Polymodal cycle objectives
According to the Federal Education Law N ° 24.195, in Title III, Chapter IV (Polymodal Education), Article 16, establishes the objectives of the Polymodal Cycle in:
- Prepare for the exercise of rights and the fulfillment of the duties of the citizen in a modern democratic society, in order to achieve a will committed to the common good, for the responsible use of freedom and for the adoption of social behaviors of ethical content at the individual, family, work and community levels. Strengthen awareness of the duty to become an agent of positive change in their social and natural environment. Deepen theoretical knowledge in a set of knowledge grouped according to the following guidelines: humanistic, social, scientific and technical.Develop instrumental skills, incorporating work as a pedagogical element, accredited for access to the production and work sectors.Develop a reflective and critical attitude towards the messages of the social communication media. Promote intellectual autonomy and the development of the necessary skills for the pursuit of further studies. Promote the practice of physical education and sport, to enable harmonious development and integral of the young person and favor the preservation of their psychophysical health.
Objectives of polymodal education
Likewise, the Provincial Education Law No. 6970, in Title IV, Chapter III, Section III, Article 40, establishes the objectives of Polymodal Education, ensuring that students are able to:
- Think and communicate appropriately using oral and written language, body language, mathematics and computers, and systematic procedures for analysis and resolution of complex problems. Acquire, integrate and apply knowledge from different fields and disciplines. Work and study efficiently, demonstrating responsibility and commitment to the personal, social and civic values necessary to contribute to the development of a democratic and pluralistic society. To develop fundamental capacities and practical skills that ensure access conditions in a complex, changing and segmented labor market: critical and diagnostic, creative capacity and researcher, for teamwork, positive attitude towards innovation and technological advancement,Scientific attitude for decision-making and problem solving, understanding of adaptation criteria to new work organization systems, possibilities for retraining and retraining, versatile capacity and adaptability to different work situations and possible changes.
Functions of polymodal education
The Functions of Polymodal Education have been established in the Document for Serious Agreement "A" N ° 10 - Polymodal Education - Framework Agreement (December 1995) issued by the Federal Council for Culture and Education of the Nation. Council whose creation and functions are contemplated in the Federal Law of Education N ° 24.195, Title X (Government and administration), Chapter II (Of the Federal Council of Culture and Education), Articles 54, 55, 56, 57 and 58.
In the aforementioned document, in point I.1. The Functions of Polymodal Education are established, establishing that the Education of young people has sought to guarantee three basic functions: the training of the citizen, the preparation to pursue higher studies and the training to carry out work activities.
Taking these aspects into account, Polymodal Education must fulfill the following functions in an integrated and equivalent way:
- Ethical and civic function: to provide students with training that deepens and develops values and competences linked to the elaboration of personal life projects and integration into society as responsible, critical and caring people. Propaedeutic function: to guarantee to the students a solid formation that allows them to continue any type of higher studies developing permanent learning capacities. Function of preparation for productive life: to offer students an orientation towards broad fields of the world of work, strengthening the skills that allow them to adapt flexibly to their changes and take advantage of their possibilities.
Polymodal Education will fulfill these functions through two types of training: a General Foundation Training (FGF) that will take up, with higher levels of complexity and depth, the contents of Basic General Education, and a Oriented Training (FO) that will be developed, will contextualize and specify the contents of the General Foundation Training, attending to different fields of knowledge and social and productive work.
The Provincial Education Law No. 6970, in its Title IV, Chapter III, Section III, Article 39, deals with the functions of Polymodal Education in the Province, reiterating the concepts established in Framework Agreement No. 10, simply adding in the Function of preparation for productive life, in relation to "… solving problems and manifesting actively and reflectively in a changing world…"
Characteristics of polymodal education
Federal Education Law No. 24,195, in its Title XII (Transitional and Complementary Provisions), Article 66, paragraph b), establishes that the Federal Council for Culture and Education of the Nation, must agree on the modalities of the Polymodal Cycle, taking into account the demands of the labor field, community, regional and national priorities and the necessary articulation with the higher level.
