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OTRA∃DUCACION - Texts in English


Poetic and Dreamlike Paper Cut Artworks - Fubiz

This is a bilingual blog. Most texts are published in Spanish. Here is a compilation of texts written in English (alphabetical order).

10 false ideas on education in Finland
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/03/10-false-ideas-on-education-in-finland.html

 

12 Theses on Educational Change
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/12/12-theses-on-educational-change.html

1990-2015: Education for All Educación para Todos (compilation)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/08/1990-2015-education-for-all-educacion.html

1990-2030: Global education goals
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/09/1990-2030-global-education-goals-metas.html

25 Years of Education for All
http://educacion-para-todos.blogspot.com/2013/03/25-anos-de-educacion-para-todos-25.html

About 'good practice' in international co-operation in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-would-be-good-practice-in.html

Adult Literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Plans and Goals 1980-2015
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/adult-literacy-in-latin-amrica-and.html

Basic learning needs: Different frameworks
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/basic-learning-needs-different.html

Beautiful letters
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/07/lindas-letras-beautiful-letters.html


Child learning and adult learning revisited

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/02/child-learning-and-adult-learning.html

Children of the Basarwa (Botswana)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/09/children-of-basarwa.html

Children's right to basic education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/11/childrens-right-to-basic-education.html

Children's rights: A community learning experience in Senegal
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/01/children-rights-community-learning.html

Cuba and Finland
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/cuba-and-finland.html

Ecuador's literacy fiasco
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/10/ecuadors-literacy-fiasco.html


Education First

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/09/educacion-primero-education-first.html


Ecuador: Good Bye to Community and Alternative Education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/ecuador-good-bye-to-community-and.html

Education for adaptation?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/10/educacion-adaptarse-un-mundo-cambiante.html

Education for All 2000-2015 - How did Latin America and the Caribbean do?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/04/education-for-all-2000-2015-how-did.html 

Education in the Information Society
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/education-in-information-society.html

Escuela Nueva: An innovation within formal education (Colombia)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/escuela-nueva-innovation-within-formal.html

Farewells
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/06/despedidas-farewells.html


Finland Study Visit

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.fi/2015/10/visita-de-estudio-finlandia-finland-study-visit.html


Finland's education compared

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/07/finlands-education-compared-la.html


Formal, non-formal and informal learning

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/08/formal-non-formal-and-informal-learning_21.html


From literacy to lifelong learning: Trends, Issues and Challenges of Youth and Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-literacy-to-lifelong-learning-de.html

From school community to learning community
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/03/from-school-community-to-learning.html

Goal 4: Education - Sustainable Development Goals
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/09/on-goal-4-education-sustainable.html
- SDG: Translation issues
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/09/sdg-translation-issues-ods-problemas-de.html

Girls' education: Lessons from BRAC (Bangladesh)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/01/girls-education-lessons-from-brac.html


Giving up to a literate world?

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/giving-up-to-literate-world.html

GLEACE: Letter to UNESCO on the Literacy Decade (2003-2012)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/letter-to-unesco-on-literacy-decade.html

Kazi, the Graceless
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/09/kazi-el-sin-gracia.html

Knowledge-based international aid: Do we want it? Do we need it?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/10/knowldedge-based-international-aid-do.html

Latin America over-satisfied with public education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/06/latin-america-oversatisfied-with-public.html

Latin America: Six decades of education goals http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/09/latin-america-six-decades-of-education-goals.html

Lifelong Learning: moving beyond Education for All
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/02/lifelong-learning-moving-beyond.html

Lifelong Learning for the North, Primary Education for the South?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/lifelong-learning-for-north-primary.html

Lifelong Learning in the South: Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education, Sida Studies 11, Stockholm, 2004
http://www.sida.se/English/publications/Publication_database/publications-by-year1/2004/november/lifelong-learning-in-the-south-critical-issues-and-opportunities-for-adult-education/ 
http://www.sida.se/contentassets/d60c67d64bf947b1b147419f7751a466/lifelong-learning-in-the-south-critical-issues-and-opportunities-for-adult-education_1614.pdf

Literacy and Lifelong Learning: The linkages
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/01/literacy-and-lifelong-learning-linkages.html

Literacy for All: A renewed vision
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/02/literacy-for-all-renewed-vision.html

Literacy for All: A United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012): Base Document for the Literacy Decade (2000)
http://www.slideshare.net/RosaMariaTorres2015/base-document-united-nations-literacy-decade-20032012


Military spending in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/03/military-spending-and-education-gasto.html

Now comes PISA for 'developing countries'
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/05/now-comes-pisa-for-developing-countries.html

On education in Finland
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/on-education-in-finland-sobre-la.html
 
On innovation and change in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-innovation-and-change-in-education.html

On Learning Anytime, Anywhere (WISE 2011)
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-learning-anytime-anywhere.html

One child, one teacher, one book and one pen
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/10/one-child-one-teacher-one-book-and-one-pen-one.html

One Decade of 'Education for All': The Challenge Ahead (IIEP-UNESCO Buenos Aires, 2000, PDF)
http://www.iipe-buenosaires.org.ar/publicaciones/one-decade-education-all-challenge-ahead
http://www.buenosaires.iipe.unesco.org/sites/default/files/education.pdf 

