The Place of Linguistic-Minority Students
in
Cathryn Teasley (University of A Coruña,
Galiza (
1998
In 1990, the
During the eight years ensuing since the new code first
went into effect, interest in its impact has steadily grown. Ambitious field
studies have already begun to emerge, such as the forthcoming Ministry of
Education report on the quality of the new Mandatory Secondary Education.(2)
Nevertheless, certain issues have continually failed to attract the same degree
of institutional attention. One of these is the education of marginalized
children whose first languages do not match any of the official languages of
Spain--neither the dominant Castilian, nor the co-official languages of the
Autonomous Communities(3)--and
it is well documented that Gypsies and immigrants from North and Sub-Saharan
Africa, and Latin America constitute the majority of such communities in Spain
(García Castaño & Pulido Moyano, 1997; Calvo Buezas, 1995 and 1990; Fernández Enguita, 1995; Juliano, 1993; Asociación Nacional Presencia Gitana, 1991).
The manner in which these linguistic- and/or
ethnic-minority students(4) are
addressed in the LOGSE is the focus of this work. A microanalysis of the
content of the law will demonstrate how immigrant and Gypsy students are
afforded vague, indirect, contradictory or hierarchical treatment at best, or
none whatsoever at worst, even in the most ideologically-charged and
socially-informed of the legislation's wording and intentions. As a necessary
preface to this analysis, however, an overview of the general structure and
functions of the LOGSE is in order, including its major headings, as well as
the reported impetus behind it, and its primary mission and goals.
A Brief Overview of the LOGSE(5)
Major Headings (Table of Contents)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
-- Preamble
-- Preliminary Title
-- Title One: On the General Levels of Instruction:
-- Chapter One: On Early Childhood Education
-- Chapter Two: On Elementary Education
-- Chapter Three: On Secondary Education
-- Section One: On Mandatory Secondary Education
-- Section Two: On College-Preparatory Education Bachillerato)
-- Chapter Four: On Vocational Education
-- Chapter Five: On Special Education
-- Title Two: On the Special Instructional Areas:
-- Chapter One: On Artistic Instruction:
-- Section One: On Music and Dance
-- Section Two: On Dramatic Arts
-- Section Three: On the Instruction of the Fine Arts and Design
-- Chapter Two: On the Instruction of Languages
-- Title Three: On Adult Education
-- Title Four: On the Quality of Instruction
-- Title Five: On the Compensation of Inequality in Education
-- Additional Dispositions
-- Transitory Dispositions
-- Final Dispositions
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Noteworthy Divergences from the Previous Educational
System and Code(6)
The LOGSE has streamlined the structure of the Spanish educational system with
that of most other European Community member states: Early Childhood Education
is extended to accept from toddlers to six year old children (attendance is
voluntary); mandatory education is extended two more years to the tenth grade;
Vocational Training is modified to better match the working world; and class
size is reduced to a maximum of 25 students in primary school and 30 in
secondary.
Reported Impetus, Ideological Underpinnings and
Primary Aims
Adhesion to the European Community is an important condition inspiring changes
meant to smooth the way for all levels of exchange and movement within the
continent. On the other hand, because the Spanish government has maintained a
high-speed momentum in meeting its modernization agenda (since the transition
to democracy in 1975)--focusing on political, cultural and
economic/technological diversification--the educational system has had to keep
pace, especially in an organizational sense. Finally, there is renewed interest
in ideological constructs such as democracy, equality, justice, tolerance and
solidarity, which pervade the code's Articles.
Microanalysis of the LOGSE for Its Treatment of
Linguistic-Minority Students
General Tendencies in the Wording and Focus of the Law
As stated above, the lexical reminders of an apparent concern for ethics and
democratic values in education are evenly distributed throughout the document;
they are the salient features of the following extracts, which contain the most
direct references to issues affecting linguistic minority populations(7):
In the Preamble:
[Excerpts from assertions on current contexts, values
and directions for Spanish society]:
-- "...practicing--in a critical and axiological manner, in our society of
plural values--liberty, tolerance and solidarity." (p.7)
-- "...the habits of democratic coexistence and mutual respect..."
(p.7)
-- "...the struggle against discrimination and inequality, be these due to
birthplace, race, gender, religion or opinion; be they of familial or social
origins..".(p.7)
-- "...education that can and must become a decisive element in overcoming
social stereotypes aoosciated with gender
differentiation..." (p.12)
-- "Ours is a society in an accelerated process of modernization which is
heading, now more clearly than ever, toward a common horizon for
Similar wording appears amongst the subsequent
articles of the LOGSE, such as the following:
[The Spanish educational system will promote]:
-- "Learning to respect the linguistic and cultural plurality of
-- "...peace, cooperation and solidarity..." (Article. 1g)
-- "...equal rights between the sexes, rejection of all types of
discrimination and respect for all cultures" (Art. 2.3.c).
(These notions are also applied to Title Four On the
Quality of Instruction.)
