To achieve the understanding of the influence of TTI in equipping teachers to be equitable and inclusive and of the educational policies to provide life-long learning opportunities for all, the following questions will be explored:
1. Is teacher training equipping teachers to provide equitable and inclusive education in Mexico’s schools?
2. Are the teaching practices designed to prepare teachers for the diverse socioeconomic contexts in Mexican schools?
3. To what extent are educational policies promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all?
5 1.4
Definition of terms
Children from disadvantaged groups
According to Mijangos et al. (2005), disadvantaged groups are a manifestation of the socioeconomic phenomena caused by the lack of capacity of the governments to alleviate the needs of society. Considering this rationale, children from disadvantaged groups are those who live in poverty, children with disabilities, children from rural communities, and indigenous children. Children from disadvantaged groups do not have easy access to the essential elements and resources to achieve personal development and to overcome their limitations (Mijangos et a., 2005)
According to Martin (2010), there are many reasons why children do not attend school; high levels of mobility and migration, child labour and exploitation, poverty, gender and disabilities.
There are immense challenges and barriers for children from disadvantaged groups to gain a decent education; sometimes families do not send children to school because of their concerns about safety and security (Martin, 2010). As pointed out by UNESCO (2015), girls and women constitute the majority of out-of-school children and illiterate adults.
Equity in education
“Equity in education means that personal or social circumstances such as gender, ethnic origin or family background, are not obstacles to achieving educational potential (fairness) and that that all individuals reach at least a basic minimum level of skills (inclusion)” (OECD, 2012, p.3). Under this scheme, most pupils have the same opportunity to gain high level regardless of their community, capacities, socio-economic circumstances and conditions (OECD, 2012).
As UNESCO (2015) states, equity in education is the means to achieving equality. Equity involves special action taken to reverse the historical and social disadvantages that prevent children from accessing and benefiting from education on equal grounds (UNESCO, 2015). Moreover, equity measures are not fair per se, but its goal is to ensure equality of outcome (UNESCO, 2015).
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Inclusion in education
UNESCO views inclusion as a dynamic approach of responding positively to pupil diversity and to see individual differences not as problems but as opportunities for enriching the learning process (UNESCO, 2005). The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action article 2 asserts that regular schools with inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discrimination, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all (UNESCO, 2005).
As Mittler (2000) states, there is a difference between placing children in mainstream school, and to make schools responsive to the needs of all children. Furthermore, inclusion is about helping teachers to take the responsibility for the earning outcomes of all children. Inclusion in education involves ensuring that all pupils can have access to the educational benefits and social opportunities offered by the school (Mittler 2000). According to Mittler (2000), inclusion in education implies a radical reform in the school that regard the curricula, assessment, pedagogy and grouping of pupils. An inclusive school welcomes and celebrates diversity when it comes to gender, race, language, social background, and level of educational achievement or disability (Mittler, 2010). As Mittler (2010) describes, working for inclusive education has become key in the educational policy worldwide, and it’s also one expression of the struggle to achieve universal human rights.
Urban and rural schools
According to OECD (2013), PISA results show that students from urban schools generally perform better than those attending schools in non-urban settings. The children’s performance difference is related to the socio-economic status of students, and it is also associated with some of the characteristics that distinguish urban schools (OECD, 2013). Some of those characteristics include better resources, greater autonomy in the allocation of resources, and an adequate supply of teachers (OECD, 2014). This study refers to urban schools those located in cities with the urban settings and infrastructure, and rural schools as those located in small communities with the proper characteristics of a rural setting with limited access to the dynamics of the urban life.
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To introduce the characteristics of urban and rural schools in Mexico INEE (2013) shows that parents in rural communities are poorly educated. In addition, the number of books, computers and internet in the home of urban children is bigger than the home of the rural children (INEE, 2013). Another characteristic is the experience and education level of the teachers; the most experienced teachers are normally allocated in urban schools and teachers in rural schools tend to change schools constantly (INEE, 2013). In addition, urban schools tend to be better equipped with computers, internet, school materials and better overall school conditions than rural schools (INEE, 2013).
