Resumen: Las pausas de almuerzo están siendo suspendidas, las materias de las minorías se están dejando caer y a los padres se les ha pedido, incluso, pagar los ingredientes básicos de la cocina como parte de los intentos de las escuelas del país para cubrir los déficits en la financiación. Un análisis realizado por The Guardian revela que los directores han estado recurriendo a medidas desesperadas para ahorrar dinero a medida que los presupuestos se aprietan – y se ven obligados a hacer crecientes demandas, a menudo a los padres, para cerrar la brecha.
Lunch breaks are being cut short, minority subjects are being dropped and parents have even been asked to pay for basic cooking ingredients as part of attempts by schools across the country to cover for shortfalls in funding.
Analysis by the Guardian reveals that headteachers have been resorting to desperate measures to save money as budgets are squeezed – and are forced to make increasing demands, often on parents, to plug the gap.
Examples include:
The Latymer school in north London turning to parents for donations for the second time in a year, after an initial £70,000 raised was not enough to save subjects including PE and Latin from being scrapped for some years.
Parents of pupils at Davenant Foundation school in Loughton, Essex, being asked for £20 donations to cover the costs of “creative studies” in key stage 3 – including salt and milk for food technology lessons.
Lowercroft community school in Bury, which has a £45,000 budget shortfall, seeking to lay off lunchtime supervisors and cut breaks to end the school day 15 minutes earlier.
Parents at St Nicolas’ Church of England school in Taplow, part of Theresa May’s constituency, receiving letters asking for contributions of up to £30 a month to plug a projected £40,000 shortfall next year, or face staff redundancies.
Teachers complaining that school photocopying and printing budgets have been slashed, meaning pupils are missing out on classroom material or having to rely on battered or defaced old textbooks.
Teaching unions say the crisis is the result of years of frozen budgets, further eroded by higher pension, wages and tax costs as well as inflation, with little hope of relief if the Conservatives are re-elected.
Russell Hobby of the National Association of Head Teachers said schools throughout England were increasingly asking parents to make ends meet, and slashing staff budgets when that wasn’t enough.
“Almost every head I speak to is thinking about not replacing teachers who do leave, or is having to lay off staff within the next year or two,” said Hobby.
“I think it’s just phenomenal. The funding crisis isn’t just something that’s going to happen in 2020 – it’s happening right now.”
Liam Collins, headteacher of Uplands community college in East Sussex, said his school was hundreds of thousands of pounds worse off.
“The per-student funding is not protected. This year we received £4,664 per student, and this flat cash settlement is what we will receive for the foreseeable future. This is well below the national average, even under the new funding formula,” Collins said.
“In simple terms this is a cut of 10 teachers, fewer clubs, no pastoral support, a narrowed curriculum, no counselling for students struggling with mental health issues, crumbling buildings, no IT upgrades, no new textbooks and no school planners.”
The cuts come as the National Audit Office has calculated there will be a £3bn real-terms reduction across all schools by 2019.
In its analysis of the Conservative manifesto, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found school funding in England would fall nearly 3% by 2021 even with a promised extra £1bn a year, adjusting for inflation and a rise in student numbers.
The Conservatives have so far promised to put an extra £1bn a year into school budgets – with the cash saved by ending free school meals for infants, and some optimistic efficiency savings from bureaucracy.
Labour is offering a more generous £4.8bn injection of funds, funded by reversing cuts to corporation tax, which would see school budgets in England rising in real terms over the next five years.
Sixth-formers would miss out on the largesse, however, with the IFS calculating that “spending per student in 16-18 education would remain about 10% lower than it would be for secondary schools”, no matter who wins the coming election.
Teachers contacting the Guardian have even complained of school buildings that reek of urine because budgets cannot stretch to fixing serious plumbing problems.
Furzedown primary school in Wandsworth, London, revealed that it was asking pupils to help clean classrooms because it could not afford a new cleaner, while the headteacher’s partner was having to undertake odd jobs around the school.
Even Latymer, a selective school in leafy north London, found that raising £70,000 in donations this year after an earlier appeal to parents was not enough to stave off cuts.
