Spain from Re.ViCa

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Dr. Albert Sangrà - Open University of catalonia, Spain

Spain in a nutshell

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe after France.

After serving as a granary of the Roman Empire, much of Spain was later conquered by a Muslim people, the Moors. Christian kingdoms gradually rolled back Muslim rule, completing this Reconquista in 1492. Spain became the leading world power, with a global empire on a scale and world distribution that had never been approached by its predecessors and a legacy today of over 400 million Spanish-speakers worldwide.

Napoleon's invasion of Spain in the early 19th century triggered independence movements that tore the empire apart and left the country politically unstable. In the 20th century it suffered a devastating civil war and came under the rule of a dictatorship, leading to years of stagnation. Democracy was restored in 1978 and the country has subsequently experienced a cultural renaissance and steady economic growth. Spain is now a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy and has been a member of the European Union since 1986, and NATO since 1982.

Spain education policy

The Spanish Constitution neither establishes higher education as mandatory nor indicates its purposes. For that reason we must turn to the ordinances to understand what aims and objectives are pursued with higher education in Spain. In the preamble to Law 4/2007, which is modified by the Organic Law of Universities 6/2001 that regulates university education, the aims, goals and objectives of university education are not very clearly defined, but the intention to adapt to future challenges and to societal demands is mentioned3. There is also mention made of, in accordance with the principles promoted by the European Union, ―support for the modernization of universities...with the aim of turning them into active agents for the transformation of Europe into an economy fully integrated into a knowledge society‖. To achieve this goal, the Law establishes that ―reforms are based on the desire to strengthen the autonomy of universities while reinforcing the requirement that they be held accountable for the fulfilment of their functions‖.

Spanish education system

• From 3 to 5 years of age - Educación Infantil (Pre-school)
• From 6 to 11 years of age - Educación Primaria (Primary School) Years, 1º, 2º, 3º, 4º, 5º and 6º
• From 12 to 16 years of age - Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (Compulsory Secondary Schooling) Years, 1º, 2º, 3º, 4º
• From 17 to 18 years of age - Bachillerato (Post-Compulsory Schooling), years 1º, 2º

Children from 3 to 5 years old in Spain have the option of attending the infantil (popularly known as preescolar) or Pre-school stage, which is non-compulsory and free for all students. It is regarded as an integral part of the education system with infants classes at almost every primary school. There are some separate Colegios Infantiles, or nursery schools.

Spanish students aged 6 to 16 undergo primary school, primary and secondary school education, which are compulsory and free of charge. Successful students are awarded a Secondary Education Certificate, which is necessary for entering further optional education as is Bachillerato for their University or Formacion Professional (Vocational Studies). Once students have finished their Bachillerato, they can take their University Entrance Exam (Pruebas de Acceso a la Universidad, popularly called Selectividad) which differs greatly from region to region.

The secondary stage of education is normally referred to by their initials, eg. ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria) for secondary education.

Higher Education

Higher education includes university studies as well as higher vocational education and training. Universities are the main institutions that provide university studies, while higher vocational education is usually linked to secondary schools and to special vocational institutions. Vocational education and training can be delivered in both public and private schools. The latter can be subsidized. This educational level can also be delivered through distance courses.

Over the past three decades, the number of students and universities has increased three-fold, attaining one of the highest rates of university education in Europe: 30% of women and 22% of men between 24 and 34 years of age have graduated from university. The process of decentralising the university system in physical terms has been accompanied by political and administrative decentralisation: powers have been handed over to the autonomous regions in the area of tertiary education. Moreover, in the last years university research has developed and research output indicators have increased dramatically. Another outstanding fact is the increase in the international mobility of academic staff and students. In the last two decades, the number of universities in Spain has doubled. At present Spain has 50 public universities. Two are special universities focused on continuing education and summer courses. One is a distance learning institution. There are 23 private universities; one of them is a distance learning university. Seven of the private institutions belong to the Catholic Church.

