Page 97 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 97
the esl situation in spain
public employment services, staff of non-profit associations etc.) partici-
pate in specific measures to reduce ESL, and these measures can take place
either within or outside of schools. The measures vary across the different
Autonomous Communities and, depending on the specific measure, the
professionals are partnered up in different ways, i.e. not all professionals
are involved in all measures.
Spain also has specific programmes targeting particularly disadvan-
taged areas and groups of students (immigrants, ethnic minorities, stu-
dents with behavioural problems, emotional disorders, lack of motivation
etc.) experiencing higher ESL rates. These programmes foster cooperation
and coordination with different bodies and local and regional authorities
(EC/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014). Some of the decrease in ESL levels
can be attributed to the effectiveness of certain regional programmes (EC,
2015). For example, in the Autonomous Community of Galacia the problem
was tackled with the “Project to prevent truancy and ESL” that had encour-
aging results (Nevala et al., 2011). As an example of a reintegration meas-
ure, many cities in Spain have established “Second-chance schools” that
serve as a transition resource, tend to motivate young people and may be
used as a pedagogical resource for addressing other issues before they re-
integrate into education or the labour market. A virtual platform allow-
ing distance learning and providing guidance for vocational modules that
can lead to qualification was also created (Nevala et al., 2011). The Open
Classroom, a curricular adaptation group, is also designed to cope with
school failure and prevent ESL (Nouwen, Van Praag, Van Caudenberg,
Clycq, & Timmerman, 2016).
In addition, in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Education
a well-established and broad Spanish online platform for professional de-
velopment called Aula Mentor offered a course focusing on ESL (developed
within the TITA project). Aula Mentor assists all adults seeking profession-
al development in different areas and certain courses specifically target ed-
ucators and their professional development; Aula Mentor, n.d.). Educating
professionals working in schools on the topic of ESL aims to raise aware-
ness and competencies for ESL prevention and working with (potential)
ESLers.
Conclusions
Spain is one of the few EU member states in which ESL was already recog-
nised as an important issue prior to Europe’s attention to ESL within the
97
public employment services, staff of non-profit associations etc.) partici-
pate in specific measures to reduce ESL, and these measures can take place
either within or outside of schools. The measures vary across the different
Autonomous Communities and, depending on the specific measure, the
professionals are partnered up in different ways, i.e. not all professionals
are involved in all measures.
Spain also has specific programmes targeting particularly disadvan-
taged areas and groups of students (immigrants, ethnic minorities, stu-
dents with behavioural problems, emotional disorders, lack of motivation
etc.) experiencing higher ESL rates. These programmes foster cooperation
and coordination with different bodies and local and regional authorities
(EC/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014). Some of the decrease in ESL levels
can be attributed to the effectiveness of certain regional programmes (EC,
2015). For example, in the Autonomous Community of Galacia the problem
was tackled with the “Project to prevent truancy and ESL” that had encour-
aging results (Nevala et al., 2011). As an example of a reintegration meas-
ure, many cities in Spain have established “Second-chance schools” that
serve as a transition resource, tend to motivate young people and may be
used as a pedagogical resource for addressing other issues before they re-
integrate into education or the labour market. A virtual platform allow-
ing distance learning and providing guidance for vocational modules that
can lead to qualification was also created (Nevala et al., 2011). The Open
Classroom, a curricular adaptation group, is also designed to cope with
school failure and prevent ESL (Nouwen, Van Praag, Van Caudenberg,
Clycq, & Timmerman, 2016).
In addition, in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Education
a well-established and broad Spanish online platform for professional de-
velopment called Aula Mentor offered a course focusing on ESL (developed
within the TITA project). Aula Mentor assists all adults seeking profession-
al development in different areas and certain courses specifically target ed-
ucators and their professional development; Aula Mentor, n.d.). Educating
professionals working in schools on the topic of ESL aims to raise aware-
ness and competencies for ESL prevention and working with (potential)
ESLers.
Conclusions
Spain is one of the few EU member states in which ESL was already recog-
nised as an important issue prior to Europe’s attention to ESL within the
97