1.5
Structure of the thesis
This dissertation is comprised of seven chapters; the current chapter introduces the subject of the study, the reason and justification to explore the subject, an analysis of the research problem, the research questions, as well as a definition of relevant terms. Chapter two summarises the review of the significant sources of information in the subject of equity, inclusion, educational policies and teacher education and introduces an overview of MES. Furthermore, a comparison of rural and urban schools will be discussed. Chapter three presents the analytical framework for this study; the Education 2030 framework will be explored and the SDG4 targets will be discussed. Chapter four explains the methodology used in the study, it also provides the justifications of the research methods, data collection and analysis methods. Chapter five describe the findings obtained from the data; chapter six presents the discussion and conclusions. Lastly, chapter seven provides the authors’ recommendations.
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2 Literature review
This chapter introduces the concepts of equity and inclusion in education, later, the MES will be presented. The teacher training in Mexico will be explored, as well as the influence of TTI towards equitable and inclusive education. Relevant educational policies will also be explored.
Literature will assist the comparison of rural and an urban school in Mexico. Lastly, the reasons why equity and inclusion are crucial in improving Mexico’s education system will be discussed.
2.1 Equity in the education context
In different parts of the world, equity in education has become a major concern. Educational policies in many countries seek to provide equitable and quality education. NGOs work on producing guidelines, tools, frameworks for reference, studies and recommendations for decision makers. According to Van Den Branden et al. (2011) in the previous centuries, access to education had been exclusively for the privileged groups, while other groups including girls, minorities and even the children of labourers have been excluded from the education systems.
As Duru- Bellat & Mingat (2011) point out, the student body is heterogeneous form an academic point of view pupils should be stimulated to make the most of their capacity, therefore, the effectiveness of an education system can be assessed by evaluating the capability to cope with this diversity.
A clear example of this issue, are the children who from families living in poverty, according to World Bank (2013) an estimated of 767 million people were living under the international poverty line of US$1.90 a day in 2013, for many of this families, educating their children becomes a challenge and expenses are not easy to afford. Many of those children living in deprived conditions, have parents who are usually illiterate, or poorly educated and are poorly equipped to support them with school work, or to promote reading habits or knowledge transmission (World Bank, 2013).
For those children, effectiveness of schools and teachers are key for educational success; this rationale can be explained with Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital. This refers to the collection of symbolic elements such as skills, tastes and credentials that a person obtains by
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being part of a social class (Sullivan, 2002). According to this logic, success in the education system is facilitated by the possession of cultural capital of higher class habitus (higher social status). Lower-class pupils do not in general possess these traits, so the failure of many of these pupils is inevitable (Sullivan 2002). This explains class inequity in educational attainment; as described by Sullivan (2002), the education system presupposes the possession of cultural capital, which few students in fact possess, but others do not, consequently, there is a great deal of inefficiency in 'pedagogic transmission' (i.e. teaching). This is because students simply do not understand what their teachers are trying to get across (Sullivan, 2002)
According to OECD (2012), improving equity and reducing school failure pays off, economic and social cost of school improvement is high, through education individuals gain better employment opportunities that can lead to healthier and prosperous lives, and to contribute to the public economy. Nevertheless, literature in the field of education reveals that educational institutions struggle with children’s diversity and tend to ignore the differences in pupils from disadvantaged groups. They have difficulties adjusting their teaching methods or pedagogies to those who are different, by doing this, institutions increase the risk of failure in educating those pupils.
According to Van Den Branden et al. (2011), accessibility to education began with the battle against poverty, discrimination, sickness and racism. Once the impact of educating these marginalised groups had been recognised; policy documents have been issued at a national and international scale to promote universal access to education, such as the EFA movement, initiated in Dakar 2000 (UNESCO, 2015). Minimising inequity in education becomes crucial for the less developed countries, since education is key to achieve economic growth and development and poverty reduction will not be possible without social stability (UNESCO, 2015). However, as UNESCO (2015) points out, the challenges are immense; moving towards equity in the education systems requires a demanding political commitment. Furthermore, producing the right educational policies and proper allocation of resources appear to be a difficult road for many governments, especially for the less developed countries (UNESCO, 2015).