“For the next academic year, we will reduce staffing and teacher allowances further. Sadly Latin, PE, technology and sociology will no longer be offered to students joining the sixth form in September 2017,” Latymer’s headteacher, Maureen Cobbett, wrote to parents.
Jo Yurky, a co-founder of the Fair Funding for All Schools campaign group, said: “Parents are keenly aware that the cuts are not a future threat but are already happening now. We are deeply unhappy about it.”
El Sindicato de universidades y facultades ha presentado un informe que pone de manifiesto un descenso significativo en la protección de la libertad de cátedra en el Reino Unido en comparación con otros países de la Unión Europea.
«Libertad de cátedra en el Reino Unido: protección legal y normativa en un contexto comparativo», obra de los docentes universitarios Terence Karran y Lucy Mallinson, de la Universidad de Lincoln (Reino Unido), también revela que casi una cuarta parte de los académicos del Reino Unido (un 23 por ciento) afirman haber sufrido acoso por parte de compañeros de trabajo debido a sus opiniones. El Sindicato de universidades y facultades (UCU, por sus siglas en inglés) encargó esta amplia encuesta en un intento por encontrar una definición mejor para el concepto de libertad de cátedra y para garantizar que se proteja de manera más adecuada.
Hallazgos fundamentales
Una de las recomendaciones del informe consiste en que la UCU tenga en cuenta una queja de la UNESCO/Organización Internacional del Trabajo sobre la falta de aplicación de la Recomendación de la UNESCO relativa a la Condición del Personal Docente de la Enseñanza Superior de 1997por parte del gobierno británico. El sindicato ha declarado que valorará sus opciones para responder al informe, incluida la posibilidad de explorar si el Reino Unido cumple o no lo exigido por dicha recomendación de la UNESCO de 1997.
Los autores del informe también argumentan que la gente necesita seguridad laboral para contar con la libertad para cuestionar ciertas ideas y comprometerse totalmente en la gestión universitaria.
Sus hallazgos incluyen los siguientes, entre otros:
· Dos quintas partes de los académicos del Reino Unido (un 42 por ciento) afirmaron que cuentan con un conocimiento adecuado del concepto de libertad de cátedra, aunque un tercio (el 34 por cierto) declaró que no.
· Ocho de cada 10 académicos del Reino Unido (un 81 por ciento) querían informarse más sobre la libertad de cátedra, mientras que tres cuartas partes (el 74 por ciento) de sus compañeros de otros países de la Unión Europea respondieron de forma similar.
· Los académicos británicos sienten que el nivel de protección de la libertad de cátedra en su país en mucho menor que el que se otorga a sus compañeros de la Unión Europea.
· Más de un cuarto de los académicos británicos (un 28 por ciento) y un 13 por ciento de sus colegas de la UE piensan que su nivel de protección es bajo.
· La mitad (el 49 por ciento) de los académicos de la UE declaran disfrutar de un nivel de protección elevado, en comparación con el 22 por ciento de británicos que afirman lo mismo en su caso.
· Más de la mitad de los académicos británicos (el 52 por ciento) y un tercio de sus compañeros de la UE (el 34 por ciento) indican que la protección de la libertad de cátedra ha disminuido en su universidad durante los últimos años.
· Más de dos quintos (un 43 por ciento) de los académicos británicos y una cuarta parte (el 25 por ciento) de los de países de la UE afirman que la libertad de cátedra en la docencia se ha reducido.
· Dos tercios del personal del Reino Unido (un 67 por ciento) y más de la mitad en países de la UE (el 54 por ciento) declaran que la protección laboral de los empleados del sector docente ha descendido en los últimos años.
La importancia de la libertad de cátedra
«Este informe amplio y vital destaca que solo una cifra sorprendentemente reducida de académicos cree que comprende de forma adecuada lo que significa de verdad la libertad de cátedra», explicó Sally Hunt, Secretaria general del UCU. «Es menos sorprendente y, en cierta medida, tranquilizador saber que un alto porcentaje de los encuestados lo considera un aspecto importante».
Además, añadió que, en los tiempos que corren, en los que los hechos se han visto relegados a un segundo plano, resulta «absolutamente fundamental» que la gente vuelva a escuchar a los expertos ya que las personas que no comprenden la dimensión de un problema pueden adoptar posturas peligrosas en cuanto a directrices y política.
