Deans call for making it harder to become a teacher: entrance exam for master's degrees and a longer career path

BarcelonaA close but decisive decision by the deans of Education from universities across the country: this Tuesday they agreed to ask the Ministry of Education to lengthen and make the teaching degree program more challenging. Over the past two days, more than sixty professionals from the Conference of Deans of Education met to discuss and approve the white papers on education degrees—that is, the guidelines that should define the curricula for undergraduate and master's degrees in this field. Finally, the deans approved significant changes to the primary education degree and the master's degree for secondary school teachers. Regarding the primary education degree, the deans agreed to request that the teaching degree program be extended to five years; a measure that, according to EFE, received 20 votes in favor, 16 against, and 11 abstentions. Thus, the group has decided they want a four-year qualifying degree, as is currently the case, but also a master's degree that qualifies students to pursue specific specializations, which until now have depended on the chosen specializations within the degree. They also request that these specializations be defined jointly by the Ministry of Education, the regional governments, and the universities. "All students could enter the teaching profession after completing their degree, with the possibility of later choosing a specialization that would broaden their professional opportunities, both in accessing the civil service and in other specific educational roles," states the document to which EFE has had access. Regarding the university degree itself, the deans request that an entrance exam be administered to prospective students, as is already done in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. the PAP (the personal aptitude tests that grant access to teaching degrees)In this regard, prospective students might have to take reading comprehension and logical-mathematical reasoning tests, or an assessment of non-academic attributes, with multiple interviews or situational judgment tests (where a candidate is presented with hypothetical work scenarios and must choose the best response). This possibility is considered "unlikely" by Enric Prats, PhD in Pedagogy from the Faculty of Education at the University of Barcelona (UB), who has attended some of the previous meetings of the deans of education. "They are using the Balearic Islands model, which is more comprehensive than the others. In the PAP (Professional Aptitude Tests), they administer more tests and even ask candidates to submit a video," he explains. Prats insists that the Balearic model works very well, but that "it can only be done this way because they have few candidates." "In Catalonia, with 5,000 candidates each year, it would be impossible, and it would also be difficult to extend the model to the rest of Spain," he says.

The Spanish societies of specific didactics – APICE (didactics of experimental sciences), AUPDCS (didactics of social sciences), SEA (art education), SIDLL (didactics of language and literature), and SEIEM (education of textbooks) – in a statement warn that it "reduces didactic-disciplinary knowledge to a marginal role and replaces the essential articulation between disciplines and their teaching with generalist pedagogical approaches."

Entrance exam for the secondary school master's degree

Where there has been no clash of opinions is in the approval of the white paper on the qualifying master's degree for secondary, high school, and vocational training (FP) teachers. The deans agree on the need for an entrance exam for the master's program, similar to the system used in Catalonia for education degrees and PAP (Professional Development Programs). Their proposal is for a mandatory entrance exam at the national level for all universities (public and private) that assesses both subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills and attitudes. Furthermore, the deans also propose extending the master's program and increasing its practical component. They suggest a duration of one and a half or two years—instead of one year as is currently the case—and doubling the number of practical hours. Currently, there are 350 hours of practical training. Non-binding, but relevant

Two years ago, the Ministry of Education asked the deans of education faculties across the country to submit proposals for changes they deemed necessary to the degrees in early childhood education, primary education, social education, and pedagogy, as well as the secondary school teaching master's degree, which qualifies professionals to teach in compulsory secondary education (ESO) and upper secondary education (Bachillerato). The reason was that The new Spanish university law (LOSU), approved in 2023, establishes that it is necessary to reform and update university degrees.But also because the initial teacher training curricula haven't been updated in 15 years.

While the proposals agreed upon this Tuesday at the deans' conference are not binding, they should carry significant weight when the Ministry of Education decides on changes to update the training of future teachers.