23 mar 2018

Preparing teachers for 21st century challenges

Preparing teachers for 21st century challenges



This report shows how education systems can support teachers to meet these new demands and encourage a paradigm shift on what teaching and learning are about and how they should happen. Education systems need to create the conditions that encourage and enable innovation. They need to promote best practice through policies focused on professionalism, efficacy and effectiveness in order to help build teachers’ capacity for adopting new pedagogies. Due attention should also be paid to teachers’ sense of well-being so that classroom learning environments remain conducive to students’ own well-being and development.





20 mar 2018

What can education systems do to support students with immigrant backgrounds?


What can education systems do to support students with immigrant backgrounds?


Many students with an immigrant background fail to achieve the academic, social and emotional outcomes that are comparable to those achieved by their native peers.

Despite the adversities they face, many students with an immigrant background actually overcome the various disadvantages that often accompany displacement, and display high levels of academic, social, emotional and motivational resilience. For example, as much as 49% of first-generation and 61% of second-generation immigrant students achieve at least baseline levels of proficiency in the three core PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) subjects of reading, mathematics and science; and as much as 59% of first-generation and 63% of second-generation immigrant students report feeling a strong sense of belonging at school. Crucially, many students with an immigrant background appear to be motivated to make the most of their educational opportunities: 71% of both first- and second-generation immigrant students report high levels of achievement motivation.

Schools in many communities are already working to promote the resilience of students with an immigrant background, often jointly with other social service providers and civil society, and with direct financial and logistical support from national, regional or local governments. The Strength through Diversity project has been facilitating dialogue among countries through its dedicated Policy Forum series, but more can be done. This new OECD report can help educators build the resilience, and ease the integration, of all students with an immigrant background.

The Resilience of Students with an Immigrant Background

Factors that Shape Well-being


18 mar 2018

Equidad educativa en España: comparación regional a partir de PISA 2015


Equidad educativa en España: comparación regional a partir de PISA 2015


En esta monografía: "Equidad educativa en España: comparación regional a partir de PISA 2015", las profesoras Gabriela Sicilia y Rosa Simancas analizan la desigualdad y equidad educativas en España y, en particular, comparan la situación por Comunidades Autónomas, considerando múltiples dimensiones e indicadores. Basado en la información proporcionada por el programa PISA 2015, el enfoque de este estudio muestra, por primera vez, datos sobre todas las Comunidades Autónomas españolas con una muestra ampliada y representativa de la población, de alumnos de 15 años

DESIGUALDAD EDUCATIVA 
(..) la desviación típica de los resultados académicos es una de las medidas comúnmente utilizadas para reflejar el nivel de desigualdad educativa, donde mayor variabilidad en los resultados implica una mayor desigualdad. En España, la Comunidad Valenciana es la región que presenta menor desigualdad, seguida por Navarra y Castilla y León. En el otro extremo, se encuentran La Rioja, Andalucía y Cataluña. 
(..) la excelencia educativa, es decir, los alumnos que alcanzan un desempeño académico excelente (determinado por EQUIDAD EDUCATIVA EN ESPAÑA: COMPARACIÓN REGIONAL A PARTIR DE PISA 2015 31 los niveles 5 y 6 de la escala de competencias de PISA). En este sentido, las diferencias regionales son aún más acentuadas que en términos de pobreza. Mientras que en Castilla y León un 7,5% de los alumnos presentan un desempeño excelente, cifra similar a la media de la OCDE, esta cifra es cuatro veces inferior en las Islas Canarias (1,9%). 
Es decir, las CC.AA. que muestran mejor rendimiento medio, también muestran menor dispersión en los resultados (Castilla y León y Navarra) y viceversa, las regiones que peor rendimiento académico alcanzan también presentan mayor desigualdad (Andalucía y Extremadura). Esta débil relación se intensifi casi en lugar de aproximar la desigualdad mediante la desviación estándar, lo hacemos en función de la ratio entre el resultado del percentil 95 y 5 de la distribución de resultados17. En este caso, tres de las cuatro regiones con mejor desempeño son las que presentan menor desigualdad.