In this way, the Federal Council for Culture and Education, through Framework Agreement No. 10, of December 1995, establishes that: General Foundation Training (FGF) and Oriented Training (FO) give rise to five Modalities:
- Modality Natural Sciences Modality Economy and Management of Organizations Modality Humanities and Social Sciences Modality Production of Goods and Services Modality Communication, Arts and Design.
All the modalities will share an orientation that will be, at the same time, humanistic, social, scientific and technical, although they will organize and develop the contents based on the requirements of the field that differentiates each modality from the others, and from the regional and community in which institutions carry out their activity.
According to the same document, it is established that the contents of Polymodal Education will be integrated into: * Common Basic Contents (CBC) - * Oriented Basic Contents (CBO) and * Differentiated Contents (CD).
- Common Basic Contents (CBC): They will deepen the training offered by the EGB. It will correspond to the General Foundation Training (FGF) and will be common to all modalities. Its development will demand a minimum of 50% of the minimum hourly load foreseen for the level. They will be agreed by the Federal Council of Culture and Education of the Nation. Oriented Basic Contents (CBO): They will deepen and contextualize the CBCs through developments oriented towards different fields of knowledge and social and productive work. Its development will demand around 30% of the minimum hourly load foreseen for the level. They will be agreed by the Federal Council of Culture and Education of the Nation. Differentiated Contents (CD): They will be related to different areas of application and deepening of the CBC and CBO.They will be defined within the framework of the prescriptions and mechanisms established in each province to promote the link of the School Institutions with their socio-productive environments and from the Institutional Projects of each establishment. They are structured from Institutional Educational Projects (PEI). Its development will comprise around 20% of minimum hourly time for the level.
Likewise, the aforementioned document establishes the articulation of Polymodal Education with the Technical-Professional Paths (TTP), establishing that Polymodal Education, in any of its modalities, may be articulated with Technical-Professional Pathways, which may be organized according to different Alternatives that will be oriented to the development of the necessary skills to perform in specific areas of productive work. They may be carried out against turns or at the end of the 3rd year of the Polimodal.
The modalities of polymodal education
The modality is the character that the polymodal acquires according to the field of reality that it focuses with the greatest intensity and was created to respond to the interests of adolescents and the needs of the social and productive context, being:
- Economy and management of organizations: it is a complex field and of strategic importance in the social context. Knowledge related to economic processes is emphasized. Production of goods and services: this focuses on contents that relate to knowledge and problem solving in the production processes and activities that comprise them: design, management and marketing. Humanities and social sciences: refers to the understanding and interpretation of the processes of personal development and interaction, continuity and transformation of the sociocultural world from a multidisciplinary perspective. Communication, art and design: it broadens the conception of the arts understood as fine arts towards the recognition of the aesthetic dimension. The image is the axis with different languages and as a form of expression and communication.Natural sciences, health and environment: points to a reflection of the productive processes in support of the scientific task, conservation and improvement of the environment and health.
Analysis of the current situation of education in Argentina, recommendations of UNESCO and prestigious Argentine intellectuals
Providing statistical data, analyzed by Dr. Etcheverry, we observe that in 1993; for 7th of a group of schools in the country, the grade achieved in mathematics was 5.2 and in language, 5.3; which clearly shows the crisis in the Argentine educational system. On the same scale from 1 to 10; in which this last value does not represent excellence, but the minimum; in 1997; of the students who finished high school, the performance was 6.7; both in language and in mathematics. There are more data about the performance of students in our educational system and all show the same trend. Other interesting data arises from investigations carried out by A. López regarding young people who joined the electoral register (1 million young people between the ages of 18 and 19), on the occasion of the 1999 national elections.Out of 100; 63 were outside the educational system. Of the total of those young people excluded from the system, 2 are illiterate, 17 did not complete primary education, 37 only managed to complete that level, 17 dropped out of secondary and the remaining 29 managed to finish secondary education and in some cases continued tertiary studies.
