The Government has not waited for the Consell Executiu on January 9 to announce the names that make up the list of experts who must propose short and medium-term measures to reverse the poor results reflected by Catalan students in all the evaluations carried out. The last, the PISA 2022 Report, whose poor performance has especially worried Catalan society and which led the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to bring together all Catalan political forces to agree on a solution agreement. At the meeting, held on December 19, it was decided to establish this group of experts.
From the list of 18 names that the Department of Education has communicated in an informative note this morning, three directors of public centers are missing (one of primary, one of secondary and another of post-compulsory) who will be announced next week.
The technical coordinator of this group will be Jesús Vinyes, current president of the School Council of Catalonia (now the Education Council of Catalonia).
The number of other members is: Albert Bayot, Elvira Borrell, Digna Couso, Montserrat Jiménez, Sílvia Lombarte, Raül Manzano, Mercè Mas, Mireia de Mingo, Carme Ortoll, Marta Pujadó, Coral Regí, Francesc Roca, Víctor Saura, Joan Vila . The first meeting will be held on January 10 and it is expected that in February they will report to the parliamentary groups some initial conclusions.
Although Educació has called them as “experts” in education, their appointment responds to their membership in a group, as reported by Councilor Anna Simó when she announced the creation of this committee of experts that is now called “group promoting measures educational in the short and medium term”.
“We have sought to reflect diversity both at the level of educational stages and at the territorial level, the complexity of centers, ownership and at the disciplinary level,” explains the statement and taking into account “sectors such as vocational training or experts in linguistic immersion.”
The result is a composition very similar to what the School Council already has, if the university world, the employers’ association and the unions are excluded.
Thus, the names that Educació has provided respond to addresses of centers, families, local entities, representatives of pedagogical and teacher associations, inspection and charter schools. It also happens that it is proposed that the coordinator of the group be Jesús Vinyes, who is currently president of the Catalan School Council (CEC).
The CEC is an organization for consultation and participation of the educational community that emanates from the education law (LEC). Its members are appointed by the Government for a period of 4 years. Among its functions, as described on its website, is to be consulted “for general actions aimed at improving the quality of teaching and improving its adaptation to the social reality of Catalonia.”
In addition, the council, which depends on the department, can “formulate on its own initiative proposals to the department on issues related to the quality of teaching (article 171.5 of the LEC). And reflect on current issues that “concern” the educational community. .
The measures to improve educational quality provided by this group of experts will pass through the CEC so that they are “enriched”, according to Educació. The measures will be applicable from the 2024-2025 academic year.
Before the creation of this group, Councilor Simó had proposed 10 measures to improve student learning, some of which are already underway but will not predictably give results in the short term. Among them is the creation of an evaluation and prospecting agency to replace the Consell Superior d’Avaluació, questioned after the PISA tests.
Likewise, the councilor promised in Parliament, after the monograph that was dedicated to education in June, to present this January a battery of measures to address the issues raised by the parliamentary groups, with their calendar and budget.
The list of experts has been drawn up by the Department of Education and the rest of the political forces have not intervened in it, with the exception of the group Junts per Catalunya, which has proposed several names.
Who are these experts?
The majority of experts are recognized by the educational community and have worked or are working as teachers, directors or have been linked to public administration. Here are their profiles:
Teachers
Mercè Mas Ferrer, teacher and pedagogue, specialist in science assessment and didactics and communicative competence at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Member of the Evaluate for Learning group and evaluation trainer. He has been part of the Associació Rosa Sensat and of Xarxes para change that promotes educational transformation. She is currently a teacher at the Roureda school, in Sant Esteve Sesrovires.
Víctor Saura, high school teacher, but better known as a journalist with a long career in the education sector. He has directed the Diari de l’Educació in the last five years. In addition, he has been a member, since 2003, of the Citizen Platform for an Inclusive School.
Francesc Roca has been a vocational training teacher and director of the Comte de Rius institute in Tarragona. He has collaborated with the Ministry as a teacher trainer in curricular issues and in improving educational quality, as well as in the training of management. He is awarded by the Consell Català de la Formació Professional (2015) for his career. He has been retired since last September.
Directors
Montserrat Jiménez, pedagogical director of the Vedruna school in Palafrugell. He is a member of the board of the FEAEC (European Forum of Education Administrators in Catalonia). She stands out as a pedagogical advisor and trainer in leadership processes and educational transformation, digitization and active methodologies.
Joan Vila, director of the Escola Pia Balmes, before that of Granollers and Sabadell. He works in line with the introduction of artistic studies in the school curriculum, integrating musical and performing studies in primary school. He is also an expert in the field of mathematics teaching.
The Government will appoint the three representatives chosen by the Central Board of directors of public centers that will meet on January 9.
Pedagogical entities
Albert Bayot has been appointed as a member of the board of the College of Doctors and Graduates in Philosophy and Letters and in Sciences of Catalonia. He has been pedagogical coordinator and director of the Josep Brugulat Institute in Banyoles and is director and professor of Catalan language and literature at IES Sarrià de Ter. He has worked as a professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Education at the University of Girona. He has worked in the territorial services of Girona and has written about psychopedagogy, language teaching and educational organization.
Raül Manzano works at the Segrià Pedagogical Resource Center in teacher training and educational innovation. I am an expert in the field of rural schools. He is a member of the Pedagogical Renewal Movements. He has been a representative of this federation in the School Council of Catalonia. He also directs the magazine Graó,
Marta Pujadó represents the Rosa Sensat association. He has extensive experience in teacher training and educational transformation. She is currently the pedagogical coordinator at the Vapor del Fil institute.
Experts with outstanding careers
Coral Regí has ??been director of the Virolai School and has participated in various platforms for the improvement of education. He is a member of the scientific committee of Education Tomorrow and participates in the board of the Catalan Society of Pedagogy. Since 2014, he has been part of the School Council of Catalonia as a “prestigious person”. He collaborates in different associations such as Fundación Bofill, Fundación Carulla, Fundación ASPEN and Fundación Nueva Educación de Chile.
Digna Couso works as a professor at the Faculty of Education at the UAB and is responsible for the didactics department in mathematics and science. She stands out as a STEM teacher trainer.
Carme Ortoll was the architect of the inclusive school decree in Catalonia. She has been secretary of the Observatory of Childhood and Adolescence of Catalonia, as well as director general of children and primary schools. She has also worked as a teacher and director of public schools and as a university teacher trainer. He has also been part of the board of FMRP. She is currently director of the Artur Martorell Foundation.
Elvira Borrell, former Inspector of Education. Expert in educational evaluation and school organization, fields on which she has written several books. He has been part of the Superior Evaluation Council. Gives training to teachers and principals.
Families
Mireia de Mingo, president of the AFA of the Vila de Gràcia institute and, previously, she was on the school council of the CEIP Patronat Domènech de Barcelona. Partition in the coordinator of the associations of families in Gràcia and member of the Yellow Assembly of Gràcia. She has a degree in environmental sciences and a degree in education, and works at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya as a sustainability technician.
Town councils
Sílvia Lombarte, director of the Escoles Bressol area in the town hall of Santa Coloma de Gramenet. She has a degree in pedagogy, a master’s degree in social policies and community mediation. She has worked in social initiative entities and is linked to the university in training and research.
