Home Elements for a Diagnosis of the Spanish Educational System
7 - Conclusions and recommendations (continued)


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School operation seen by its most direct managers

  1. Faced with objective difficulties as to time, resources and opportunity, the Specialised Committee on Educational Administration and School Functioning proposed that the management of the INCE cut back the task commissioned. Once the proposal was approved by virtue of the reasons stated, the Committee concentrated on the matter of School Management. Evaluation by the Education Authorities thus continues to be an important matter pending, which will be necessary to raise as soon as the circumstances allow.
  2. Once it began its tasks, the Specialised Committee on School Functioning decided to use self-assessment as a fundamental instrument for diagnosis. At least part of the survey prepared for these purposes would have to be considered as a self-assessment survey, as the great majority of the respondents were members of the main School Council responsible, by law, and operation of each school; only one person (teacher) among, the ten consulted at each institution was not a member of the School Council. Thus, when interpreting the results, one must consider the caution considered above, as to possible overvaluation. However, the great care taken by the Committee in preparing the questionnaire left little margin for background distortions.
  3. The methodological option chosen does not reject different alternative approaches. In a certain way, the opinion the teachers have in general, for example, as to school management, is indirectly shown in the survey administered to them, concerning the teaching profession and, according to that data, one may catalogue it as substantially positive. One may say something similar as to the parents; as we saw in the relevant chapter and will repeat further on, their opinion on the management and functioning of schools is, likewise, mainly favourable. However, it would surely be worth further exploration of the opinion of the teaching staff not involved in the management tasks as to the matters of functioning (perhaps not so much that of the parents, more than already done, as their direct participation and knowledge of these matters seems very limited at present). Otherwise, other lines of exploration would surely have been feasible, for example, by persons from outside the schools, experts and management and service quality, principals from other countries, inspectors, etc. Due to their objective interest, one may expect the INCE to undertake these in the future.


SUBSTANTIAL CONFORMITY AS TO THE PRESENT GUIDELINES ON SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

  1. As, pursuant to the laws in force, the School Council is the key body at the school in functioning and participation, one must note the majority acceptance it seems to have. In none of the surveys administered to its members, the teaching staff on the whole, or the parents, are there signs of its existence being questioned. The majority acceptance even includes its operation, at least in the opinion of its members. The truth is that the teachers who are not members are more reluctant to consider that it works well or very well, but even in this case there is a majority favourable opinion. The conclusion one may reach is that, in general terms, the school community overall seems to be substantially content with the operational framework the present system aims at in schools, and this is true of the state sector and the private (state-subsidized) sector. According to the answers, the percentage of agreement as to appropriateness of the system seems to be even greater in the private than in the state sector.
  2. The aforementioned in general terms is also applicable to the case of the principal. Firstly, there are few who doubt that the principal should be chosen, instead of appointed by the Authorities or any other instance. In spite of this, there are some points to be emphasised as to this. Although the majority of the members of the School Council prefer to be the party choosing, the teachers seem to wish the decision to be made by the of Teachers' Assembly. This is so above all in the public sector, because in the private sector a high percentage of answers (39%) were in favour of the choice being made by the owner of the school (which also means an even greater percentage overall would be in favour of the School Council or Teachers' Assembly). In one case and the other, the immense majority considers the principal should be chosen by teachers at the actual school, and there are also many who consider that the present term of office is adequate. To sum up, one may conclude that, as the years go by and the laws change, Spain has become favourable to the principal election system and scarcely sensitive in principle to the need for professionalisation, considered with distinctive features as opposed to a merely teaching or educational function. In fact, the great majority of answers indicate that the principal must alternate teaching and management tasks.
  3. The above does not mean that no specific professional training or qualifications are requested for the principal. On the contrary, most of the respondents consider that such qualification is necessary, although in general prefer it to be acquired through short term courses. Those who most call for such training are precisely the principals themselves, who frequently even suggest that they be sufficiently long.
  4. For a correct approach to this necessary qualification, one must especially bear in mind the tasks required in management duties. It is fair initially to recognise that present principals are, in general, highly valued by their colleagues on the School Council (and by the teachers) in their performance of such tasks, particularly those columned to administration, management and improvement of the school, to life within it and to relations with higher bodies and with the parents, while the lowest assessment refers to the tasks concerning the teaching staff (its training and updating, team work, taking advantage of human resources, etc.). This shows that teachers perhaps miss a greater dedication and qualification by the principal as to the latter aspects. In any case, the correct definition of management tasks and the necessary resources to carry them out (including prior qualification of the principal in the tasks) seems to be an item for preferential attention among the educational policies in the years to come.