We must contextualize this situation based on the characteristics of postmodernity, where it deprives materialism, hedonism, permissiveness, relativism and consumerism produced by the so-called "light or cool man". We also use the valuable conclusions made by other authors to make this clear diagnosis of the current situation. Thus, J. Barilko, in "The educational revolution" affirms that we live in a mass world where uniformity is overwhelming (news canned to canned brains). Education is intended to be fun and it really isn't, all efforts to make us clowns smiling and understanding in class are futile. Likewise, today's authoritarian is invisible and is not a person, he is a system. We learned to pronounce beautiful phrases but the ideas were degraded.Another thing that we must understand and accept is that the crisis is inside, it never comes from outside. Some survived this training system and are excellent professionals. School is not for them, they are a select few. The school must be for the majority that requires external support to awaken and guide them, with whom this model has failed. In his metaphor, "to achieve freedom you have to cross the Andes and cross the Andes is a lead.""To achieve freedom you have to cross the Andes and crossing the Andes is a lead.""To achieve freedom you have to cross the Andes and crossing the Andes is a lead."
For its part, the Ministry of Culture and Education of Argentina does not encourage teaching to think at school, diagnosing that it tends to privilege logical, mathematical and linguistic intelligence over other ways of relating to knowledge, such as what artistic, experiential or experimental. It proposes that the teacher must follow 3 principles when teaching:
- Guarantee, through different strategies, that the information circulating in class is accurate It must give spaces for exercise not mechanically, but favoring the reflection, complexity and deepening of the task according to the rhythms of each student It must help students to think through re-questioning, promoting an active role of the same in the construction of their learning -the latter generates a strong motivation in the students, key aspect to learn better-.
This, taking into account multiple intelligences, which differs from the traditional conception. Thus for Gardner there are at least 7 intelligences - logical / mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, kinetic / bodily, interpersonal and intrapersonal - and each of them represents a specific ability to solve problems.
We also warn R. Morduchowicz that, after describing how he conceives the current situation of education in Argentina, he proposes to integrate popular culture into the school and claim access to cultural capital.
The suggestions emanating from UNESCO are characterized as "The four pillars of education", which we can summarize as follows. A structured teaching system will be successful if it is based on a balance between the following four pillars:
- Learning to know: specialization should not exclude the general culture. In the first place it involves learning to learn, exercising attention, memory and thought. Basic education is successful if it provides the drive and the foundations that will allow us to continue learning throughout our lives. Learning to do: linked to professional training. The future of the economy of this century - in which human labor has been replaced by machines - is contingent on its ability to transform the progress of knowledge, innovations that generate new jobs and companies. The learning must evolve and can not be considered as mere transmission of more or less routine practices. Increase the levels of qualification through the specific competences, combine the qualification itself, social behavior,the ability to work in a team, the ability to take initiative and take risks, added to the personal commitment of the worker. Learn to live together. Learn to live with others. Conceive an education that allows avoiding conflicts or solving them peacefully, promoting knowledge of others, their cultures and spirituality. In the face of so much ruthless competition, establishing a context of equality and formulating common goals and projects, prejudice and hostility can lead to more serene cooperation, even friendship. Promote empathic aptitude in schools. It becomes necessary in school education to set aside time for cooperative projects and participation in social activities. Education must contribute to the global development of each person: body and mind, intelligence,sensitivity, aesthetic sense, individual responsibility, spirituality, endowing with autonomous and critical thinking and the elaboration of their own judgment. Confer, through education, the freedom of thought necessary in every human being, of judgment, feeling and imagination. Tend to imagination and creativity.