Open letter to school children
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/08/open-letter-to-school-children.html 

OTRA∃DUCACION: Lo más visitado ▸ Most visited
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/12/otraducacion-lo-mas-visitado-most.html

Public gym stations in Beijing and Quito
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/10/chinas-public-gym-stations-in-beijing-and-quito.html


Reaching the Unreached: Non-Formal Approaches and Universal Primary Education

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/06/reaching-unreached-non-formal.html

"Rethinking education" and adult education

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2016/08/rethinking-education-and-adult-education.html


Six 'Education for All' Goals

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/01/six-education-for-all-goals-seis-metas.html

South Africa 1993: A moment with Mandela
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/12/south-africa-1993-moment-with-mandela.html

Stop PISA!
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/05/stop-pisa-paren-pisa.html

The 4 As as criteria to identify 'good practices' in education
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/10/4-as-as-criteria-to-identify-good.html 

The green, the blue, the red and the pink schools
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/10/green-blue-red-and-pink-schools.html

There is no "education for the 21st century"
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2010/10/there-is-no-education-for-21st-century.html

The million Paulo Freires
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/02/million-paulo-freires.html

The oldest and the youngest

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-oldest-and-youngest-los-mas-viejos.html


The virtuous C (Keys for a renewed learning culture)

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/01/la-virtuosa-c-virtuous-c.html

The World Economic Forum and education quality

http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-world-economic-forum-and.html

Transforming formal education from a lifelong learning perspective
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/10/transforming-formal-education-from.html

We are Latin America
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2012/05/somos-america-latina-we-are-latin.html

What did the MDGs achieve?  
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-did-millennium-development-goals-achieve.html


What Happened at the World Education Forum in Dakar (2000)?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-happened-at-world-education-forum.html

What is 'basic education'?
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-happened-to-expanded-vision-of.html

What is youth and adult education - today? http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-is-youth-and-adult-education-today.html

WISE Prize for Education Laureates: Bottom-up Innovators
http://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2013/11/wise-prize-for-education-laureates.html



Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 4: Education



At the UN Sustainable Development Summit (New York, 25-27 Sep. 2015) a new development agenda was adopted for 2015-2030. From 8 Millennium Development Goals and 21 targets - some of which were not met (see MDG 2015 Report) - we moved towards 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and 169 targets. 
Over 25 years educational aspirations reflected in global goals moved from basic education for children, youth and adults - Education for All (EFA) 1990-2000-2015 - to primary education for all children (completing four years of primary school) - Goal 2 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 2000-2015 - to access to quality education at all levels, including higher education, and lifelong learning opportunities for all - Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2015-2030. It is considered that the SDGs introduce a paradigm shift, described as "Moving from quantity to quality". (See EFA, MDG and SDG education goals in this table).

In fact, in September 2016, one year after the SDGs were approved, UNESCO announced that the new global education goals will not be met in 2030 (Global Education Monitoring Report 2016). It said that if current trends persist, universal primary education will be achieved in 2042, universal lower secondary education in 2059 and universal higher secondary education in 2084. 

I analyze here Goal 4 - "Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning" - and its 10 targets. The targets include all levels of education, technical and vocational skills, youth and adult literacy, gender equality, education for sustainable development, scholarships, education facilities, and teacher training. They are centered around formal education. The overall aspiration is expanded schooling, 12 years (primary and secondary education) considered the minimum this time. Free and quality are key additions; the word quality is reiterated in every target. Again, as in EFA, references to early childhood and adulthood are particularly weak. Lifelong learning is mentioned as an addition to inclusive and quality education for all, not as the new education paradigm for the 21st century proposed by UNESCO.

Is it realistic to expect that ambitious education goals will be achieved by 2030 when much more modest goals were not achieved in 25 years of Education for All and 15 years of Millennium Development Goals?


After reading Goal 4 and its targets one wonders what are the lessons learned over the past 25 years of global goals and international initiatives for education.

Money is considered the main obstacle; however, as we know, education is one of those fields where how money is spent is more important than how much it is spent, and where money alone does not guarantee good policies or rapid, sustainable, change.

We find also the usual translation problems (English-Spanish).


Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
Just one-third of countries have achieved all the measurable Education for All (EFA) goals. - See more at: http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2015/education-all-2000-2015-achievements-and-challenges#sthash.yYyYBh6R.PLvDOXjA.dpuf

Main findings

  • Just one-third of countries have achieved all the measurable Education for All (EFA) goals.
  • In 2012, 121m children and adolescents were still out of school, down from 204m in 1999.
  • Half of countries have now achieved Universal Primary Enrolment and 10% more are close.
  • Poorest children are five times more likely not to complete primary school than richest.
- See more at: http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2015/education-all-2000-2015-achievements-and-challenges#sthash.yYyYBh6R.PLvDOXjA.dpuf

» Lifelong learning (LLL) has been conceptualized by UNESCO as learning that takes place throughout life, from birth to death, in and out of the school system. It has also been proposed by UNESCO as a new paradigm for education in the 21st century. However, LLL is mentioned here as an addition to inclusive and quality education for all, and as separate from education. In fact, LLL should be considered an embracing concept that includes all targets of Goal 4. 
»
Inclusive and quality remain strange and confusing terms for the majority of the population worldwide. Their interpretations and uses differ considerably even within the specialized education community. The same occurs with lifelong learning, a concept not fully understood and incorporated by the education community so far. All this must be kept in mind when communicating the Quality Education Goal in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.


