Analysis of the admissions tests for teacher training in Spain and Finland: knowledge or competences

One of the most decisive factors in the quality of education and academic performance of students is quality, preparation and dedication of the teachers. The exquisite system of selecting candidates for teacher training programs is one of the fundamentals of success of the Finnish Education System. The responsibility of choosing the best students to convert them into teachers is a challenge that involves a significant reform of university admission. Achieving this goal involves the choice of strategies and educational tools in accordance to the complexity of the demands presented by the teaching profession in the digital age. This study describes, analyzes and compares the admission tests in the University of Spain (PAU) and Finland (VAKAVA), for those who wish to become professional educators, in order to understand the possible influence of these tests to select the most suitable candidates to develop into future teaching professionals. The results showed that in Spain, the entrance test to universities is developed in a general way for all the students that aspire to any field of knowledge, while in Finland, the test is specific and particular for students aspiring to the field of education. The results of this study can guide and encourage the necessary changes that have to be done in the admission tests to Spanish university in general and to teacher education faculties in particular.

“Yo acojo, tú agrupas, ella compensa”: Análisis comparado de la política de integración del alumnado inmigrante en tres Comunidades Autónomas

Con la Ley Orgánica de Mejora de la Calidad Educativa vuelve a emerger uno de los temas educativos más oportunos: la toma de decisiones en torno a las políticas educativas de atención al alumnado inmigrante. El momento supone una excelente excusa para, desde el prisma que nos ofrece la Educación Comparada, revisar cómo el colectivo de infancia inmigrante ha sido educado desde tres modelos de gestión educativa representados por tres Comunidades Autónomas: Comunidad Valenciana, Cataluña y Andalucía. El artículo se sitúa en el análisis de las medidas que se han articulado en los tres casos como respuesta a su recepción, acogida y escolarización, utilizando una metodología cualitativa basada en el método comparado: en el estudio descriptivo (fase analítica), se realiza una exploración explicativa de las medidas articuladas en torno a las políticas de gestión del alumnado inmigrante, mediante el análisis de contenido de fuentes primarias y secundarias. Con respecto a los resultados, en la fase sintética, tras haber yuxtapuesto los principales criterios que asemejan y también dirimen a los tres modelos, se reconoce cómo las tres Comunidades Autónomas presentan particularidades, fruto de trayectos históricos propios, coyunturas económicas y políticas e intenciones educativas y sociales, influidas por contextos en los que algunos factores han tenido un peso específico importante. Además del protagonismo institucional, se detectan diferencias notables en las medidas concretas adoptadas, pero también coincidencias, como las políticas que apoyan económicamente la lengua de la comunidad autónoma. Finalmente, en la fase de conclusiones comparadas, se plantean una serie de elementos de los que se deberían dotar las Comunidades Autónomas y que se hallan presentes en algunos modelos analizados. La atención a la lengua que porta el alumnado o el cuidado por incluir una educación intercultural en los planes de los centros educativos son dos de las acciones más significativas.

Education in J.J. Rousseau: a methodological antecedent of competence based teaching

Taking into account the huge repercussion and influence that J.J. Rousseau has had on modern pedagogy, the recent tercentenary of his birth is a good opportunity to think about his outstanding relevance nowadays. This paper is a theoretical and educative research developed with an analytic and comparative hermeneutical method. The main objective is to show how some concepts of his philosophy of education have a great similarity with certain changes that the present competency based teaching is demanding, so it could be considered its methodological background. In order to achieve this objective this exposure has been divided in three parts. The first part is an analysis of Rousseau's educational theory as developed in the first three books of the Emilio, in which one of the main themes is self experience-based learning, fostering self-sufficiency, curiosity and the motivation for learning. Rousseau proposed as a method the negative education, which requires, among other conditions, a constant monitoring of the learner by the tutor. In the second part, a brief summary of the most relevant changes and characteristics of competency-based teaching is developed, as well as its purpose. The student’s participation and activity are highlighted within their own learning process through the carrying out of tasks. The new educational model involves a radical change in the curriculum, in which it is highlighted the transformation of the methodology used in the classroom as well as the role of the teacher. Finally, the aim of the third part is to offer a comparative synthesis of both proposals grouping the parallelisms found in 4 topics: origin of the two models, its aims, methodology, and change in the teaching roles.