UNESCO (the six goals of the "Education for All" Program) currently has among its main strategies that of reaching the year 2015 with six major educational objectives achieved worldwide. We have decided to quote them because, although most of them are valid for all levels of formal education, several have a direct impact on the secondary level, which is chosen by us for this practical work. These six major lines of action illustrate the achievements that UNESCO is encouraging governments around the world to achieve before 2015. They are:
- Expand early childhood care and education
The goal calls for more and better opportunities to support children, their families and communities, in all areas where the child is growing up (physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually). Provide education free and compulsory primary for all
This objective promotes ensuring that all children go to school and finish their primary education, that is, to reach the ideal of 100% of children in the world with a complete primary education (goal that Argentina is very close to reaching already which currently exceeds 90% indicators) Promote the ability to learn to learn and in general the so-called life skills -life skills- in youth and adults.
This goal emphasizes meeting the new learning needs that young people and adults have today in a context of lifelong learning (most of these skills fall within the so-called "four pillars" of the Delors Report). Goal of high current relevance for the Argentine secondary level. Increase the literacy rate in adults by 50%
This goal advocates a certain level of improvement in adult literacy before 2015, in this case 50% better than in the year 2000. Achieve gender parity before 2005 and gender equality before 2015
This goal proposes that there be a similar number of girls and boys attending primary and secondary school by the year 2005 (this is what gender parity means). The education
This goal implies the improvement in the quality of education in all its aspects, aiming towards a state of situation where people can achieve excellence. Goal of high current relevance for the Argentine secondary level.
UNESCO also makes proposals to improve education. The compiling specialists have been Beatriz Macedo and Raquel Katzkowicz - both from UNESCO - within the framework of the Seminar on Prospects for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Chile during the year 2000. The work is titled: «Secondary Education: Balance and Prospective ».
These proposals arise from a questionnaire that the aforementioned authors / compilers formulated to prominent specialists (mostly Latin American) about necessary reforms at the secondary level. The questions they were asked were:
- "In your opinion, what are the priority needs in the training of our adolescents and young people, based on the future economic, social and political scenarios in the region?" "Do you believe that the training needs that arise from the Could the previous answer be better feasible with any of the five alternatives mentioned below ?:
I. A unique, flexible and contextualized secondary;
II. Two or three clearly diversified final years;
III. Modular structures that each student takes according to their time and interest;
IV. Structures other than the current ones in terms of class periods, divisions of the school year, and practice in the world of work or
V. Two cycles, one mandatory and the other non-mandatory and then clearly differentiated options ”
Ernesto Schiefelbein replied that in order to train our adolescents according to these alternatives, it is necessary to start by relating their knowledge to the current scenarios. For now, he says, the school "teaches only for school" and has very little to do with real life. Secondary school does not offer students an opportunity to analyze their personal problems (at a time when they desperately seek to strengthen their development as a person) or those of society. The day high school can do it, it will also be able to prepare them for the changes to come.
With respect to modality, Schiefelbein understands that the problem, again, is not so much how secondary education is organized, but how students are expected to learn. Only if the learning modalities are specified (such as: projects, interviews, debates, simulations, work cabinets, cases, group colloquia or mutual education network) could we examine what the forms of instrumentation would be. In all the alternatives offered, the problem remains "the teacher dictates her classes and the students who memorize" or who perform mechanical application operations (as occurs in many math exercises). The problem, therefore, is how to learn and not so much what to learn. Information learning is done on TV or in other media,but in school there is a lack of opportunities to systematize this already available information.
Ignacio Pozo, for his part, replies that he should be trained for knowledge, in the broad sense, which does not exclude pleasure or shared knowledge. Make knowledge pleasant and enjoyable, but also necessary; Know that those who do not have certain cultural keys have less access to the products and processes of this society. This requires knowing that we should not give up teaching established bodies of knowledge - which are the culture in which we live - but also teaching how to learn, how to interact with knowledge and with other people. Pozo insists that even for the defenders of economistic criteria, training for intellectual autonomy is an indispensable requirement for the cultural wealth of a society.And it is no longer enough to train only the elites because the world we are going to is much more horizontal and dynamic.
