El Tiempo, Piura 13 02 2016, Los Andes, Puno y regiones 14 02 2016

A veces el ejercicio de ubicarnos en el futuro y desde allí mirar el pasado y las oportunidades ganadas o perdidas puede ayudarnos a marcar una mejor ruta a seguir desde el presente hacia el futuro, más aun estando ad portas de un cambio de gobierno.

Hagamos el ejercicio. Supongamos que estamos en el año 2025 escuchando a un panel de historiadores hablando sobre lo que fue la educación 2016-2025. Me imagino dos escenarios alternativos.

ESCENARIO 1: Perú perdió la oportunidad de dar el gran salto de su pedagogía condenando a la población a quedar atrapada en los paradigmas pedagógicos de la economía del conocimiento del siglo XX: currículo segmentado por áreas, quehaceres escolares definidos por programas y competencias fijadas rígidamente por el Minedu, pruebas estandarizadas para dar respuestas pre establecidas, sobrevaloración de matemáticas y lectura y de metas de puntajes en las pruebas nacionales e internacionales como ECE, TERCE o PISA y sus respectivos rankings, orientación escolar hacia el entrenamiento continuo para dar pruebas y obtener notas. Enorme estrés, sensación de irrelevancia y aburrimiento de los estudiantes. Formación y evaluación de profesores en función de esas áreas y pruebas. Resultado: peruanos individualistas, marcados por la impotencia por resolver sus problemas de manera creativa, innovadora, y de tener una ciudadanía activa, informada y responsable.

ESCENARIO 2: Perú aprovechó la oportunidad de dar el gran salto de su pedagogía facilitando a su población el dominio de los paradigmas pedagógicos de la economía de la innovación del siglo XXI: currículo basado en proyectos interdisciplinarios, quehaceres escolares definidos por los intereses de los alumnos, ausencia de pruebas estandarizadas y rankings, fomento a la investigación y desarrollo de teorías originales, valoración de las artes, humanidades, cultivo de habilidades sociales, reconocimiento de las fortalezas de cada alumno estimulando su deseo de aprender, fomento a la solución creativa e innovadora de problemas reales. Enorme disfrute y apasionamiento por el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Formación y evaluación de profesores priorizando su capacidad de desarrollar estrategias diversas para los alumnos diversos. Resultado: peruanos solidarios, cooperativos, entusiastas para resolver problemas de manera creativa, innovadora, y de ser ciudadanos activos, informados y responsables.

¿Cuál creen ustedes que será el escenario real al año 2025? Depende a quién elijamos para gobernarnos.

En FB https://www.facebook.com/leon.trahtemberg/posts/750436588390212?pnref=story

Artículos afines:

Ingreso a las universidades del 2020

Educación 2025: el examen de admisión del futuro (Padres-Cosas # 209)

Educación peruana 2015-2025 vista desde el 2025

Los 20 retos de la educación del siglo XXI: La creatividad y la inteligencia emocional son dos ámbitos que debe desarrollar la escuela del futuro (ABC.ES EDUCACIÓN M. J. PÉREZ-BARCO 11/12/2013)

PISA distorsiona la educación (Revista Padres-Cosas 208)

Una prueba alternativa a PISA

Artículo afin del Washington Post

A los padres que les preocupa que sus hijos menores que están actualmente en educación inicial o primaria estén en buenas condiciones para ingresar a las mejores universidades dentro de 5 o más años cuando les toque el turno de ser admitidos, bien vale la pena que lean cuál es la tendencia que se viene en los requerimientos de admisión.

OJO: Una de las diferencias entre educación siglo XIX-XX y siglo XXI es el giro desde la centralidad en el excesivo estrés académico (priorizando además las matemáticas-ciencias por encima de las artes y humanidades) hacia el énfasis en formar ciudadanos comprometidos y proactivos (valorando un espacio adecuado para las artes, el diseño y las humanidades). Si hubiéramos puesto énfasis en eso hace una generación, el Perú sería hoy muy distinto. En lugar de discutir cuántos puntos subimos en matemáticas o lectura en las ECE de 2do de primaria o en las PISA, preguntaríamos por los niveles de responsabilidad social, adecuación social y compromiso con el bienestar colectivo que expresan nuestros alumnos en sus estudios y proyectos escolares y universitarios).

En FB https://www.facebook.com/leon.trahtemberg/posts/741489022618302?pnref=story

Washington Post, January 20,2016

On Parenting To get into college, Harvard report advocates for kindness instead of overachieving By Lisa Heffernan and Jennifer Wallace

As your oldest child begins to fill out her college application, it is hard not to feel a rising panic. For the last four years she has thrown herself into her school work, taken AP classes, studied for the SAT, worked on the school paper, played on the field hockey team and tutored elementary school children.

Yet as she methodically records her activities on the application, it becomes clear that this was simply not enough. There are 10 looming blank spaces and although her days have been overflowing with homework, activities and volunteering, she has only five activities to report. There are 15 spaces to record the four AP classes she was so proud of taking.

You wonder who the kid is who can complete all of these blank spaces, and what has gone wrong that this is what applying to college now means.