Spain's University system

There are 50 public and 23 private universities in Spain. They are distributed throughout the country but the cities with the highest number of universities are Madrid (13), Barcelona (8) and Valencia (4).

According to the legal form the typography of Spanish universities is the following one: • Public University. - It grants university official and accredited titles. It is financed by the State.

• Private University. - It grants official and accredited titles. It is financed by the registered students themselves. It is ruled by its norms of organization and operation.

• University of the Church. - It grants official and accredited titles. It is financed by the registered students themselves and the Church. It is ruled by its norms of organization and operation.In addition to the official degrees, they grant ecclesiastical titles.

Madrid has the highest number of private universities located there. These universities are very interested in the admission of foreign students to a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs.

There are four different types of university establishments in Spain:

• university schools (escuelas universitarias), where ‘short-term’ three-year courses are offered;

• university colleges (colegios universitarios) where the first three years of study leading to a licenciado is completed;

• faculties (facultades) where long-term courses are offered in all academic disciplines (except technical courses) and

• higher technical schools of engineering and architecture (escuela superior de ingeniería y arquitectura) where long-term technical courses are completed.

The Spanish university system is rigidly structured and students must choose a fixed curriculum and aren’t permitted to change universities during their studies.

Undergraduate university studies are divided into different stages known as cycles. There are three types of programs:

• Single-cycle programs (or short-cycle studies): These studies do not continue to the second cycle and degrees awarded are the Diplomatura (Bachelor degree). These are normally three-year programs.

• Two-cycle studies with an intermediate diploma: The first cycle leads to the award of the Diplomatura (Bachelor), or Arquitectura Técnica and Ingeniería Técnica (Bachelor degree in Architecture or Engineering), and students have the option of continuing to the second cycle for the award of the degree of Licenciatura (Masters degree), or Arquitecto and Ingeniero (Architect and Engineer). These are five or six-year programs.

• Two-cycle studies without an intermediate diploma (or long-cycle studies): These studies are divided into two cycles but it is necessary to complete both to be eligible for the award of the Licenciatura(Masters Degree). These are four or five-year programs.

In addition to these official degrees or diplomas, each university offers a wide range of unofficial degrees (Maestrias) as well as graduate programs in a wide range of subjects that qualify for the award of the degree of Doctor (Ph.D.). The unofficial degrees are typically one or two years and usually require having attained an undergraduate or graduate degree and are widely recognized for their labour market value, as these qualifications are highly practical in scope and geared to specialized sectors of the different professions. Spanish universities' offer of doctoral degree programs typically require four years of study and research.

The universities cover the whole spectrum of official degrees offered in Spain with the official recognition of its Ministry of Education, as well as a wide variety of non-official degrees in a large number of professional fields.

Costs

All non-university state education is free in Spain, but parents have to buy all of their children's books and materials. There also are private schools for all the range of compulsory education, and also Bachillerato. At them, parents must pay a monthly/termly/yearly fee. Most of these schools are run by religious orders, and include single-sex schools.

Schools supply a list of what is required at the start of each school year and which will include art and craft materials as well as text and exercise books. Expect to spend a minimum of around ninety pounds (GBP) per child,[citation needed] but in some regions, the autonomous government is giving tokens to exchange them in book shops for free, this is being adapted in 2006 in regions, such as Andalucia, where kids from 3 to 10 will get the books for free, on the following years it is expected for all compulsory years. School uniform is not normally worn in state schools but is usually worn in private schools.

Qualifications

The Certificate of Secondary Education is awarded at the end of compulsory secondary education after passing every subject but 2, and a student who achieves appropriate grades graduates from Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) and can apply for one of the different types of (Spanish) Bachillerato.

The modalities of Bachillerato depend on each region, but are commonly, Arts & Letters (Bachillerato de Humanidades), Natural and Health Sciences (Bachillerato de Ciencias de la Naturaleza y la Salud), Technology (Bachillerato Tecnológico), Social Sciences (Bachillerato de Ciencias Sociales) and Arts (Bachillerato de Arte), having 3 different thematic subjects each, and several common subjects such as Spanish, Foreign Language, Philosophy, History, etc.

