Educational Collapse: Handing Out Grades and Turning Teachers into Entertainers
The educational collapse: handed-out grades, teachers as entertainers, and AI accelerating the decline. The case of the 3.5 leading to litigation summarizes it all.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Educational Collapse: Handing Out Grades and Turning Teachers into Entertainers
The academic year has begun with a teachers' strike and a diagnosis that can no longer be silenced in classrooms: standards have dropped, grades are being given away, and the role of the teacher has devolved into that of a cultural animator. The question echoing through the hallways is simple: what good is initiative if students don't understand what a text says?
Grades That No Longer Miccionan Anything
Assessment has become a theatre. In many institutions, part of the grade is based on 'showing interest' or 'effort,' and students pass despite failing exams. Those who study view this as a scam. Some summarize it bluntly: 'The stupider they are, the less competition there is.' But this deception comes at a cost: when things go wrong, those who didn't learn will blame those who did.
The anecdote circulating among educators is telling. One teacher stood firm regarding a student who scored 3.5 according to the rubric. The family challenged this through administrative channels and then judicial ones. The child passed. The lesson many draw is simple: give them a 5 and you avoid trouble. That's how failure is manufactured.
Parental and Administrative Pressure
The decline in standards cannot be explained solely by legislation. There is a heavier factor at play: families. They only complain when their children fail because they are primarily concerned with the certificate itself. The administration, instead of upholding the faculty's criteria, opts for the cowardly solution: offering passing marks to avoid conflict. In classrooms, parents hold considerable power. And when the teacher loses authority, it is the most disruptive student who takes the helm. Bullying, in that scenario, is not an anomaly: it is a consequence.
The Political Debate: LOGSE, LOE, LOMCE and the Reform That Never Comes
The politicization of education has yielded poor results. Since LOGSE in the 90s, each government has passed its law and repealed the previous one. The PP under Aznar approved LOCE in 2002, but Zapatero modified it in 2004 and approved LOE in 2006. Rajoy passed his LOMCE, and Sánchez repealed it. Some maintain that the fault lies with politicians and their voters, who continue to vote for the same things. Others point out that the PP also had absolute majorities and did not repeal LOGSE. The conclusion is uncomfortable: politicians are interested in a system that causes them no trouble.
AI as an Accelerator of Illiteracy
Artificial intelligence arrives as an accelerator. Many students take AI responses as absolute truth without verifying anything. There are already institutions where assignments are done with AI and reviewed by AI. Nobody intends to do things properly. Some warn of 'cognitive sedentarism': using AI as a method rather than support weakens the ability to rely on oneself. Others, conversely, argue that AI is only useful if you know your subject matter well; if you don't know what you are talking about, you absorb inaccuracies and colossal errors.
The Private Exit and the Failure of Public Schooling
Faced with this scenario, some parents opt for private education, often religious and without screens. However, some maintain that the standard of private schools is equally poor; all they do is prevent your children from sharing a classroom with a more heterogeneous social composition. Those who pass the university entrance exam show no significant gap. The middle class disappears, and politicians flee.
Where the Analysis Gets Stuck
The diagnosis is unanimous: the system is broken. But blame is distributed in all directions. Some blame politicians, others parents, others teachers lacking vocation. Some maintain that society is never at fault and that everything comes from above. The analysis stalls on the same question: if everyone blames everyone else, who makes the move? Meanwhile, the year continues, and classrooms remain full of students who do not understand what they are reading.
The academic year has begun with a teachers' strike and a diagnosis that can no longer be silenced in classrooms: standards have dropped, grades are being given away, and the role of the teacher has devolved into that of a cultural animator. The question echoing through the hallways is simple: what good is initiative if students don't understand what a text says?
Grades That No Longer Miccionan Anything
Assessment has become a theatre. In many institutions, part of the grade is based on 'showing interest' or 'effort,' and students pass despite failing exams. Those who study view this as a scam. Some summarize it bluntly: 'The stupider they are, the less competition there is.' But this deception comes at a cost: when things go wrong, those who didn't learn will blame those who did.
The anecdote circulating among educators is telling. One teacher stood firm regarding a student who scored 3.5 according to the rubric. The family challenged this through administrative channels and then judicial ones. The child passed. The lesson many draw is simple: give them a 5 and you avoid trouble. That's how failure is manufactured.
Parental and Administrative Pressure
The decline in standards cannot be explained solely by legislation. There is a heavier factor at play: families. They only complain when their children fail because they are primarily concerned with the certificate itself. The administration, instead of upholding the faculty's criteria, opts for the cowardly solution: offering passing marks to avoid conflict. In classrooms, parents hold considerable power. And when the teacher loses authority, it is the most disruptive student who takes the helm. Bullying, in that scenario, is not an anomaly: it is a consequence.
The Political Debate: LOGSE, LOE, LOMCE and the Reform That Never Comes
The politicization of education has yielded poor results. Since LOGSE in the 90s, each government has passed its law and repealed the previous one. The PP under Aznar approved LOCE in 2002, but Zapatero modified it in 2004 and approved LOE in 2006. Rajoy passed his LOMCE, and Sánchez repealed it. Some maintain that the fault lies with politicians and their voters, who continue to vote for the same things. Others point out that the PP also had absolute majorities and did not repeal LOGSE. The conclusion is uncomfortable: politicians are interested in a system that causes them no trouble.
AI as an Accelerator of Illiteracy
Artificial intelligence arrives as an accelerator. Many students take AI responses as absolute truth without verifying anything. There are already institutions where assignments are done with AI and reviewed by AI. Nobody intends to do things properly. Some warn of 'cognitive sedentarism': using AI as a method rather than support weakens the ability to rely on oneself. Others, conversely, argue that AI is only useful if you know your subject matter well; if you don't know what you are talking about, you absorb inaccuracies and colossal errors.
The Private Exit and the Failure of Public Schooling
Faced with this scenario, some parents opt for private education, often religious and without screens. However, some maintain that the standard of private schools is equally poor; all they do is prevent your children from sharing a classroom with a more heterogeneous social composition. Those who pass the university entrance exam show no significant gap. The middle class disappears, and politicians flee.
Where the Analysis Gets Stuck
The diagnosis is unanimous: the system is broken. But blame is distributed in all directions. Some blame politicians, others parents, others teachers lacking vocation. Some maintain that society is never at fault and that everything comes from above. The analysis stalls on the same question: if everyone blames everyone else, who makes the move? Meanwhile, the year continues, and classrooms remain full of students who do not understand what they are reading.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (300 replies).
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