■ By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes.

» This target is the first one in the list and is the most important one within Goal 4. Most financial efforts will probably be devoted to this target.
 

» It is important to remember that:
- Education for All (1990-2015) adopted six basic education goals, aimed at "meeting basic learning needs" of children, youth and adults, in and out of school. According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises primary education and lower secondary education. The six goals were not me in 25 years, and remained as "unfinished business".
- The Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) proposed Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education ('primary education' understood as 4 years of schooling; no mention of free or quality). In 15 years, this modest goal was not met.

» In the final phase of EFA and of the MDGs a "global learning crisis" was acknowledged: after four years of schooling millions of children worldwide are not learning to read, write and do basic math.

» With this experience in mind, is it realistic to think that "free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education" with "effective learning outcomes" are attainable in the next 15 years? In the push for 'universal secondary education', won't we repeat the same - and worse - problems than those faced in the push for 'universal primary education'?.

»
"All
girls and boys" may not be a realistic goal for many countries.

»
Not all is about money. Latin America's high school drop out should be taken into account: nearly half of young Latin Americans leave high school, mainly because of lack of interest and lack of purpose. In a region with historical high primary education enrollment rates, secondary education is viewed today as a major bottleneck.

»
In today's world children are not the only ones attending primary and secondary education; in many countries, completion of primary and secondary education is being offered to young people and adults (second chance education programmes). Targets and indicators related to youth and adults (see below) might also incorporate primary and secondary education.

■ By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.

»
Early childhood development, care and pre-primary education are important not to prepare children for primary education, but to better prepare them for learning (in and out of school) and for life. This debate has been going on for decades. For some reason, the SDGs decided to adopt the instrumental, school-oriented approach to early childhood development and education. We can only hope that the indicators do not reinforce the 'school preparedness' trend.

■ By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.


»
"Affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education" is hard to find in most countries around the world. Can you ensure access to something that, in many cases, will take much longer than 15 years to be in place? Again, all will have to be translated into a more realistic quantitative goals depending on each country.


■ By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

»
See comments to previous target.

»
It is difficult to agree on the "relevant skills for employment, decent jobs and enterpreneurship" that can be considered universal and useful in any context. Certainly, and given the weaknesses of the school system and of basic education, some of them will have to do not with "technical and professional skills" but with basic learning needs such as oral expression, and reading and writing properly and autonomously.


■ By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.

 » Again: women, indigenous peoples, and people with disabilities are put together, in the "vulnerable" category. However, their vulnerabilities - and the ways they are discriminated - are very different and specific.

»
It is time to consider equality, not juts parity - access and enrollment. Disparities are expressed in many areas: retention, repetition, roles played, expectations, learning outcomes, study and career options, etc.


» To be considered: in Latin America, education discrimination against indigenous peoples is stronger and more systematic than discrimination against girls/women. In other words: racism is stronger than machismo.

■ By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.


» Youth and adult literacy is historically the least successful global education goal and remains a critical challenge worldwide (781 million illiterates, the usual two thirds represented by women). The challenge includes sound policy and goal formulation. "Achieving literacy and numeracy" remains a highly ambiguous notion. When can we say that someone has achieved literacy and numeracy? (It may be useful to describe clear competencies within this target).

»
"Substantial proportion of adults" needs to be translated into a percentage that makes the goal not only achievable but successful.

■ By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

»
Clearly, promoting sustainable development is not only about knowledge and skills. The most developed, educated and informed countries in the world are the ones that contaminate the most. On the other hand, indigenous peoples preserve the planet.

»
The description of knowledge and skills considered necessary is vague. In any case, acquiring them requires not only education but also information and communication efforts; not only the school system but also indigenous knowledge and practice, non-formal learning and informal learning at home, in the community, through the media and the internet, in the workplace, etc.

■ Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.


» It is important to highlight the need to differentiate and respond to specific realities and needs, rather than to homogenize. Need to add mention of facilities that are sensitive to different cultures (there are various cultures within a country - countries that are multiethnic and pluricultural, and as a result of migration processes). This is not covered by child, disability and gender sensitivity.

■ By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrollment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries.

»
South-South cooperation and exchange are essential. So-called 'developing countries' are highly heterogeneous. Many such countries are in a condition to offer scholarships and exchange programmes that may be more relevant to other 'developing countries' than those offered by 'developed' ones.


■ By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing states.


»
It is revealing that the target devoted to teachers appears last in the list (following scholarships, education facilities, etc.).

