Christophidou, EC Director General for Education: "Every euro invested in education has the highest and most sustainable return on investment"

The problems of the Spanish educational system are broad and complex, but there is no shortage of recipes to face them. Permanent training of students and teachers, dialogue between European systems, educational co-teaching or better financing and control of the concerted system, are some of those that have been debated in the Forum "Education, in the front line"

A commitment that is at the center of the European recovery strategy, in which, as

, Director General of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission (EC)

has pointed out

, "each euro invested has the largest and more sustainable return on investment. "

With this forum, the

started by EL MUNDO with the sponsorship of

in the spring of this year has come to an end. For nine months experts, politicians and businessmen of the stature of

, director of planning and programming of the European Horizon of the EC,

, director of Energy Policy of the Commission,

, general director of Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs from the EC have met to discuss sustainability, energy and innovation.

On this occasion, in addition to Christophidou,

, professor of sociology and former director of the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP),

, president of the Trilema Foundation,

, philosopher, writer and pedagogue and

, rector of CEU San Pablo. The discussion was mediated by

, journalist specializing in education for EL MUNDO.

, Secretary of State for Education of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training was in charge of closing a forum that revolved around the modernization of the school and its teachers, the challenges of digitization and the role of public and concerted schools in the future of Spanish education.

Like almost everything since March 2020, the debate was framed in the new limits and opportunities that the pandemic -also- has generated in the educational context. In this sense, Christophidou congratulated Spain for "dedicating a large part of its recovery plan to modernizing compulsory and higher education, training cycles and internship systems". He has also described as "admirable" the fact that the Spanish plan "focuses on children at high risk of suffering poverty or social exclusion." But despite the victories, he recalled that "one in five young people in the EU have difficulties with basic reading, mathematics or science." A problem that Brussels intends to tackle through an initiative called "Pathways to School Success"which invites member states to collaborate in the development of "guidelines that address low performance and school dropouts, with special attention to disadvantaged students."

Instead, this solution becomes a kind of patch when it is analyzed by experts such as José Antonio Marina. "To think that the educational system has the solution within the educational system itself is tremendously myopia. The school does not have sufficient capacity to solve educational problems, not even at the educational stage," he asserted. One example of this is the repetition of the school year, a tool that in his opinion "has never been of any use" and whose conception is essentially wrong, since it diverts the focus of attention that "the role of teachers is not to teach students. students, but students learn. "

In the Spanish version of the problems associated with education, the dysfunction between the world of work and education is also included.

"For a long time we have listened little to companies", diagnoses the rector of the CEU, who invites the creation of a "true ecosystem between universities and companies" in which "we are able to offer companies the professionals they already need. those professionals the studies that are going to prepare them. "

Which, in Marina's words, would imply an "educational pact at all levels, including the company" and assuming "planning as a much broader society", since "societies learn whole as societies or they do not learn."

Permanent training to respond to a changing environment

From this idea is detracted the concept that it is desirable that formal educational systems, as social gears, should move in a rhythmic way with their environment to achieve the quality standards set by the experts.

Instead, reality is staged rather as an out-of-step dance in which the educational system awkwardly tries to keep up with an ever-changing environment.

"Our educational systems are a kind of corset that change very slowly," analyzed Carmen Pellicer, who demanded greater "autonomy, flexibility and intelligence to be able to organize and respond to this vital education that is fundamental for students to be good professionals, happy and ethically. committed to transforming a better world. "

This autonomy must materialize in the school organization, according to the Secretary of State for Education, Alejandro Tiana. That is to say, "autonomy to be able to organize and look for suitable ways of organization to achieve what they want to achieve".

Instead, the perception of educators is that the training offered to students can become "obsolete even before they finish their degree," said Rosa Visiedo.

It is necessary, then, to "break the gap" that exists between the training and professional stages.

This line converges with the European strategy, which is aware that "youth will need new skills and abilities to contribute to a green digital transformation," explained Christophidou.

Thus, the industry's response was unanimous: "lifelong learning must become a reality."

Challenges for teachers: synergies, co-teaching and evaluation

The modernization of educational systems also requires a transformation of the way teachers work. For Brussels, the key to this transformation lies in the dialogue between the different educational models of the European member states. A path that, as specified by the EC Director-General for Education, goes through the announcement of "a new university strategy focused on reinforcing traditional cooperation based on the success of the alliances of European universities." But also for the creation of Erasmus + teacher academies, which allow "to put the teacher training centers in contact" and offer "the best training both at the beginning of the career and during the professional life".

This proposal is an opportunity to overcome the "individualism" in which Spanish teachers work in a practical way, side by side with other educational environments. But it is only one of many avenues of cooperation between teachers. The sociology professor highlighted "educational co-teaching" as a way of working that allows teachers to "receive feedback, integrate with more experienced people and complement the qualifications of different teachers."

From the CEU's experience, where they are beginning to implement this strategy, the results are being successful, although they are not lacking in complexity. According to Rosa Visiedo, in practice, this strategy allows "breaking down the barriers between the different subjects so that the teachers who teach in the same course work collaboratively at times".

As a complement, Pellicer advocates the "professionalization of management teams" through "a professional performance evaluation model." Something like a "MIR prior to the opposition" that guarantees that practical training. An idea that the Secretary of State for Education questioned, considering that the MIR "is not an internship at the end of the degree, but a specialization that is done in practice." So the one who finishes the MIR is a specialist, while the educational system works differently.

The evaluation and follow-up should also be applied, according to Tiana himself, to them the educational policies applied by the governments, "to know what effect they are producing."

The responsibility of the administrations does not end there.

"We must set objectives and strategies, encourage and support innovative tasks and experiences that are already being applied by some centers."

In general, Tiana proposed identifying what really has the potential for change in the educational system and prioritizing it gradually.

"I do not believe that we can turn our educational system around from one day to the next as if it were a sock", but through "incremental changes, through sustained and sustainable processes."

From public to private, through concerted

There is no debate that divides the education sector more than the future of public and private schools. Understood as dichotomous models, it represents a hot spot in the policies of the government of the day. A confrontation that Carmen Pellicer considers that "it is necessary to pacify" to get out "of the pothole of mediocrity" and "achieve excellence".

For this, he believes it is necessary to "respect the history" of concerted education, "which was born to reach where state education did not reach, with a vocation of public and social service." Precisely at the origin of the Spanish model, specifically in the breach of the Concerts Law, approved in 1985, José Antonio Marina places the deficiencies of both systems. The philosopher criticizes that, in practice, the system has been perverted, with "a policy of" I don't want to look there ", because that" allowed less funds to be given to schools for educational places and, in compensation, not to look at whether students have to pay any contribution in the form of donations. "

To overcome these obstacles, Fernández-Enguita proposes two lines of intervention.

On the one hand, "a little more state control over the content and recruitment of the private and concerted sector", since, he recognizes, despite the fact that there are "very social" centers, others "want to be elite bubbles, and that should be avoided. "

On the other hand, he calls for "more personal responsibility and more teamwork" in the public sector.

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