Monday 2nd November

This morning, before going to the university, I was shocked by a piece of news I read in a Spanish online newspaper. As many people think that the overall situation of Spanish educational system should be improved, the government has commissioned a general report in order to redesign the professional development of teachers. José Antonio Marina, a well-known philosopher and specialist in education, has been appointed to write this document. When I heard about him being selected for such an important task I felt surprised and relieved, as I consider that he is one of the most acute and sensible Spanish living thinkers. But this morning I was caught out by his unexpected proposal, which is fully explained (in Spanish) in the following link http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2015/11/01/actualidad/1446406921_509380.html
In this article, we get to know Marina's opinions about the way to improve the quality of our teaching standards. Just as if he had taken part in a Chichester training course, he considers that teachers' performance should be regularly evaluated by inspectors, and that their income should depend on their school's results in these evaluations. Honestly, I admit that not all my colleagues in Spain are excellent teachers, and that there are many aspects in which their teaching practices could be improved. But I seriously doubt that putting them all under suspicion and increasing the pressure over them could really make our educational system a better one. These measures, if they are finally approved and put into practice, will make our everyday life much more stressful and complicated. I guess that there will be loads of paperwork to be done, as it happens here in England, where every single aspect of teaching and learning must be registered and checked so that there is material evidence of what the teacher is doing and what the students are learning. Competitiveness, differentiation of salaries, categorisation of teachers and individualistic struggle will become the norm, rather than an exception. And teachers might fall into the temptation of considering that a good report from their inspectors is more important than human proximity and spontaneity in their school life. I know that we should find a way to change whatever goes wrong, and that evaluating our own performance is quite important. I'm just pointing out that we should be careful when thinking about the purpose, the methods and the consequences of this evaluation. In Finland, which is my favourite example, there are no inspections, and teachers seem to be outstanding professionals with excellent results. And, what is more important, they feel happy and free in their schools, and their students also feel the same. Why don't we try to learn from their example, which seems to be much more attractive and appealing?