»
It is fundamental to deepen the understanding and the debate - globally and in each national context - on the issue of teachers, teacher education and teacher quality. Qualified teachers and quality teachers may not necessarily be the same thing. Training is only one factor of quality teaching. Poor teacher training is very common and ineffective. Becoming a good teacher depends on character, vocation, school background, appreciation for learning, for reading and for experimenting, quality of teacher education and of teachers' working and learning conditions. There are many old conceptions and misconceptions on what good teacher and good teaching are. 


» The teacher is a key factor in the quality of school education, but not the only one. The whole responsibility cannot be placed on teachers. All evaluations of student learning in school reiterate the critical role of poverty and of overall families' socio-economic conditions. Improving the learning conditions of the poor implies improving them both in and out of school (health, nutrition, well-being, lack of fear, affection, care, play, sleep, etc.).

Related texts in OTRA∃DUCACION

Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida
De alumno a aprendiz
Mujeres, indígenas y discapacitados
Ojo con traducciones y traductores
Madre Tierra
Sumak Kawsay: Voces y saberes de la Amazonía ecuatoriana
¿Mejorar la educación para aliviar la pobreza? ¿O aliviar la pobreza para poder educar?
¿Atraer los mejores estudiantes para la docencia?
Sobre aprendizaje de jóvenes y adultos | On youth and adult learning
Escolarizado no es lo mismo que educado
1990-2030: Global education goals | Metas globales para la educación
Educación para Todos y Objetivos del Milenio no son la misma cosa (entrevista) 
Calidad educativa: ¿infraestructura, tecnologías y docentes?
Education First | La educación primero 
¿Educación a lo largo de la vida para el Norte y educación primaria para el Sur? | Lifelong Learning for the North, primary education for the South?
International Initiatives for Education | Iniciativas internacionales para la educación
What did the Millennium Development Goals achieve?
Formal, non-formal and informal learning


The oldest and the youngest | Los más viejos y los más jóvenes


Two trees of Valinor


(texto en español más abajo)

At a recent meeting of the Open Societies Foundation (OSF) in London (June 2015), one idea became clear in my head towards the end of the meeting: the most interesting speakers were the oldest and the youngest.

The oldest: wise, luminous, coherent, straightforward. Information and knowledge have already turned into wisdom, through who knows how many, how rewarding and how painful experiences in life. Visible longtime marriage between theory and practice. No appetite for nonsense. Sharing as an obvious extension of knowing. Saying difficult truths and being critical come out naturally. No clichés. No fear. No false reverence.

The youngest: fresh, graceful, potent, full of surprises. Aware of their charm and of their impact on others. Aware of their limitations and ready to acknowledge them. Aware of the language and the forms of communication they use. Millennials, digital natives, indignados, activists with a short but intensive life experience. Comfortable users of technologies and of all sorts of gadgets - smartphones, tablets, laptops, microphones, cameras - for journalistic, political, social and cultural purposes. Personal histories full of courage, heroism, hope, unfinished and ongoing reflection. Frequent readers and writers. Bilingual or multilingual.  


All of them - the old and the young - erase immediately the usual prejudices and stereotypes about age.

Old people who are lucid and brilliant, who have not lost a bit of their cognitive, social and communicational skills, who continue learning, who are mentally and physically active, who use modern technologies, who display sympathy, empathy and sound reasoning. 

Young people who lack the wisdom of the old but who are serious about lifelong learning, about their profession and social role. In many aspects, they are not the millennials prototype described in current literature and in an increasing number of studies and surveys. These young people probably have lots of fun but part of that fun comes from their daily work, from engaging in human rights issues, in social and political issues. They may be global in many modern senses but they are also and primarily local, inventing springs in their own societies and cultures. 

All of them informal, dressed and combed as they please, not following fashion trends, age recommendations or circumstances. All of them passionate. All of them thinkers and activists, creators, learners, readers, speakers, fighters, organizers, challengers.

Colleagues in their 40s, 50s and 60s: please do not misunderstand me. Many interesting people among all of you, too. But if they ask me - and they did - the most interesting people I met in this meeting were the oldest and the youngest.


Los más viejos y los más jóvenes

En una reunión de la Open Society Foundations (OSF) en Londres (junio 2015), una idea me fue quedando clara hacia al final de la reunión: los expositores más interesantes fueron los más viejos y los más jóvenes.

Los más viejos: sabios, luminosos, coherentes, desparpajados. La información y el conocimiento ya convertidos en sabiduría, gracias a quién sabe cuántas, cuán gratificantes y cuán dolorosas experiencias de vida. Matrimonio visible entre teoría y práctica. Compartir como una extensión natural del saber. Verdades difíciles y críticas dichas de modo natural. Nada de clichés. Nada de miedo. Nada de reverencias ni pleitesías.  

Los más jóvenes: veinteañeros frescos, simpáticos, potentes, llenos de sorpresas. Conscientes de su encanto y de su impacto sobre los demás. Conscientes de sus limitaciones y dispuestos a reconocerlas. Atentos al lenguaje y a las formas de comunicar. Millennials, nativos digitales, indignados, activistas con una corta pero intensa experiencia de vida. Usuarios cómodos de toda clase de aparatos - teléfonos móviles, tabletas, laptops, enchufes, micrófonos, cámaras, etc. - para fines periodísticos, políticos, sociales y culturales. Historias personales llenas de coraje, heroísmo, reflexiones inacabadas. Lectores y escritores frecuentes. Bilingües y multilingües.