(..) la heterogeneidad entre las regiones es espectacular. Sin excepciones, el mejor rendimiento medio de Castilla y León, Navarra, Madrid y Galicia se caracteriza por un elevado porcentaje de alumnos excelentes y un reducido número de alumnos con rendimiento por debajo del nivel 2 de desempeño de PISA. En el caso de las CC.AA. con peores resultados medios, la situación es análoga (con signo contrario), donde el porcentaje de alumnos pobres supera el 20% de la población y el porcentaje de alumnos excelentes no supera el 3%. 
EQUIDAD EDUCATIVA
(..) excepciones que vale la pena destacar. Castilla y León y Galicia obtienen los mejores resultados académicos en promedio y son las más igualitarias de España, sin embargo, sus estudiantes no presentan un nivel socioeconómico particularmente elevado. Por el contrario, el País Vasco, teniendo un nivel socioeconómico promedio elevado (el segundo más alto en España), presenta un desempeño muy pobre (482 puntos PISA).
Galicia resulta la región más equitativa seguida de Castilla y León y País Vasco, con resultados más equitativos que la OCDE y que países como Finlandia, Canadá o Noruega.
DESIGUALDAD Y EQUIDAD EDUCATIVA  
Casi la totalidad de regiones se ubican en los cuadrantes primero (bajo porcentaje de alumnos excelentes y resilientes) y tercero (alto porcentaje de alumnos excelentes y resilientes). Las únicas excepciones son Cataluña, que teniendo mayor excelencia que el promedio de España, la resiliencia baja. El caso opuesto se observa en Castilla-La Mancha, que presenta un nivel de equidad por encima de la media de España, pero con un bajo porcentaje de alumnos excelentes. 

16 mar 2018

Good vibrations: Students’ well-being

Schools and education systems around the world are increasingly concerned with their students' well-being


Good vibrations: Students’ well-being 

Over the past century, technological development and better access to services has resulted in significant improvements to quality of life. Despite this, however, levels of stress, anxiety and depression are rising. Education can play a role in supporting well-being during and beyond schooling.

Life satisfaction

Across OECD countries, almost 25% of people experience more anger, worry and sadness than enjoyment, rest and smiling or laughter every day (OECD, 2015a). Factors that impact well-being are myriad, and vary from water quality to positive social networks and relationships. In OECD countries, average self-reported life satisfaction has remained stable between 2010-2016 (Figure 1). The highest rates of life satisfaction are in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland Norway and Sweden), while the lowest rates are found in countries such as Greece, Hungary and Turkey


Students’ well-being

Schools are increasingly concerned not only with students’ academic performance but also with students’ well-being. Educators refer to this as the need to develop a “whole child” perspective in education, with a balanced focus on cognitive, social, and emotional skills (OECD, 2015b).

Well-being in tertiary education

Anxiety and depression are more common among university students than the general population. In a study conducted in the US including both domestic and international students, the prevalence of any depressive or anxiety disorder was approximately 15% for undergraduates and 13% for graduate students (Eisenberg et al., 2007). Comparatively, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that, across 17 countries, the average rate of depression is 1 in 20 or 5% of the general population (WHO, 2012).

Risk factors for well-being

Sleep deprivation, Financial constraints, Online risks,

Protective factors for well-being

In-school programmes
As social and emotional learning programmes mature and evidence-based practices are developed, more schools will offer them to students and staff.

Out-of-school activities
Extracurricular clubs and volunteering opportunities for students of all backgrounds will grow as educators/parents strive for well-rounded students.

Parental Awareness
Parents are key to reducing risk factors and strengthening the protective factors of well-being. More information and involvement can raise awareness and inspire action.

Technology Platforms
Positive and safe technology platforms, such as social networks where students can make friends and find support, will spread both in and outside the classroom.

9 mar 2018

Why access to quality early childhood education and care is a key driver of women’s labour market participation

Why access to quality early childhood education and care is a key driver of women’s labour market participation




(..) This may seem strange now, but just try to think of society in the 1960s. Just think how far we have come since then: In 1961, only 38 % of women were employed in the United States. In 2015, this figure was at 70%.

(..) Society has progressed a lot in fifty-seven years. Who would have thought in 1961 that someday women would no longer have to make a choice between their career and raising a family? Stronger access and provision to early childhood education and care services has greatly contributed to more equity in the workforce, but more is needed to ensure fully equal participation of men and women, whether at work or at home. Hopefully we will not have to wait another half century to see that happen. 

How does access to early childhood services affect the participation of women in the labour market? EDUCATIONINDICATORSIN FOCUSFEBRUARY 2018#59

The number of hours per week children can attend early childhood education and care services greatly influences whether women work full or part time: 

Countries with both high levels of participation in ECEC and greater intensity of participation (in hours per week) are in general those in which most mothers work full time. These include all the Nordic countries except Finland, and France, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Portugal. By contrast, in the Netherlands and New Zealand, an above-average proportion of children under the age of 3 attend ECEC, but for fewer hours per week. As a consequence, more than 40% of women with at least one child aged 0-14 are employed part time in these two countries.

Children from poor families still face barriers to accessing early childhood education and care services and their mothers to entering the labour market:

The bottom line 

While the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to better learning are now widely acknowledged, a widespread and accessible provision for these services also helps support gender equality in the workforce. In particular, the availability, intensity, reliability and affordability of ECEC play an important role in engaging women full time in the labour market. While ECEC has experienced a surge of policy attention over the last decades, wide variations still exist across countries and its costs remains a barrier to accessing paid work for poor families and lone parents, mostly mothers. More efforts are needed to increase the provision and accessibility of free ECEC services, especially for children under the age of 3. 



