan, Spanish and English into the Balearic schools. This means that all three should be used as vehicular languages, and not only as a subject (as was English). Up till now, it was Catalan the main vehicular language. Thus, the new system is set to substantially reduce the position of Catalan, the own language of the Balearic Islands.
But Balearic teachers' associations argue that only a system where Catalan is the main language in school can really balance the social situation -where Catalan is a minorised language while Spanish is the hegemonic one, known by the entire population- and grant that all pupils have a good knowledge of both languages.

In relation to English, teachers say that the Balearic Government is trying to introduce it as a vehicular language without having the proper resources (human or economic ones) that ensure enough quality of teaching. The TIL "will increase school failure" because of this, they argue.

 http://www.nationalia.info/en/news/1555  16/09/2013

Educative strike in the Balearics paralyzes public education

Teachers strike but government stands firm  Majorca Daily Bulletin 17th September 2013 

Trade unions representing local teachers were claiming victory in their first day of industrial action yesterday alleging that 90 percent of all teachers joined the strike call. 

But the word from the local government was that just 22 percent of teachers had not gone to work  yesterday.

“A total of 4,500 teachers didn’t work yesterday out of 7,300 which are employed. If you take into account that 2,300 were covering the minimum services which had been demanded by the Balearic government, I think you can say that the strike has been a success,” said a union spokesperson yesterday.

The Balearic government dismissed the figures and said that support for the strike had been low.

Balearic President Jose Ramon Bauza said that he would not be backing down on plans to introduce a three tier learning system based around English, Catalan and Spanish. Teachers claimed that they do not have the necessary resources to introduce the system.

http://majorcadailybulletin.com/ 

THE RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE BALEARIC ISLANDS CONGRATULATES OUR HIGHSCHOOL ON THE RESULTS ACHIEVED IN "SELECTIVITAT"

HOW FINNISH SCHOOLS SHINE ( THE GUARDIAN)

Teachers are respected, exams are shunned and league tables simply don't exist – but if the Finnish system is so good why is it so hard to emulate?

In 2009 the UK's education policy directors suffered a significant blow. The PISA tests (OECD Programme for International Study Assessment) results were published, ranking the UK way down the international league table in reading, maths and science.

In total 65 countries were assessed; the UK scored: 25th in reading, 28th in maths and 16th in science. The overall best performer in the 2009 test was the region of Shanghai, China. Results from PISA suggested that school autonomy in defining the curriculum and assessment methods relates positively to overall performance. Additionally, the PISA data reported that creating homogeneous schools and/or classrooms through selection is unrelated to the average performance of education systems.

As if these facts weren't enough to send policy makers and directors into a whirlwind of confusion, it was also noted that UK ranked as 8th in the table for spending per pupil, but had a 23rd position average overall – this raises the question: "Who does score consistently highly and how do they approach the delivery of education in a pedagogic, political and cultural sense?"

One western country that has excelled in PISA ratings consistently over the years and is highly regarded across the globe as a leading education nation is Finland. Their sustained success has for many years prompted educationalists to consider how they have achieved this.

The reasons behind Finland's success are complex, not because they have one particularly incomprehensible approach to education, but instead, the evolved working parts within their system, framed within their cultural backdrop complement each other tremendously.  It is this complexity that has perhaps been the source of difficulties experienced by authorities attempting to directly emulate their system.

In Finland teaching is a prestigious career. Children aspire to be doctors, lawyers, scientists and in the same breath teachers. They are respected and appreciated; they are highly qualified (requiring a Masters degree for full time employment) and job selection is a tough process with only best candidates gaining the posts.

The Finnish curriculum is far less 'academic' than you would expect of such a high achieving nation. Finnish students do the least number of class hours per week in the developed world, yet get the best results in the long term. Students in Finland sit no mandatory exams until the age of 17-19. Teacher based assessments are used by schools to monitor progress and these are not graded, scored or compared; but instead are descriptive and utilised in a formative manner to inform feedback and assessment for learning.

