the PÚBLICO:Susana Cruz Martins: This education is not for everyone
date：2020-07-04 13:34author：小编source：the PÚBLICOviews：
Portugal has made undeniable progress in the field of education. However, persistent and new inequalities also mark these advances. This is what the latest PISA (OECD) tells us, for example, and also the analysis of the data from the 2019 final exams on (direct) success paths.
I would like to highlight some concerns about the inequalities in the education system in the present situation:
1. The contexts and resources of families translate in a very direct way into the success and school careers of their children. When the classroom is transferred to the family, the learning processes become more unequal and dependent on the family contexts. Such inequalities tend to worsen in combination with others, such as those of gender and ethnicity.
2. Also on the side of teachers and schools, there are very uneven realities and installed capacities to deal with distance learning. Even so, the effort made has revealed a process of adaptation that is difficult to find in our recent history.
3. Portugal in recent decades has had one of the largest reductions in school drop-outs in Europe, moving away from the latter positions where Spain, Malta, Romania or even Italy are still. By our record, it is not a win, but it is certainly more than a draw. The interruption of all school activities in person (and not only the lessons) promotes a disassociation of schools with students at risk of dropping out.
4. Another is that we cannot take away from school one of its main desiderata, its fundamental role in the socialization of children and young people. That is why distance learning was a fallback solution. It cannot prevail in the relationship between schools and their pupils.
5. The access to information technologies by families is very differentiated. Regional inequality in access to digital infrastructure is also evident. The contribution of information technology must, on the contrary, be in favor of a strategy of school inclusion.
What are the directions for minimizing these impacts? Some of them will be given by the most complete diagnosis of this episode, but for now some ways of acting are listed.
1. The instruments of distance learning must not be allowed to devalue the school space and one of its main agents, the teachers. They must be trained, particularly in technology, to remain key mediators in the educational relationship.
2. Smaller classes benefit the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students. This is a conclusion that has been studied and will be even more relevant if we have to speed up distance learning processes.
3. The reinforcement of a technological plan for schools is an imperative for equity in access to digital instruments. Such a plan should include the families themselves.
4. The school administration should not only have information systems, but also communication with its students (such as institutional email allocation for all). These measures can be good allied to a strategy to avoid dropping out of school.
5. Schools must have strengthened resources if they demonstrate strategy and capacity to combat inequalities.
6. The extension of Social Action helps to support families weakened by the crisis and avoid school dropouts.
7. Promoting access to higher education, even for those who have been on a career track or in other circuits of the system, is crucial. Accepting the defects of the current access model, major changes would be critical at a time already so troubled. A step backwards would result in a retreat that is difficult to calculate.
Source: the PÚBLICO
https://www.publico.pt/2020/06/27/sociedade/opiniao/educacao-nao-1921614
I would like to highlight some concerns about the inequalities in the education system in the present situation:
1. The contexts and resources of families translate in a very direct way into the success and school careers of their children. When the classroom is transferred to the family, the learning processes become more unequal and dependent on the family contexts. Such inequalities tend to worsen in combination with others, such as those of gender and ethnicity.
2. Also on the side of teachers and schools, there are very uneven realities and installed capacities to deal with distance learning. Even so, the effort made has revealed a process of adaptation that is difficult to find in our recent history.
3. Portugal in recent decades has had one of the largest reductions in school drop-outs in Europe, moving away from the latter positions where Spain, Malta, Romania or even Italy are still. By our record, it is not a win, but it is certainly more than a draw. The interruption of all school activities in person (and not only the lessons) promotes a disassociation of schools with students at risk of dropping out.
4. Another is that we cannot take away from school one of its main desiderata, its fundamental role in the socialization of children and young people. That is why distance learning was a fallback solution. It cannot prevail in the relationship between schools and their pupils.
5. The access to information technologies by families is very differentiated. Regional inequality in access to digital infrastructure is also evident. The contribution of information technology must, on the contrary, be in favor of a strategy of school inclusion.
What are the directions for minimizing these impacts? Some of them will be given by the most complete diagnosis of this episode, but for now some ways of acting are listed.
1. The instruments of distance learning must not be allowed to devalue the school space and one of its main agents, the teachers. They must be trained, particularly in technology, to remain key mediators in the educational relationship.
2. Smaller classes benefit the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students. This is a conclusion that has been studied and will be even more relevant if we have to speed up distance learning processes.
3. The reinforcement of a technological plan for schools is an imperative for equity in access to digital instruments. Such a plan should include the families themselves.
4. The school administration should not only have information systems, but also communication with its students (such as institutional email allocation for all). These measures can be good allied to a strategy to avoid dropping out of school.
5. Schools must have strengthened resources if they demonstrate strategy and capacity to combat inequalities.
6. The extension of Social Action helps to support families weakened by the crisis and avoid school dropouts.
7. Promoting access to higher education, even for those who have been on a career track or in other circuits of the system, is crucial. Accepting the defects of the current access model, major changes would be critical at a time already so troubled. A step backwards would result in a retreat that is difficult to calculate.
Source: the PÚBLICO
https://www.publico.pt/2020/06/27/sociedade/opiniao/educacao-nao-1921614
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