2024-01-02 16:26:37
BarcelonaThe Government starts the year by threading the needle to address the serious educational crisis that Catalonia is experiencing after the poor results in the PISA reports. As the Minister of Education, Anna Simó, anticipated, the executive has already chosen most of the experts who will be part of the education commission that agreed with the opposition and that must present short- and long-term measures to turn the situation around in the country’s schools and institutes. In a statement, the department has announced that the group will be coordinated by the president of the Catalan School Council (CEC), Jesús Vinyes, and that teachers linked to organizations such as Rosa Sensat, platforms such as Clam Educatiu and foundations such as the son-in-law
It is planned that the commission will start deliberating next week with the start of the school term and that, at the beginning of February, it will send the first conclusions to the parliamentary groups so that the first decisions can be debated.
Coordinator
The commission that must turn around the bad educational situation will be coordinated by the president of the School Council of Catalonia, Jesús Vinyes, who specializes in psychopedagogy. Vinyes has had experience as a teacher, but also as an Education inspector, director of the Territorial Services of Education in Vallès Occidental and as a university professor at the UAB and the UB.
Docents
The Department of Education has proposed three teachers to be part of the group of experts: one from primary school, one from secondary school and one from vocational training (FP). As for the primary school, the commission will have the teacher and pedagogue Mercè Mas, who currently works at Escola la Roureda in Sant Esteve Sesrovires. Mas has been linked to groups in the field of science teaching at the UAB, a member of the Assess for Learning group and of the Rosa Sensat training council, among other positions.
The representative of the ESO will be the journalist and teacher Víctor Saura, who has been directing the Education Journal and this year he changed journalism to teaching in an institute. He is also a member of the Citizens’ Platform for an Inclusive School.
Finally, with regard to FP, there will be professor Francesc Roca. Retired last September, Roca was head of studies, assistant director and director at the Institut Comte de Rius in Tarragona and a collaborator of the Education department as a teacher trainer.
Directorships of schools and institutes
Among the names chosen by the Department of Education will also be three teachers who are part of the management of public schools, but the names will be chosen on January 9 by the central board of public school management.
At the moment, the two names that will represent the directions of the concerted party have been decided: the pedagogical director of the Vedruna School in Palafrugell, Montserrat Jiménez, and the director of the Pia Balmes School in Barcelona, Joan Vila. Jiménez is also a member of the board of the European Forum of Education Administrators in Catalonia and Vila has worked in the field of mathematics teaching in recent years.
Educational entities
The executive has also designated three names to represent the large number of educational organizations in Catalonia. One of those chosen is teacher Raül Manzano, from the Segrià Center for Pedagogical Resources in teacher training and educational innovation. Manzano was president of the Federation of Pedagogical Renewal Movements of Catalonia and is an expert in rural schools.
Rosa Sensat’s partner and promoter of the Clam Educatiu platform, Marta Pujadó, will also be part of the educational commission. Pujadó is a teacher and pedagogical coordinator at Vapor del Fil high school and has experience in teacher training and educational transformation.
Finally, the third representative of educational organizations will be the director and professor of Catalan language and literature at the Institut de Sarrià de Ter, Albert Bayot, who is also a member of the Governing Board of the College of Teachers.
References in initial training
After the failure in the PISA tests opened the debate on whether the training that Catalan teachers receive is adequate, among the experts chosen by the Government are four professionals who stand out in this field. One is the biologist and former director of Escola Virolai, Coral Regí, who is a member of the board of the Catalan Society of Pedagogy and a collaborator of the Bofill Foundation and the Carulla Foundation, among others.
Education will also have the head of the Department of Didactics of Mathematics and Sciences at the UAB, Digna Couso, who has experience in the professional development of STEM (science, technology and mathematics) in both primary and secondary schools.
The director of the Artur Martorell Foundation, Carme Ortoll, who has been a teacher, head of studies and director of a public school, has also been chosen. Ortoll has held the positions of head of the Training and Innovation Service for Infant and Primary Education and general director of Infant and Primary Education in the Department of Education and has been a teacher trainer at UB, UAB and Rovira and Virgil
Within this sector, the former Inspector of Education Elvira Borrell has also been elected, who is an expert in educational evaluation and school organization and has been part of the Higher Council for Evaluation of the Educational System of Catalonia.
Families and the local world
Finally, the Department of Education has designated two profiles to represent families and the local world. Mireia de Mingo, who has a degree in primary education and is president of the AFA board of the Institut Vila de Gràcia, will represent the parents of the students. De Mingo is also a representative on the school council of the CEIP Patronat Domènech de Barcelona.
As for the local world, the pedagogue Sílvia Lombarte, who is director of the Area of Nursery Schools at Santa Coloma de Gramenet City Council, will be part of the expert committee and has experience in the field of research and teaching at the UB.
#Education #chooses #experts #turn #failure #PISA