This document is a 2-page reflective essay submitted by three students - Marina Álvarez, Andrea Giordano, and Tamara Tymostchuk - for their Práctica docente III course. The essay discusses the distinguishing features of secondary education, including the roles of teachers and learners, in light of challenges presented by today's world. It reflects on a TED Talk by Josef James on the role secondary education should play in society. The essay also analyzes the goals of secondary education in Argentina based on the National Education Law of 2006 and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted digital literacy and remote learning.

1. Instituto de Formación Docente Continua
Lenguas VIVAS BARILOCHE (A-052)
Profesorado de Inglés – Opción pedagógica a distancia
SUBJECT: Práctica docente III
TUTOR’S NAME: Aurelia Velázquez
YEAR: 2021
STUDENTS’ NAMES: Marina Álvarez - Andrea Giordano - Tamara Tymostchuk
EMAIL ADDRESSES: marinaalvarezdarriba@gmail.com;
msandreagiordano@gmail.com; tamtym@gmail.com
DEADLINE: 26/03/21
Mandatory Assignment 1
Josef James, a former teacher who is passionate about education, reflects on the role
secondary school should play in society. His talk aims at inspiring some kind of
change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSixbEDOYgA
After reading the suggested materials and watching the TEDx Talk, you should draw
up your conclusions of the distinguishing characteristics that define secondary
education, its aims and foundations. You should also describe both the learner and
the teacher, bearing in mind today's challenges and requirements.
2-page reflective essay

2. Having read, watched and analyzed the material of Unit 1, we will share our views and
thoughts on the differentiating features of Secondary Education (SE). As well, we will
address the roles that teachers and learners have, and the challenges they both face
in today’s world.
Worldwide the schooling system works in a similar way in most western countries
despite minor differences. There is kindergarten, primary school, secondary school
and further education. Typically, in secondary school youngsters aged 11-18 are to
learn more specific subjects than in primary school and choose some kind of
orientation towards the end of this cycle. Furthermore, classrooms, curriculum
contents and assessment have evolved very little in time and students are still being
educated in much the same way as they were in the past.
Traditionally, the teacher’s and the student’s roles have remained quite stagnant. The
teacher being in charge of the class with a set curriculum to teach and students having
to attend different lessons. Testing and grades take place at fixed intervals and
students need to pass them in order to graduate, without us knowing if they have
actually learned anything at all or if they feel “prepared” for what is to come next in
their lives.
In the last years it became evident to many educators, policy makers and other
stakeholders that the educational system was not accomplishing its goals. Logically,
something had to be done about it. In order to bring about an actual change in
educational pedagogies,contents and policies, new approaches sprung up around the
globe somehow simultaneously and sharing similar aims and objectives.
Listening to Josef James TED Talk is an excellent example of what has been
happening in the past years. He tells his experience both as a disappointed student
and later on as an enthusiastic teacher who wanted to change the way students were
taught, but he ended up quitting since he felt hopeless, and oppressed by the system.
He is convinced that the titanic task is to demolish the traditional practices which are
obsolete and do not prepare students to become CEOs or entrepreneurs and maintain
the status quo.
In our country, a turning point in the history of education was the passing of the
Argentinian National Law 26.206 (Ley de Educación Nacional - LEN, 2006), which
reorganized our educational system with the main goal to provide equality, diversity,
inclusion and social justice to all children. In the specific context of the province of Río
Negro, Argentina, following the tenets of the aforementioned law, the provincial state
aims to educate secondary school students who can become committed citizens with
the ability to critically transform their own reality in order to be ready for the world of
work. Therefore, schools should provide students with a safe environment and a
comprehensive curriculum which comprises newer contents and skills. The list is long
and even daunting for those who need to put it in practice - namely educators - and
some aspects of today’s context will be further analyzed below.

3. Recently, a pandemic hit the whole world. More than ever digital literacy and ICT skills
have become a must, and this is still an aspect to be developed in most schools.
COVID19 pandemic pushed us to shift to an online or virtual modality without us being
prepared for it in many aspects. However, many rose to the challenge and some of
the resulting changes came to stay, speeding up the process of developing ICT skills
that had long been wanted for teachers and students.
Regarding other resources necessary for students and which will serve the purpose
of accomplishing the goals of LEN, Mariana Maggio (2018) explores some of the latest
theoretical and practical pedagogical approaches available today to see to this. Fullan
& Langworthy (2014) consider paramount for teachers to assist students to develop
other skills to really prepare them for the future. They are known as the 6C’s: character,
citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. All these
skills will facilitate students’ transition to the adult world as they entail the so-called
soft skills, which make it easier for people to succeed not only at work but most
importantly in life.
These goals, which come as ambitious and demanding, pose a major challenge to
teachers who, like Josef James, face the reality of a system that seems hard to change
and moves sluggishly to meet the demands of the fast changing 21st century. However,
Fullan & Langworthy (2014) find the role of a teacher as a key piece to start moving
away from the traditional and long-established practices and shift to a more novel and
innovative pedagogical model. They suggest teachers should function as “designers
of powerful learning experiences'', as “a source of human, social and decisional
capital” and “as partners in learning with students, accelerated by technology”.
Complex and arduous as this may seem, we believe these new challenges should not
be interpreted as a burden on teachers’ shoulders but as an opportunity to go the extra
mile and make a difference.
As teachers of English, one of our principal aims should be to help our learners to find
a place in today’s world. It is interesting to adopt Gardner’s ideas developed in “The
five minds of the future” as he explains the concepts of these five minds which are
necessary for the future/present young adults. Lifelong learning commitment is
essential and people who possess disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and
ethical minds would be the ones who could successfully surf the wave of the new
conditions in the world.
As a final reflection, we believe that the far-reaching structural changes we are hoping
for will not be achieved without the joint effort and participation of educators, policy
makers and learners who need to commit themselves to bridge the gap between an
archaic school and a fast-moving world.
References

4. 5 minds for the future. A summary (2011). Retrieved from
https://www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/2011/02/26/5-minds-for-the-future-a-
summary/
Fullan & Langworthy (2013). Towards a New End: New Pedagogies for Deep
Learning. Seattle: Collaborative Impact.
Global skills: creating empowered 21th century learners OUP Retrieved from
https://elt.oup.com/feature/global/expert/global-skills?cc=global&selLanguage=en
Inclusive practices in English Language Teaching OUP Retrieved from
https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/elt/general_content/global/expert/oup-expert-
inclusive-practices2.pdf
James, Josef (2020). TEDx Colchester. “What role should secondary education
play in society? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSixbEDOYgA
Maggio, M. (2018). Habilidades del siglo XXI: cuando el futuro es hoy: documento
básico, XIII Foro Latinoamericano de Educación. Buenos Aires: Santillana. Retrieved
from
https://educacion.rionegro.gov.ar/admarchivos/files/ESRN/XIII%20Foro%20Docume
nto%20Basico%20WEB.pdf
Ministerio de Educación y Derechos Humanos. Consejo Provincial de Educación
(2017). Diseño Curricular de la Escuela Secundaria de Río Negro. Retrieved from
https://educacion.rionegro.gov.ar/admarchivos/files/seccion_238/anexo-1-diseno-
curricular-esrn.pdf