«Consideramos que una sociedad libre es aquella que se define a través de instituciones sólidas y autónomas que se autorregulan en el seno de la ley pero fuera de la influencia gubernamental», indicó. Por otra parte, manifestó que la presentación del informe supone el inicio de un debate más amplio sobre el concepto de libertad de cátedra y cómo deben defenderlo las universidades, una reflexión en la que el UCU espera que se implique el sector al completo.
Antecedentes
El informe incluye encuestas a miembros del UCU y académicos de los otros 27 estados miembros de la UE. La mayor parte de los datos legales/constitucionales del informe se recopilaron en el marco del proyecto Marie Curie con financiación de la UE titulado «Proteger la libertad de cátedra en Europa», sobre la base del artículo «Libertad de cátedra y su protección en la legislación de los estados europeos: medir un derecho humano internacional», publicado el año pasado.
Xbox lays out its vision to transform the education system globally.
I have two younger brothers.
All three of us began our working lives as video game testers at the same company.
I always loved the writing, so I found my way from there into journalism. My middle brother discovered a knack for management, so ended up pursuing a career in business development. Meanwhile my youngest sibling was fascinated by the science and coding of games. He’s just found his first programming job at a major studio.
It’s the latter Dring that has had the most challenging of the career paths. Not only is computer science a difficult subject to master, you’re simply not taught it at school. I learned writing at a young age (as most of us did), but my brother had to teach himself the basics of coding, and strolled into university with little prior understanding of what he was about to study.
In the UK, Computer Science has recently been worked into the school curriculum, which is good news for our industry. But it’s hard to implement, because first you need to teach the teachers; they weren’t taught programming at school, either.
That’s why what Microsoft has been doing with Minecraft is so important. The Education Edition has been used in schools to teach a broad range of subjects, but with the introduction of Code Builder this month, it’s now a means for teaching kids to code – even from as young as six years-old.
Deirdre Quarnstrom, Minecraft’s head of education
«One of the top things we hear from educators is that they want to be able to use [Minecraft] for coding,» says Deirdre Quarnstrom, head of education for Minecraft.
«They see the enthusiasm and engagement that they have with Minecraft, and coding is both top of mind as a critical skill, and something that feels inaccessible to educators who don’t have the technical training in it. Sometimes the students even have a point-of-view that coding is boring. The idea is to solve those issues through Minecraft, which is an environment where students can feel comfortable and confident. So there has been a tonne of excitement around that.
«We were in Brussels last week for a Microsoft event, and there were two classes that had been using it for just two weeks, and the level of competency that they have with it was just amazing. They had taken it, they’ve learned it, and they were actually building a future environmentally-friendly version of their city using Code Builder.»
Minecraft Education Edition now features a Code Builder
Learn-to-code software – such as Scratch, for instance – has been utilised in schools for some time. Quarnstrom says that Minecraft: Education Edition doesn’t necessarily replace these services, but can actually augment them.
«You can connect Scratch into Minecraft, so you can take that Scratch world, and the sprites and commands that are available in that, and then it opens up and expands to all Minecraft commands and inventory items,» she tells us. «You take that basic experience, which is a very good learn-to-code experience, and you expand it out to a full 3D Minecraft world, then all of a sudden they’re using their imaginations and creativity, because the toolset they have is so much bigger.»
James Protheroe, a Minecraft Education Edition mentor and an assistant headteacher agrees: «It is all about making that link. I know from my own use of Scratch, and coding with the children, it is difficult sometimes to get that wow factor. But when you connect that to the 3D environment within Minecraft, and see the impact of the coding that they have actually done, it is just amazing. It has such an impact.»
«If we can take a generation of Minecraft players and encourage them to become content creators and software engineers, that would be amazing»
Deirdre Quarnstrom
And of course, this coding education will hopefully (at least from Microsoft’s perspective) create a new generation of programmers and game designers.
«Absolutely,» begins Quarnstrom. «If we can take a generation of Minecraft players and encourage them to become content creators and software engineers, that would be amazing. We think about Code Builder as a means to the end. The activity of coding is not the thing you are investing in, the thing you are investing in is to become a game developer.
