1.

Education LAW
consensus
law stability

Since the beginning of democracy the Education Laws in Spain have been passed with
the consensus of most political parties. However, changes of government have
generally implied changes in Education Policies. Only the last Law- LOMCE- ,has
come out just with the only support of the political party in power (Partido Popular).
From 1976 Spain has had seven different Education Laws. Consequently, there is a
need in Spanish society for some stability in the education system. The teaching and
learning process shouldnt be shaken every short time by political changes.

2. COMMUNITY participation in school life.

Family, socio-cultural resources (libraries, toys-libraries, cinemas)
Families are represented by a parentsassociation called AMPA (Asocicacin de
Madres y Padres de Alumnos).
The representatives are elected by the rest of the parents. They have monthly
meetings and there is a suggestion box where all parents ideas are collected. Despite
this, parental implication in public schools is rather low.
Our students visit elderly people in a nearby residential home where they prepare
performances to entertain them. This activity is under a volunteering programme called
Seniors &Co carried out by our school.
We also run a volunteering programme which ends up every year with a Solidarity
Concert. Most parents attend this concert to see their children.
However, in general, parents are only interested in their childrens results and not in
the general management of the school.

3. TEACHER: valuation image.

Appropriate selection criteria:
a. academic competition, technological skills
b. individual interview: personal empathy and communication skills, ability
to excite & encourage curiosity.
c. Teacher evaluation
d. social prestige
In Spain all applicants must pass a state examination for both Secondary and
Primary Education. In this exam you are tested your theoretical knowledge of the
subject and your pedagogical capabilities. The technological skills are not
evaluated in the entrance test but today they are considered a positive aspect, that

means that nowadays most of the teachers are not very skilled in the use of ICT but
we hope they will be in the future as the new applicants arrive.
Regarding individual interview to detect personal empathy and communication skills,
ability to excite & encourage curiosity is not part of the evaluated issues in Spain, and
we really doubt they can be evaluated in just one interview, other instruments should
be applied in a long term.
Once you have passed the test you have a one year trainee period and after that the
Head of your Department and the Headmaster give the nod.
We consider that the selection criteria is appropriate. However there is not an adequate
monitoring of the teaching practice.
In relation to the teacher evaluation there is a lack in the Spanish education system,
Teacher are only evaluated in special situations, when they want to be promoted or
something very special happens but it is not officially regulated.
Referring to the social prestige things have changed since the past. We can say that
some years ago teachers were generally accepted and respected by the communities
and their job was highly prestiged. Nowadays, in general, teachers think they are not
valuated enough, although it is valuated 7 out of 10 in some statistics, the appreciation
of the teachers is different.

4. STUDENTS
Difference private / public school
Subsidies to private school?
Students Selection criteria to enter the private schools
School-minorities
i.
Early school leaving
ii.
minority integration
In Spain there are three different kind of schools: public, government-subsidised
private, and private.
The former two share the same official curriculum but the private ones can have their
own curriculum even if their students have to pass the same state exam to enter
University.
There are very few private schools in Spain and they are very expensive.
The other two, the public and the government funded private schools have the same
selection criteria. However the profile of the student is not often the same.
The extra fees which have to be paid (parent associations, extra-curricular activities
and so on) are not compulsory, however they have a strong influence when the parents
choose the school. Besides, most of them dont have the adequate pedagogigal
resources to deal with students with special needs and they all have to go to public
schools.

Most immigrant students attend public schools because they are completely free and
they have the resources to receive the proper attention.In addition, many are Catholic
schools, so Muslim students dont want to attend them.
As far as Early School Leaving is concerned, the latest data from the national labour
force survey show the ESL rate fell below the psychological barrier of 20% (at 19.97%)
for the first time since records began. It is still far from the European average of 11.1%.

5. SCHOOL LIFE.
Discipline
There is a general discipline frame,which is the same for all schools in each region but
at the same time each school has its own discipline rules. The school Principal, the
Deputy Head Teacher and the teaching staff are responsible for implementing these
rules.
Depending on the socioeconomic level of the students we find very different kind of
discipline problems.

6. SCHOOL & WORKING

Do we prepare students for the working world?
Do students choose the appropriate studies?
At the end of Compulsory Education (16 years) students have to decide if they are
going to go on with Baccalaureate in order to enter University or if they choose
vocational studies which prepare them for the working world. There is an Orientation
Department in every school which- together with the studentstutor- helps them to
make this decision.
The Orientation Department also helps the students who go on to Non Compulsory
Secondary Education to choose the University studies which best suit them.