Educación: Actuar por evidencias. Education: Acting on evidence.

Probablemente uno de los aspectos más negativos que hemos sufrido a lo largo de los años, especialmente en educación y más en los últimos tiempos por la llegada de personas poco preparadas e insensatas al poder, ha sido la aplicación de "OCURRENCIAS" sin ninguna evidencia de que tal programa o medida tuviera visos de poder mejorar aquello que se proponía.

También veo cada vez con más claridad que lo bueno es enemigo de lo de mejor. Es decir, con demasiada frecuencia, buscamos lograr lo mejor sin pararnos a pensar que lo bueno a veces es un paso intermedio que nos puede ayudar progresar en la buena dirección y que, con el tiempo, puede ser el puente para lograr mejor. Pero dejar de alcanzar lo bueno buscando lo mejor puede llevarnos por el camino de la decepción y el abandono al ver que no conseguimos nuestro objetivo.

Por tanto encontrar las evidencias en los campos en los que trabajamos parece realmente necesario dejar de seguir el camino de las ocurrencias que tantas energías nos robaron y tanto dinero, en muchos casos, proporcionaron a insensatos y aprovechados.

Por ello os traigo hoy aquí información relevante sobre la materia.

May 31, 2012

OMB to Government: Show Us the Evidence

The words "OMB" and "exciting" rarely go in the same sentence, much less "OMB" and "OMG!" Yet on May 18, Jeffrey Zients, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), sent out a memo that could change history. In guidance to executive departments and agencies, the memo asks the entire Executive Branch to use every available means to promote the use of rigorous evidence in decision-making, program administration, and planning. Some of the specific strategies urged by OMB were as follows:
• Low-cost evaluations, using routinely collected data. For example, when grants are made to schools to use particular programs, districts could be asked to submit schools in pairs, knowing that one in each pair will be assigned at random to use the program and one to wait. Then routinely collected test scores could be used in the evaluations, to compare experimental and control groups. Such studies could be done for peanuts, greatly expanding the evidence base for all sorts of programs.
• Evaluations linked to waivers. Existing rules often inhibit experimentation with practices or policies that might be used in the future. Agencies can waive those rules specifically for the purpose of testing innovations.
• Expanding evaluation efforts within existing programs. Imagine, for example, encouraging systematic variations in uses of Title I funding to determine better ways to help Title I children succeed.
• Systemic measurement of costs and cost per outcome. If there are more cost-effective ways to achieve better outcomes, we should be finding them, and then allocating resources accordingly.
• Infusing evidence into grant-making. Agencies can increase the use of evidence-based practices in all sorts of grants. In competitive grants, applicants could be offered a few competitive preference points if they propose to implement programs with strong evidence of effectiveness. Investing in Innovation (i3), of course, provides different levels of grants depending on the existing evidence base for promising innovations.
There is much more in this far-reaching memo, but these are the elements most relevant to education.
I have no idea how the memo will play out in practice, but at a minimum it provides clear and detailed guidance to all federal agencies: show us the evidence. More importantly, show the American people your evidence. It says that government is not about who gets what, it is about conscious and informed stewardship of public funds to produce valued outcomes.
For the latest on evidence-based education, follow me on twitter: @RobertSlavin

"Compromiso por un futuro sostenible. Tenemos un mes para lograrlo en Rio+20"

Estimadas y estimados amigos,

La web de la Década de la educación por un futuro sostenible ha incorporado su boletín 79, titulado "Compromiso por un futuro sostenible. Tenemos un mes para lograrlo en Rio+20", al que puede accederse en 

http://www.oei.es/decada/boletin079.php
 
Se necesita una fuerte presión social sobre los líderes políticos que van a reunirse en Rio+20, para que se comprometan a alcanzar acuerdos vinculantes por un futuro sostenible. Y hemos de comenzar a ejercer esa presión ya, porque apenas nos queda un mes para lograrlo y son muchos los obstáculos.

Rogamos contribuir a su difusión.

Un saludo muy cordial,

Educadores por la sostenibilidad

Boletín Nº 79 20 de mayo de 2012http://www.oei.es/decada/boletin079.php Boletín desarrollado con el apoyo de la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID)
Aprovechamos para informarles que ya tenemos disponible la web del proyecto Luces para Aprender que busca dotar de energía y conectividad a las 60.000 escuelas que carecen de ella.
http://www.lucesparaaprender.org Twitter: @lucesparaAprend

It all starts with building the right skills. Todo comienza con la construcción de las habilidades adecuadas

Everybody into the talent pool

Posted: 21 May 2012 08:08 AM PDT

by Marilyn Achiron 
Editor, Department for Education

The OECD has just formulated a Skills Strategy to help countries make the most of their peoples’ talents.