Viejos y jóvenes que se levantan sobre los estereotipos y prejuicios en torno a la edad.

Viejos lúcidos que no han perdido una pizca de sus habilidades cognitivas, sociales y comunicacionales, que siguen aprendiendo, que se mantienen activos mental y físicamente, que usan las tecnologías, que despliegan simpatía, empatía y buen razonar a borbotones.

Jóvenes que no tienen el saber de los viejos pero que se toman en serio el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida, su profesión y su rol. En muchos aspectos, no son el prototipo de los millennials que describe la literatura y cada vez más estudios y encuestas. Estos jóvenes seguramente se divierten mucho pero parte de su diversión está en su trabajo cotidiano, en su compromiso con los derechos humanos, con las causas sociales, con los temas políticos. Pueden ser ciudadanos globales en muchos sentidos modernos, pero son también y sobre todo ciudadanos locales, que luchan y siembran primaveras en sus propias sociedades y culturas.

Todos ellos informales, vestidos y peinados como quieren y no como dictan la moda, la edad o la circunstancia. Todos ellos apasionados. Todos ellos familiarizados con las modernas tecnologías. Todos ellos pensandores y activistas, creadores, aprendices, lectores, expositores, luchadores, organizadores, desafiadores.

No me malentiendan cuarentones y cincuentones. Mucha gente interesante entre ustedes. Pero si me preguntan, como en efecto me preguntaron: los más interesantes en esta reunión fueron los más viejos y los más jóvenes.

Para saber más
- Open Society Foundations
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/

Global learning crisis?

 

Texto en español: ¿Crisis global de aprendizaje?


International organizations are speaking of a global learning crisis. Is it really a global learning crisis?. Speaking of a «learning crisis» has the risk - once again - of blaming the victim, not acknowledging the teaching crisis behind such learning crisis, and ignoring the overall responsibility of the school system, historically unable to respond to learners' and to learning needs.

The fact that the term learning crisis becomes very attractive for the modern and powerful evaluation and testing industry is also a matter of concern. We discuss here also the need to acknowledge teacher learning and not only student learning; teachers' learning is also in crisis. Aldo, it is clear that the so-called "learning crisis" affects not only poor countries but also rich ones, and is thus really global.


Children are not learning in school

A major «discovery» resulted from the extensive international meetings and deliberations stimulated by the 2015 deadline of the Education for All - EFA goals (1990-2000-2015) and the Millennium Development Goals - MDG (2000-2015): millions of children are not learning the basics in school. Of the 650 million children going to school worldwide, 250 million are not learning to read, write and calculate after 4 or more years of schooling.
In 2011, of 41 countries surveyed:
- after 4 years or less in school: 1 in 4 children are unable to read all or part of a sentence
- after 5-6 years in school: 1 in 3 children are unable to read all or part of a sentence
- 61% of children who cannot read are girls
- 25% of children in low and middle income countries cannot read.

Illustration: Claudius Ceccon (Brazil)

The term illiteracy applies not only to adults but to children as well. Illiteracy is linked to lack of access to school, but also to access to poor quality and insufficient education, and to lack of opportunities for reading and writing. The combination of poverty and poor teaching, poor learning and poor reading conditions reinforces the worst predictions for the poor.

In «developing countries» we know this for a long time. Completing four years of school, prescribed by the MDGs as equivalent to «primary education», is clearly insufficient to make a child literate - able to read, write and calculate in real life situations - especially if that child comes from deprived socio-economic contexts and subordinate languages and cultures.

The same is true with adult literacy: the usual quick literacy programmes - more concerned with statistics than with actual learning - leave people half way, with weak reading and writing skills. A short «post-literacy» programme does not add much. Just like children, young people and adults need a solid basic education, and exposure to reading and writing environments and acts.

Not being able to read and write is one of the main causes of school repetition in the early years of schooling worldwide. There is no scientific or even rational reason behind the idea that children must learn to read and write in one or two years. And yet, this is often mandated by national education policies and authorities. «Failure» is typically attributed to the students rather than to the system and to those in charge of defining policies and curricula.

Few countries give students and teachers enough time to make a joyful and meaningful literacy process. Brazil - well known for its high repetition rates and its long-entrenched «school repetition culture» - groups together the first three years of primary education, called «literacy cycle».

We, specialists, have been saying for decades that literacy education must be seen as an objective for at least the whole of primary education, if not of basic education (primary and lower secondary education, according to ISCED). We have also been saying that, given the importance and complexity of the task, groups in the early grades must be rather small and the best teachers should be assigned to such grades (Finland does it), challenging the logic and usual practice of school systems worldwide.

The acknowledgement by the international community of the school «global learning crisis» came a bit late, when the deadline for both MDG and EFA goals was coming to an end, after 15 and 25 years respectively. Hopefully such recognition will lead to world awareness and will help reshape the post-2015 education agenda worldwide.

