I’m interested in getting an outsider’s take on this question.
Every time there is an OECD survey, Spain, the 7th or 8th largest economy in the world always comes really low down in the ranking. In attainment in reading, science and mathematics. We are constantly down in the 20’s ranks near Greece, Portugal and Italy.
Every new government seems to want to change the education policy of the previous one and in addition regional politicians openly defy national government policy if they happen to be of another political party.
We have the money to have a much better education system, so why don’t we?
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November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
Honestly? Voting another Party on the next elections. But even so I think it’s not possible to improve it rapidly. In fact, Spanish politics are rubbish! (whatever Party!). I’ve graduated on the University recently but I don’t think I’m trained at all. I think that the knowledge that the University teaches is not enough. The case of the elementary school and High School is even worse! It’s sad! I’m not particularly proud of that, what a pity!
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
Spain should stop mixing politics with education.Also give the parent some Choice to choose whats best for there children.and give the privet sector more freedom
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
I wonder…Do they allow ALL students to take those exams in Spain?
The US consistently comes up looking really poor compared to other countries, because they allow ALL students to take the exams that are used to rank such things, whereas the other countries only allow the top 10% of their students to take the exams.
Example: ANYONE in the US can (and often does) take the SATs and ACT exams for entrance to University. In fact, anyone who wants to is allowed to get a University education, no matter what their intelligence or Grade Point Average. In most other countries, only the top 10% or so of students are even ALLOWED to go to University, and only those students are allowed to take the exams. So, if only the top 10% can take the exams, of course the results will look really good compared to a populace that tests ALL students and allows ALL students to go to university.
Still in all, the US has the best education system in the world. So I wonder if your results are showing the average of ALL students, compared to France, where, I’m pretty sure, only a few are even allowed to take the exams.
That, plus my own experience in the Spanish University system, which, admittedly, has surely changed, but I observed that the entire University system seemed to be based on teachers lecturing, and students taking notes, reading material, and processing (pretty much on their own) and then spitting the information back for the teachers. NOT the best system: A much better system addresses all learning styles, and involves the students in the learning process, discussions, projects, cooperative learning, hands-on learning, and actively having the students WORK to achieve their own education, all add up to more students doing better over all, than just lecturing and having them read.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
its already bettrer than the education level in the uk an most off europe
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
First of all : It is absolutely necessary an agreement between the two main partys ( PP and PSOE ), because nowadays Catalans that the governing party in Madrid or in the regional ggovernmentit changes, they introduce a COMPLETELY NEW educational law, so it changes every six years more or less ( I think that I studied, between I started school at the age of three and finished at the age of 18 FIVE DIFFERENT laws about education ).
And, what is worse, they only care about the religion subject or the Citizenship Education one, and not about the important aspects of education.
Unfortunately, this agreement will not take place in the next years or decades ;( .
That hypothetical agreement would mean HAVING ONE ONLY EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
That hypotethycal agreement would significate that we had only one educational system to ALL SPAIN, and no 17 different ones ( if you move from Toledo to Madrid it substantially changes, that is not good ).
That agreement would significate, also, that most of the subjects will be taught in Castillian or English. At the momente, in Euskadi and Catalonia all of them except one are taught in Euskera/Catalonian, and children will have problems in future to read and writte in Spansih language.
That agreement would have to significtae also, less hours learning subjects like music, technology ( if you only work wih wood in that subject ), and mour hours og language, maths and sciences.
It will also significate less time spent at clas BUT MUCH MORE ( A LOT ) time studyng at home. It is not good neither to pass the year with 2, 3, or 4 failed sujects, it should be with ALL of the with a higher mark than 6.
At university, all that problems said by dart, wich are certain, are being solved now with the adaptation to the European Credit Transfer System.
In two years, University learning methods, and all aspects of Univeristy, will be the same as in the rest of Europe.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
When I was a student in Spain, the truth is that I couldn´t stand it! I would go in to class every day and get the same thing in every class. I would sit down and be lectured for an hour, most of the time with no time for questions. On various other occasions the teacher asked us to get our books out and would read the text out loud as we underlined it, which in turn didn´t teach us anything. The students could have read the book by themselves. What I think Spain could do it let the students participate in the teaching. In the US, where I currently go to school, students research a topic and make a report and present it to the class. They also do projects in class and have many class discussions. These methods all work very well for most students, and I think it would help the Spanish education system as well.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
I am not sure about the state schools here on the costa del sol, but the International College and the English School we have here have the most excellent teaching records, the English school most years gets 98% pass rates for students, very high grades indeed, with most students going on to universities here in Spain or back in the Uk or the USA.
I should imagine schools in one respect are the same the world over, depends if students are interested or not, me personally hated every second I was in school, you can’t force students to study or be interested when they are clearly not.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
Well, I think the main political parties and student’s parents assosiations should have a meeting where the most important basis and regulations of our educational system were set up and no other political party in the following elections could change under any circumstances. This way, everyone would have the minumum education level requested, no matter where you studied. Consequently, 16 years-old people wouldn’t be almost illiterate. Nowdays, depending on the school you are studing, you can become a brilliant student with a brilliant future or have very high chances of becaming a complete ignorant. It’s unbelievable how a lot of students go to University spelling wrong and not having the minimmum level of mathematics requested, for instance.
Excuse my English.
"An English student"
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
You can start with helping kids become more effective by changing the school hours.
In general, you start at 9 thru 1, then pause for 2 hours and resume schooling from 3-5pm. This is the primary school schedule. Studies have shown over and over again that primary school is the key to lifelong learning abilities.
The hours listed above force parents to engage in extra curricular activities after 5:30 or so, going thru to 7 or even 8pm.
Kids get home between 7-8:30 at night. This is considered normal. However, at this hour kids do not feel like doing homework, all they want to do is shower and go to bed. And rightly so.
I suggest starting at 8 AM and going thru until 2 or 3 pm (with lunch in between). Then extra curricular activities can start at 3-4 and finish by 5 or 6, kids can get home by 6 or so.
It is a matter of shifting their schedules to take advantage of our ability to work better earlier in the day.
That’s step one right there. The currently schedules is a disaster for everyone.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:14 am
I think the main issues are:
1) Content: polititians use education to guarantee their election votes for the future. Each Comunidad Autonoma try to give their own vision of our recent history and some try to spang their differences with others. Education is not seen as the future of our children. It´s seen as the future of the politician party at each moment. We need an educational consensus in all the spanish territory, focusing on speaking, reading and writing the Spanish language fluently and also in learning English as the other most important language in the world.
2) Method: Firstly, students currently have to learn by memory. This method is not useful. We need them to understand if we want them to learn and to remember in a long term what they have learned. Secondly, we neather reward effort, study nor constance. Each year we have a lower level in every course beacouse children can pass to the next grade even if they failed many subjects, so the consequence are no goals and no responsability for them to have a good mark. The message we are giving them is: why study? there is no difference between the one thas has a good mark and the one that has a bad one.
3) Lack of values: we all need to live with values but these must be tought. Without values nothing matters. Teaching values is our major responsability and this task should be shared between society, teachers and family. There is nothing you can ask for and also nothing good you can expect from someone who doesn´t have values.
4) Investment: The future of our country is in our children´s hands, so the only way to get a better society and democracy is to invest in their education, but not only in schools, we also must offer them sports, music, art facilities, or any other activity that may bring up better human beings and that could give them the chance to develop their best skills for life.