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


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View of the school from the family point of view

  1. As in the case of some other Committees, the initial commission for the Specialised Committee on Society and School was much more ample and included study of the main social partners, outside the school, who have a decisive effect on juvenile education. Due to the great importance of all these and due to restrictions on time and location similar to those experienced by the other Committees, the Committee finally decided to concentrate on relations between Family and School, awareness of their primordial relevance. However, we cannot now omit our conviction as to how convenient it would have been to cover other scopes in turn, especially two that have a special effect on juvenile attitudes: the world of employment and the world of communication. It is obvious that the relation between both areas of schooling is, under the present circumstances, especially meaningful for the purposes of diagnosis. The hopes of employment, or unemployment, on one hand, and the pressure by the social media (television especially), on the other, have a great deal to do with academic performance, with syllabuses and with all the other aspects considered here. The fact that this time we have not been able to undertake study of these relations makes it impossible for us to recognise here that these are extremely important lacunae, which must be filled in as soon as possible. As the setting of obligatory secondary education also has a powerful role in the student's surroundings, it would have been just as appropriate to study its main forms, as well as those related to the rural setting (that has deserved so much attention in implementation of ESO), the urban and suburban setting, etc. We hope that the INCE will be able to provide research diagnosis in all these fields.
  2. The response by Spanish families to the survey prepared by the relevant Specialised Committee was undoubtably a surprise, due to the considerable number of questionnaires indeed filled in and returned, something that was not very frequent in previous research of this nature. Apart from other considerations, this suggests from the offset that the interest Spanish families show in their children's schooling is not fictitious or transitory, but real and increasing. This fact is especially appropriate as, by administering a questionnaire that is mainly self-assessment, there is the risk of interpreting the optimising trend in the answers as a bias. In other words, if the number of answers amounted, as in previous experiences, to about a third, one would consider that these were from the third of the families who are really interested, and that the remaining two thirds had no interest and that the majority were critical. As exactly the reverse happened (the responses reach, and even exceed two thirds), the bias that may be left over for such an item is minimal; even if the silent third is that of uninterested and/or critical parents, it seems clear that the responses we have provide a correct image of what the majority think.
  3. The first thing the study shows is the considerable improvement in living conditions and standards experienced by Spanish families. However much imagination is put into the answers, one may not doubt that effectively, half of them have a computer at home (although an old or not very powerful one), and the great majority of them may have their adolescent son or daughter in a room of their own (in fact the families still have an average of 2-3 children). There is more room for subjectivity in such answers as, for example, the number of reading and reference books at home (most say they have more than 100). All this is especially notable if one considers that, at present the majority of the parents answering the survey (59% of mothers, 51% of fathers), did not study beyond primary education. In any case, the distribution of living standards is not the same throughout Spain: as to the computer, for example in Catalonia two thirds of the families say they have one, while in the Canaries or Galicia, a third or scarcely more say they have one (which suggests that this is not very determining either, at least at present, as to academic performance). In other factors, as was expected, families who send their children to schools in the private sector declare they have more resources (computer, rooms, books, etc.) than those who send them to state ones. In any case and, to sum up, it seems that families nowadays are able to provide their children fairly comfortable circumstances under which to study.


A HAPPY VIEW

  1. This is how the Report classifies the parents' view of their children's studies. Specifically, the majority considers their children are doing well if compared with others, that they have sufficient motivation, that they keep them informed as to their progress and that, to sum up, they are satisfied with their performance. We already stated that, if these impressions are compared with the real figures of academic failure among aged 14 and 16 in Spain, the numbers do not match. One would thus have to consider this contrast in greater depth, as it is perhaps partially due to many parents considering schooling as an asset in itself (perhaps because they were not able at the age of their children) and they tend to overestimate mediocre results; or perhaps due to the information they receive from the school being limited or faulty.
  2. It is interesting to point out some differentiating factors to the reader, within this generally positive view. For example, parents consider that girls have a greater interest in studying than boys, which does not have a significant translation in terms of performance (except in Spanish Language and little else). Parents who have had higher education tend to interpret their children's results more positively than those who have not. The family model comprised of a father, mother and a single child seems to have more "optimistic" parents ... or children who are really doing well at school. The differences between Autonomous Regions as to parents' opinion of their children's academic progress, are scarcely significant, and this is even more so if compared the average percentages of academic performance obtained by the students in those Regions. There do not seem to be significant differences as to this, between the state and private sectors.
  3. According to the answers provided in the questionnaires, families do not seem to assign the fundamental responsibility of education to schools. They rather seem to have a clear idea that the family is fundamental as to this point (only 4% say that the school is more responsible than the family for such matters), and the majority recognise shared responsibility. It is thus not strange that, according to parents, the majority of them admit to providing their children direct help to perform their homework; and a third of the families also declare they arrange outside help (private classes, etc.) for their student children.
  4. The best I can give them is education: this phrase is not stated exactly that way in the Report, although it properly expresses one of the most important convictions Spanish parents have at present. This is undoubtably very hopeful and shows that - this time it is stated exactly thus - "the educational potential of the Spanish family may be rated very positively".