Learning was one of the six Education for All goals approved in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, at the launch of the Education for All initiative. (Goal 3: "Improvement in learning achievement such that an agreed percentage of an appropriate age cohort - e.g. 80% of 14 year-olds - attains or surpasses a defined level of necessary learning achievement). Ten years later, at the World Education Forum in Dakar (2000), that goal was eliminated and learning was mentioned only in reference to young people and adults (Goal 3: "Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes"). That same year the Millennium Development Goals were approved; the two goals referred to education did not mention learning.

It is definitely time to move beyond quantitative goals of access and completion, and to incorporate learning at the core of all education goals. It is time to apply the terms 'universalization' or 'democratization' not just to enrollment and completion of a certain school level, but to learning. It is time to assume that the right to education includes not only the right to access formal schooling but also the right to learn.


«Global learning crisis»? - Blaming the victim

There was apparently consensus in choosing the term «global learning crisis». It is certainly global: the crisis affects not only poor but also rich countries. On the other hand, it is clear that acknowledging the learning crisis in the school system implies acknowledging the teaching crisis as well. Speaking of a learning crisis has the risk of placing the problem, as usual, on the side of the learners rather than on the system.

Illustration: Claudius Ceccon

Blaming the victim is daily practice in the school culture. But we know - or should know - that if children are not learning in schools it is not because they are stupid but because the school system - not only teachers individually -- is unable to teach them properly and the social system is unable to offer them adequate learning conditions in and out of school (family welbeing, affection, protection, nutrition, health, sleep, security, etc.).

Both the learning crisis and the teaching crisis are related to an obsolete and dysfunctional school system that needs major changes if we want to ensure learning, learning to learn, and learning to enjoy learning.

Teacher training appears typically as the main 'solution' to educational quality and to student learning. However, even if important, teacher training is not enough. There are other quality factors related to teachers (salaries, professionalism, respect and social appreciation, participation in educational policies and decisions, etc.) and other internal and external factors intervening in school success or failure.

When it comes to teaching and learning, let us not forget that:

(a) The «global learning crisis» affects not only «developing countries» - focus of Education for All and other international education reports and debates - but also «developed countries». Concern and complaints about poor reading and writing skills among primary and high-school students are common and increasingly voiced in rich - OECD - countries.

(b) The «global learning crisis» affects not only students but teachers as well. Millions of school teachers receive inadequate and poor pre- and in-service training. There is huge waste of money and time in teacher education and training that do not translate into meaningful teacher learning

(c) Students are blamed for not learning and teachers are blamed for not teaching (or for not teaching in ways that ensure student learning). However, the teaching role is not exclusive of teachers. The whole school system has been designed and operates as a teaching system. And this teaching system - the way we know it - is not adequate for learning and for learners.

Illustration: Frato (Italy)

Even if teachers are trained, the learning crisis - including their own - is there. The label «global learning crisis» may activate the assessment and evaluation machinery, with fierce competition, standardized tests, and rankings, rather than stimulate the long postponed and much needed teaching-learning revolution.

Latin America oversatisfied with public education



(en español: Satisfacción excesiva con la educación en América Latina)

"Traditionally, the concept of quality of life has been viewed through objective indicators. Beyond Facts: Understanding Quality of Life looks at quality of life through a new lens, namely, the perceptions of millions of Latin Americans. Using an enhanced version of the recently created Gallup World Poll that incorporates Latin America-specific questions, the Inter-American Development Bank surveyed people from throughout the region and found that perceptions of quality of life are often very different from the reality. These surprising findings have enormous significance for the political economy of the region and provide a wealth of information for policymakers and development practitioners to feast upon."

A pioneer study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which used the 2007 Gallup World Survey (40 thousand people in 24 Latin American countries answered it) revealed that Latin Americans were in general satisfied with their lives and, in particular, with public education.

The distance between realities and perceptions was especially big in the case of education. While Latin America is well known for the low quality of its education and its poor learning outcomes - as revealed by national tests (prepared in each country), regional tests (such as (LLECE) and international tests (such as PISA) - satisfaction with public education is much higher than that of citizens in countries with an overall better schooling and learning situation. 

Over-satisfaction applies also to health, but it is much more prominent in the case of education. People with lower levels of education (generally associated with lower economic status) tend to have a better opinion of educational services than those with more years of schooling (theoretically associated with more critical attitudes). “Do you think the majority of children are getting a good education?" was responded positively by people with primary and incomplete secondary education. Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Honduras and Dominican Republic reported levels of satisfaction similar to those in developed countries. Haiti, Peru and Argentina were the least satisfied.

Is is also known as "aspirations paradox": those who have the least, those who get the education of the lowest quality, are the ones that are most satisfied, those who thank anything they get and, thus, those in the most unfavorable position to identify and demand quality education. The paradox applies to many other fields.
“The majority of Latin Americans are satisfied with their education systems because they value discipline, security and the physical infrastructure of schools more than the academic scores their children get” (Preface, Beyond Facts: Understanding Quality of Life).
Discipline
 
Many parents expect the school to do what they cannot: discipline their children. Norms, instructions, schedules, uniforms, homework, rewards and punishment, are part of the disciplinary package.