How does one even begin to consider an issue as complex as skills? We found that visualising the supply of skills as a talent pool helps. The idea is to create a larger and larger pool of people who have fully developed their skills, encourage those people to supply their skills to the labour market, and then ensure that those skills are used effectively on the job. This new animated video will show you what we mean. 

Links:
To download the report:  Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives: The OECD Skills Strategy   – and much find out more about skills and skills policies around the world – visit our interactive skills web portal: http://skills.oecd.org

Follow the launch of the Skills Strategy and join the debates on @OECD_Edu  #OECDSkills

It all starts with building the right skills

Posted: 21 May 2012 03:36 AM PDT

by Andreas Schleicher
Deputy Director for Education and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD's Secretary General

Skills transform lives and drive economies. Without the right skills, people are kept on the margins of society, technological progress does not translate into economic growth, and countries can’t compete in today’s economies. But the toxic co-existence of unemployed graduates and employers who say that they cannot find the people with the skills they need, shows that skills don't automatically translate into better economic and social outcomes. The OECD has put together a strategy that helps countries transform skills into better jobs and better lives.

It all starts with building the right skills. Anticipating the evolution of the demand for labour is the essential starting point. We then need to improve the quality of learning outcomes, by putting a premium on skills-oriented learning throughout life instead of qualifications-focused education upfront. That’s about fostering relevant learning. Skills development is far more effective if the world of learning and the world of work are linked. Compared to purely government-designed curricula taught exclusively in schools, learning in the workplace allows young people to develop “hard” skills on modern equipment, and “soft” skills, such as teamwork, communication and negotiation, through real-world experience. Hands-on workplace training can also help to motivate disengaged youth to stay in or re-engage with education and smooth the transition to work. Data from our new Adult Skills Survey (PIAAC) provide powerful evidence of that. While you learn when you are in education between the ages of 16 and 25, the learning curve is even steeper if you combine education with work.

All of this is everybody’s business; and we need to deal with the tough question of who should pay for what, when and how, particularly for learning beyond school. Social partners can help in developing curricula that include broader, transferable skills and ensuring that good-quality training is available to all. Employers can do a lot more to create a climate that supports learning, and invest in it. Some individuals can shoulder more of the financial burden. And governments can do a lot to design rigorous standards, provide financial incentives and create a safety net so that all people have access to high quality learning.

But even the best skills simply evaporate if they aren’t maintained and upgraded to meet the changing needs of societies. There are people who are highly skilled who have decided not to work. Why? They may be too busy caring for children or elderly parents; they may have health problems; or they may have calculated that it just doesn’t pay to work. The answer is that we need to make better use of our talent pool.

Equally important, we need to ensure that skills are used effectively at work. OECD data show the link between how skills are used on the job and people’s earnings prospects and productivity. If you have great skills and have a demanding job, you’re fine, and your earnings continue to increase. If you don't yet have the skills but your job is demanding, you’ll see progress too. But if your employer does not use your skills, the earnings over your lifetime tend to deteriorate.

So what can we do about this? Quality career guidance is essential. People who have the latest labour-market information can help steer individuals to the education or training that would best prepare them for their prospective careers. Helping young people to gain a foothold in the labour market is fundamental too. Vocational training is a very effective way to achieve this. Coherent and easy-to-understand qualifications help employers identify potential employees who are suitable for the jobs they offer. And reducing the costs of moving within a country can help employees to find the jobs that match their skills and help employers to find the skills that match their jobs.

There may be young people just starting out who are well educated but have trouble finding jobs that put their education and training to good use. What most people don’t realise is that we can shape the demand for skills. Often we think that the demand for skills is as it is, and we just need to educate people to meet existing demand. That is a big mistake. There is much that governments and employers can to do promote knowledge-intensive industries and jobs that require high-skilled workers. Adding these kinds of high value-added jobs to a labour market helps to get more people working—and for better pay.

Last but not least, education that fosters entrepreneurship can help create jobs. Indeed, education is where entrepreneurship is often born.