Regarding the modality, Pozo is ideally inclined towards options III, that is, modular structures that each student attends according to their time and interest and IV, structures different from the current ones in terms of class periods, divisions of the year school and practice in the world of work. But, insofar as they can be structurally and economically unviable, a solution would go through option I; that is to say, a unique, flexible and contextualized secondary school knowing that this requires a truly open system (that caters for diversity, with support teams, variable educational tours with real electivity), which also requires resources, so it seems difficult implementation in the region. Regarding option V., we must tend towards an increasingly broad compulsory education,which does not necessarily imply that primary and secondary school disappear as such.
In fact, this is the case in the Spanish model.
Álvaro Marchesi answered that the priority needs are the knowledge of the basic culture of our time: training in democratic and solidarity values; desire to know more; capacity for teamwork; innovation; command of different languages. As for the modality, he states that the option he prefers is a common secondary school, lasting three or four years, with a progressive curricular diversification depending on the interests and abilities of the students.
At the end of it, one could access vocational training oriented towards the world of work or towards post-compulsory secondary education of two or three years, at the end of which one could access university or higher vocational training studies. Regarding the option that proposes highly open structures, based on modules, some essential for certain higher studies, as well as others clearly oriented to vocational training and that each student will study according to their possibilities of time and interests, It is highly attractive for post-compulsory secondary education but difficult to implement. Possibly, Marchesi considers, it is necessary to go through a more formalized first stage that allows progress towards this model.
Elena Martín understands that the priority needs are all those related to learning to learn and learning to behave in accordance with humanistic values. This means, dexterity of search, analysis and evaluation of the information, capacity to work in team; ability to assess decisions from the balance between benefits and risks for people and the environment; initiative, development of empathy both cognitive and affective that makes them understand others and move with them.
Regarding the modality, Martín leans towards a compulsory 10-11 year old and a more specialized post-compulsory course in academic and professional ways with gateways between the two. He agrees with the possibility of thinking about totally different structures from the current ones, but in this sense he understands that it would be necessary to rethink the organization of the entire secondary school along the lines indicated in the question. That option also does not seem incompatible with what is said in point III. In one case it focuses more on curricular concretion, while in the other point it speaks of organization in a broader sense.
For David Silva, the priority needs would be an education in ethical and civic values, which prepare young people to be responsible citizens of their destiny and also of society as a whole, promoting work attitudes, tolerance, solidarity, open to change and enthusiasm to continue learning throughout life. Likewise, it is a priority for Silva, the preparation for professional life. That they succeed in their professional destiny and prepare for it. This preparation requires boldness and exploring new paths. Increasingly closer to the life of work, from the years of preparation. All the flexibility without any other limitation than what is most convenient for a better training.Promote innovations and changes from the base to adapt to the specific needs of the students and the society of their environment. On the other hand, rigor and scientific updating, both for your future professional life and in preparation for higher studies. Very strong emphasis on the use of information and communication technologies so that they do not become the new illiterates and Latin America and the Caribbean does not remain marginalized in development.
As for the modality of the proposal, Silva says that the best is sometimes the enemy of the good. A theoretically ideal thing may be impossible to implement due to the real conditions of each country. It is necessary to start from the current and take into account the resources that can be counted on in the coming years, especially teachers. One may prefer a system but it turns out that having teachers prepared for that system is almost impossible in the medium term since it would require enormous investments in retraining or preparation.
For this reason, this researcher is inclined to be clear about the final goal and to achieve it realistically and with the conviction of most educational agents. The different alternatives presented by this question are not totally exclusive; there may be an alternative with elements of others. In the long term, Silva sponsors a 10-year general compulsory education and then differentiated career options, one of which would be immediate preparation for tertiary studies. But this general education should be flexible, contextualized, with a central core, with extremely open structures, with very different methodologies according to ages or age cycles. There has to be a lot of difference between the teaching style for students from 6 to 8 years old, from 9 to 11 years old and from 12 to 15 years old.Another important need for Silva is the generalization of school education between the ages of 3 and 5.