Great emphasis is put on pupil and teacher trust and well-being. Outdoor, practical learning opportunities and healthy related physical activity sessions are a regular feature in the curriculum: helping to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Finnish schools receive full autonomy, with head teachers and teachers experiencing considerable independence when developing and delivering their own individual curricula: suited to their setting. Combinations of alternative pedagogic approaches, rather than mere instructional methods are utilised by the teachers. The pedagogical freedom experienced facilitates greater creativity, pro-activity and innovation.

This naturally allows a greater degree of individual emotional well being, that no doubt plays a role in fostering positive learning role models and environments: positively shaping the minds of teachers and pupils alike.
Finland's Ministry of Education's philosophy has been to trust the professionals, parents and communities to guide their own policy: and it would appear that their investment has paid off.

From this secure base, in which high quality teachers are appreciated and trusted to do their job effectively as they see fit and political agendas are deflected, there emerges an impressive education system to be proud of that serves its students, communities and country very well.

All students in Finland receive a free education from when they start at seven years of age until they complete their university studies. During their educational journey all pupils receive free school meals, resources and materials, transport and support services.

Professional Learning Communities are integral to sharing and spreading good practice in a collaborative manner. The systematic introduction of languages is also striking and very effective. Pupils will often begin learning a third language by 11 years of age and some a fourth at 13.

A no child is left behind approach means that all classes contain a mixture of ability level pupils, with most classes containing two or more teachers who focus on those needing additional support. By having professionals working in conjunction, the needs of the pupils can be better met within a happy and familiar environment. Many teachers also stay with a single class for many years, moving with them through the school.

Many institutions are combined primary and secondary schools with no major unsettling transition stages; this also allows a consistent ethos and common language to pervade. Students address teachers by their Christian names, do not wear uniforms, and are encouraged to relax in their surroundings.

As with any system there are of course strengths, areas for development and ideological conflict. The Finnish system is aware of this and prides itself on positively evolving with the pupils' needs and interests at the heart of all decisions.

The Finnish system's success is built on the idea that: "less can be more". This may appear counter-intuitive to many within other educational systems in which standards and effectiveness are measured in standardised data and evidence trails. The absence of corrosive competition and an egalitarian ethos inherent in the Finnish culture has surely played a role in shaping this very impressive system.

With PISA 2012 on the horizon, the outcomes are sure to provide more food for thought for all educators and policy makers around the world. 

 (The Guardian) 

READ MORE:  

Finland: Best education system doesn't guarantee foreign students employment
Are Finnish schools the best in the world?

SPAIN'S EDUCATION REFORM (LINKS)

Spanish Education Minister Wert Resumes Attacks On Catalan Language And Culture

Privatization of Public Education.  A Trend in Spain. A Way Towards Inequality (slideshare)

“I find it strange that other regions haven’t protested the education bill” (Minister José Ignacio Wert refutes notion that cutbacks in schools could affect quality of teaching) December 2012

Debate   

Education reform puts Spain, Catalonia on collision course

The argument for Spanish in Catalan schools December 2012

Controversial reform in education November 2012

Government makes progress on education reform Friday 21 September 2012

Proyecto Ley September 2012

Spain approves crisis education reform

The Local. Spain's News in English 19 May 2013

A mother and her children take part in a Madrid protest against cuts to education spending

Spain's government has approved an emergency reform of the crisis-hit education sector, hoping to reduce the number of school dropouts and curb the soaring youth unemployment rate.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the plan aimed to improve young people's job prospects at a time when unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 has surpassed 57 percent, and 25 percent of Spaniards drop out of school early.

"We need an urgent remodelling of the whole education system, because we cannot permit such levels of failure, dropping out and youth unemployment," she told a news conference.

The plan was approved at a cabinet meeting on Friday and is due to be debated in parliament, where it is likely to pass as the governing Popular Party holds an absolute majority.

Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert called it "one of the most important reforms on the government's agenda".

Saenz said Spain's 25-percent school dropout rate is double that of other European Union countries. Nearly 24 percent of Spaniards aged 16 to 29 are neither working nor studying, she said.

