Some considerations about the quality of education and quality of teaching in Costa Rica

Some consideration about the Quality of Education and Quality of teaching in Costa Rica.




Introduction.

Before this essay begins to discuss about “Quality of education” and “Quality of teaching” concepts, it is necessary to have an overview about some aspects of the context in which both are inserting. As Juan Arrien wrote: “… Quality of education is a dynamic concept… it isbuilt using diverse and multiple references… it goes further than the educative and pedagogical sphere and achieves its own dimension in other spheres of society… it is a value that all wish to construct to be better human beings and societies” ( Arrien, Juan:1996). Arrien defines that quality of education is fed by multiple aspects and it is expressed as a product, when human beings act on thecontext to modify conditions and to produce changes that promote improvements in the quality of living. The worth of the education that people receive in a society is directly proportional with the quality of people´s action on society structures. If the action is not enough to produce the necessary changes to achieve “human development”, then the quality of education is not the one that it isexpected to be.


The quality of education must produce the achievement of “human development”. This concept is related not only to the material basis of human being life but also to all of its subjective aspects. To construct the concept of “human development”, it is necessary to include contextual references, related to present society structure, which is the point of departure; and thepoint of arrival, which is the goal or utopia that education wants to achieve. That is why Arrien says that quality of education goes further than pedagogic and educative sphere. And moreover, when the author says “… and achieves its own dimension in other spheres of society…”, it means that its worth becomes explicit exactly on people´s action, not any type of action, but specifically the one thatis consciously done to intervene in the context and promote changes to achieve a better quality of living.


Quality of education is a concept that cannot be separated from the nature of social context. To understand the so called “crisis” of the educative system in Costa Rica, it is important to understand some tendencies, conditions and elements that are present in the contemporarysocieties which are affecting the educative phenomenon, the quality of education and also the quality of teaching.

Tendencies in the contemporary society.

The contemporary society is the nurture of the concepts that are being discussed, so it is important to have a clear idea about the most important tendencies, conditions and elements that are interacting and affecting the educativephenomenon and of course the quality of education and the quality of teaching.

In the worldwide television, the recent news offered a dramatic headline: the ghost of famine is covering the earth population. It seems to be incredible. The scientists have said that millions of people around the world are not going to have sufficient food to survive. This fact is unacceptable, when ones know forsure, that the world has enough richness to give every human being decent conditions in which to live. There is also a crisis in the production of rice. This grain is the basis of the daily diet not only in our country but in many places around the world.. At the same time, there is a substantial increase in the price of various services as well as oil. This is happening not only in our countrybut also in all the countries all over the world. Including this information we have other problems. Daily news offers a clear picture of Costa Rican social break down: assassinations, robberies, the world as we know it is changing. The quality of living is rapidly decreasing, and poverty, violence and aggression are taking more spaces in our societies.


The phenomenon of globalization...