«We launched Minecraft Hour of Code Tutorial programmes two years ago. We did two of those, and they’ve had over 59m play sessions. That to me is unbelievable. It introduces students and helps teachers with the process of: ‘What is a command? What is a variable? What is a function? What is an event? And how does that work?’ They can go as slowly or as quickly as they want. That provides a great introduction.
«The challenge is that it is visual programming language, so you are kind of limited over what you can do there. With Code Builder you can switch from a visual programming language to javascript, and then back. So it provides that next step. It has typically been a pretty big gap from a visual block-based programming language, to actually writing code in a more professional environment. So we are excited to see how this encourages players.»
Minecraft Education Edition is being used at both Primary and Secondary School level
Much like a lot of things in Minecraft, the original idea for an Education Edition came from the community.
«Since early on, Mojang saw that Minecraft was an amazing environment for teaching and learning,» Quarnstrom continues. «People were going into an open world, with no instructions and no rules, and figuring out how to do things. They were teaching each other, creating videos and tutorials. Teachers saw that too – it was teachers who started to see that this was an amazing toolset that inspires creativity. Two teachers actually created a mod for the original Java edition of Minecraft, called Mincraft EDU. They developed this passionate following of early adopters. These were educators who were bringing technology into the classroom and investing in game-based learning.
«About two years ago, when Mojang and Minecraft became part of Microsoft, I said I wanted to work on this education opportunity. I went over to Stockholm and sat down with the team and to find out their vision for education». They said they wanted to change the world.» So I was like, ok that is overwhelming and maybe a bit naive. But we talked about it in that initial conversation, and discussed the fact that the next generation of world leaders are growing up playing games. They are playing Minecraft, learning about consequences and rules of society and how people work together. So it is incredibly powerful.
«Everyday since then, I have become more passionate about it. Generally educators will enter into it with some scepticism and anxiety. They are anxious about it because, generally, the students know more than they do. Every single student in that class is generally more comfortable in a gaming environment than the teacher is. School administrators have some concerns, but when we show them some examples of classes using Minecraft, they come out, almost universally, wanting to learn more about it, wanting to bottle it, package it and take it into their classrooms.»
Protheroe is a primary school teacher and he talks about how Minecraft in the classroom has encouraged communication, collaboration, problem-solving and also confidence.
«We brought it in specifically for one project a couple of years ago, and immediately you could see the potential it had for developing these skills,» he explains. «We have our digital leaders within the school, and very soon they were training staff on using the controls. So really it is pupils who were leading and supporting the teachers. I feel that working with the students in this way helps me unlock the potential of what they can do. Because of the demand, we’ve invited people in to show people what we’re doing in school. So the children said: «We have people coming in to see us work, maybe we could go out into their schools.» So they set up as an enterprise business, and they go out to work with the students and the teacher in their own classrooms. It is very much an introduction to work, but from a child’s point-of-view.»
It’s not just for primary school, though. Microsoft is keen to point out this is for all ages.
Minecraft Education Edition is being used in schools from over 100 different countries
Quarnstrom explains: «We see really interesting applications across primary and secondary school. Often in primary school, people will use it to introduce technology and the concept of digital citizenship. We learn very young in the playground that if we push one of our friends there are consequences to that. People get hurt. But in a virtual environment, sometimes those lessons aren’t as obvious. So educators are using Minecraft really effectively to teach, reinforce and encourage that concept of digital citizenship and responsibility in an online environment. They’re also teaching how to move around with a mouse and keyboard and navigate a 3D environment. And we usually see Minecraft brought in for specific subjects. It can be really effective for students with different learning styles, maybe they’re more visual learners.»
The big challenge now is to encourage more teachers to come on-board. Protheroe was convinced by his students to use the game, and now he’s one of 60 Minecraft mentors who are going around speaking to educators. Quarnstrom says this is key as teachers prefer to speak with their peers. «They speak the same language,» she says. «They understand the needs of the classroom.» There are now 30,000 educators who have created profiles on the Minecraft community site, with schools in 100 countries (including the likes of Tanzania) using the title.
Minecraft: Education Edition is not free. It costs $5 per user per year, although there are offers available for bulk licences. It may not sound like a lot, and on the face of it it isn’t, but the pressures on school budgets have never been higher. Every penny counts and so even if we were to believe every word of Quarnstrom and Protheroe’s pitch, it’s not an easy decision to make.
