Session Information
32 SES 06 A, The Role of Teachers' Professionalization for Schools as Learning Organizations
Paper Session
Contribution
Educating is one of the great challenges of our society. In recent years a shift of focus in education is being taken place, from teaching knowledge to learning skills. Starting with ODS 4 of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, to ensure a inclusive, quality education, each educational model must be tailored to all people. From the detailed study of the 25 education systems evaluated in PISA, it is concluded that the systems that achieve the best results have three common features: ensuring inclusive education for all students, selecting the best teachers and supporting their training to develop their professional skills. In other words, quality and inclusion come together to ensure the improvement of education. This improvement can only be viable if the teaching skills of teachers are strengthened (Martín and Muñoz, 2010).
Multiple papers have focused on analysing teaching skills (Delors Report, 1996; Wilson et al., 2001; Wayne and Youngs, 2003; Perrenoud, 2004; Marchesi, 2007; Palomera, Fernández-Berrocal and Brackett, 2008; OECD, 2009; Bolívar, 2010; Rogero, 2010; Fernández Batanero, 2013; Juli, 2013, etc.). The change requires teachers to acquire professional skills linked to the success of the school. If the 2030 agenda proposes a quality school because it is inclusive (UNESCO, 2008), then what skills should an inclusive school teacher have? And, to contextualize it, what do teachers understand by inclusion?
This work is part of a broader research project[1] that aims to analyze the skills of teachers in primary and secondary education related to quality education, combining excellence and inclusion. In this communication, we will focus on the teaching skills of the inclusive quality school.
At present, we cannot dissociate inclusion and excellence of an educational centre. Taking into account the previous research, inclusion is not possible if there is not a positive culture towards diversity in the centre. Inclusion is posed as a challenge that, working as a team, responds so that all students achieve the planned objectives. A school characterized by innovation, which seeks more positive results for all by taking into account the particularities of each one, which has to do with the quality of the experience; with the way to support the students' learning, their achievements and their total participation in the life of the institution (Echeita, 2012; García et al., 2006, 2012). Inclusion cannot be introduced without giving voice to the protagonists. What do inclusive school teachers say about inclusion, structure and resources, teacher skills? Are they the same as those that the scientific literature relates to effectively? What is their differential profile?
[1] Project EDU2015-63844- R PROFICIENCyIn+E. Evaluation of Teaching Skills for inclusion and excellence. Funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, State Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation, General Directorate of Scientific and Technical Research.
Method
To respond to these questions, centres that stand out for their inclusive teaching practices, recognized by the Consortium for Inclusive Education (http://www.consorcio-educacion-inclusiva.es/centros-escolares-inclusivos/) were selected. The starting point was the updated revision of the literature on teaching skills in primary and secondary education. In order to identify the skills related to school effectiveness, two discussion groups were held with teachers from both educational stages, belonging to centres that stand out for their good practices in the area of inclusion in the Community of Madrid. The sample is composed of 10 teachers. 4 of them teach Primary Education and the rest teach Secondary Education. In addition, 1 of them combine their work with the Head of Studies and 4 are also in charge of the centre's Pedagogical Coordination. 6 of them belong to public schools, 3 to private schools and 1 teach in a public school. In terms of years of experience as teachers, 6 of them have between 18 and 33 years. The remaining have between 3 and 8 years of experience. The majority of teachers are female (9). Two thirds of the sample (7) are between 40 and 55 years of age, the remaining 3 being between 29 and 33. Each group has been questioned about the conception and characteristics of an inclusive school, as well as the teaching skills that facilitate the success of its students. The results obtained on what the teachers consider to be an inclusive school are related to the structure of the centers and the necessary resources, which have allowed us to elaborate a definition of an inclusive center and verify the similarities and differences with the centers considered to be of educational excellence. The discussion groups were analyzed with the MAXQDA program, through the usual processes of reordering, grouping and category detection.
Expected Outcomes
The results derived from the bibliographic review and the study of the characteristics of the centres highlighted by their good teaching practices have allowed us to establish a list of eleven skills linked to school success: emotional skill, adaptation to differences, planning and organization of work, collaborative teamwork, ICT, leadership, mastery of the subject and updating, ethical commitment and values, links with the community, communication and research and reflection on the teaching practice itself. The discussion group analysis shows that teachers attach great importance to the level of mastery of these skills and emphasize that mastery is directly related to the educational outcomes of their students. Characteristics have been obtained that help us to specify the concept of inclusion, the term diversity and to provide solutions to how to organize today's school. Teachers perceive inclusion as an approach to education rather than as a set of educational techniques: inclusion has to do with a way of addressing diversity other than integration and discrimination, which is found in all people, and emphasizes the value of being unique and accepting everyone. It involves learning for teachers because they have to adapt to individual needs by promoting personal development, which implies knowledge and the use of different educational approaches. For them it is incompatible to be an inclusive centre and an excellent centre. An inclusive centre implies active participation in all areas and with educational agents; analysing the situation, adapting the infrastructure, designing adapted educational programmes and using personalised and cooperative strategies; reducing the ratio by increasing the number of teachers in the classroom and teamwork; assessing by skills; in short, focusing more on the person than on the curriculum.
References
• Bolívar, A. (2010). How does pedagogical and distributed leadership improve academic achievement? Research review and proposal. International Journal of Research in Education, 3 (5), 79-106. • Delors, J. (1996). Education holds a treasure. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Madrid: Santillana. • Echeita, G. (2012). Essential skills in the initial training of inclusive teachers. Tendencias Pedagógicas Magazine, (19), 7-23. • Fernández-Batanero, J. M. (2013) Teachers' skills and inclusive education. Electronic Journal of Educational Research, 15 (2), 82-99. • Garcia, M. et al. (2006). Innovation and effectiveness in addressing diversity in ESO: what makes diversity experiences work in CAM centres? Educational contexts. 8-9,13-30. • Garcia, M., Garcia Corona, D., Biencinto, CH. and Asensio, I. I. (2012). Effective measures in Attention to Cultural Diversity from an inclusive perspective. Revista de Educación, 358,258-281. • Juli, M. (2013). Strategic planning, an indicator on pedagogical leadership. Theory of Education: Education and Culture in the Information Society, 14 (2), 292- 315. • Marchesi, A. (2007). On the welfare of teachers: skills, emotions and values. Madrid: Alianza Editorial. • Martin, M. and Muñoz, Y. (2010). The participation of teachers in an improvement process within the framework of "one school for all". Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 8 (3), 120-138. • OCDE (2009). Teachers are important: attracting, training and retaining effective teachers. Original: Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers (2005). • Palomera, R., Fernández Berrocal, J. and Brackett, B. (2008). Emotional intelligence as a basic skill in the initial training of teachers: some evidence. Electronic Journal of Psychoeducational Research, 15 (6), 437-454. • Perrenoud, P. (2004). Ten new skills to teach. Barcelona: Graó. • Rogero, J. (2010). Pedagogical Renewal and Teaching Professionalization Movements. Revista Latinoamericana de Educación Inclusiva, 4 (1), 141-166. • UNESCO. (2008). International Conference on Education. Inclusive education: the way forward. Geneva: Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Policy_Dialogue/48th_ICE/CONFINTED_48-3_English. pdf • Wayne, J. and Youngs, P. (2003). Teacher characteristics and student achievement gains: A review. Review of Educational Research, 73 (1), 89-122. • Wilson, S., Floden, R., & Ferrini-Mundy, J. (2001). Teacher preparation research: Current knowledge, gaps, and recommendations. Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington.
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