No abundan pruebas adecuadas e imparciales sobre el impacto de la tecnología educativa
La tecnología suele adquirirse para llenar un vacío sin tener presentes los costos a largo plazo
Un blog de educación ciudadana sobre educación y aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida ❏ ❏ ❏ A blog for citizen education on education and lifelong learning
No abundan pruebas adecuadas e imparciales sobre el impacto de la tecnología educativa
La tecnología suele adquirirse para llenar un vacío sin tener presentes los costos a largo plazo
NORRAG / NORRAG blog |
In this blogpost, published on the occasion of International Literacy Day, Rosa María Torres breaks down some of the key issues and challenges when it comes to debates and policies related to literacy. One of her key arguments is that dealing with illiteracy requires a lifelong learning policy framework that goes beyond schooling.
This blog is dedicated to Emilia Ferreiro.
▸ It is estimated that by 1950 36% of the world adult population was literate (Our World in Data). In 1958 UNESCO adopted the definition of literacy
that became well known: “the ability of an individual to read and write
with understanding a simple short statement related to his/her everyday
life”. Literacy statistics have been collected since then with that
definition in mind. Numeracy – basic mathematics: ability to
add, subtract, multiply and divide – is often added as a separate
category. Over the past few years the definition of what it means to be literate has expanded and become more complex, embracing digital literacy and multiple skill domains (UNESCO, 2023).
▸ The dichotomy illiterate/literate is now
obsolete; it is acknowledged that there are different levels of mastery
of the written language and different types of texts. Also, it is now
clear that illiteracy is not only related to absence of schooling – so called “absolute” illiterates – but also to poor quality schooling.
▸ In 1964 UNESCO published the Declaration on Eradication of Illiteracy. The aspiration to eradicate illiteracy has been abandoned and substituted by reducing illiteracy (reducing illiteracy to half was, for example, one of the six goals of Education for All 1990-2015). The aspiration of universal literacy has also been abandoned; now the goal is reaching “all youth (15-24 years old) and a substantial proportion of adults” (SDG4) (Torres, 2017; see also Torres, 2013).
▸ Over the last decades there has been little progress with adult literacy statistics. Literacy for All was placed at the heart of Education for All; however, it was “one of the most neglected EFA goals”. In 2005 it was estimated that 770 million adults did not have basic literacy skills, two thirds of them women (EFA Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2005). In 2023 they were 763 million. Real figures are probably higher since in many countries these continue to be perceptions and self-evaluations (Do you know to read and write? Yes/No). The United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), coordinated by UNESCO, had little visibility and little impact on the situation of literacy worldwide. UNESCO’s Strategy for Youth and Adult Literacy 2020-2025 acknowledged that “there are now more adults without literacy compared with 50 years ago, meaning that our efforts have not kept pace with population growth” (UNESCO, 2019). The Strategy considered four dimensions of learning: lifelong, lifewide, intersectoral, and universal.
Many challenges remain:
▸ Literacy is an ageless concept. It applies to children, youth, and adults. However, it continues to be associated mainly with adults. Statistics refer to persons beyond 15 years of age. Illustrations related to literacy/illiteracy generally portray adult people, even when lifelong learning is mentioned.
▸ Most people think of reading and writing as a learning process that takes place in childhood and in school; remedial and non-formal “second-chance” learning opportunities are arranged for those who could not learn in childhood. Literacy education remains a key mission of the school system, but many school systems are failing to accomplish such mission, especially for the poor and the most disadvantaged. (See Torres, 2013, on Emilia Ferreiro’s presentation)
▸ Dealing with illiteracy implies not only a “two pronged approach” – with children and with adults – but an integrated approach that views child and adult learning as a continuum, within a lifelong learning policy framework (see Torres, 2012). The Base Document that we elaborated for the United Nations Literacy Decade, and that was approved at a special session during the World Education Forum in Dakar (2000), adopted a lifelong and lifewide learning framework. Unfortunately, UNESCO decided to discard the document and go back to UNLD as adult literacy (Torres, 2011).
▸ It is believed that teaching and learning to read and write is easy. Short literacy and post-literacy campaigns and programmes are offered to young people and adults. So-called “relapse into illiteracy” is usually the result of weak and incomplete literacy processes, and of lack of materials and opportunities to read and write. Children are expected to be proficient readers after three or four years of going to school, regardless of the conditions and obstacles faced by millions of them. The term “learning poverty” proposed by the World Bank applies to “children who are unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10” (Saavedra, 2019).
▸ In 2013, when Education for All (1990-2000-2015) and the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) were coming to a close, it was “discovered” that millions of children worldwide were not able to read, write and calculate after four or more years of schooling (UNESCO, 2013; EFA Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2014). UNESCO and other international organizations spoke of a “global learning crisis”. The International Commission on the Futures of Education (2021) spoke also of a “teaching crisis”. In fact, we are facing a global education crisis that involves not only the school system but the family, the community, the media, the workplace. This is a systemic crisis that precedes the pandemic and demands a radical transformation in many fronts (Torres, 2023). In 1991, in Latin America, at a regional ministerial UNESCO-OREALC meeting, Ministers of Education signed the Quito Declaration proposing a “new education model” and announcing the beginning of “a new era of educational development that responds to the challenges of productive transformation, social equity, and political democratization”. More than 30 years later the old model is still in place (Torres, 2014).