PARTICIPATION: A MATTER THAT IS BEING DEALT WITH, BUT NOT SOLVED

  1. It seems clear that the setting of participation within the academic institution has increased considerably in Spain in recent years, as shown by the very existence and more or less consistent functioning of the School Councils. The members of these generally consider they are consulted when decision making is due, although they also consider that they should have a greater role in participation, especially in some aspects. In terms of real participation, there do not seem to be significant differences between the state and private sectors, although there do seem exist between primary and secondary schools (in favour of the former). In terms of desirable participation, the desire for greater participation is more common in state schools than in private ones, and in primary rather than secondary ones.
  2. Considering the answers to the questionnaire, one may say that, in general, greater participation is desired precisely in the matters in which the greatest amount is now recognised: those related to the Educational Project of the School, the general planning, the annual improvement plans, quality evaluation, etc. On the other hand, although theoretically the wish to participate a lot is expressed, the fact is that a lower degree of participation actually takes place as to aspects related to the families (activities, collaboration, etc.) and the teaching staff (training, work groups, etc.).
  3. However, perhaps the weakest point is that concerning those who really participate. As in the study on family and school, one may clearly note that real participation by parents in school life is very minority, and is generally assumed by small groups or individuals who do not necessarily represent the whole. Within the actual School Council these parents are not the most active participants either (although somewhat more than the students and representatives of the administrative and auxiliary staff). To sum up, the management offices and teachers are the ones who continue to participate in the most full and effective way. There is thus a long way to go in matters of participation among the educational community on the whole.


LIFE AT SCHOOLS: ONE MAY NOT LOWER ONES' GUARD

  1. The data provided by the Specialised Committee on School Functioning is confirmed, at this point, by that provided by other previous studies and evaluations (by the Inspectorate, the State School Council, research teams, etc.), and within that same diagnosis, by the study dedicated to family and school. From all these, one may conclude that, in general terms, the atmosphere of school life is mainly good. Among teachers and students, and in the relations between both groups, there is a prevailing current of companionship, support and mutual respect. However, some clashes arise, especially in the setting of some schools, above all suburban state schools.
  2. Due to the nature of the people consulted in the survey (almost all of them members of the School Council), it would have been logical to have expected a massive response in favour of there being sufficient instruments to provide information on rights and duties and on school rules. This massive response arises only in a sector of the academic community: among teachers. In the sector of parents and that of students, almost a third consider that the existing information on such is at least scarce. A small minority of participants on the School Council (about 4%) affirms that their school has no School Rules. On the other hand, high percentages among the respondents seem convinced of the efficiency of there being rules for life together and abundant information as to these. In general, the private sector seems more sensitive to such matters than the public sector. This all makes it easy to conclude that it is necessary to intensify the efforts, especially in state schools, for there to be explicit rules for life together, for these to be reviewed frequently and for them to be profusely known to all and demanded by the management bodies.
  3. The lack of prior studies that are sufficiently precise prevents us from knowing whether the circumstances of lack of discipline at schools have increased or not in recent years in Spain. According to the data shown in the survey applied in our study, it also seems difficult to reach a conclusion as to this point, as the relatively majority opinion is that matters remain more or less the same (41%) and those who consider they are getting worse or are not improving are distributed in relatively high proportions (27 and 32%), although not far apart in number and fairly divided. Perhaps due to all this, the most appropriate would be to concentrate not so much on evolution as at present, at least just as shown in the survey. Four of each five answers confirm the existence of situations of lack of discipline at schools. Those who state that these do not exist are mainly representatives of owners of private schools. Those who state their existence most are, on the contrary, managers of state schools and the students themselves. Thus, it seems evident that lack of discipline is recognised as a frequent, important problem the academic community overall. What situations of lack of discipline are recognised as the most frequent? The greatest, "uproar outside the classroom", followed quite far behind by "lack of respect for companions", and "uproar in the classroom". There is also mention of "moral aggression (jeering, insults, threats)" and, to a lesser extent, "lack of respect towards the teaching staff".
  4. However, it is important not to limit this to the scope of subjective impressions, however limited these may be in statistical terms. In the answers to the questionnaire, the principals claim that there have been penalties with and without a disciplinary file at many schools (the numbers may be seen in the appropriate chapter) and that, on a few occasions, they have had to resort to the courts. Students summoned before the principal, calling parents for disciplinary reasons, temporary expulsion, etc., are recorded as measures also recorded in a considerable number. One may not ignore the amount of major vandalism at schools either. This all indicates that, although not severe, the situation is not at all reassuring and measures will be required not only to contain it within the photo limits, but also to improve it considerably.
  5. It is difficult for situations of lack of discipline not to involve outbreaks of violence in one way or another. In fact, almost 60% of the respondents affirm that there has been aggression among the students at their schools and, in figures, there is a written record of such aggression, of 34% at schools. Those who most confirm aggression are the principals at state schools and the least, the representatives of the owners of private schools. These are more frequent in suburban settings, and among male rather than female students. Fortunately, these are rather sporadic incidents than frequent situations, although the tatter seem to take place in a considerable proportion (8% at state schools and 3% at private schools). Not only are aggressions recorded among students, but also by students against teachers; specifically, 12% of schools have recorded such incidents, which is undoubtably a concerning fact.
  6. The need to go into such matters in depth, in social and political terms, is more than justified. It will be necessary to implement practical measures, although above all, to deal with the possible causes in a determined manner. According to key members of the academic community, the main causes that contribute to a conflictive atmosphere are lack of student interest in study and the existence of family problems. Neither of the two is a strictly academic problem.

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