Workers in the sector complain that the government in its crisis deficit-cutting drive has slashed annual education budgets by three billion euros.

Saenz responded that "investment in education has doubled over the past decade and so have the failures".

The reform will oblige pupils to opt at age 15 to follow either a vocational or academic course of study, and to pass new exams at each stage of their schooling.

Thousands of teachers and students demonstrated in the streets on May 9th demanding Wert's resignation over the proposals, which their unions say will create inequality between pupils.

"This law will be known as the one that broke the principle of equality in education in Spain," the opposition Socialists' deputy leader Elena Valenciano said Friday.

GENERAL EDUCATION STRIKE IN SPAIN

Thousands abandon classrooms to join second education strike in 12 months

El País 9 May 2013

Thousands of teachers and students abandoned their kindergartens, schools and universities across Spain on Thursday to join the second general education strike in a year to protest spending cuts, as well as an education reform due to be presented to the Cabinet on Friday.

The Platform for Public Schooling, which unites the FETE-UGT, CCOO and STES labor unions plus the CEAPA parents association and the Students Union, put turnout at 72 percent among staff at public institutions and 25 percent in the private sector. The Ministry of Education, however, reported a following of below 20 percent, according to data compiled by the regions.

The Students Union said 90 percent of university-goers followed the strike.

At the last general education strike in May 2012 the unions reported a 65 percent following, while the government put it at 19 percent.

“What we are seeing is that educational activity has been paralyzed,” said Francisco García of the CCOO.

Thursday’s strike is the culmination of two weeks of protests that have seen hundreds of lock-ins, vigils and all manner of other mobilizations at education centers across the country.

I sincerely believe that the quality is in public teaching"

The day concluded with demonstrations in Madrid, where thousands took to the Paseo del Prado, and numerous other cities, though there had also been large protests in Galicia, Valencia, Murcia and Barcelona earlier on. In the Catalan capital, city police put the number of people who joined a march that left Plaza Universidad at 12.30pm and finished at Plaza Sant Jaume two hours later at 10,000; labor unions reported 100,000.

Some altercations with police were reported throughout the day. In Valencia two local police offers were slightly injured in a clash with a group of students who were trying to set fire to dumpsters and tyres on Tarongers avenue, as well as block the train line.

Uniting many protesting teachers, students and parents on Thursday was the feeling that both the cuts – which have totaled 6.7 billion euros since 2010 - and Education Minister José Ignacio Wert’s proposed reforms were dismantling a certain concept of public education as something that includes and helps everyone, regardless of their social class.

“[I am here] because I don’t want everything that I chose for my child dismantled, because I sincerely believe that the quality is in public teaching, and many of us choose it because we believe in it,” explained Paz Martínez, a civil servant and mother of a 15-year-old, outside the gates of the San Isidro public high school in Madrid early Thursday.

The government says the reforms — which include the bringing forward of the age at which students start choosing between academic or vocational training paths, the reinforcing of core subjects and establishing external examinations — will decrease high-school dropout rates. But a large proportion of the education sector sees the changes as the other side of the cuts, serving to create a cheaper and elitist system that segregates poorer students.

Vocabulary:
spending cuts: recortes en el gasto público
labour unions/trade unions: sindicatos
lock- in : encierro
throughout: a lo largo de / durante
clash: disputa, altercado
dumpsters: contenedores
tyre: neumático
regardless: pese a, independientemente
civil servant: funcionario
bring forward: adelantar
core subjects: asignaturas troncales
dropout rates:tasas de abandono escolar

EDUCATION (FINAL VERSION)

     Nowadays, children must be prepared to face the tough future that is ahead of them. They are our prospective so we need to take action and try to make it happen. In my opinion, as a possible strategy, teachers should be paid according to how much their students learn.

     Firstly, we need to focus on Selectividad results. If students have learned enough along the year, their marks should be good. For those teachers that get high qualifications in most of their students’ exams, they’ll get an extra payment for their dedication. 