«From an Xbox and Minecraft point-of-view, this work in education lends credibility to gaming»
Deirdre Quarnstrom
Furthermore, you can understand if there’s a bit of scepticism around Microsoft’s intentions here. Is this really a desire to help education, or more a commercial and marketing exercise?
«For me, I had spent three years as Chief of Staff for Phil Spencer and the Xbox business,» Quarnstrom concludes. «I played games when I was younger, but I hadn’t really played games for a long time. When I went into Xbox, I was amazed by all the things that went into games. The art and science, the narrative design, the creative process… the technical innovation. That doesn’t get enough credibility for what that contributes to society. So I developed this much deeper passion for gaming. However, so many of the games that were popular were first person shooters or mature games. So when Minecraft came along, I saw that this was something that was open for anybody, with any learning or play style. It is this very accessible level-playing field for people. We see girls and boys playing almost equally on Minecraft, and you just don’t see that with most other games.
Resumen: Una escuela primaria con dificultades financieras está pidiendo a los alumnos que pasen por las aulas al final del día porque no pueden permitirse reemplazar a la aspiradora, mientras que el esposo de la directora está haciendo la plomería gratis. Los ministros no han podido explicar dónde las escuelas encontrarán ahorros, dice el regulador. En un duro ejemplo de cómo los recortes de fondos del gobierno están golpeando escuelas en todo el país, la escuela primaria de Furzedown, en la ciudad londinense de Wandsworth, se ha visto obligada a hacer recortes para tratar de equilibrar los libros. Es una de las miles de escuelas que luchan por sobrevivir durante la crisis financiera. Miles de padres, maestros y gobernadores celebraron eventos locales como parte de un día nacional de acción para protestar contra los recortes, que verán que las escuelas en Inglaterra se enfrentan a una reducción en términos reales de 3.000 millones de libras una vez que se tenga en cuenta la inflación. La directora de Furzedown Monica Kitchlew-Wilson ha tenido que pedir a los alumnos mayores que limpien las aulas después de que uno de los limpiadores de la escuela haya mudado de trabajo y no haya suficiente dinero para reemplazarla. Su esposo Dave Wilson, un fontanero entrenado, ha sido redactado para hacer frente a los trabajos extraños, tales como reemplazar las trampas de grasa en la cocina, para ahorrar dinero.
A cash-strapped primary school is asking pupils to vacuum classrooms at the end of the day because it cannot afford to replace the cleaner, while the headteacher’s husband is doing the plumbing for free.
In a stark example of how the government’s funding cuts are hitting schools across the country, Furzedown primary school, in the London borough of Wandsworth, has been forced to make cutbacks to try to balance the books.
It is one of thousands of schools struggling to make ends meet during the funding crisis. Thousands of parents, teachers and governors held local events as part of a national day of action to protest against the cuts, which will see schools in England face a real-terms reduction of £3bn once inflation is taken into account.
Furzedown headteacher Monica Kitchlew-Wilson has had to ask older pupils to clean classrooms after one of the school cleaners moved jobs and there was not enough money to replace her. Her husband Dave Wilson, a trained plumber, has been drafted in to tackle odd jobs, such as replacing grease traps in the kitchen, to save money.
Parents are also contributing, replacing worn-out sports equipment and buying classroom materials.
The school’s struggle to make ends meet is replicated in primaries and secondaries across England. While the absolute amount of money in the national pot for schools is at record levels, once rising pupil numbers, inflation and running costs, are factored in, schools will have to cut approximately 8% from budgets by 2020.
Many schools also fear the introduction of a new funding formula that ministers argue will be a fairer way of allocating cash. Under current plans, almost 11,000 schools stand to gain but around 9,000 will see significant budget cuts on top of those they already face.
Headteachers want the funding crisis to top the political agenda in the run-up to the general election, warning that it risks bringing the education system to its knees. Thousands of headteachers in 14 local authority areas wrote to parents this month asking them to consider funding cuts when voting.
Schools across the country are asking parents to contribute everything from paper to toilet roll. Some have requested that parents set up direct debit payments to the school or make contributions as high as £600 per family.