Middle or Superior Vocational training is also a common possibility after ESO or after Bachillerato, they are called Ciclos Formativos de Grado Medio for middle or Ciclos Formativos de grado Superior for Superior getting a Technician Degree, or it can be taken after Bachillerato, getting a Superior Technician diploma and direct entrance to several related University degrees, there are more than 200 different specialities.

Students with appropriate qualifications and wishing to enroll in University in Spain must usually take an entrance exam called Selectividad, that consists in 6 tests, 3 for each subject and a test for each History or Philosophy, Foreign Language (commonly English) and Spanish grammar and literature (Autonomous communities that have a co-official language, have also another test about co-official language grammar and literature), after passing their Bachillerato. The Spanish School Leaving Certificate is equivalent to a number of GCSEs. The Bachillerato is equivalent to A levels. Therefore, Spanish students obtaining the appropriate grades required for entrance into universities in Europe, including England, are not precluded.

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

Since 1999, Spain has been immersed in a transformation of its higher education system, along with more than 30 European countries, with the aim of creating a European Higher Education Space (EHES). This process will culminate in 2010 and its objectives are to harmonize qualification frameworks and the credit system (units for measuring academic achievement), as well as to guarantee the standards and recognition of qualifications, in order to increase student mobility and facilitate the integration of graduates into the European labor market.

Spain is implementing legal measures for the adoption of the European credit and qualifications system, as well as the European qualification supplements. This facilitates the recognition of official Spanish qualifications in over 30 countries participating in the EHES project, as well as the official recognition of Spanish qualifications in other countries outside the European framework, such as the United States, Asia and Latin America.

The recent past of Spanish universities has taken place within the framework of university reforms, the first of these under the University Reform Law (LRU), which came into force n 1983, and the second under the Organic Law of Universities (LOU), which was introduced in 2001. The first of these focused on universities‘ social embeddedness, democratic organisation and scientific modernisation. The LOU‘s main concerns were the instrumentalisation of quality assurance policies and preparations for the Spanish university system‘s entry into the EHEA. Other measures envisaged in this law, such as regulations governing the functioning of universities, have been the centre of debate on education. The organic law that amends the LOU was approved in April of the current year.

One of the main challenges faced by the Spanish higher education system is its full integration into the European Higher Education Area. It is hoped that this process will improve coordination and make the system more competitive and allow it to improve quality, without detriment to the measures already in place aimed at fostering closer links with the social environment and guaranteeing equity in access.

The participation of Spanish students in mobility programmes such as Socrates/Erasmus is increasingly high. Between 1994-1995 and 2004-2005, the number of students from Spanish universities on this programme rose from 8,537 to 21,350. The main destination countries were Italy (4,250), France (3,412), the United Kingdom (2,974) and Germany (2,553). The number of Socrates/Erasmus students studying in Spain in the 2003-2004 academic year was 24,076 - 83% more than five years earlier. Italy (5,688), France (5,115) and Germany (4,325) sent the greatest numbers of students. Mobility is very low in Spain. Most students do not move to another region to study (or to another city if they can study their desired choice of degree in their own city). In this sense, all Spanish universities have a strong regional dimension, something which is not necessarily positive. The same situation can be applied to vocational education and training, as theses studies are strongly linked to the place of residence.

Administration and finance

The scholarship system is regulated by the MEC. It establishes a maximum limit of family per capita income, above which students are not entitled to the established benefits and also quantifies the required academic performance. There is a minimum threshold of academic performance, expressed in the form of average marks, below which students are not entitled to receive grants. The norm establishes that the selection process for grant-holders should benefit the students with the highest academic performance. The autonomous communities also offer study grants and scholarships that are generally complementary to those offered by MEC or aimed at promoting certain areas of study.

he total amount of money spent on tertiary education in Spain increased by 47% from 1995 to 2001. This was the highest growth rate in the EU, where the average was 26%.

