scholarly journals Networking in Spanish schools: Lights and shadows

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-546
Author(s):  
Cecilia María Azorín Abellán
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Education System ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Effective School ◽  
Autonomous Communities ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Collaborative Networking ◽  
Spanish Education

Networking is an effective school improvement method that can raise collective efficacy, student outcomes, and provide more collaborative scenarios. The forms collaboration and networking take in the Spanish education system are reviewed in this article, as well as how policy and practice are providing a framework for the development of networks. Spain is presented as an example of country that is exploring the possibilities offered by networks in education. There is an updated corpus of studies that support collaborative networking in Spanish education system. The article summaries evidence of networking in seven autonomous communities (Galicia, País Vasco, Cataluña, Madrid, Valencia, Murcia and Andalucía) where there are alliances formed to implement collaboration actions among the participants, as part of research supported by projects, regulations, programs and initiatives of diverse natures. These proposals are changing the paradigm from isolation to collaboration, an alternative way of seeing education that is growing not just in policy, but also in theory and practice, so enabling illustrative examples and advances in this field of knowledge, and allowing the reader to get closer to the polyhedral dimension that networking is adopting in this particular country. There is no doubt that the arrival of collaboration networks in Spain has sparked intense debates about its “lights and shadows”. Among the lights are the increase of school-community link; the growth of the extended education approach; the effective use of resources as well as the exchange of knowledge and experiences; and greater inclusion. On the other hand, some shadows are related to the different networks’ structures; isolation, not only by teachers as individuals, but also between schools and institutions or agents, and the pressure to increase standards in a collaborative versus competitive environment.  

Transforming the Frog into a Prince: Effective Schools Research, Policy, and Practice at the District Level

1984 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Cuban
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Effective Schools ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
District Level ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Effective Schools Research

Drawing upon his experiences as a former school superintendent and an academic, Larry Cuban examines the implications of the effective schools research for policy and practice at the district level. He focuses on the critical role played by the superintendent and by district-level policies in creating preconditions for local school improvement. Examining the issues that both separate and connect the worlds of theory and practice, Cuban describes the dilemma of school leaders who, armed with only an incomplete theory of school improvement,must make important policy decisions in the face of time pressures and political demands. He warns of some of the unintended consequences of effective schools practices that employ top-down strategies to achieve the narrow goal of raising test scores. Administrators, he argues,need a variety of policy tools and top-down and bottom-up strategies to generate significant improvement at the local level.

Coaching and Coach Education in Spain: A Critical Analysis of Legislative Evolution

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián Feu ◽  
Javier García-Rubio ◽  
Antonio Antúnez ◽  
Sergio Ibáñez
Keyword(s):  
Education System ◽  
Formal Training ◽  
Coach Education ◽  
Single Process ◽  
The Status ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
Administrative Procedures ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
Sport Coaches ◽  
Spanish Education

The purpose of this paper is to describe the status of coaching and coach education in Spain. Particular emphasis is placed on legislative evolution of the qualifications of sport coaches and the repercussions it has had on the sport and education system. The formal training of sport coaches in Spain has undergone many legislative changes since the promulgation of the Constitution in 1978. This period of legislative changes has been long and has not ended as a single process. Transitory provisions are still being used to impart and approve training courses. The changes adopted have served to introduce sport teaching into the Spanish education system as a special education system; and to homogenize the study plans, the requisites for teachers who give the courses and the administrative procedures, among the different sport disciplines. The equalization of professional sport qualifications at the European level is now more feasible.

scholarly journals Health education in the Spanish education system

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 01066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarnación Pedrero-García
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Spanish Education

scholarly journals Theory and Practice in the Government of Alberta’s Consultation Policy

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Neil Reddekopp
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Resource Development ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Treaty Rights ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
Policy Statements ◽  
The Government ◽  
Development And Management

n this paper, I discuss the Government of Alberta’s policy and practice regarding consultation with Aboriginal Albertans regarding resource development, particularly the issuance to third parties of Crown dispositions that may have an impact on Aboriginal or treaty rights. My review of this subject matter is grouped around three conclusions, which are at first glance inconsistent. First, I argue that Alberta’s policy statements and the guidelines that it has issued to implement these fall far short of fulfilling—or even acknowledging in any meaningful way—the Province’s constitutional obligation to consult with Aboriginal Albertans and accommodate the latters’ concerns regarding resource development. However, in keeping with the distinction between theory and practice recognized by Warren Buffett and Yogi Berra, I concede that for reasons that are not reflective of any inherent merit in Alberta’s approach, the development and management of resource development appears to operate smoothly and efficiently, without any serious legal challenges or significant delays in the process. Finally, I suggest that the current practical success of Alberta’s approach is artificial and likely time-limited, and that without a more sincere Crown effort to fulfill its constitutional obligations the future of orderly development of natural resources is unlikely.

Family-school partnership in the Spanish education system

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Antonia Gomila ◽  
Belén Pascual ◽  
Marta Quincoces
Keyword(s):  
Education System ◽  
School Partnership ◽  
Spanish Education

Leadership Practices and Managerial Accountability in Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Paletta ◽  
Christopher Bezzina ◽  
Genc Alimehmeti
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
School Level ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

The changes that are affecting public education imply the need to incorporate into principal’s leadership practices two opposing forces: on the one hand, the accountability systems, which require responsibility for centrally managed achievement testing, compliance with standard procedures of self-evaluation, planning teaching improvement, and reporting of the results; and on the other hand, the expectations that come from within the school, namely those of teachers, students, families, and other stakeholders. This presents the challenge of coproducing authentic learning (problem solving, soft skills, civic knowledge, and citizenship) that is not easily measurable and therefore difficult to bring to light, rationalize, systematize, and report. Principals react differently to the demands of centralized policy-making initiatives. Some see them as opportunities for growth and only formally adopt them, whereas others entrench themselves into particular practices aimed at focusing on the immediate, on being conservative and minimizing risk taking and setting less ambitious goals that can take their schools forward. Managerial accountability can end up “colonizing” the organizations (and those who lead them), with the consequence that time and attention is devoted to what is being measured or observed by the central administrative systems. The “colonized” leaders develop or bend their managerial practices primarily in response to the expectations of accountability systems. On the opposite side, accountability systems can produce the effect of “decoupling”: the actual activities are separated from the rituals of accountability requested by the central or local government. In this case, school principals conform only formally to the demands of accountability systems. Other school leaders can capture opportunities from an accountability system, integrating it into a comprehensive management approach that balances opposing requests and organizational principles into a “systemic” model. Thus, the accountability practices in the field of education introduced in Italy can leave both a positive or negative impact on the way school principals lead their organizations. Studying the impact that the introduction of such policies can have on individuals as a result of the way leaders execute such directives are deemed important as they shed light on the link between policy and practice, and help us gain deeper insights into the so-called theory and practice divide. The move toward greater forms of accountability presents an ideal opportunity for policy makers and educational leaders working at different levels to appreciate the importance of systemic leadership and engage in a discourse that enlightens its value to school improvement initiatives. Rather than focusing on the self, on merely following directives and working independently, the school principal that is able to understand how things and people are connected and can come together to transform their schools can make a difference to school development and school improvement. Bringing policy makers and implementers together can help in understanding the realities faced by educators at the school level, the former often oblivious to the challenges educators face on a day-to-day basis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document