Kitchlew-Wilson said that as a result of a combination of cuts, she was “looking at being down by £100,000. It’s a huge amount for a two-form entry primary. I’ve never had a minus in my life and I’ve been here 30 years but there are minus figures at the bottom of every column and we are looking to save money any way we can.”
Five members of staff are due to leave by the beginning of the next academic year – two are moving to better funded independent schools – and will not be replaced. The school is being forced to buy fewer books and reduce IT investment, along with the amount spent on essential services for children with behavioural and learning difficulties. If the new funding formula is introduced, the future looks even bleaker.
“We will have fewer teachers to support those who need extra help,” said Kitchlew-Wilson. “There will be children who need extra support who will not get it – they will get less teacher time and less quality teaching as a result of these cuts.”
In a bid to save money, parents have come in to the school to paint the ceilings and do the gardening, as well as donating equipment. “We are getting boxes of stuff from Amazon that parents are buying for us but it’s not right that families have to buy resources for the school. State schools should be funded by the state and that is what it’s about,” she said.
Treasury data shows that cash for schools has fallen from 5.9% of the nation’s wealth in 2010 and is headed towards 4% in 2020, the lowest level in 60 years.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “This election is a make-or-break moment. School budgets are at breaking point right now. More money for schools is absolutely vital. Whoever forms the next government needs to fund education fully and fairly.”
Scotland/23 may 2017/By: CMRubinWorld/Source:http://www.sfgate.com
There has been a significant period of curriculum reform in Scotland. Driving this change is the development of skills, insights, and confidence to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the modern world. In a recent interview with CMRubinWorld, John Swinney says it is hugely important that Scottish students are equipped with all the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace. “And it is crucial that we give all of our young people the opportunity to help them fulfil their potential, whether that is by going to university or college, going straight into work or undertaking a modern apprenticeship. The key is giving them the options to follow that will lead to success.”
“The curriculum in Scotland,” says Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, “recognizes that learning begins at birth and continues throughout our lives. We have a pre-birth to three framework, 3-18 curriculum, and national guidance and frameworks which support adult learning and community learning and development. Together, these form the curriculum in Scotland, which is designed to help learners develop the skills they need for learning, life and work in an ever-changing world.”
Swinney further emphasizes that the role of teachers is critical. A large aspect of Scottish reform has been focused on empowering teachers “to ensure all children have the best opportunity to learn and succeed.”
Prior to his election as Westminster MP for North Tayside in 1997, John Swinney held a number of posts in the Scottish National Party (SNP) at local and national level. In 1999, he became Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Tayside North, remaining as the constituency’s MP until standing down from Westminster at the 2001 General Election. From 1998 to 2000, he served as deputy leader of the SNP, and then as party leader between 2000 and 2004. He was re-elected as an MSP at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election and appointed Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth. He was appointed as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution & Economy in November 2014. In May 2016, he was appointed as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.
CMRubinWorld launched in 2010 to explore what kind of education would prepare students to succeed in a rapidly changing globalized world. Its award-winning series, The Global Search for Education, is a highly regarded trailblazer in the renaissance of 21st century education, and occupies a widely respected place in the pulse of key issues facing every nation and the collective future of all children. It connects today’s top thought leaders with a diverse global audience of parents, students and educators. Its highly readable platform allows for discourse concerning our highest ideals and the sustainable solutions we must engineer to achieve them. C. M. Rubin has produced over 500 interviews and articles discussing an extensive array of topics under a singular vision: when it comes to the world of children, there is always more work to be done.
¿En qué se basa la profesora para discriminarme a mí o a alguno de mis compañeros?