Netta Maoz understands that the priorities of education for young people are to learn more science and the use of computers and to assume that today it is very important to keep in mind that people must learn throughout their lives and be able to adapt to according to changes in the region. As for the modality, Maoz prefers the first option with a flexible proposal.
Jehuda Reinharz understands that a liberal education is the best preparation for a life and a professional career that involves the fulfillment of the individual. In that context he understands a liberal education as non-restrictive and designed to promote a flexible mind. Along these lines, specific content is generally much less important than the general skills and qualities taught. These include the skills to conceptualize, analyze, and think critically; think, write and express yourself orally in a logical and coherent way; relate the concrete to the abstract; be able to relate ideas to information including that which corresponds to different fields and disciplines; work collaboratively with others;and to be able to deal without difficulties with a variety of ideas that transcend the immediate or personal experience of each one. Regarding modality, Reinharz understands that a measure of curricular flexibility is desirable and should be encouraged. As for the aspects that appear in the questionnaire distinguishing higher education from education for work from the North American context, it is difficult for him to understand how it works in other parts of the world because in its context it does not represent a difficulty.It is difficult for him to understand how it works in other parts of the world because in its context it does not represent a difficulty.It is difficult for him to understand how it works in other parts of the world because in its context it does not represent a difficulty.
Ángel Díaz Barriga states that education in life and for a better understanding of what surrounds the student should be prioritized, educating in technology and in the problems that today's practical world demands. It clarifies that it is necessary to educate in the very life of the adolescent first, taking advantage of everything that surrounds him (information technologies, media, practical technologies) to generate from there a concern for scientific knowledge. Secondly, it is necessary to educate her to understand "her world" and from it, world history and geography. Thirdly, it is necessary to educate them based on a perspective of employment and national development. Regarding the modality, Díaz Barriga does not think that discriminating primary and secondary works. The training and hiring of teachers (teachers) is done based on that vision.He thinks that it is feasible to differentiate a common part in secondary school (three years) and a part of vocational guidance (which does not mean that students who attend technical training cannot enter higher education).
Perhaps, this author argues, one should think of very simple and awarded technical diplomas under the perspective that at work one can aspire to a subsequent labor certification, without canceling access to higher education from the world of work. It is important to guarantee a minimum of knowledge that is practical in nature. For example, a physics or chemistry that allows us to understand everyday phenomena. Exceed the science teaching of the beginning of the century, or a journey of physical thought to our century. Working with scientific communities asking what are the subjects of their discipline that must be considered to acquire a current culture on a field of knowledge (physics), would imply re-educating teachers.In Mexico there is an important experience that unfortunately has not affected the curriculum of any educational level. Scientists working on border issues develop texts to disseminate this knowledge among the general population. This experience would have to be systematized to develop: What we should teach about science and how we should teach science at the present time. It is important not to lose sight of the fact that our adolescents are educated by the media, by the images and in a peremptory period by the Internet. It is in this vision that we must channel our efforts, concludes Díaz Barriga.What we should teach about science and how we should teach science at the present time. It is important not to lose sight of the fact that our adolescents are educated by the media, by the images and in a peremptory period by the Internet. It is in this vision that we must channel our efforts, concludes Díaz Barriga.What we should teach about science and how we should teach science at the present time. It is important not to lose sight of the fact that our adolescents are educated by the media, by the images and in a peremptory period by the Internet. It is in this vision that we must channel our efforts, concludes Díaz Barriga.
For Bernal Meza the priorities are training as human beings and the incorporation of techniques, methodologies and knowledge that enable them to accept change and adapt to the incorporation of technologies that we are almost unaware of today. It could be argued that the latter is almost impossible to foresee, but the history of human culture shows that man knew how to adapt to the great transformations generated by humanism and capitalism from the 15th to the 17th centuries and that the basis of everything was the freedom to think and create. As for the modality, Bernal Meza leans towards alternative I because it allows greater flexibility, in relation to the role that this educational section must fulfill for him and that we have already indicated.
