Want to be a teacher in Spain? Think twice.

For this blog entry, I've decided to try and explain how the Spanish education system works (at least how it works in Castilla y León, which is the province I'm living and working in). 

 

First things first is that it's a pretty different system than the one I'm familiar with at home. Second thing is that since I'm obviously still in school, and haven't even started in the Ed. faculty, I really don't know too much about actually being a real teacher in Alberta (but I do plan on finding out). 

Here, as a Spanish student planning to go to university to become a teacher this is what they must do to be:

a. A primary school teacher (grades 1-6)

    They have to be in the "Magisterio" program at a Spanish university. From what I've been told, this program is 3 years right now. In the future (I think for the next academic year 2010/2011) this is being upped to 4 years, to be par with the rest of the EU.

b. A Secondary school teacher (grades 7-12)

    They can study for a degree in any teachable subject (math, english, sciences, gym, etc.) and then after the have to to a post-degree program called CAP (curso de Adaptación Pedagógica) which in english would be a course that teaches teaching methods. The course is 80 hours of lecture, and 40 hours of practicum. This is going to change to something similar to the American/British university organization, with bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees. For secondary education, students will have to take atleast a 2 year bachelor of Education.

After doing the first part of the process (graduating), teachers who want to work for the state (civil-servants) have to do an exam, called "la oposicion". By just taking the teachers oposicion exam (from what I've heard is a very difficult, useless, standardized exam) candidates earn points. They also accumulate points by having extra education, taking courses, being part of clubs, etc. According to the amount of points they have behind their name, they are placed on lists according to their subject (some teachers can be on more than one list, for example, a bilingual science teacher would be on the english list, and the science list). When the times comes around to offer positions, the ones that are higher up on the list are offered first. Note: the teachers that take the exam but don't actually pass aren't guaranteed work.

By passing the oposicion exam, teachers earn more points and then are official civil servants. In Spain that means that they are guaranteed work (well paid work too) until they are 65 years old. While doing some research I came across an article that said that starting off, Spanish primary school teachers make around 2,300 euros/month. For a full time/full year placement, that's $41,000 CAD per year. Pretty good for a beginner teacher, with minimal teaching education.

Many teachers on the lists are not offered full time/full year positions because there are very few of those. The retirement age here for teachers is 65, and there are still tons of old teachers (the late baby boomers) kicking around. On top of that, the school board is run by the province. So for teachers in Castilla y Leon, the biggest province in Spain, that means that they could be offered a position up to 4 or 5 hours away from where they live. By taking the position (full time or substitute) and working a certain amount of hours, they earn more points, and therefore move up on the list. That means that teachers sometimes have to decide whether they want to live away from their families (and possibly pay a second rent) to take the job and get more points. 

Because I live in a fairly lame, small, industrial city (pop. 45,000) that no one wants to live in permanently, my school has a high teacher turnover. Teachers are usually placed for just one year. They are usually young with few points to their name. Older, mature teachers are concentrated in the capital cities because those are the prime spots that require the most number of points (points that are earned via experience and education that young teachers don't have) The permanent teachers at Montes Obarenes are the ones that live in the large neighbouring cities, or the ones that are originally from Miranda.

One obvious problem with this system is that in big cities, there's no fresh teachers. The teaching style is archaic and old-fashioned. On the other hand of that problem, the teachers in small towns are young and lack experience and tactic. 

The second point is one that is really frustrating here in Miranda. Some of the teachers I've worked with really lack control in the classroom. They are completely walked over by their students. (I can expand on that in another entry)

To sum up, the more I hear about this complicated process, the more grateful I feel for the simplicity we have at home. I'm glad that when I finish university, I'll be prepared to be a teacher (with all sorts of techniques and practicums behind me) and also glad that I won't have to live and commute to a city 3 or more hours away during the week. I think in Calgary the worst case scenario would be working on the other end of the city (of course Deerfoot traffic sucks!) but atleast I would get to see and be with my family and friends. 

This education system is part of a much, much larger social trend here in Spain. I'm hoping that by the end of my stay here (in June) I'll be able to figure out a way to articulate that idea, although I know its going to be difficult, and finding evidence can be patience-testing.