The Spanish public university system has four main sources of funding:

Regional government subsidies. Each autonomous region is responsible for the general funding and investments of the public universities in its region.

Student aid. The central government is responsible for most grants and scholarships. The student aid system only represents 0.09% of GDP.

Tuition fees. Student fees are not particularly high (on average, 631€ per academic year) and they represent around 18% of total costs.

Revenue from research activities and other services. These funds come mainly from knowledge transfer, continuing education, contracts, patents, collaboration agreements with other institutions or individuals and the creation of foundations and other entities. Central government and the European Union, through their competitive Call for Proposals are an important part of these sources.

Public funds are the main source of funding for university R&D&I, and accounted for 71% of the total funds in 2003. There are two types of public funding: general university funds, and funds allocated to specific R&D&I projects.

Country's HEIs in the information society

Towards the information society

We were at crucial moments for the taking off of an wide application of the TIC in the university education, that reaches the critical volume able to initiate a true process of change.the Conference of Directors of Spanish Universities (www.crue.org) indicated a series of important processes for the Spanish universities:

• An increasing tendency to bring the academic world closer to society (as the proliferation of the number and relevance of the University-Enterprise foundations shows), including the general concern towards the need of an improvement of linguistic, communicational and computer-related competences within the university community;

• A clear invitation to shift the traditional teaching-oriented paradigm to a more flexible learning-oriented one;

• A determined will to reform the system of postgraduate studies and foster its importance in the education and better qualification of the professionals;

• The stress on the role that virtual education is to play according to the prospects of a lifelong learning kind of society. The three wide areas of the university environment where the impact of ICT was to be perceived were:

• the production and distribution of contents, both in education and in research,

• the teaching/learning models, and

• the organisational model.

Among the most symptomatic issues and observations raised by this text, we would like to underline the following:

• The ‘pressure’ or competition from the non-academic providers of ICT in higher education,become increasingly intensive in these organisations;

• The many actions taken by traditional universities concerning the integration of ICT, are not well supported by explicit and clear institutional general policies. In this sense, it is very much recommended to have a clear educational policy, based on the screening of addressees and the identification of the goals and the choice of the kind of technology to be used;

• The strong resistance of teaching and administrative staff to the introduction of ICT in the academic pedagogical and organisational model;

• The recommendation of the search for models combining traditional face-to-face teaching with distance learning modules (blended formulas);

• The prospects of future growth for higher education will emerge from the continuous professional education needs;

• In order to maximise the investments needed in this process of innovation, the engagement of universities in larger networks or consortiums with other universities in an international framework, and/or with public institutions and/or with private organisations was promoted. ICT is perceived as a means to facilitate the organisation and implementation of international ICT based courses. The idea of a virtual Erasmus is already into motion and one of the major challenges in this process.

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

The eLearning in Higher Education education can be constituted more as a complement of the traditionalforms of education or as a strategic pillar of the university. According to the academic director of the UOC, A Sangrá, there are five forms of application of e-learning in the universities:

• Current University that introduces virtual elements in its educational dynamics. Examples of this model is the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), the Complutensian University of Madrid (UCM), University of Oviedo (UNIOVI), Pompeu-Fabra University (UPF) or the University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M)

• Current University with virtual university extension: a widely extended model at universities.

• Virtual University based on the traditional university: The incorporation in a traditional university of a virtual university working along with the traditional one. It can be the case of the University Ramon-Llull (URL), with masters exclusively online or the MBAs of universities like Stanford or Harvard.

• Common interuniversity virtual Spaces are based on having an unique virtual point of contactto several universities. According to Auna Foundation, examples in Spain are:

G9 Group ; ADA Madrid ; Intercampus ; “Instituto universitario de postgrado” ; Universia

• Virtual University as virtual organization the representative model is the distant learning Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) or universities like the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.

In Spain, the distant educational offer is concentrated in two institutions: the National University of remote Education, UNED, a public university with more than thirty years of existence, and the most modern one “Universitat Oberta de Catalunya” (UOC). They are two forms to understand remote education, the relation with the student and the use of the Network.