Ana Luiza Machado says that there are two categories of young people: those who have access to secondary education and those who do not. The needs of both are identical but the way of meeting them is very different. Machado understands that the skills required for today's life are:
- Know how to communicate in writing and orally Know how to read and understand what is read Know how to anticipate problems and know how to solve them Know how to work as a team Know how to be critical in the face of the social environment Be a participatory citizen Develop moral values Know how to be able to undertake Have conditions to continue learning throughout life Position yourself autonomously facing life.
All young people must be given access to these skills for their personal and professional lives and they must be formally and / or non-formally attended, depending on the situation of each one.
As for the modality, Machado thinks that a combination of I and III would be the ideal. A common central nucleus and a diversified nucleus that caters to the best interests of the students, with open modular structures that allow them to contemplate their possibilities. But you also want to make clear that high school should not be professional in the classic sense of the word, that is, preparation for a specific job. Machado does not think that general knowledge and skills necessary throughout professional and personal life should be set aside to teach technical skills oriented to the development of a specific job that we do not know if it will be useful in a few years or even when the student finishes their courses.
Ignacio Gonzalo sees basic training in communication skills as priorities in the training of young people, especially in oral expression and written comprehension. Development in school of high self-esteem and self-confidence. Inclination to teamwork and management of the proper techniques to do it. Adoption of a personal attitude of dialogue and constructive resolution of conflicts. Development of interest in the social environment that surrounds them, that moves them to collect information about what is happening through newspapers, books, quality television or access to the Internet. The list would be more or less long, Gonzalo argues, depending on the priorities that a given educational center may set at the same time, simultaneously, to really put them into practice in a school year.Regarding the modality Gonzalo finds that the first option coincides with his way of understanding the implementation of the proposal.
Pablo da Silveira, for his part, sees as priority needs the adequate handling of the mother tongue (oral and written), a reasonable command of English, basic scientific culture, command of basic computer tools (word processors, spreadsheets), democratic culture, basic economic culture. Regarding the implementation modality, da Silveira is favorable to compulsory education up to the age of 15. If this point is firm, it does not believe that there are decisive arguments that confirm or disqualify any of the options considered. There are good and bad ways to apply any of the schemes proposed by this researcher. On the other hand, he believes that the option between a work-oriented education and a more academic education cannot be postponed by the time students are 14 or 15 years old.Certain options must be able to be taken when the children are 12 years old, in order to properly organize the training they receive before the age of 15 (foreseeing that many of them will leave the educational system at that time). Very schematically, Silveira believes that there must be a first option at age 12 between an education with a more academic profile and another more clearly oriented to work (although the latter should not be a dead end in curricular terms). And then there has to be some diversity of options for the final three years. The characteristics of these options must be defined in terms of pedagogical objectives (types of learning to be achieved) and must be compatible with a wide variety of methodologies and forms of organization of the curriculum.
Annex: History of the average level of education in Argentina
Middle or secondary level
The process of organizing the middle level was done through the creation of national institutions that would constitute models for the provinces in their organizational structure and study plans. The institutionalization policy of the middle level was centralizing.
In 1863 the National School of Buenos Aires was founded, 10 years later the country had fourteen national schools in different provinces. According to Van Gelderen, our high school model was the baccalaureate, created by Bartolomé Miter. It was conceived for few, with the invention of a nationally-minded elite or ruling class, preparatory to university. But then it spread and became a school for everyone, without taking into account the initial conditions of its students and for what purposes that the originals exceeded. Reforms were attempted in their study plans, their structure was simplified by abolishing the boarding school, and attempts were made to respond to regional needs with more practical teaching. However, its preparatory character for the university predominated.
The Normal School of Paraná, destined to the training of teachers at the secondary level, was founded in 1870, inspired by the ideas of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, it was modeled on the North American school and it worked with North American personnel, texts, doctrines and procedures. The institution was marked by the liberal, progressive, democratic and secular movement called normalism influenced by currents of the time. This school marked the beginning of the feminization process of the teaching profession.
