There have never been so many teachers in Spain, and yet they are lacking. Institutes and vocational training centres are experiencing shortages of staff in certain areas that go beyond any concern: this is a serious problem, according to workers in the sector. Mathematics at ESO and electricity, electronics and computer science in vocational training are among the specialities most affected. There is such a need for teachers that in some classes it is expected that students will be without a teacher for months, as happened last year.
How do the autonomous communities deal with the problem? Well, in many cases, “relaxing” – to put it mildly – the requirements imposed by law to teach (read the master’s degree in teaching). In the Valencian Community, there is already an exchange for this profile. But this solution generates other problems: people without any training in didactics or pedagogy are given classes. People who may know a lot about their subject, but not necessarily about teaching.
From there, the debate: can (should) someone who does not know how to teach in theory teach? Luis García, director of an association of vocational training centers, where the shortage is greater, clearly indicates that in his case, where very specific knowledge is necessary, for example in the use of certain machines, yes. In secondary school, which is more academic, there are more doubts.
If we consider the medium term, it is difficult to find a more structural solution than entrusting teaching to almost everyone who has a career. Some of the causes at the origin of this problem are not related to education. With mathematics teachers for example, it happens that in recent years the private sector is fighting for these professionals for jobs related to AI, algorithms, etc. And the institutes cannot compete in conditions with what a company can offer, regret the leaders. In IT, the same.
Other teachers believe that the fact that the environment in schools is deteriorating does not help. That it is no longer just about economic conditions: teachers are fleeing the centers because of discipline problems and other bad professional conditions, such as high ratios, teaching hours, overwhelming bureaucracy … The profession is not inviting, wow.
Here is the link to the article where we talk about all this in more depth.
This week we also talked about…
Madrid abandons the continuous day. Ayuso stood out in the debate on the state of the region with a somewhat controversial proposal: all new schools in Madrid will now have mandatory split days. They will also try to extend it to the rest of the centers. The decision is controversial because it goes against the usual policy of the centers, which tend to choose continuous, and it goes against the preference of the teachers. For the rest, the debate between one day and another is recurrent and tends to focus on personal experience: “Well, I think…”. We have tried to get out of there and we have compiled in this article what the research says on the subject. I am aware that the subject touches a sensitive chord, but if you are in favor of continuing, you will not like it.
The impossible conciliation during school adaptation. Those of you with young children will know. September is the tricky month of the year when children start school – a small relief but up until a certain age they do so gradually. A sudoku for parents, who are getting through these days as best they can, often taking holidays. What many do not know is that there is unpaid leave specifically for this purpose. Either they do not know about it or they do not want to use it precisely because it is not paid. But this must change soon: the EU has warned that at least half of the days should be paid. Speaking of which, The Conversation asks this week whether this adaptation is necessary, which, I remember, did not exist before and is not regulated anywhere. Here is the reflection.
LGBT harassment in classrooms: schools generally ignore it. This is what the harassed people themselves say in a survey by the LGTBI+ State Federation. The data gives at least an idea of the problem: one in four people in the group has been harassed and in 64% of cases, the center did nothing. The attacks, explain those affected, occur mainly at the ESO. Here you can read the article, with more data from the survey and the context to better understand what is happening.
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Chaos with the university waiting list in Andalusia. The start of classes is a nightmare for hundreds of Andalusian students. In July, they were wrongly excluded from the waiting lists for grades, and now many of them realize that there are people above them who have lower grades than them. One student sums up the uncertainty of her situation: “Should I go to Huelva where I am registered or wait for Jaén, where I am in 23rd position and it seems that I have a chance? But is my position real? Should I stay in Granada, which is my city? No, because I am very far away, 150. But is that really my position when I know that there are people with lower grades ahead of me?
First demonstrations of the course in the street. The school year has just begun and, as we announced a few weeks ago, demonstrations are already taking place in the streets. With varying degrees of success, at least the educational communities of Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha have already unfurled banners demanding better conditions and more investment in public schools. Aragon and Galicia are also announcing mobilizations. A lively course is expected.