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

The prime objective of the UOC is to enable people to achieve their learning needs with maximum access to knowledge. To this end, the University employs the intensive use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and offers an educational model based on the personalization and constant accompaniment of the student, beyond the limitations of time and space.

The UOC leads the emergence of the new model of online education of the knowledge society.

The educational model of the UOC facilitates access to learning resources from any place and at any time, in a way that permits education to be integrated in people's lives.

The educational model of the UOC revolves around society's needs and is based on:

• the quality of academic activity
• research surrounding the ICT

the dissemination of knowledge

The UOC has received international awards in recognition of its educational model and the quality of its academic activity.

Educational model

At the UOC, the student is the protagonist of an educational process, which, thanks to the use of new technologies, is unlimited in both time and space. The student manages their own time, plans how long they take to complete the studies and builds their own academic itinerary.

• The counsellor guides the student through their learning process in a personalised way.
• The tutor supervises the student's progress in each of their subjects.
• The course plan of each subject defines the learning process, the method of working and the evaluation criteria.
• The continuous assessment guarantees the academic process and the development of the course.
• The Virtual Campus is the support and learning area from where the student can access resources and interact with the university community.
• The multimedia didactic materials complement the specific material for each subject.
• The virtual library gives access to all of the information resources.
• The university community services include resources, activities and advantages to assist with the student's integration into the UOC.
• The support centres personalised attention, study resources and a place to meet with other students.

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

The Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) is the public Spanish Open University, based in Madrid, Spain. It was founded in 1972 following the idea of the UK's Open University to provide quality higher and continuing education opportunities to all through the distance education system.

UNED is similar to other Spanish public Universities. It awards the same qualifications, which are equally valid and it is run under the same general legislation. However, the special features of UNED make it different from most other Spanish Universities. This is due to the fact that it is nationwide in scope, uses different methodology, and has a wide social influence.

The University Reform Law in Spain ensures UNED the same degree of autonomy as the rest of Spanish universities. The law states that UNED is to provide distance education throughout the country.

It is UNED's teaching methodology, what actually makes it special within the spectrum of Spanish higher education. The keystones of this methodology are printed and audiovisual teaching material, tutorial teaching, and an ever-increasing use of new information and communications technologies.

UNED’s mission is to be present as a centre of excellence throughout the world. In line with a policy of quality growth based on coexistence and cooperation with local universities and institutions, it now has centres in the following countries:Argentina (Rosario and Buenos Aires), Belgium (Brussels),Brazil (Sao Paulo), Ecuatorial Guinea (Bata and Malabo), France (Paris), Germany (Bonn), México (México D.F.), Morroco (Tangiers), Portugal (Lisbon), Switzerland (Bern), Venezuela (Caracas), United Kingdom (London), United States (Miami and Washington, D.C.)

All of these UNED centres are in constant communication with the central headquarters in Madrid, so that students can make full use of UNED’s logistic and academic network. From these centres, the students have easy access to a network of tutors, in depth administrative support, counselling, enormous library collections, meeting places for professors and students, and examination and consultation points, in short, a complete university environment.

UNED is also fully committed with the creation of an Ibero-American university space, which allows for the growing international relevance of the teaching and scientific research that is carried out in Spanish and Portuguese.

References

(try to add one or two)

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Sources

Bricall, J. Informe Universidad 2000. (Report commissioned by the CRUE, Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Españolas). Available at <http://www.crue.org/informeuniv2000.htm>.

Sánchez-Mesa Martínez D.,Virtual Education and the European Accreditation System. In: Boonen A. & W. Van Petegem (eds.). European Networking and Learning for the Future. The EuroPACE Approach. 2007, Garant, Antwerp-Apeldoorn. p. 137-146.

Landeta Etxeberría A., Buenas Prácticas de e-learning. 2007, @nced, Spain.

http://www.tostudyinspain.com/

http://www.expatica.com/es/survival/education/higher-education-in-spain-1896.html

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