In short, we’re all in this together – and there’s a lot more that we all can do to develop the right skills and turn them into better jobs and better lives.

Links:
To download the report:  Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives: The OECD Skills Strategy   – and much find out more about skills and skills policies around the world – visit our interactive skills web portal: http://skills.oecd.org

Follow the launch of the Skills Strategy and join the debates on @OECD_Edu and @SchleicherEdu #OECDSkills

What should students learn in the 21st century? ¿Qué deberían aprender los alumnos en el siglo XXI?

Esta es una cuestión de gran importancia para conocer el futuro de la educación, es verdad que no podrá exigirse al profesorado en general que cada uno haga sus aportaciones, pero, desde luego, creemos que desde la instituciones y las organizaciones, gubernamentales y no gubernamentales, se deben afrontar los grandes retos del futuro de la educación y de la humanidad, pues de otro modo perderemos tiempo y energías en descubrir el camino a seguir. La escuela ya no puede seguir pensando y enseñando como cuando no existía el potencial que supone el desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología actual. Pues no podemos olvidar las sabias palabras de Eric Hoffer:

“En tiempos de cambio, los aprendices heredarán la tierra, mientras que los sabelotodo, estarán perfectamente equipados para desenvolverse en un mundo que ya habrá dejado de existir.”

 Aquí os dejo este interesante escrito.

Posted: 18 May 2012 12:00 AM PDT

By Charles Fadel
Founder & chairman, Center for Curriculum Redesign 
Vice-chair of the Education committee of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Visiting scholar, Harvard GSE, MIT ESG/IAP and Wharton/Penn CLO

Ha quedado claro que enseñar habilidades requiere responder a "¿Qué deberían aprender los alumnos en el siglo 21?" Sobre una base amplia y profunda. Los profesores tienen que tener el tiempo y flexibilidad para desarrollar conocimientos, habilidades y carácter, mientras que también hay que tener en cuenta la cuarta dimensión meta-nivel que  incluye aprender a aprender, la interdisciplinariedad y la personalización. Adaptar al siglo XXI las necesidades significa volver a examinar cada dimensión y la forma en que interactúan:

It has become clear that teaching skills requires answering “What should students learn in the 21st century?” on a deep and broad basis. Teachers need to have the time and flexibility to develop knowledge, skills, and character, while also considering the meta-layer/fourth dimension that includes learning how to learn, interdisciplinarity, and personalisation. Adapting to 21st century needs means revisiting each dimension and how they interact:

Knowledge - relevance required: Students’ lack of motivation, and often disengagement, reflects the inability of education systems to connect content to real-world experience. This is also critically important to economic and social needs, not only students’ wishes. There is a profound need to rethink the significance and applicability of what is taught, and to strike a far better balance between the conceptual and the practical. Questions that should be answered include: Should engineering become a standard part of the curriculum? Should trigonometry be replaced by more statistics? Is long division by hand necessary? What is significant and relevant in history? Should personal finance, journalism, robotics, and other new disciplines be taught to everyone - and starting in which grade? Should entrepreneurship be mandatory? Should ethics be re-valued? What is the role of the arts – and can they be used to foster creativity in all disciplines?

Skills – necessity for education outcomes: Higher-order skills (“21st Century Skills”), such as the “4 C’s” of Creativity, Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and others are essential for absorbing knowledge as well as for work performance. Yet the curriculum is already overburdened with content, which makes it much harder for students to acquire (and teachers to teach) skills via deep dives into projects. There is a reasonable global consensus on what the skills are, and how teaching methods via projects can affect skills acquisition, but there is little time available during the school year, given the overwhelming amount of content to be covered. There is also little in terms of teacher expertise in combining knowledge and skills in a coherent ensemble, with guiding materials, and assessments.

“Character” (behaviours, attitudes, values) – to face an increasingly challenging world: As complexities increase, humankind is rediscovering the importance of teaching character traits, such as performance-related traits (adaptability, persistence, resilience) and moral-related traits (integrity, justice, empathy, ethics). The challenges for public school systems are similar to those for skills, with the extra complexity of accepting that character development is also becoming an intrinsic part of the mission, as it is for private schools.

Meta-Layer:  Essential for activating transference, building expertise, fostering creativity via analogies, establishing lifelong learning habits, and so on. It will answer questions such as: How should students learn how to learn? What is the role of interdisciplinarity? What is the appropriate sequencing within subjects and between subjects? How do we develop curiosity? How do we facilitate students’ pursuing of their own passions in addition to the standard curriculum? How do we adapt curricula to local needs?

