The PISA report has shown a trend that was not unknown in Spanish classrooms: the loss of level in basic knowledge such as mathematics and reading comprehension. Although the pandemic had a devastating effect on all schools in the world (to a lesser extent in Spain), the decline in the performance of these learnings came from before. President Pedro Sánchez, who will meet today with the State School Council, has announced a reinforcement plan for these subjects which involves working in small groups in the classroom (splits or co-teaching), extracurricular classes in which they are further behind and teacher training.
The first two measures address the impact immediately, and the third, which the Spanish Government plans to compensate with an economic supplement, aims to mitigate a deeper and more systemic problem: the quality of education.
In a survey that the Catalan Mathematical Society sent to its members after it was known that Catalan students had lost 31 points compared to 2015 (a year and a half), it was observed that 75% were not surprised by this result. They answered that the students pass the course without having reached the minimum skills, that there is no motivation to learn and a lack of respect for the teacher, that there is a lack of resources to attend to diversity in the classroom (from those who present the most difficulties to high achievers), that there is a lot of bureaucracy to deal with and that there are many professionals missing in the classroom, that hours of mathematics have been lost in the new curricula (about which there is disorientation). And they stressed that there is a lack of teachers who master the subject and know how to explain it well, safely. At all stages.
The problem of content mastery happens more in primary school, while the difficulty of teaching mathematics in a classroom with different students occurs in secondary school. In addition, there is a lack of mathematicians, who as soon as they graduate go to technology, and secondary school teachers are from professions that have seen different mathematics (economists, physicists, biologists, engineers). There is little teaching in these degrees and in the secondary master’s. And there are no specialties in this matter.
“Mathematical education begins in kindergarten and primary school. If the young people who want to be teachers arrived at the Faculty of Education with a good level of mathematics, perhaps the few hours given in the didactics degree would be sufficient”, argues the president of the Catalan Mathematics Society, Montse Alsina. “The problem is that they come with a low level, even with a bad relationship with mathematics”, he adds. “And this will have an impact on the way the teacher will transmit them, with insecurity and without enthusiasm”.
In Catalonia, aspiring teachers must pass a personal aptitude test that assesses logical-mathematical competence. They are knowledge of a maximum of 4th year of ESO (to allow them to present themselves to vocational training students). Between half and a third of those who show up do not pass it. Even so, a drop in fundamental knowledge has been noticed in recent years. Berta Barquero, associate professor at the UB, is the coordinator of these tests. “The problem is that later, during the course, they only have 18 credits out of 240, dedicated not to mathematics, but to teaching mathematics”.
And they start taking classes (70% of what they will teach is maths, language and science). And they arrive at a time of generational change (baby boom teachers are retiring) and curricular change, towards learning skills. “If they don’t follow training, they will basically feel insecure passing it on”, explains Alsina who is working with the Department of Education to find solutions to this situation.
In addition, anxiety about this subject plays a fundamental role and is already detected at the age of 9, a feeling that undermines self-confidence: “I’m not good for this”. In Es-, according to PISA, this subject causes tension for almost half of them.
It doesn’t go any better in high school. In the basic skills of the last year, the decline in knowledge was greater in ESO (11 points of difference compared to the primary level). Almost a quarter finished compulsory education without reaching the agreed minimum. In PISA, of the six levels, Catalan students passed the first three, relating to fundamentals, but not the three higher levels, which have to do with how knowledge is mobilized (how it is applied, how problems are solved, how it is argued).
There are those who attribute it to the methodology. The debate is polarized between those who defend a “monumentalist” education, of pure transmission of knowledge, and competence learning, which relates the operations to the student’s reality and is focused on solving problems. For Alsina, there should be a balance. “When you go out to a game, you have had to train, do push-ups and kick at the goal many times. And this is not contradictory to the fact of playing the game and looking for a strategy”.
For Barquero, there is a lack of research based on evidence, a closer connection between the university and the schools, with the right conditions. “Doctors would not apply a treatment if there was no research, protocols, practice…”.
The Department of Education has analyzed the PISA tests and basic skills, and identified common errors. In primary school: numeration and calculation, space-measurement and relationships. In secondary school: calculation and percentage, space-measurement, connections between figures and graphic representations, as well as problem solving.
Joan Cuevas, director general of Education, explains that training, materials, resources and the support of the ministry will be offered to the centers to be able to achieve their goals. In addition, work is underway on changes to teaching and the secondary school master’s.
Finally, they hope to present a specific program of mathematics reinforcement. “It is based on close accompaniment to the student, classes with small groups working on different aspects, with two teachers. And weekly feed back to the student”, announces Cuevas. The program, which includes more staff, will be voluntary for the centers.