A new report released today by Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, takes a major step in trying to change the college admissions process to make it more humane, less super-human.

Parents, educators and college administrators have long wrestled with the unintended negative side effects of the admissions process, like the intense focus on personal achievement and the unfair advantages of more affluent students. The report, entitled Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good Through College Admissions, aims to tackle these complex issues. It lays out a blueprint for addressing three of the most intractable challenges facing college applicants today: excessive academic performance pressure, the emphasis on personal achievement over good citizenship, and the uneven opportunities available to students of varying income levels and backgrounds.

Many colleges have tried to address these concerns over the years but it takes a unified effort to make a big impact, says lead author Richard Weissbourd. More than 80 stakeholders, including admissions officers (like Harvard’s), deans, professors and high school counselors have endorsed the report.

“It’s the first time in history that I’m aware of” that a group of colleges is coming together to lay out what is and what isn’t valued in the admissions process, says Weissbourd.

“Yes, we want students who have achieved in and out of the classroom, but we are also looking for things that are harder to quantify, [like] authentic intellectual engagement and a concern for others and the common good,” explains Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions at Yale University, one of the report’s endorsers.

In response to the report, Yale will be adding an essay question on next year’s application that asks applicants “to reflect on engagement with and contribution to their family, community and/or the public good,” Quinlan says. Yale will also “advocate for more flexibility in the extracurricular sections on both the Common Application and Coalition Application, so that colleges can more easily control how they ask students to list and reflect on their extracurricular involvement.”

The University of Virginia is also in agreement with the report. “We supportTurning the Tide because we philosophically agree with many of the principal points in the document, [like] promoting, encouraging, and developing good citizenship, strong character, personal responsibility, [and] civic engagement in high school students,” says Gregory Roberts, the school’s dean of admissions.

Like Yale, several of the report’s endorsers have already modified their admissions efforts or practices as a result of these findings. Weissbourd said that over the next two years, Making Caring Common will work with college admissions officers, parents, high school guidance counselors and others to further implement the report’s recommendations. He hopes that many of these points will eventually be incorporated into the Common, Coalition and Universal applications as well.

Here are five highlights from the report, along with tips from Making Caring Common for how parents can help turn the tide:

1. Reduce stress by limiting course loads and extracurricular activities. Admissions offices can reduce undue pressure by sending a clear message that “long brag sheets do not increase students’ chances of admission.” To make this point, the authors recommend applications provide room for only two to four activities or ask students to describe two to three meaningful activities in an essay. Tallying up a lengthy listing of AP credits should be discouraged in favor of more sustained effort in areas of genuine interest.

Parent tip: Help your teens by encouraging them to find activities, classes and volunteer experiences that are meaningful to them, but that do not create undue stress.

2. Value the different ways students make contributions to their families and communities. Current applications often disadvantage students from less affluent backgrounds who may make important but overlooked contributions, such as working part-time to help support their families or taking care of a family member, leaving them no time for extracurricular activities or community service. Colleges need to clearly communicate the high value they place on family contributions and give ample opportunity for applicants to explain their role. By doing so, the authors hope to redefine achievement in broader terms.

Parent tip: If your teens help to run the household, babysit a younger sibling after school, or make other significant family contributions, make sure they write about it on their applications.

3. Stress the importance of authenticity. At the heart the report is the notion that admissions committees are looking for students who are authentic and honest about their interests and accomplishments. Students are encouraged to find the right college fit by remaining true to themselves, keeping an open mind about their options and examining a broad range of colleges. It should also be made clear that over-coached applications can jeopardize admission. Confidence and integrity are best reflected in the student’s own voice.

Parent tip: College admissions officers can sense when an application is not authentic or trumped up. Help teens present themselves in their best light, while still staying true to who they really are.

4. Alleviate Test Pressure. Some colleges have already taken steps to de-emphasize the weight of the SATs and ACTs by making these tests optional. Admissions offices can reduce the pressure surrounding standardized tests by doing this or clearly explaining the test’s weight in the admissions process.

Parent tip: Try to discourage students from taking the same standardized test more than twice, as it rarely results in a meaningfully higher score. Remind your children of that.

5. Engage in meaningful community service. The report highlights a common misconception that volunteering for certain high-profile causes or traveling to exotic countries will make an application stand out. It will, but for the wrong reasons: namely that it looks inauthentic.

Parent tip: Help your teens find sustained community service opportunities that extend for a year or more where the student can be fully engaged in something that is important to them and, in turn, have a meaningful impact. Community engagement can take many different forms, from addressing local needs to serving in a soup kitchen to volunteering on a political campaign or making meaningful contributions at home. Look for opportunities where teens can work side by side with the people they are helping, instead of for them, which can sometimes feel patronizing and may not create as rich an experience.

There will be some applicants who will try to game these new recommendations by engaging in community service in which they have no real interest and later writing insincerely about their experience. However, Weissbourd notes, even students who engage in community service with misplaced motivation may have a powerful learning experience. Research shows that for many students service activities are an opportunity for maturity and growth, even when they are mandatory or driven by the college application process.