T ünde Kovacs - Cerovic Serbia, State Secretary for education

1. Education and social change Tünde Kovacs-Cerovic Serbia, State Secretary for education

2. Content • A couple of truisms • Education in an imperfect context • Educational perspective • System perspective • Parents’ perspective • Added value for education policy making • Use some data on Serbia, some on the SEE region – no PISA

3. Education policy and society • Education is not an isolated system, it both reflects the societal dynamics and contributes to them • Education has a transformative role – it shapes the future, but in order to shape it in the right way, it needs to be responsive to problems and needs • Equity, quality and efficiency – core elements of education policy and vital for its contribution to social change • Policy makers in SEE face similar challenges – a valuable opportunity for cooperation and mutuallearning

4. 1. Educational perspective • Create the best context for human learning and development • Educationalists try to maximize the frequency of learning and minimize contextual “intrusion” But • School learning and motivation is situated in an imperfect context

5. Educational attainment of population older than 15

6. Decline of number of students in secondary education Annual average decrease more than 2 % Annual average decrease between 1,5 % and 2 % Annual average decrease between 1% and 1,5% Annual average decrease between 0,5% and 1% Annual average increase between 0 and 0,5%

7. Projections of decline in secondary school students until 2023/2024

8. Teachers’ age – comparative view

9. uneven distribution of public investment

10. Level of investment – comparative view

11. Percentage of early school leavers – comparative view

12. 2. System perspective • Education reforms 2001-2004 2008-2011 • Threefold priorities 2008: Equity, Quality, Efficiency

13. Priorities of education policy Equity = Inclusive education Efficiency = Fiscal decentralization and EIS Quality = quality improvement: educational and social

14. AREAS OF CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS Outcomes and standards New curricula Quality of teachers (36 ECTS) QA, self-evaluation, external evaluation matura Clearer roles of schools, parents, students Anti-discrimination measures, Violence prevention Capitation formula EIS Extended preschool Inclusion of marginalized groups Individual education plans Roma pedagogical assistants Free secondary edu. Recognition of prior learning

15. Current moment • Formulating priorities 2008 • Legislative acts 2009 2010 • Implementation from 2010 • Monitoring and fine-tuning 2011 • Long-term strategy development 2012-2020 • Good timing: Independent assessment very important

16. Current moment • Monitoring and fine-tuning 2011 (equity and quality) • Good timing for reflection: why not easier? • Deeper layers of imperfect context

17. Imperfect context • Huge system - covers about 20% of the population in the country, but is fragmented into small and dispersed units example of country of 6mil

18. Imperfect context 2. Perceived as major mechanism for social/economic promotion –high motivation, high incentives

19. Imperfect context 3. Huge system of human interactions: interests, negotiations, conflicts, clans – all aspects of human nature present

20. Imperfect context 4. Asymmetric relationships in its core: student-teacher, child-parent, parent-teacher (lack of voice, protectionism)

21. Imperfect context • Parents excluded (Roma parents even more excluded) – recent OSI study

22. Imperfect context: motivation?

23. Rare event • Schools are expected to be • Places of intimateexperience: • Learning • Deep understanding • Motivation • Creativity • Respect • Values • Places of development of the Self-concept: • Self-regulation • Self-efficacy • Self-esteem • Self-description/attribution • Can they easily become that?

24. Learning can become a really rare event Attended ... Listened ... Heard ... Understood ... Remembered ... Will apply ...

25. Imperfect context: INTES • Niches of corruption in education can diminish all the reform effects • Education is human capital development • Corruption creates the opposite – waste of human capital

26. 2025 SCHOOL Personal benefits Social benefits regulated teachers textbooks curriculum equitable financing management assessment evaluation Research participatory Development Policies efficient accountable 26

27. Potential niches • Allocation of resources: • Leakage in money flow • Private use of resources • Ghost teachers • Creativity of deception • Procurement: • construction, • refurbishing, • maintenance, • equipment • school materials • utility bills • Allocation of allowances, stipends, places in dormitories • Decentralized distribution of funds, many transfer steps, • many actors (tracking the funds needed) • BOR financing

28. Potential niches • Assessing students • Examinations frauds (entry/exit) • Grading • Promotion based on bribes • Selling diplomas • Evaluating institutions • manipulating external evaluations • inspection • Accrediting institutions, programs • Major frauds: cases in Serbia: • Law School University of Kragujevac + Ministry, 2007 • January • Enrolment exam for secondary education, 2008 June • assessment • evaluation

29. Potential niches teachers • Teacher management: • Hiring/firing • Deployment • Licensing • Promotion • Training • Teachers’ responsibilities distorted: • undue reporting • private tutoring • absenteeism, use of sick leaves • accepting extra fees, gifts • biased grading • New regulations, but still low salaries, • strong teacher unions (case of June 2011 legislation)

30. Potential niches • Who is managing and overseeing the schools? • Appointment of principals/deans/rectors • Appointment of school boards • selecting the Inspection • Use of information systems: • Withholding information, • changing, manipulating data, • not producing data.. • Accountability to students, parents • Student placements • Manipulating school boards • Manipulating parent councils • Not including students • Major area of protectionism: student placements – each September • School principals PE teachers • management • ethos

31. 3. Parentperspective Imperfect context PARENT PARTICIPATION IN SEE

32. Teachers’ and parents’ perceptions: Gray area between cooperation and conflict The origin of unsatisfactory teacher-parent communication is perceived to lie within the school who should initiate the collaboration being more responsive to parental and children’s needs (Lawson, 2003)

33. The study

34. Sample

35. Parents’ Questionnaire • Based on: • Literature review: • Epstien’s (1987) six dimensions of parental involvement • Green, Walker, Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2007) model of the parental involvement process. • Results of focus group discussions in the 10 SEE countries • Results of 2008 cross national study of school principals • Consisting of 3 parts: • Q for mainstream parents (used for all samples) • Q for excluded parents (additional part) • Q for parent representatives (additional part)

36. Questionnaire

37. Some results

38. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola inicira roditeljski sastanak: Škola inicira individulani sastanak:

39. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola šalje informaciju o detetovom uspehu: Škola šalje informaciju o školskom radu:

40. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola šalje školski informator: Škola inicira volontiranje oko sportskih/kult. aktivnosti:

41. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola inicira volontiranje u razredu/nastavi: Škola inicira volontiranje u biblioteci, dvorištu…:

42. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola konsultuje roditelje oko školskih događaja: Škola konsultuje roditelje oko bezbednosnih odluka:

43. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola konsultuje roditelje oko ekstrakurikularnih odluka: Škola konsultuje roditelje oko finansijskih odluka:

44. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Škola konsultuje roditelje oko organizacije šk rada: Škola konsultuje roditelje oko obrazovnih pitanja:

45. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Schools do not invite parents(%)

46. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Schools do not invite parents/cont (%) In Roma sample “never” is around 90%

47. Parents think their contribution is beneficial Parents think they are capable of contributing

48. 2. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Systematic difference between parents’ and principals’ perception

49. 3. How does parent-school cooperation happen? Problem attributed more to parents than schools. Parents are perceived as motivated and competent to participate

50. 4. Outcomes of parent-school cooperation ? Parents are least satisfied with their possibility of influence