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2.1 Inclusion in the education context
The rationale for inclusive education is based upon the fundamental human rights, as stated in the article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948). According to UN (1948), children with or without disabilities have no distinction in this declaration, and they should have the same right to education. In 1994, the UNESCO’s Salamanca statement and framework for action proclaimed that every child has a fundamental right to education, and must be given the opportunity to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of learning. It also states that every child has unique characteristics, interests, abilities and learning needs (UNESCO, 1994). The Salamanca statement also points out that the education systems and the educational programmes should be designed and implemented to consider the wide diversity of the characteristics and needs of children (UNESCO, 1994).
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the General Assembly in United Nations in 2006 (UN, n.d.). The focus of those conferences is summarised in the Article 24 of this convention and emphasises to encourage states to ensure equal access to primary and secondary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning (UN, n.d.). Segregated education is viewed as potentially violating the children’s rights to appropriate inclusive education, and to limit their capacity to benefit from educational opportunities in the future (NCSE, 2010).
As pointed out by NCSE (2010), schools must employ the appropriate materials, techniques and forms of communication according to the diversity of the pupils, and to provide the proper support to those who suffer physical limitations. It also points out that children must receive their education in the most appropriate mode of communication from teachers (NCSE, 2010).
Furthermore, to foster education of students with disabilities, to improve their chances of participation in society and the development of their personality, abilities and creativity (UN, n.d.). According NCSE (2010), the inclusive education movement was focused initially on people with disabilities, but more recently, the concept of inclusion expanded to those who are at risk of marginalisation or exclusion for different reasons (NCSE, 2010).
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2.2 Mexico’s education system (MES)
Basic education in Mexico is free and provided by the state, and as stated in the constitution and in the general education law; all inhabitants in the country must have the same opportunities of access to the education system, and to the opportunity to develop as individuals and society (SEP, n.d). Figure 2.1 presents the structure of the MES.
Figure 2.1. Structure of the MES
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As shown in figure 2.1, the basic education in Mexico starts in pre-primary education (SEP, n.d). Pre-primary education is aimed for children of 3 to 5 years old, primary education for children of 5 to 12 years old, lower secondary education for students of 11 to 14 years old, upper secondary education (baccalaureate) for 15 to 18 years old and lastly, post-secondary and tertiary education and further for those older of 18 years old (SEP, n.d). The basic mandatory schooling in MES consists of 12 years (SEP, n.d). In the early 90’s MES went through many modifications; basic education years of schooling was widened, teacher training curriculum was modified, free text books were improved, and national programs focused on the improvement of the quality and equity were implemented. (Miranda, 2010).
In addition to the basic education, indigenous education is a relevant aspect of the MES.
Indigenous schools, have an adapted curriculum in different languages (SEP, n.d). The “cursos comunitarios” (courses for especial communities) are also comprised in the MES, aimed for the most marginalised populations (SEP, n.d). Lastly, the special education program, specifically aimed to children with special needs (SEP, n.d.). In this program, children are introduced to the general curricula; nevertheless, the incorporation of this children to the regular primary schools depend on specific individual conditions (SEP, n.d.). The parents of children with disabilities can gain guidance and orientation for their children, according to the level of disabilities and special education needs. (SEP, n.d.).
According to OECD (2013), Mexico’s schools, their teachers and leaders are building capacity, but they require support for improvement, structural issues in the education systems have prevailed until recent years. According to OECD (2013), important challenges remain in the selection of teaches and in the quality of the teacher training programmes; in addition, teachers lack a development plan and incentives as a motivational key factor (OECD, 2013). After the most recent educational reform in 2012, initiatives have been implemented for the selection and evaluation of teachers; the focus of the reform is to promote inclusion, teacher evaluation and quality, but there is room for crucial improvements within the system (Gobierno de la Republica, 2015).
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2.3 Teacher training education in Mexico
According to Griffin (1999), teacher education has become a more responsive activity when it comes to the needs of the schools. Griffin (1999) suggests that teachers have been expected to be agents of change, but unfortunately, they don’t always develop the capacities to do so. The challenges in the teaching profession require that teachers obtain specific knowledge, intellectual skills, and professional orientations; however, Griffin (1999) suggests that this represents a challenge.