For the conventional education ideology, 'good teacher' is the disciplinarian. Teachers who are flexible, friendly, innovative, are often misunderstood and questioned by school authorities and by parents. Teachers who acknowledge play and fun as part of the learning experience, who explore with their students other forms of learning, are not welcome by the traditional school culture.

The obsession with discipline brings rigidity to relationships, legitimizes authoritarian behaviors, limits dialogue and reasoning, blocks spontaneity, curiosity, creativity and liberty -- all of them  essential to learning.
Security


Violence and insecurity are high and rising in the region (See: UNDP, Human Development Report for Latin America 2013-2014: Citizen Security with a Human Face: Evidence and proposals for Latin America). Families view the school as a key ally where their children can be safe and taken care of. In contexts of great violence such as the ones characterizing most Latin American cities, preserving life becomes the obvious priority. Learning - often confused with rote learning - has always received little attention by families, and not only among the poor.

Violence is not only outside but increasingly inside the school system. Out of school violence - in the family, in the community, in society - enters school with parents, students and teachers. Bullying has become a major concern and war in most countries. Robbery, assault, drugs, harassment, death, are today part of the school scenario in the world.

Insecurity and fear do not contribute to the development of good education. They lead to shutting mouths, to locking classroom doors, to building high school walls.

Infrastructure


Social imagery associates education with school. Teaching and learning come afterwards.

Social and political imagery coincide in the appreciation for infrastructure. Building and inaugurating classrooms and school buildings - the easiest in education - are salient features of the political and electoral culture. Voters are very sensitive to school infrastructure. Politicians know it, give it high visibility, and nurture the idea of education (quality) as infrastructure.

For most people, it is difficult to perceive and even to imagine education without buildings: outdoor education, distance education, self-education, homeschooling, etc. Not everyone is able to accept what abundant research shows all over the world: good education depends much more on good teaching than on a good building; quality learning depends much more on the quality of relationships than on the quality of things.

***

Over-satisfaction and the "aspiration paradox" in education are found in surveys and studies all over the world, but they are very high in Latin America and the Caribbean. PISA 2012 showed that Latin American 15 year olds are the happiest with their school, even if they get the worst results among PISA participating countries. 

There are those who see the gap between realities and perceptions as a positive cultural sign - optimism, happiness, etc. - and as a blessing vis à vis the ranking culture. However, the gap is a problem. Complacency is an enemy of improvement and change.

Advancing towards a 'better education' or a 'good education' implies addressing and questioning overly "optimistic" perceptions. It implies expanding and elevating the education level of society as a whole and, on the other hand, a systematic information, awareness and citizen education effort: educating people's perceptions, informing their decisions, enhancing their participation, and qualifying their demand for the right to education.


Related texts in OTRA∃DUCACION

» The World Economic Forum and educational quality
» Ecuador: Good bye to community and alternative education
» Lógicas de la política, lógicas de la educación
» Escuelas sin aulas, aulas sin escuelas
» El barrio como espacio pedagógico: Una escuelita itinerante (Brasil)
» La escuela de la maestra Raquel (México)
» La biblioteca como núcleo de desarrollo comunitario (Una experiencia en Córdoba, Argentina)
» Proyecto arquitectónico sin proyecto pedagógico
» "Antes, aquí era Escuela Vieja"
» Pobre la educación de los pobres

Now comes PISA for 'developing countries' (PISA-D)



Some of the concerns raised around OECD's PISA tests (reading, mathematics and science, applied every three years to 15 year olds) refer to their inadequacy for "developing countries". 

Participating Latin American countries systematically occupy some of the lowest places in PISA rankings, far from "developed" OECD countries
(in the past few years, Mexico, Chile and Colombia have been accepted as OECD countries; they are also at the bottom). 

PISA tests were developed by and for OECD countries. Later, non-OECD countries  have joined PISA, 10 of them from Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay. (See: list of countries that have participated in PISA)

Issues related to the inadequacy or usefulness of PISA for non-OECD countries include the following:

» the need to contextualize the tests, responding to the great heterogeneity (socio-economic, cultural, etc.) of countries, within the same generic category of "developing";

»
many 15 year olds are out of school because they never enrolled or because they dropped out (drop out rates are high in may countries, especially in secondary education);  

» there is no technical capacity in the majority of countries to administer a complex and massive standardized test such as PISA; 
» many countries participate in international tests (such as UNESCO's LLECE tests in the case of Latin America);
» devastating domestic effects in countries getting low results and rankings in PISA tests;

» the enormous attention dedicated by governments to improve scores and rankings in the next PISA test, distracting time and resources from critical structural issues and from learning as such. 


Some of these concerns have been aired in open letters addressed to OECD, such as the one sent in 2013 by Ministers of Education in Latin America (Los Ministros de Educación del MERCOSUR y la prueba PISA) or the one sent in 2014 by 92 academics from the US and other OECD countries (Stop PISA!). Concerns have also been raised in Chile (Bárbara Figueroa critica la Prueba PISA porque mide asuntos 'ajenos a la realidad educativa chilena') and in Ecuador vis a vis this country's decision to join PISA (PISA ¿para qué? ¿El Ecuador en PISA?). (See: Critical Voices of PISA in Latin America).