     Secondly, there should be studies in the increase of students’ marks along the scholar-year. If statistics show an excellent progress, teachers will be rewarded with a greater wage at the end of the year.

     All of these incentives will help students to be more prepared for the future. In spite of the many economic problems there are at the moment, education should be a very important point to deal with. So to sum up, let’s spend on education!

EVALUATING TEACHERS

d) Schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers and they should be paid according to how mucho their students learn.

Teachers are teaching bad and our idea is ... ask students to evaluate their teachers, and they should be paid according to if their students learn.

I think that's a good idea because; firstly, if teachers win more money, they would pay more attention to their students. Nevertheless, some students could say to their teacher: I'll give you a ten if you'll give me a ten. And that would be a mistake. In addition, if some kid hate his teachers, he could put bad marks to every teacher.
Finally, I belive that this is imposible to do, because schools should put cameras or something to know if teachers teach well, but I'm sure that schools havn't the needed money to put cameras, and, in thay way, remove the mistakes of the idea???.
In conclusion, we should look for other ways to solve mistakes, if we want...  improve ... students' marks.

IDEAS FOR THE EDUCATION

Should students evaluate their teachers? Should the teachers be paid depending on the mark they get? Well, in my opinión, evaluating teachers is a positive thing but paying them with this method is not fear.

Firstly, evaluating teachers is a good way to improve the relationship between students and teachers. They could know better each other an this may improve the performance of the pupil. As the students keep getting on well with teachers , the lessons won’t be so boring and they’ll pay more attention. Teachers will feel more energetic and useful.

Secondly, paying them in this way is an awful idea, because students are never going to like teachers results and they will give bad qualifications. Teachers would be really angry!!

To sum up, teachers’ evaluation is good idea but the payment sistem is a bad one. Other thing that could help is paying the students for their marks. I’m sure that giving money will motivate students to learn more and more and they’ll be really happy and their parents will be really proud of them.

Teacher evaluation.

Nowadays, children can go to a good school because the schools are better than years ago. Schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers and teachers could know if their students like them or not like.

First of all, I think that evaluate teachers is a good way to know if the teachers are good at teaching their students or not. On the one hand, it seems to me that if the students are allowed to do that, teachers will have in mind their opinions and maybe that will change their teaching method. On the other hand, I don't believe that teachers should be paid according to how much their students learn, because each teacher is different and makes their classes in different ways.

Moreover, if the teacher is good but students don't pass their subjects, sometimes it is due to the fact that students don't listen to their teachers.

To sum up, in my opinion to evaluate teachers is a good idea but not to pay them more or less depending on their students results.

Núria Riudavets. 2n B

IDEAS FOR THE EDUCATION (Marcial Moya)

IDEAS FOR THE EDUCATION (Marcial Moya)

Should students evaluate their teachers? Should the teachers be paid depending on the mark they get? Well, in my opinión, evaluating teachers is a positive thing but paying them with this method is not fear.

Firstly, evaluating teachers is a good way to improve the relationship between students and teachers. They could know better each other an this may improve the performance of the pupil. As the students keep getting on well with teachers , the lessons won’t be so boring and they’ll pay more attention. Teachers will feel more energetic and useful.

Secondly, paying them in this way is an awful idea, because students are never going to like teachers results and they will give bad qualifications. Teachers would be really angry!!

To sum up, teachers’ evaluation is good idea but the payment sistem is a bad one. Other thing that could help is paying the students for their marks. I’m sure that giving money will motivate students to learn more and more and they’ll be really happy and their parents will be really proud of them.

EDUCATION: READING WITH VOCABULARY

   

• EDUCATION. GIRLS VERSUS BOYS 
• STUDENTS' DEBT: GRANTS AND TUITION FEES 

EDUCATION: LISTENING WITH SCRIPTS

• UNIVERSITIES IN THE UK (LISTENING WITH SCRIPT)
• POVERTY AND EDUCATION (LISTENING AND DOWNLOADABLE SCRIPT)