So what is actually being done to ensure that our workforce is skilled for 21st century success and  to ensure that students are skilled, ready to work and contribute to society?

The global transformation, often called the "21st century skills" movement is helping move schools closer to learning designs that better prepare students for success in learning, work and life. The OECD Skills Strategy is responding to this by shifting the focus from a quantitative notion of human capital, measured in years of formal education, to the skills people actually acquire, enhance and nurture over their lifetimes. My hope is that schools, universities and training programs will become more responsive to the workforce and societal needs of today, and students will increasingly focus on growing and applying essential 21st century skills and knowledge to real problems and issues, not just learning textbook facts and formulas.

This will raise levels of creativity and innovation, and provide better  skills , better jobs, better societies, and ultimately better lives.

Links:
21st Century Skills – Learning for Life in our Times, by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel, Wiley.
Center for Curriculum Redesign

La alegría de ser maestro

Hoy no voy a escribir mucho. Lo que os ofrezco a continuación enseña y explica mucho mejor que yo la importancia de educar.

Si tienes unos minutos aquí tienes una manera de aprovecharlos y si quieres al final me dices. A mí me ha fascinado.

¿Hay algo más hermoso que compartir la belleza de la vida y la edcuación como bien preciado que nos hace ser mejores personas y crear un mundo mejor?

La respuesta esa la razón de ser de este espacio para la reflexión sobre la educación.

Pinacha aquí

Si tienes tiempo aquí tienes más para aprovechar:


1. CRISIS EDUCATIVA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STF30_spBVI&feature=related


2. VISIÓN DE LOS ESTUDIANTES HOY...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UKaTuxave4&NR=1&feature=endscreen

3. Visión de los estudiantes hoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ3JmuaUrxs&feature=related

4. ¿Te aburrías en la escuela?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iyI9GFfFWU&feature=related

Terecera Declaración educativa de la Unión de Coorperativas de enseñanza de Valencia

El trabajo que realiza la Unió de Cooperatives d’Ensenyament Valencianes (UCEV) nace del compromiso ético de los profesionales que la integran para que el derecho de los jóvenes a la educación sea efectivo y tengan acceso general a las manifestaciones culturales, al uso de las nuevas tecnologías y a participar activamente en la construcción de su futuro.
Nuestros proyectos educativos se sustentan tanto en la educación en valores como en el laicismo con el propósito de ayudar a las personas a construir de una manera racional y autónoma su vida en una sociedad moderna, democrática y progresista.

Indiscutiblemente, somos las personas…
A nuestras escuelas unas van y otras vienen, algunas permanecen. Los intereses de cada uno son diversos, cambiantes… evolucionan. El alumnado pasa el tiempo que pasa, más o menos el que le toca, y se lleva de la escuela todo lo que esta le ha ofrecido a lo largo de los años.
Las familias están mientras están, en relación directa a las necesidades de hijos e hijas, como si de una regla de tres inversa se tratara.
Somos los profesionales los que perduramos, más allá de ciclos, de cursos, de vientos y vendavales…
Maestros, educadores y educadoras, personal de administración y servicios, psicólogos, logopedas, mediadores… ellos y ellas son los verdaderos agentes sociales, la esencia de la acción educativa, los protagonistas del cambio… y del reposo, los impulsores de la innovación… y del inmovilismo, los creadores de nuevas metodologías… y seguidores de las antiguas, los activistas… y los pasivos…
Apelamos, con esta declaración, a la ética de cada uno de ellos y ellas, a la nuestra, con el convencimiento y la seguridad de que en manos del profesorado está el futuro de la educación.

......

Termina así

Los educadores vivimos nuestra labor
a partir de relaciones enriquecedoras
con alumnos, compañeros y familias.
Todos somos parte de una escuela
que proporciona un espacio afectivo
de aprendizaje y que ofrece su
riqueza al entorno.

Para más información y bajarte la declaración pincha aquí.

¿Qué es PISA y para qué sirve?

Aquí os dejo, lo siento está en inglés, una clara explicación de lo que es Pisa y lo que realmente mide.

Para ver el vídeo pincha aquí.

More information about PISA: click here. 

Para que podáis conocer un poco más sobre Pisa en español aquí os dejo un enlace con toda la información.

Pincha aquí