Responding to these and other concerns, the OECD proposed PISA for Development (PISA-D), an initiative addressed to middle and low income countries. The idea is to expand the participation of non-OECD countries in PISA. Nine countries - from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean - expressed their interest to participate in the pilot project: Bhutan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, and Zambia. (See: Technical meeting, June 2013); OECD Call for Tender 100000990, August 2014).
"PISA for Development aims to increase the policy relevance of PISA for developing countries through enhanced PISA survey instruments that are more relevant for the contexts found in developing countries but which produce scores that are on the same scales as the main PISA assessment. The project will also develop an approach and methodology for including out of school children in the surveys. The project’s objectives will be achieved over a 36 month period through a three-way partnership involving the OECD, concerned development partners (DAC members plus the World Bank, UNESCO and other UN bodies and other regional organisations) and partner countries from the developing world".
The OECD sees the following advantages of PISA for Development:
• "A single reference against which to rigorously gauge the degree of progress
made towards targets for educational quality and equity.

• A comparable and robust measure of progress to allow all countries – regardless of their starting point – to establish themselves on an improvement trajectory to achieve targets referenced to common international goals.

• Credible and comparable results: PISA requires participating countries to follow common technical, institutional and administrative standards for the assessment.

• An opportunity to help build institutional capacity. Countries are responsible for overseeing PISA implementation; therefore, participation in PISA can also drive improvements in institutions. This capacity building could be implemented directly with development partners in a way that creates spill-over benefits to other parts of the educational sector."
PISA-D is an OECD strategy for the post-2015 period. 2015 marked the deadline for two major world initiatives: Education for All (EFA, 1990-2000-2015) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG, 2000-2015). In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the 2030 Agenda were approved.

International awareness around a "global learning crisis" - millions of children worldwide not learning to read, write and calculate after attending school for four years or more - acknowledges for the first time the precariousness of learning in primary schools in most "developing countries" and is contributing to finally place learning as an explicit and fundamental goal. Unfortunately, that goes also with an emphasis on learning assessment starting now in pre-primary education. In that context, OECD/PISA appear as key global partners.

"Developing a universal measure of educational success" is one of eleven areas in which OECD plans to contribute to the 2030 Agenda (Beyond the MDGs: Towards an OECD contribution to the post-2015 agenda). In other words: the aim is to establish ONE definition of 'educational success' and ONE way to measure it worldwide, in the North and in the South. PISA-D is the strategy and the instrument to incorporate that "other part of the world" still absent from the global education evaluation race.

A big player and evaluation enthusiast such as the World Bank blesses global learning benchmarks and recommends them especially for "developing countries."
"In a global economy the primary benchmark for success is no longer improvement by national standards, but the best-performing education systems internationally. (Having said that, it’s also important for countries to set and measure learning goals that reflect their own national priorities and values.) This usually means participating in one of the many international assessment programs that test the math, science, problem solving or other competencies of students at the same grade or age level in different education systems around the world. Countries – particularly developing and emerging economies – may feel at a disadvantage in this global benchmarking, but should keep in mind that steady improvement over time is the important thing." (Education: Measuring for Success in Today’s World, 9 May 2014).

Issues that may need more focused attention and discussion 


The following issues were mentioned in "The PISA for Development initiative moves forward: Have my wishes been fulfilled?" (2 Feb. 2015):

- A test with questions that 15-year-olds in emerging and developing economies can actually answer.

The OECD’s original plan was to draw solely on their existing pool of 337 PISA questions to create the PISA for Development test. One and a half year later, the OECD started to explore using  questions from other regional and international assessments to supplement the PISA questions. The idea is to make sure 15-year-olds in emerging and developing countries can actually answer.

- A test that emerging and developing economies can afford.

The PISA for Development pilot is about twice as expensive as the regular PISA exercise, since it  involves lots of developmental work, in an effort to adapt the questionnaires to the contexts of these countries and to develop a methodology to include out-of-school students. Donors such as the World Bank have provided financial support to facilitate countries' participation. It is essential, however, to take a hard look at the long-term sustainability of PISA for Development, if countries are expected to cover the costs on their own.

- A test that contributes to learning for all.

The pilot faced the challenge of collecting learning data on the entire 15-year-old cohort in a country, including those who are out of school. This may include youth who never went to school or who are semi-literate.

PISA-D is administered both in and outside of school. Eight countries – Bhutan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia – participated  in the school-based implementation of PISA-D, which was carried out from 2015 to 2018. Six countries administered the out-of-school assessment: Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. 

PISA-D countries can compare their results to the more than 80 countries participating in PISA.

PISA-D results

PISA-D results were released by OECD on 11 December, 2018, in Quito. Results included seven countries: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. Bhutan is not included since it arrived late.

Cambodia
Ecuador

Guatemala

Honduras

Paraguay

Senegal

Zambia

oe.cd/il/PISA4Dev


Related texts in this blog

Sobre evaluación en educación  | On Evaluation in Education
Artículos sobre PISA  | Articles on PISA
25 Years of Education for All  | 25 años de Educación para Todos

 

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