7 mar 2018

Re-thinking from Finland - New education system


Conoce el nuevo sistema educativo que se utiliza en Finlandia desde 2016 "Phenomenom based learning". Un modelo de enseñanza holística y real como base para el aprendizaje.

In Phenomenon Based Learning (PhenoBL) and teaching, holistic real-world phenomena provide the starting point for learning. The phenomena are studied as complete entities, in their real context, and the information and skills related to them are studied by crossing the boundaries between subjects. Phenomena are  holistic topics like human, European Union, media and technology, water or energy.The starting point differs from the traditional school culture divided into subjects, where the things studied are often split into relatively small, separate parts (decontextualisation).

Read more

Why Finland is changing its top-ranking education system

Finland is rethinking how it teaches in the digital age - and is seeking to place skills, as much as subjects, at the heart of what it does.
But some fear it will harm academic standards. Finland has long been renowned for the quality of its education and always scores highly in international league tables.


MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS


LEARNING STARTS WITH THE GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING REAL-WORLD PHENOMENA
*
LEARNERS SEE UTILITY VALUE IN THE THEORIES AND INFORMATION IN THE LEARNING SITUATION
*
THE LEARNERS THEMSELVES CAN SET INTERESTS AND POSE PROBLEMS AS STARTING POINTS FORTHE 
LEARNING PROCESS
*
PHENOMENON-BASED TEACHING IS LEARNER-CENTRED; THE LEARNERS ARE ACTIVE CREATORS AND ACTORS
*
THE THEORETICAL THINGS TO BE LEARNED ARE ANCHORED IN PRACTICAL SITUATIONS AND PHENOMENA
*
AUTHENTIC METHODS, SOURCES AND TOOLS ARE USED IN THE LEARNING SITUATION
*
LEARNING IS A INTENTIONAL, GOAL-ORIENTED ACTIVITY; THE LEARNERS KNOW THE LEARNING GOALS 
*
LEARNING OCCURS IN A REAL, HOLISTIC CONTEXT (CONTEXTUALITY, C.F. INDIVIDUAL, DECONTEXTUALISED AND DISCONNECTED SMALL TASKS
AS ITS OPPOSITE)
*
THE LEARNING PROCESS IS A COMPLETE GOAL-ORIENTED CONTINUUM









2 mar 2018

Barómetro de E​mpleabilidad y Empleo Universitarios, Edición Máster 2017

Barómetro de E​mpleabilidad y Empleo Universitarios, Edición Máster 2017

  • El Barómetro ​analiza las competencias en las que la contribución de la universidad ha sido mayor (como la capacidad de aprendizaje autónomo y la capacidad para la resolución de problemas) y menor (como la comunicación en otros idiomas)
  • El 90,5% de los titulados de máster volverían a estudiar un programa de máster, un 74,4% de ellos en la misma universidad
  • 8 de cada 10 consideran el salario como el factor más importante a tener en cuenta a la hora de seleccionar un empleo. El 26,8% declara percibir un salario que no sobrepasa los mil euros
El 65,3% de los egresados considera que su último empleo estaba totalmente relacionado (41%) o muy relacionado (24%) con los estudios de máster realizados. Además, en el plano vertical, el 85% ocupa puestos de nivel de cualificación universitaria, aunque bajo su punto de vista, tan solo el 40,8% considera que su puesto de trabajo exigía un nivel de cualificación de máster. En cuanto a este último empleo, precisamente, el 42,4% declara tener un contrato indefinido y 39,1% contrato temporal.

La satisfacción general respecto al empleo se valoró con una media de 3.15 en una escala de 1-totalmente insatisfecho a 4-totalmente satisfecho. La nota más baja la recibió el salario o ingreso, con 2.59 puntos. Por este motivo, ocho de cada diez consideran el salario como el factor más importante a tener en cuenta a la hora de seleccionar un empleo y el 26,8% declara percibir un salario que no sobrepasa los mil euros. En cuanto a las expectativas de futuro de los titulados y las tituladas, el estudio señala que el 95,3% espera tener empleo en un horizonte de cinco años. Sin embargo, solo el 65,3% cree que éste será estable y tres de cada cuatro creen que éste será adecuado a su formación.

«mientras que en España hay una universidad por cada 564.000 habitantes, en Estados Unidos existe una por cada 379.000 habitantes y en Reino Unido una por cada 253.000». Asimismo, destacó que «el 47% de los jóvenes españoles realiza estudios universitarios, mientras que en la OCDE la media es del 54% y en la UE del 53%». En los Máster, la diferencia es todavía mayor, ya que la tasa en España es del 10%, frente al 23% de la OCDE y el 21% de la UE.