EDUCATION is not only teaching

Have you ever thought what was it like in schools forty years ago, at the time our parents went to school?
What should be taught in the classrooms?
Are you interested in Spanish’s educational system?

Education is a very wide concept. So we’re going to discuss its main topics which will be:

• Spanish educational system
• Bilingual education
• Teaching manners: teachers or parents?
• Discipline. How to avoid discipline problems
• Other types of education



SPANISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

I’m going to talk about the structure of Spanish schools.

-Up to two years old, babies can go to nursery schools, but it isn’t compulsory.
-Children from 3 to 5 years old have the option of attending the Pre-school stage, which is non-compulsory and free for all students.
-Spanish students from 6 to 11/12 go to primary school education, which is compulsory.
-From 12 to 16 they study secondary education.
-After 16 you can work, but if you want to study some degree you have to keep on studying Baccalaureate up to 18. In those two years you can specialize in letters, art or science.

If you pass the University Entrance Exam, you can go to the University.
You can do Vocational Training too: Is also a common possibility after ESO or Baccalaureate (Middle Grade Training Cycles and Superior-level Training Cycles).

SCHOOLS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO 3 CATEGORIES:

- State schools
- Privately run schools funded by the State
- Purely private Schools

The last point I want to talk about is higher educacion, which is after 18.

HIGHER EDUCATION (University)
The normal duration for University courses is 4 years. Passing every subject gives the right to obtaining an academic degree.
When you have finished your degree, you can study Postgraduate courses. They are Master’s degrees and Doctoral degrees. Once finished, you can start working.



TEACHING MANNERS: TEACHERS OR PARENTS?

Since parents do not have enough time to up bring their children properly, some parents pass on the responsibility of teaching good manners to teachers, who just have enough with teaching children compulsory subjects from the curriculum.
Of course, teachers have to be a good example for their students, but this does not mean that they have to play the role of the parents, especially when teachers see students only three or four hours a week, more or less; it is not possible for teachers to teach children much discipline.
They don't even have time to teach them what is needed to be taught.

Another reason to support the idea of parents doing the job of raising their children is that a teacher does not know what a family's values are.
Each parents discipline their children in a different way and each child comes from a different environment.
They ideally should shoulder responsibility for teaching their kids about punctuality, healthy foods and the benefits of exercise.

In conclusion, it’s up to parents whether they teach their children right from wrong and whether they serve as a good model of conduct or not; teachers should just keep it going, insist on the student’s learning capacity and conduct themselves in an appropriate way.



DISCIPLINE

Discipline is always an important point when talking about the control of the class.

From 1950 to 1990, more or less, discipline was something that teachers could take for granted as most part of the students understood the regulations.
It was the teachers who had the upper hand.
Students would always speak to them with respect, and were well aware of the rules.

It is true that teachers used to be much more strict and severe.
In fact, corporal punishment was not something unusual, and even parentsagreed with such methods.
That is why lots of children were afraid of going to school, having such ordeal.

Despite the harshness of many teachers and the fear this carried, learning, in a way, seemed to be much more effective. Why in a way? Students had to learn almost everything by heart, and not out of willingness to really learn something without being hit on the head.

From 1990 to the present this has changed drastically.
We have said it was the teachers had the upper hand. Now this is no longer the case and in some extreme cases, it is just the other way around.

School drop out/school failure is alarming.
Spain is one of the most affected of theUE countries in this area. Many teachers have no control over the "crumbling" class situation.
Students'lack of discipline and despondency in the schools is something we are becoming to get used to.
Students show indifference towards any punishment they may receive (which might be insignificant in comparison with the punishment applied years ago) and this makes things worse.

Students may be punished, but nowadays harassement to teachers is becoming quite common.
Pupils answer teachers back with no qualms, and in most cases teachers don't do anything to avoid such behaviour.

With regard to discipline, skipping class is another common problem among students, which affects the dynamics of the class and brings the learning process to a halt.

All things considered, teachers no longer threat the students with corporal punishment, which enables them not to be affraid of being punished in such a horrid way.

To sum up, the current situation in Spanish schools is rather worrying.



HOW TO AVOID DISCIPLINAL PROBLEMS

Now, we are going to talk about the solutions for these disciplinal problems.

Well, in order to avoid the lack of discipline in schools, basic education is the main point.
It begins at home because parental support and encouragement are one of the most crucial elements to learning, I mean, parents should never be too busy for their children. For instance, if children are allowed to feel confident at home, they will behave at school and elsewhere.
This doesn’t mean they shouldn’t stand up to bullies, but it means they have learned how to act calm and composed under pressure.
This type of education starts at home and is broadened in school.

It is also important the development of character which includes behaviour and social skills.
That’s why character-building reinforced in the home instils in children basic values like honesty, kindness and empathy, you know.
That should be taught and instilled right from the early stages of the child's development.
In others words, people should bring up children since they are babies, and then, they will be polite adults.

Another important point is that children need to be morally conscious of good and bad behaviour options.
These options can be introduced first by parents.
For instance, reading can be introduced as a family activity, as well as sharing books because all this builds up team spirit; and then, by teacher, for example, sharing the learning tools with their classmates.

To sum up, most disciplinal problems can be avoided by introducing some social rules and parental attention.
So, it is simply: if you love your children, they will love others!