Background and Criteria for Teachers' Policies Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Background and Criteria for Teachers’ Policies Development in Latin America and the Caribbean 1 2 teachers for education for all Regional strategic project on teachers - Orealc/Unesco Santiago Background and Criteria for Teachers’ Policies Development in Latin America and the Caribbean OREALC/UNESCO Santiago May 2012 3 Published in 2012 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France © UNESCO 2012 All rights reserved ISBN 978-92-3-XXXXXX Original title: Antecedentes y Criterios para la Elaboración de Políticas Docentes en América Latina y el Caribe The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. This is an unofficial UNESCO translation. — General production, text editing & cover and interior design by Ediciones del Imbunche Ltda. Printed by Acción Digital. Printed in Santiago, Chile 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary 9 Introduction 17 First Part: State of the Art of Teachers’ Policies in the Region 23 1 General characteristics of educators and their organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean 25 1.1. Elements of the Regional context 25 1.2. Characteristics of educators 26 1.3. Characteristics of teachers’ organizations in the Region 31 2 Initial teacher training 40 2.1. Characteristics of initial training systems in the Region 40 Training institutions 40 Duration of studies 42 Quantitative demands on the system 43 Curricular guidelines 44 Regulation of training programs 45 “Universal” or special training 48 Conditions to enter teacher training 49 Emerging comprehensive policies 50 2.2. Critical issues that emerge from the present situation of initial teacher training 52 5 3 Continuing education 58 3.1 Characteristics of continuing education systems in the Region 58 The reforms of the 1990’s and their impact on continuing education 59 Designated institutions 59 Types of programs 63 Program contents 66 Innovative practices 68 Graduate degrees 68 3.2 Critical issues that emerge from the present situation of continuing education 70 4 The teaching career 76 4.1 Characteristics of the teaching career in Latin America and the Caribbean 76 Types of teaching careers 77 Working conditions 81 Salaries and incentives 83 Assessment of teacher performance 85 4.2 Critical issues that emerge from the present situation of teaching careers 90 5 Institutions and processes of teachers’ policies in Latin America and the Caribbean: trends and open questions 94 5.1. Analysis categories in processes of formulation and implementation of education 95 policies 5.2. Institutions and institutionalization in processes of teachers’ policies 99 5.3. Governments and educators’ labor unions: a politically fundamental relationship 103 5.4. Institutionalization: external and internal forces in the teaching profession 106 Second Part: Criteria and Guidelines for Teachers’ Policies Development 111 1 Guidelines on initial training 113 1. Promoting the entrance of better candidates for the teaching profession, by establishing stricter admission requirements in pedagogical studies 113 2. Strengthening the quality of teacher education programs, particularly in curricular content, training strategies, and the skills of teacher educators 115 3. Offering relevant quality training for educational work with disadvantaged social groups 117 4. Ensuring appropriate systems to regulate quality in training programs and in the skills of students who graduate from them 118 2 Guidelines on continuing education 121 1. Ensuring the right to relevant and pertinent continuing education for teachers, focusing on student learning and schools’ needs 121 6 2. Ensuring a significant impact of continuing education on teaching practices and student learning. 123 3. Building professional development road maps, while acknowledging stages in the teaching career 125 4. Implementing regulatory mechanisms for the continuing education offer in order to ensure quality and relevance 126 5. Promoting collaborative learning in the school context 127 6. Regulating the relevance of graduate degrees’ offer 128 3 Guidelines on the teaching career 129 1. Designing and implementing careers that are focused on strengthening the teaching profession and on advocating for the recruitment of good candidates 129 2. Acknowledging different stages in the development of the teaching career and of competencies 131 3. Structuring the teaching career around the enhancement of professional performance 132 4. Designing and implementing a policy of salaries and incentives that is clear and articulated, in order to encourage professional teaching 133 5. Developing valid and agreed upon systems for the assessment of teacher professional performance 134 6. Counting on transparent mechanisms to fill teaching positions and to assign duties 136 4 Guidelines on institutions and processes of teachers’ policies 138 1. Prioritizing teachers’ policies in a systemic approach 138 2. Achieving more effectiveness in teachers’ policies, by reconciling continuity and change criteria 139 3. Promoting the participation of stakeholders in policy generation 140 4. Strengthening public institutions for the development of teachers’ policies 141 Bibliography 143 7 8 Executive Summary The purpose of this document is to present a state of the art and guidelines for teachers’ policies in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, in the framework of the Regional Strategic Project on Teachers initiative, which at the same time is part of UNESCO’s worldwide “Teachers for Education for All” strategy. For the development of this report, OREALC/UNESCO Santiago established a working method that is based on the contributions of Latin American teachers’ policies experts and of consultation and deliberation groups from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Co- lombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago, that are made up of govern- ment, academic, and labor union stakeholders. The countries were selected using criteria of sub–regional representativity and of accumulated experience in education policies. Thus, the present report is the result of an interaction between two sources and types of knowledge and criteria: specialization on regional teachers’ issues and the experience of national groups. First Part: State of the Art The First Part of the report seeks to characterize the situation of teachers and public policies related to them in the Region, and to identify the main critical knots that countries face to be able to count on the teachers they need. Although the document has a Regional vision, the focus is on the eight countries mentioned above, which repre- sent typical Regional situations, but obviously do not explain the whole reality. Teach- ers’ policies are analyzed by distinguishing three areas that are basic and inextricably linked: teachers’ initial training, continuing education and professional development, and the teaching career. Regarding each of these areas, we present a general characteriza- tion of the Regional situation, while pointing out aspects of each of the eight countries, and identifying critical knots from a policy perspective. The diagnosis concludes with an analysis of traits and institutions in the process of generating and implementing teachers’ policies in the Region, and questions about their stability, consistency, and quality. 1 The first chapter of State of the Art describes the main characteristics of the situation of teachers in the Region, which include an overwhelming presence of women educators; a middle–class or lower middle–class background; a higher education training; low salaries, in comparison with similar professions; and few opportunities for professional development and promotions within the classroom teaching sphere. There is also a description of teachers’ organizations and labor unions, and their links to public policies through dia- logue, negotiations, or confrontation with central and local education authorities. 9 The second chapter addresses initial teacher training. It is pointed out that although originally it was implemented at the secondary school level, in the last few dec- ades –with some exceptions– it has been carried out at the higher or tertiary education levels. The duration of pedagogical studies fluctuates between three and five years. In some countries, there is a supply of teachers that is higher than current needs while in others there is a scarcity of educators, particularly in rural areas and in the scientific field. There are significant weaknesses in basic skills among students who enter pedagogical careers and, something that is more serious, weaknesses are also noted in the quality of teacher training. This is expressed in the lack of subject specialization for the training of basic education teachers, and –generally– in the absence of the necessary skills to put the profession into practice. Although regulations for university level pedagogical training are weak or non–existent, in most cases, in the last few years there have been efforts in some countries to implement accreditation systems, graduation and licensing tests, and standards which provide

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