In 1877, the treatment of the project of regulation of the right of examination of the students of the private and provincial secondary schools began. Those who attended the national colleges entered the university, higher or professional institutes.
In 1878, Law No. 934 on freedom of education was passed, admitting the category of free student in official establishments. This law empowered students from private schools to take exams, who would submit to committees of official teachers and a representative of the private school.
This law was regulated in 1879, and 12 private schools were assigned. It had its scope in the national college, but then covered the teaching and other institutions.
According to Martínez Paz, the crisis that secondary education was going through was due, among other factors, to the fact that it was identified with national schools, although they captured a good percentage of the population, another large percentage that finished primary school was outside the system.
The establishment of the National School of Commerce in 1890 and the Industrial School of the Nation in 1898, marked the first steps to diversify the secondary education trying to give an answer to the growing developing population.
Twentieth century
Middle education is going through a period of crisis for much of the 20th century because there was no comprehensive law that would give it definitive orientation and characteristics. It was regulated by continuously changing ministerial resolutions.
An interesting aspect was the interest in the development of technical education. In 1944, the National Commission for Apprenticeship and Vocational Guidance (CNAOP) was created, the purpose of which was to train and improve workers. A decisive step in the development of technical education is Law 15,240 of 1960 that creates the National Council of Technical Education (CONET), made up of representatives of teachers, businessmen and CGT. This was how this modality had a law that organized it to national level, and whose purpose was the technical and professional training of the students.
Law 13,047 of 1947 organized private education with the support of the State, which required subsidies to comply with certain prescriptions. The last years of this stage are characterized by a great expansion of private education. Of great importance to the educational system was Law 14,389 of 1954, which grants national validity to provincial titles.
In 1958 there was an attempt, which did not succeed, to give unity and coherence to the entire middle level of the system.
In the 60s and 70s, according to the developmentalist and efficient ideology, it was tried to guide enrollment towards technical modalities. During the Peronist government started in 1973, there was a democratization in access to secondary and higher education and in pedagogical practices. There was greater student participation in school driving and student centers were defined. But this type of disposition was null and void after the 1976 military coup, and measures were passed to suppress all participatory forms.
At the end of 1978, criteria and minimum content of the intermediate level were defined, whose fundamental objective was the general training of the students.
In all the changes in the political regime, the curricular modifications basically focused on subjects that were given different names (Democratic Education, Moral and Civic Formation, etc.), which reflected the ideology of the current government.
In 1983, with the return of democracy, the need for a general education law was raised, and this is how the National Pedagogical Congress was organized in 1984. His proposals can be considered to mark the end of the educational system instituted within the framework of the 1880 model.
Although the National Pedagogical Congress did not translate into specific legislation at the moment, its principles are the bases of the educational transformation process started in 1991. Between 1988 and 1993, the parliamentary debate was held on what would be the first comprehensive education law. Finally, the Federal Education Law 24,195 was passed in 1993.
Prior to this law, there was another of great importance: Law 24,049 of 1991, which transferred national educational services to the provinces. For some authors this is the law that really transforms the Argentine educational system.
Bibliography
1. Barilko, J. The educational revolution. Bs. As., Sudamericana, 2002
2. Etcheverry, Guillermo J. The educational tragedy. Argentina, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2000
3. Ministry of Culture and Education Argentine Republic. Teach to think at school. chap. 5. The problem of understanding at school. MCE, 1998
4. Morduchowicz, Roxana. The cultural capital of young people. Argentina. Fund of Economic Culture. 2000
5. Delors, J. The four pillars of education
6. Educational Transformations. UNCuyo, 2004
7. Document for consultation Series "A" N ° 10 - Polymodal Education - Framework Agreement (December 1995) - Federal Council of Culture and Education of the Nation
8. Multimedia resources, Web pages