Teacher education in Mexico has been thorough a sustained expansion; in the beginning of 1900, the efforts of the government was focused on the increase of education centres, especially in elementary education (SEP, n.d.). Once the expansion of the elementary education occurred, the demand for secondary education increased, therefore the need to produce teachers became a priority for education stakeholders in Mexico (SEP, n.d.). The TTI were founded in the mid-1920s by the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP, n.d.). During that decade, the federal and state governments founded the rural TTI, “escuelas normales rurales”, the main purpose of these institutions, was to produce teachers to assist in the development of the rural communities, especially those with indigenous populations (SEP, n.d.).
By 1934, Mexico’s constitution declared basic elementary education free and obligatory, and in the consequent years, preschool education and secondary education also became mandatory (SEP, n.d.). An important step was taken when teacher education was raised to higher education on 1984, as an attempt to raise the standards and meet the needs of the education system (SEP, n.d.). According to INEE (2015) only 40.4% of the TTI graduates have received the proper preparation exams. Derived from the poor educational results nationwide, teachers’ education has become a policy priority for Mexico in the recent years; key issues include strengthening the process for selecting teachers and assigning them to schools, the balance in their evaluations, the quality of teacher training programmes, the incentives to improve performance and the quality of teaching (Tatto, 1999).
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The TTI curriculum
According to UNESCO (2013), “the curriculum is a way of organizing and sequencing learning experiences with the aim of achieving specified learning outcomes”. It is a guide to how, why and what must be learnt (UNESCO, 2013). In the recent years, policy makers have adapted the TTI curriculum to face the new challenges in Mexico’s society. The current curriculum was implemented in 2011 and is divided in five blocs (SEP, n.d.), as shown in the next figure.
Figure 2.2. The structure of the TTI curricula (adapted by the author)
Teacher practices, courses that gradually involve students in the school life (8 courses)
Optative courses (e.g., art and physical education) (4 courses)
Additional language and information technologies (7 courses)
Preparation for the teaching-learning practice (e.g., math and sciences) (20 courses)
The psychopedagogical bloc, courses that focus on the teaching process (16 courses)
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As shown in the figure 2.2, the TTI curriculum consists of 5 blocks as the core structure. Each block comprises a series of courses. The TTI curriculum is presented in the appendices.
According to SEP (n.d.), the TTI curriculum was designed with the support of teachers and students of TTI across the country. School principals, educational stakeholders, representatives of the teacher’s union named Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacion (SNTE) and researchers specialised in teacher education were also involved in the design (SEP, n.d).
The participants were called for national meetings, online surveys, visits to TTIs, focus groups and interviews (SEP, n.d.). The TTI curriculum includes 8 semesters, 55 courses, 291 credits, and a final dissertation to obtain the grade (SEP, n.d.). According to SEP (n.d.), the TTI curricula is designed to assist the TTI students to develop a set of competences in the personal and the professional level, that will be required in the teaching profession. Some of the personal competencies include analytical thinking, problem solving skills, decision making, continuous learning, initiative, research skills, teamwork, ethical, communication skills, use of technology, and respect of the diversity, ethnic group and gender (SEP, n.d.).
As SEP (n.d.) points out, the TTI curricula attempts to develop very specific professional competences in the teachers; teachers that are capable to do class planning according to the needs if the social contexts, to build diagnostics and motivates the students. In addition, teachers must be able to adapt the curricula accordingly, to plan and execute integral education and to utilise the diagnostics evaluations and plans accordingly to produce teachers with the ability to use education research to develop professionally, and who knows and respects the principles derived by the educational law and the values of the teaching profession (SEP, n.d.).
Teachers with the knowledge to create positive work environment in the classroom, that develops and promotes the student’s competences (SEP, n.d.). Teachers who promote inclusion, tolerance and acceptation, and who are sensitive to those with learning barriers (SEP, n.d.). It
Teachers with the knowledge to create positive work environment in the classroom, that develops and promotes the student’s competences (SEP, n.d.). Teachers who promote inclusion, tolerance and acceptation, and who are sensitive to those with learning barriers (SEP, n.d.). It