The first national debate on the reform in high school, which took place yesterday, at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, is a premiere in Romanian education. I attended a historical moment, a moment when Minister David gathered around the table, in addition to counselors and secretaries of state, teachers, parents, students, students, representatives of civil society, people who, for the first time, were left to express their opinion, to come up with ideas and to contribute to the great change of paradigm. Marian Stas, an expert in education, analyzed for the “Adevărul” the event, pointing out some aspects.
Daniel David, Minister of Education. Archive
Reform in education, under the auspices of an unjustified fear
The process of reforming the high school education system has triggered, but the resistance to change – as well as any other major change, regardless of the field – is terrible. “The overwhelming reaction of those present in the room, at the debate, was typical of the model of change”, explains Marian Stas. “People were in the first two phases: that of denial and anger. That is, the refusal to read the offer rationally. The world, in fact, does not want, does not know, cannot read and understand. Most likely, those overwhelming moments will follow, then the phase of piloting the newly proposed ideas and, finally, we will attend the phase of passing reality in the new organizational culture ”, the specialist continues.
The transformation is a huge one, it shakes the whole system, it almost cuts into living meat. The road beaten for 35 years with principles, ideas, outdated, dusty theories, and anosts suddenly, violently, to a 21st century education:“Yesterday I attended at the time of uncomfortable truths. And the most important of them was the one materialized by manifesting over 90% of interventions focused on the number of hours ”.
Marian Stas refers to the fact that most of the criticisms of the project debate target a single and big problem: the hours that teachers would lose with the elimination (in fact it is only a reorganization) of the Latin history, geography and language. And this unjustified fear is not even directly assumed, Fățiș, but is masked by the care of the teachers in terms of future Hibes from the education of the students. “You see, Lord, that if I don’t know I do not know what subject they will be bad and they will not be fine. This is just hypocrisy. As if until now it has been great. In my opinion, this fear occupies at least 80% of the minds of the people in the system, teachers, unionists, does not matter ”, considers Marian Stas.
Specialist: “Teachers can recover their hours, but they have to work extra”
The system is shaking, losing their status, but, on the other hand, the children seem to be in power through their decisions, by the freedoms that, more recently, are offered: “Few, very few are the teachers who really follow the good of the students. The rest, everyone else thinks only of them, although everyone is punching in the chest that the student’s needs should receive. “
The expert considers that, on the contrary, the framework plans put into debate are tailored so that the teachers still have norms and salaries: “Another uncomfortable truth that no one wants to tell him refers to the concept of extending the teachers. Basically, a teacher who would lose some hours at the chair could complete them with other hours in which to practice non-teaching activities. It is clearly said by Law 185 of 2020 ”.
So in other words, no teacher has to stay on the roads on the grounds that he has no hours: “And that’s because the norm allows something else. For example, career counseling for children, guarded and mentoring for beginner teachers, writing projects, counseling activities, etc. They are a whole account of activities that can be included in the norm, calculated at age and salary. Of course, if we are rotten and indolent then we shout that the salt drob is too big. ”
According to the law, the teaching norm includes teaching-learning-evaluation and practical training and final examination exams, preparation activities for national assessments and exams, activities for obtaining educational performance, remedial learning activities, 2 -4 hours for mentoring activity. Therefore, whoever complains that they would waste their hours are in a serious error.
Returning to the debate of the schedule for high school students, the expert believes that most of the participants in discussions did not express a wide vision, limiting to the theme of the number of hours in certain subjects to be studied by students.
Marian Stas, Education Expert. Archive
The absence of the minister to the debates, a boycott of the unions
Marian Staș appreciates the fact that the debate had, however, a place, in the context in which the problem of canceling the meeting in the light of political events – the resignation of President Iohannis had been raised.
The expert also commented on the absence of Minister David from the debate, specifying that the unions who asked for a meeting in the Government, exactly during the event, did not proceed correctly: “This was one of the dangers, namely to boycott the event. I did not understand the request of the unions ”. On the other hand, it is not to understand the reason why the minister ran to such a request, in such a day, in such a moment: “From my point of view, it was an unequaled and counterproductive sole of the unions ”. On the other hand, continues Marian Staș, the minister, as he promised to do during his term, has resorted to an default delegation process: “Everyone wants meetings with the minister! You can not! Let us not forget, however, that Bogdan Cristescu, Secretary of State, and Gabi Vrânceanu, head of Curriculum service – the most suitable people to participate in this debate ”were in the room.
In conclusion, Marian Staş claims that the most important things we have to remember are the following: a big white ball is that the debate took place as planned, and the most relevant people were present and moderated the discussions. However, a black ball is, in the vision of the expert, the hypocrisy of many teachers who, governed by unjustified fears, hide their fear and frustration by submitting the “rod” education of students who would no longer learn history, geography and Latin: “What we have to do is lead the conversation further, educate people, make them see that things are, in fact, completely different, to show them possible solutions. ”
What does the thinking “out of the box” mean
The expert considers that, in this context, of such resistance to systemic, endemic change, two things are to be done: “The time of a single offer, of a single framework plan is exceeded. At the moment, no offering for the framework plan, no matter how smart they are, could not satisfy this mass of hundreds of thousands of people and millions of children. Because everyone seems to want something else. “
What to do to reconcile and goat and cabbage? The team of the Minister of Education could come up with three variants of framework plan: one conservative, one average and one brave. “And this variant to target 95% of the schools in the system. And for the rest of 5%, that is, for the brave and open, who want to do great things, there is the possibility of piloting. To increase the number of pilot schools to begin to build their own curricular files. We can do otherwise. Out of the box. And at this moment, the entire palette of needs and dissatisfaction is covered. And the ball stays in the school field“, Said Marian Stas.