En el proceso de formación continua que se exige a los trabajadores de hoy en día me he apuntado a un curso que ofrecía la universidad británica sobre fundamentos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. El curso se desarrolla de una manera práctica y amena que permite reflexionar sobre cómo uno enseña o los alumnos aprenden. Todo ha sido muy bonito hasta que nos han mandado planificar una clase y nos han dado como ejemplo de planificación el de la clase en la que estábamos. En el ejemplo se estipula que no se pretende que todos los alumnos aprendan las mismas cosas:
Traducción libre del extracto del ejemplo:
Objetivos de aprendizaje:
Al final de la sesión TODOS los alumnos serán capaces de:
1. Evaluar las necesidades de los alumnos
2. …
3. …
4. …
5. …
6. Justificar razones para aplicar conceptos de motivación
Al final de la sesión ALGUNOS alumnos serán capaces de:
1. Identificar las necesidades de los alumnos
2. …
3. …
4. Justificar qué motiva a sus propios alumnos
De este extracto sólo son importantes dos elementos: en la parte superior se enumera lo que se pretende que TODOS los alumnos aprendan, mientras que en la parte inferior se enumera lo que sólo ALGUNOS alumnos aprenderán. El ejemplo me ha dejado desasosegada. ¿Qué se supone que debo de aprender yo? ¿En qué grupo de alumnos me ha clasificado la profesora? ¿Por qué me discrimina la profesora antes de que yo tenga la oportunidad de aprender? ¿En qué grupo se espera que me autoclasifique? ¿Tengo que autodiscriminarme y pensar que yo no puedo aprender y por lo tanto empezar mi aprendizaje con una actitud negativa ante él? Es decir, si se supone que todo el contenido no es para mí ¿por qué tengo que esforzarme en escuchar a la profesora, o hacer un ejercicio, o una práctica dada?
Cuando comencé el curso me sentía igual que los otros alumnos, con ganas de aprender, de escuchar cosas que me fueran útiles, de exprimir todo lo que pudiera de las nuevas cosas que podrían ayudarme en mi trabajo. Con la diferenciación de qué podría yo aprender me siento defraudada. Si hubiera pagado por el curso exigiría la devolución de mi dinero. Es más, la discriminación podría significar que de cara a mi trabajo haya recibido una formación insuficiente. Una formación insuficiente sólo trae consecuencias negativas a la hora de ser eficiente en mi trabajo. Me clasifica además como un profesional de segunda fila. Además, me pregunto si influirá en mi economía. Al ser un profesional de segunda clase no podré ganar tanto como otros compañeros, ni podré acceder a determinados trabajos para los que, en teoría, estoy cualificada.
También me siento rebelde, ¿cómo sabe la profesora si yo no soy capaz de aprender eso? Es decir ¿en qué se basa la profesora para discriminarme a mí o a alguno de mis compañeros? ¿Es el color de mi pelo? ¿Será mi acento que demuestra a las claras que no soy británica? ¿Es por mi formación en un país extranjero? Tengo una sensación de impotencia e injusticia. No es el hecho de que ella lo piense, o de que ella lo expresara verbalmente o con lenguaje corporal sutil. No, lo que me deja impotente y con rebeldía es el hecho de que está por escrito. Como cuando los nazis dejaban por escrito lo que había que hacer con los judíos, como cuando existían leyes raciales escritas en Estados Unidos. Y la rebeldía, la impotencia se concentra en una actitud negativa hacia el aprendizaje que debería adquirir.
Mi apreciación de la profesora también ha disminuido. ¿Será capaz de enseñarme las mismas cosas que a los demás alumnos? ¿Por qué tendría que respetar los argumentos de alguien que a lo mejor ya me ha condenado antes de saber nada de mí? ¿Cómo puedo confiar en que esta profesora me va a ayudar a tener las mismas oportunidades de aprendizaje que el resto de mis compañeros? ¿Cómo puedo confiar en que la profesora me va a exigir los mismos resultados finales que a mis compañeros? La oportunidad de aprendizaje o exigirme los mismos objetivos me hace igual ante mis compañeros. Cosa distinta es si yo consigo aprenderlo todo con la misma rapidez, o con las mismas habilidades, o usando las mismas experiencias que el resto de mis compañeros. Esa es la verdadera diferenciación y no la que ha impuesto de antemano la profesora. La diferenciación existe dentro del grupo de alumnos, todos diferentes en conocimientos, comprensión, habilidad y experiencias, aunque tuvieran los mismos genes. La diferenciación que expresa la profesora en los objetivos de aprendizaje es una diferenciación externa al grupo de alumnos, que predice lo que tiene que pasar antes de que haya oportunidad de que pase. Porque la posibiliadad de que el aprendizaje sea distinto está siempre ahí. El éxito de la enseñanza se basa en conseguir para todos los mismos objetivos de aprendizaje.