▸ ”Learning crisis” and “learning poverty” concepts are currently at the center of global education reform efforts. Both are centered around the school system. “Learning poverty” focuses on reading (it does not include writing). There is however plenty of knowledge showing that literacy – and reading in particular – start at home and in early childhood, and are highly sensitive to context, family, socio-economic and cultural issues. Availability of reading facilities (libraries, mobile libraries) and reading materials at home and in the community – letters, posters, newspapers, magazines, comics, books, catalogs, menus, movie and TV subtitles, calendars, signs, labels, graffiti, texts produced by children themselves (Torres, 2012) – makes a big difference. There is a strong correlation between educated mothers and children’s literacy acquisition and development. Improving children’s foundational learning implies going beyond the school system and paying attention to the family, the community, the availability of reading materials, language issues, parental literacy/education, play, informal learning, peer-to-peer learning, and poverty eradication.
The Author
Dr. Rosa Maria Torres del Castillo is an Ecuadorian education expert and social activist specialised in basic education, reading and writing, and lifelong learning. She has worked as education advisor for a range of civil society, non-governmental and international organizations, such as UNICEF and UNESCO. In 1988-1990 she was Pedagogical Director of the National Literacy Campaign “Monseñor Leonidas Proaño” and in 2003 she served as Minister of Education and Cultures, in Ecuador. She is the author of over 15 books and numerous articles on education and learning.
La preocupación con las «pérdidas de aprendizaje» ocasionadas por la pandemia del COVID-19 y el confinamiento en 2020-2021 se ha centrando en la llamada «pobreza de aprendizajes» (porcentaje de niños y niñas de 10 años que no pueden leer con comprensión un texto simple) y en la priorización de las llamadas «habilidades fundacionales». No todos los organismos internacionales entienden del mismo modo las «habilidades fundacionales» ni les dan la misma importancia. Algunos las llaman «habilidades fundamentales» o «habilidades básicas» (Por ejemplo, la Declaración de Santiago 2024). Otros prefieren referirse a «aprendizajes fundacionales». Algunos hablan de lectoescritura, otros de lectura, otros de alfabetización, otros de comprensión lectora. Algunos hablan de matemáticas, otros de cálculo o de aritmética. No todos los organismos internacionales entienden del mismo modo las «habilidades del siglo XXI». Algunos incluyen la lectura y las matemáticas dentro de dichas habilidades. El Banco Mundial afirma que el énfasis dado en los últimos años a las «habilidades del siglo XXI» llevó a desatender las «habilidades fundacionales» y que hoy es preciso priorizar estas últimas. (De Hoyos, 2024). Lo cierto es que ha venido generándose un verdadero laberinto terminológico y conceptual en torno a las «habilidades del siglo XXI» y las «habilidades fundacionales», fundamentales o básicas, reforzado por los usuales problemas de traducción. |
16 habilidades para el siglo XXI - Foro Económico Mundial, 2015
|
10 habilidades principales para los empleos del futuro - Foro Económico Mundial
|
10 principales habilidades laborales del futuro – |
||
2015 |
2020 |
2025 |
1. Solucionar problemas complejos |
1. Solucionar problemas complejos |
1. Pensamiento analítico e innovación |
2. Coordinación con otros |
2. Pensamiento crítico |
2. Aprendizaje activo y estrategias de aprendizaje |
3. Gestión de personas |
3. Creatividad |
3. Resolución de problemas complejos |
4. Pensamiento crítico |
4. Gestión de personas |
4. Pensamiento crítico y análisis |
5. Negociación |
5. Coordinación con otros |
5. Creatividad, originalidad e iniciativa |
6. Control de calidad |
6. Inteligencia emocional |
6. Liderazgo e influencia social |
7. Orientación de servicio |
7. Buen criterio y toma de decisiones |
7. Uso, seguimiento y control de la tecnología |
8. Buen criterio y toma de decisiones |
8. Orientación de servicio |
8. Diseño y programación de tecnología |
9. Escucha activa |
9. Negociación |
9. Resiliencia, tolerancia al estrés y flexibilidad |
10. Creatividad |
10. Flexibilidad cognitiva |
10. Razonamiento, resolución de problemas e ideación |
Fuente: Foro Económico
Mundial, Informes sobre el Futuro de los Empleos |
||
Elaboración: Rosa María Torres |
Competencias clave para el
aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida - Comisión Europea, 2018
|
• Competencia en lectura y escritura
• Competencia multilingüe
• Competencia matemática y competencia en ciencia e ingeniería
• Competencia digital y tecnológica
• Competencias interpersonales y habilidad para adquirir nuevas competencias
• Competencia en ciudadanía activa
• Competencia emprendedora
• Competencia en conciencia y expresión culturales
Esta Recomendación buscaba proporcionar un marco europeo común de referencia en torno a las competencias claves a responsables políticos, proveedores de educación y formación, interlocutores sociales y a los propios alumnos. Buscaba asimismo proponer modos exitosos de promover el desarrollo de competencias a través de planteamientos innovadores en materia de aprendizaje, métodos de evaluación, y apoyo al personal educativo.
Habilidades transversales en
América Latina y el Caribe - BID, 2019
|
"El futuro ya está aquí: Habilidades transversales de América Latina y el Caribe en el siglo XXI", BID, 2019.
En octubre de 2019 se lanzó en Panamá una Coalición
de organizaciones públicas y privadas para impulsar las «habilidades del siglo
21» en América Latina y el Caribe. Más de 25 organizaciones
forman parte de esta Coalición.
Habilidades transferibles en
América Latina y el Caribe - UNICEF, 2020
|