Education and Politics...

 

Assessmentics

Assessment has been misunderstood and misused by many teachers, students and administrators (mainly); according to Lopez & Bernal (2009) ,"They (tests) also have other functions in society: tests are used, among other things, to define membership; to classify people; for developing curricula and textbooks, to determine criteria for success and failure; for power and control; and to influence teaching and learning. Language tests are also used as gatekeeping instruments (Spolsky,1997). That is, tests are often used as a means of political and social control"; right now, assessment and its results are not being used create to new courses or curricula, to add more programs or specific areas that a program may need, or even to offer guide or tutorials to students, but to make decisions about budget and about how to adapt programs so they may fulfill bureaucratic needs and so those in power can pay each other favors. 

www.bristolvea.org

When it is the time to make decisions about education, I believe professionals in THIS area should be in charge!  a person who knows the real needs of teachers and students and of the process itself,  should be the one in charge of deciding; whenever it is a matter of budget, he or she should of course be advised by an expert on a specific topic, but under no circumstance should a finance expert, or any other professional in any other area be in control of a topic that concerns mainly to human sciences; and as the perfect example of the bizarre political organization of our country, here I present you with the profile of our magnificent Minister of Education, it does not provide one hint of her being prepared, or have studied anything about teaching, not even an online course!

http://www.mineducacion.gov.co/1621/w3-propertyvalue-48904.html

We must not forget that " policy makers need to collect information about schools’ needs and realities directly from teachers before they impose new educational policies. Politicians need to consult with educators"  (Lopez & Bernal, 2009)