What’s Different About Spanish Public Education?…
I attended a small-town, American public school from age 5 to age 17. Although I had many positive experiences, due to spending my time in a rural and underfunded institution, I left after my junior year for an early college program. When I was in public school, I had really low standardized test scores and a minimal knowledge of history, economics, and mathematics. The school I attended wasn’t actually preparing me to succeed in college or the real world. Now, I see public education from a different perspective. Now, I teach at a mid-size public high school in Spain. Throughout this blog, I want to point out a few differences I have observed between American and Spanish public school.
Spanish high school is only mandatory through age 16. Students complete up to 4ESO, which is the equivalent of being a high school sophomore. After they finish mandatory education, they have options. They can continue to trade programs (Formación Profesional), College Prep courses (Bachillerato), or to the workforce.
Bilingual institutions teach 50% of the curriculum in English, and 50% in Spanish. My bilingual students take English every single day, as well as science courses, physical education and electives in English. The students in the bilingual programs have to work very hard, but often times have lower fail rates, and higher academic successes than only taking English as a subject, three days per week. They also have access to many more experiential learning and exchange opportunities, like Global Classrooms.
Spanish classrooms seem to function a bit differently than a traditional American classroom. The students are rarely quiet, and side conversations often occur. They also call teachers by their first names, which I prefer. In my opinion, this closes a connection gap between kids and adults, and makes the students feel more at ease.
The schedules of Spanish schools vary based on their grade. High schools often have classes from about 8:00am-2:00pm. There’s a 30 minute break at 11am for snack and recess. Occasionally, there’s a 7th hour class for subjects outside of the core subjects. However, some of my private clients who are in primary school have class from 9:00am-5:00pm, with a long lunch break in the middle of their day.
Spanish high schoolers have potty mouths! I love my students, but they constantly alternate between cursing in Spanish and English… they’ve really expanded my Spanish vocabulary in a short time.
The Spanish grading system operates on a scale from 1-10. A 5 is a passing grade, and anything above an 8 is very competitive. Students who wish to study medicine or education have to earn nearly perfect grades (or marks/notes, as they call them).
Students in public schools in Spain are required to purchase their own workbooks for certain classes, so many students opt out.
Spanish public schools don’t have dress codes. In my opinion, this is essential for allowing children and teens to express themselves. Pulling someone into the office over the length of shorts or exposed shoulders is such a waste of time!
Spanish public schools don’t have ample access to resources. They don’t always have dependable and/or available technology, and teachers and students have to buy all of their own materials… even whiteboard markers.
Spanish schools give a lot more exams! In an average week, the freshmen I teach take 1-2 exams minimum. The kids are always stressing and always studying.
The pass/fail systems work differently! This is something I am just learning about, but in some schools, you can recover grades on exams or you can retake the year. If you retake a year twice, you automatically pass, regardless of your grades.
Rather than teaching the entire day, teachers teach MUCH less than 35 hours, this allows them to have the time to lesson plan and grade and stay within 35-40 hours total of work per week. In my opinion, this is also essential to work/life balance.
The public schools in Spain almost always have “Language Assistants”. These native or near-native level English speakers work with the students in a variety of ways. Sometimes, they teach entire curriculums, like Global Classrooms Assistants. Sometimes, they prepare students for Cambridge exams. At my school, there are four assistants, and we help in an array of subjects and in a variety of ways!
Being here is such a fulfilling experience where I get to witness cultural differences every day, I feel so thankful for this opportunity and so glad I get to be a part of my students lives!