The PISA report and the importance of Spanish teachers<

The PISA report and the importance of Spanish teachers

I am bringing to this space some reflections about the bad results Spain garnered in PISA's latest report (Programme for International Student Assessment), a study which evaluates the knowledge and skills of 15 year old students in Maths, Reading and Science. The atrocious marks have brought with them a debate on the educational system, its faults and the need for change. And it is in this debate that I would like to introduce the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language, although knowledge of foreign languages haven't been evaluated in the 65 countries in the 5 continents where PISA was undertaken. 

There is a point on which all experts agree, and that is on the characteristics that the most successful school systems share. These include giving schools autonomy so that they have more freedom to take desicions at the forefront of study plans and on how to invest their resources: this gives them greater responsibility for the results. 
However, one of the factors that could interest us the most has to do with the manner in which the teachers teach and how the students learn. So, for example, Spanish students got better results in the areas that focussed on the reproduction of the content of the subjects in which they needed to appy their knowledge. That is to say, knowing what to do with it. In the countries that were at the top of the ranking, the skills to extrapolate the knowledge were precisely those which stood out the most. 
Another change is in the need to get rid of the importance of the teacher as the only source of wisdom and knowledge. The success of today si based on the prominence of the student and in more autonomy for the teacher, strenthening the collaboration and interaction between the two. It is true that those countries who have stood out in PISA's report support the teaching staff and strengthen the professional development. 
The change is to do with an educational policy based on results, that puts focus on the teacher, on the school as an entity, and above all, on autonomy and innovation. PISA's managers have affirmed that "the quality of the teaching staff is fundamental to improving results. It is necessary to the put the best people in the posts, and the recruitment system needs to select the most qualified and choose teachers who will continue to improve throughout their careers. 
I think that you can apply these reflections to the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language. For those interested in the reprot, you can find the link on the Minsitry of Culture webpage.