BACKGROUND EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS

  1. In these aspects, more specifically those related to the scope of ethical values, the Spanish family values its educational contribution far above that considered by the school, and much above that by the social media (which are generally disqualified in this respect). Considering the thirteen specific values chosen in the questionnaire, the average mark the parents assign to their family, school and media (out of 10 points) would be as follows: family 9.2; school 8.1; media 3.4. That is, outstanding for the family, very good for the school and clear fail for the media. Does this not show a clear overestimation of the family, and perhaps of the school too? Does this really lie between desire and reality, or between what we would like to do and what we really do? In the order of the "values attended to" by the three institutions, the situation "head value" would respectively be "honestness" in the case of the family; "solidarity" in the case of school; and "respect for nature" in the case of social media. The value least attended to of all, at the bottom of the list, is the same for the three institutional areas, being specifically "religious sense". Before it, but also at the bottom, for the family and for school, there is "successful study". How may such data be interpreted? We suggest that the reader examine the Report for the differences as to these values between Autonomous Regions, or between state and private schools. To do this would undoubtably provide an interesting factor for reflection, for those in political and educational charge, as well as for the families themselves.
  2. Family life is another aspect that the study has gone into in depth. Among the items included for the purposes of the survey, parents valued "respect among the members of the family" first, and last "participation by all the members in performing domestic tasks", the latter aspect seems to be one to which more attention is paid by families whose children attend state schools, than others with children at private schools.
  3. The concerns affecting parents to a greater extent nowadays are well expressed in some aspects they say priority is given to, within the list suggested to them. Specifically, first item they say a fair amount or lot of importance should given to is "preventing drug consumption", and then "health education"; and they say less attention is granted to "religious education" and "consumer education". Once more, the set of answers provides a great deal for reflection.
  4. It is logical that parents have a good image of their children. There are answers in the questionnaire that make this clear, as for example, the almost unanimous opinion that their children are outstanding in personal care and hygiene, in absence of aggressiveness, in self esteem and in personal autonomy. However, some of these impressions clash with the information obtained from other fields, specifically from the school.


MORE CUSTOMERS THAN ACTIVE COLLABORATORS

  1. Although the answers to the questionnaire may also lead show a certain amount of optimism among parents when self-assessing their relations with the school, the conclusion almost instantly obtained is that, in spite of their positive appreciation of the institution, its management and teachers, parents have very little relation and are hardly involved in the tasks of collaboration with the schools their children are educated at. The results of the study thus coincide with other studies, research and performs prepared by different instances, and those we already referred to explicitly in the first chapter of this paper.
  2. In order to duly evaluate the importance of this matter, we must bear in mind two lines that flow together, both arising from the diagnosis performed: firstly, that the impression the parents have of their children's progress and academic performance is excessively benevolent and positive, and in any case clashes with the objective evaluation data obtained; secondly, their direct relations with the school and the knowledge of its functioning, rules, syllabus and work, etc., they show they have mostly seem limited and imperfect and, in most cases provided by their children themselves. It thus seems obvious to predict that these two lines may flow together to favour imperfect, dysfunctional treatment of specific educational problems.
  3. The parents showed no enthusiasm whatsoever to participate in the associations through with their usual collaboration is legally foreseen: the Students' Parent's Associations (AMPAs). Although these associations exist at the great majority of state and private schools, most of the parents declare they do not participate in their activities nor, thus share their concerns. The people actually involved in their functioning and activities does not exceed 14%. There are appreciable differences between some Autonomous Regions and others, and between state and private state-subsidized schools (in favour of the latter, especially religious schools). Previously, using the words from the Report, we recognised that the educational potential of the Spanish family was very positive. We must now recognise that, if its participative attitude does not change, in runs the risk of continuing to be a perpetual mere "potential" of scarce or no incidence on the qualitative improvement of the system. To benefit the institutions and Spanish education overall, one would have to achieve a substantial increase in the figures of participation and an improvement in the present participation styles. Those responsible for educational policy and management must consider how to achieve the objective, which perhaps will require a complete reconsideration of the matter.
  4. The same as with what takes place in the AMPAs, parent participation in the School Councils is very scarce. First of all, many parents (almost half) even ignore the existence of these essential bodies for operation and participation and, even more so, also ignore that they may use them to have a decisive influence in important decisions to be taken as to their children's education. This indeed means that the student's parents who are candidates for election are not backed by a sufficiently relevant number of families. As the years go by, the matter does not seem to improve, and one may thus ask whether there is a real will for such improvement among the main parties responsible for the academic system and management of schools.
  5. Sporadic, informal relations between families and the school provide other channels for participation, that parents perhaps take advantage of to a greater extent, although this is always scarce. Of all these activities, the one that is proven to be most appreciated and frequented is the meeting with the tutor. However, that same channel is not taken advantage of by half of Spanish parents. We also know that there are those who do so in a sporadic, non systematic way, frequently to clarify low results or specific conflicts to prevent one and the other. If one really wishes to improve general performance and specifically that of Spanish adolescent students, the tutorial tasks will have to be generalised for all of them, so these include a regular relation with the families. One could ask, first of all, whether state and private schools are indeed ready, nowadays, to provide such a service efficiently (not only due to the number of educators available, but also due to their real training to deal adequately with this task that is not easy). However, one would also have to ask how to convince parents that regular use of this channel is vital for their children's academic success.

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