Mi satisfacción con el curso disminuye también. ¿Por qué me han aceptado en un curso en el que me van a discriminar? Prefiero ir a otro donde no discriminen. ¿Para qué esforzarme en llegar al curso a tiempo, escuchar a la profesora, hacer los trabajos que mande? Total, ya han dicho de antemano lo que va a pasar. ¿Para qué trabajar? Podría usar mi tiempo en irme a tomarme un trocito de tarta, de chocolate, y me quedaría más satisfecha.
Mi apreciación de la universidad británica disminuye consecuentemente. Esta universidad no se preocupa por su alumnado. Es más corro el extremo peligro de convertirme en un profesional de segunda clase. Cabe la posibilidad de que los eslóganes usados por la universidad británica para atraer alumnos, sean meros eslóganes vacíos de contenido. ¿Para qué pagar 3000 libras de matrícula? ¿Para qué invertir ningún dinero en mi formación en la universidad británica? ¿Dónde está el famoso prestigio de la universidad británica? Posiblemente me beneficiaría más yendo a un curso en una universidad no británica.
Y entonces vuelvo a recordar la diferenciación externa que se impone a los alumnos de la enseñanza obligatoria en el Reino Unido (ver «La profunda crisis del profesorado británico» ). Y pienso que era sólo cuestión de tiempo que la diferenciación/discriminación de los alumnos en la enseñanza obligatoria llegara al ámbito universitario.
The Easter holidays are over – and the long wait for the more generous summer break begins. In just a couple of months, schools will break up, air fares will rise, beaches will be busy and the cost of a family holiday will multiply. So surely it makes sense for parents to be allowed to take their children out of school during term time?
That is the appealing option that prompted one irate father to take his legal case all the way to the Supreme Court to establish a ruling earlier this year. Jon Platt, a British businessman, had been fined £120 after he took his daughter to Walt Disney World during school term.
The resulting (and popular) debate centred on whether parents know what is best for their child – or at least that they know better than the state.
The argument for parental authority over school attendance is initially compelling. Travel can be an important and valuable experience for children. It gives them a break from school work, allows for time together as a family, and can no doubt be educational. Schools and education authorities argue, however, that missing school has a negative impact on academic progress.
School’s out for Mr Platt.PA
Parents and children have an important connection to each other that involves responsibilities and benefits. So an assertion of parents’ rights might seem to make sense.
Parents are expected to know what is best for their child and act appropriately. If so much responsibility for children is placed on parents then surely parents should be allowed some flexibility in how they perform their role? Mothers and fathers could feel justified in joining with campaigns like the one orchestrated by “Parents want a say” to argue that if their children are not suffering then the state should reduce its interference in the private sphere and support parental authority.
Cultural education.Abi Skipp/Flikr
So was Platt right to think that he should be able to take his daughter on holiday when he likes? He had argued that his child, then seven, had a school attendance record of over 90% – high enough to fulfil the legal requirement of “regular” attendance to ensure she was getting a good education. In other words, it might be justified for the state to intervene if there was strong evidence of an adverse effect on the child because of poor parenting decisions. But where there is no evidence of this, parents should be allowed to act as they deem fit. He told a newspaper: “Quite frankly, parents need to decide for themselves.”
But there is a good argument that they shouldn’t be allowed to decide – not because of the claim that schools know the needs of children best. But that selfish individualism should be challenged.
A lesson learned
It may not matter to your child if they miss a few days of school – but it will have an impact on others. Teachers are expected to ensure that children catch up with work they have missed which means less attention on the majority. If significant numbers of children are absent (as might be the tendency if parents take a few extra days around formal holidays) then the problem multiplies.
If you are the only parent who takes their child out there may be little ill effect, but if others start to do the same then the consequences escalate. Recent research by political philosophers on the rights of parents has argued that these need to be limited so that individuals cannot significantly advantage their own children over others, and that is what these parents are doing.
It could be argued even more forcefully that the benefits of your own child are marginal compared to the negative impact on other children. So the best reason for not taking your child out of school to go on holiday isn’t about the risk of educational disadvantage they face, or that it is going against government rules. It is that parenting shouldn’t be about seeking to confer an unfair advantage for your child over others.
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