A teacher can not say where is Ukraine: our teachers are so poorly trained?

The unusual mistake in "Who wants to be a millionaire?" (Video: "Who wants to be a millionaire?" – Telefe)

The scene has become viral in the last hours. Gabriela, a private elementary school teacher, participated in the program Who wants to be a millionaire? of Telefé. In one of the first cases, they asked: On which continent is Ukraine?

He had four options: Oceania, Europe, Africa and Asia. Doubling, the teacher appealed to the jester of the tribune. Still uncertain, he is betting on the other wild card and has more than two options: Africa and Europe. It was time to answer and chose Africa.

After a while, social networks were already inundated with ridicule and disbelief. How is it possible that even with two helpers, I did not know on which continent was Ukraine? In fact, the question was: How is it possible that a teacher – which, logically, above average education is awarded – does not know where is Ukraine?

The simple question and its wrong answer raised an unusual concern for the training of our teachers. The obvious premise is that there will be no well-educated students without prepared teachers, teachers first to match the children, and then to provide quality education.

Juan María Segura, consultant in innovation and management of education, said Infobae: "It is difficult to separate the quality of school learning from the preparation and expertise of its teachers. The students are a small mirror of their teachers. It is true that other elements come into play, whether external as the socio-economic level or internal as the program, but the students are thermometers of their teachers. And in Argentina, through the Learning operation, we know that our students learn little and bad about almost everything. "

In the same way, he said: "Teacher training does not achieve its goal. It is not a matter of preparing teachers to reach their goal. There are several hypotheses: the content is faulty, the pedagogical approach is false, the scientific evidence is ignored or the integration of technologies is misinterpreted ".

Gustavo Zorzoli, former Rector of the Buenos Aires National, trains teachers in the city 30 years ago. "The academic training at CABA is very good, even if it is too wide in several specialties.In fact, initial training lasts an average of six years. There is no incentive to continue teaching, especially scholarships and better salaries for those who are in practice. You also need encouragement for the best students in the school to choose the race, "he said.

The certain thing is that, beyond suspicions around poor quality in training, there is no concrete evidence to support this badertion because teachers are not evaluated, at least in a standard way. Enseñar was the only attempt at systematized evaluation. In 2017, written and educational communication criteria were submitted to final year faculty members, but attendance was low.

Although they are not representative and mark only a "trend", the results of this test were presented at the end of last year. "They were not as bad as we thought, but not as good"It was the official diagnosis. More specifically, 40% of the students presented difficulties, 20% were in the expected results – they could interpret and extract the ideas of a text – and 40% were above this norm.

Another international study, the one developed by the Varkey Foundation, shows that the prestige of Argentine teachers is among the lowest in the world. Argentina ranks 31st among the 35 countries surveyed, that is, among those with the least respect for teachers.

Rodrigo Miguel, an education lawyer and author of The power of educationsaid: "If we agree that the most important thing for the country is the development of human capital, teachers must be at the center of the problem of education. It is impossible to have a good education with this educational program in Argentina. It is fundamental that we succeed in introducing meritocracy into the teaching career. It can not be the same to be an excellent teacher, mediocre or very bad. We must reward efforts ".

With your proposal, Miguel referred to the status of education that governs the country; with some differences, the same that was approved 60 years ago and that the only salary incentive has seniority The greater number of years, the better salary. No reference to educational enhancements or clbadroom innovation projects.

"It's nonsense to think that meritocracy is against inclusion. That they are the best, those who distinguish themselves from those who perform the most important tasks have nothing to do with exclusion. Teachers must be very qualified. It is essential that only the best can be teachers "thought Miguel.

For his part, Segura said: "Of course, there are teachers who work well and excellent, but they are few and not enough to reverse a misdirected process. Those who embrace this time will be in excellent conditions to pose as poorly trained teachers ".