-- "An appreciation of the basic values that govern life and human
coexistence..." (Art. 13e)
-- "Acting in the spirit of cooperation, moral responsibility, solidarity
and tolerance, respecting the anti-discrimination principle among
peoples." (Art. 19d)
-- "...teaching practices that attend to the plurality of the needs,
aptitudes and interests of the students." (Art. 21.1)
-- "The analysis and critical assessment of world realities..." (Art.
26.c)
-- "Solidary participation in the development
and improvement of one's social environment." (Art. 26f)
-- "...and [public education] will assure preventative and compensatory
action to guarantee the most favorable conditions for schooling, during early
childhood education, of all children whose personal conditions, due to
low-income family background, geographic origin, or any other circumstance
presupposing initial unequal access to mandatory education..." (Art. 64)
Finally, there is the important Title Five On the Compensation of Inequality in Education, which will
be examined separately below.
On reviewing the selections of language presented
above--and not to the exclusion of the entire text of the law--it becomes
evident that there is a failure to move beyond the mere listing of very general
and vague civic values and objectives, given the complete absence of direct
references to Gypsies, immigrants, non-official-language instruction, or
marginalized linguistic minorities. Moreover, when extraterritorial or crosscultural exchanges are specified, they are almost
always in reference to Europe, but never to non-Western countries; on only a
few occasions is the word "world" used. Nor does the LOGSE address
comparative academic achievement levels according to home language,
socioeconomic status, or ethnicity/race, even when non-governmental studies
have found that Gypsies continue to be over-represented in Special Education
programs (Asociación Nacional
Presencia Gitana; 1992).
Institutional involvement with discrimination and unjust access to educational
opportunity is thus kept at a tertiary level, as there is no overt recognition
of how various forms of discrimination have always, and will predictably
continue to, manifest themselves in the Spanish
educational system. Whereas the case can be argued that the relatively recent,
rapidly growing, non-European immigrant presence in
On a different, but related issue, there is a clear
hierarchy and favoritism governing the official languages of instruction.
Autonomous Communities with their own co-official languages are obligated to
have their students learn not only the autonomous language, but Castilian and
an additional "foreign language" as well. And, in practice, the
latter amounts to only French or English. In Castilian speaking Autonomous
Communities, however, learning another autonomous language is optional. No
exceptions to these imbalanced conditions are stipulated in the law, and
non-European languages are excluded from discussion.
Lastly, while Title Five On
the Compensation of Inequality in Education reiterates the kinds messages
listed above, it does so in no more specific terms, again failing to refer to
Gypsies, immigrants or any specific linguistic-minority issues:
Compensatory education policy will reinforce the action
of the educational system so that inequalities derived from social, economic,
cultural, geographic, ethnic, or other factors are avoided. (Art. 63.2)
Nonetheless, Article 65.3 of this title is key in that
it attempts to translate the aforementioned broad values into action, by
holding the Educational Administration accountable for the application of
"compensatory" measures when
...students experience special difficulty in attaining
the general objectives of a basic education due to their social conditions...
(Art. 65.3)
However, through all this, not only are the means
are missing--no particular actions or programs are identified-- but certain
tacit assumptions underscore the notions of "compensatory education"
and "special difficulty," as they do in the statement "due to
[the students'] social conditions" (which also appears in Article 64
above, on early childhood education). By employing the old trick of modifying
the wording, one can better identify the dominant, pro-institution biases behind
this message. Consider the following rewording of Article 65.3:
The Administration will be held accountable for
improving the educational system when it experiences special difficulty in
meeting the general objectives of providing a basic education to all student
populations, due to institutionalized biases.
Concluding Remarks
The preceding microanalysis of Spain's most recent
educational code has unveiled a document that--despite its philanthropic tone--
has, in important ways, set the stage for the continued neglect of the needs of
the most marginalized populations of Spain: Gypsy and immigrant
linguistic-minority children. In fact, a number of contradictory values
affecting these students can be found in the LOGSE, and have been detailed in
the full paper corresponding to this summary version. Finally, whereas some
promising legislation has since been enacted--such as a national, 1996
resolution establishing the provision of teachers from Portugal to
predominantly working-class, immigrant school communities in need of bilingual
instructional support (Dirección General de Centros Educativos, 1996)--such
efforts are isolated. Unless measures are taken by all participants in the
Spanish educational system to reduce the hegemonic practice of exclusion which
so pervades the LOGSE, little will likely be done for substantial, Statewide
improvement in the education of children whose sociolinguistic circumstances
are thus pitted against those of the educational institution, only to the
detriment of equal access to schooling.
References
Asociación Nacional Presencia Gitana (1991). Informe sobre la cuestión
gitana. Madrid: Editorial Presencia Gitana.
BOE (Boletín Oficial del Estado) (1985).
"Ley Orgánica 8/1985, de 3 de Julio (Jefatura), Reguladora del Derecho a
la Educación (LODE)." No. 159, 4 de junio.
Calvo Buezas, T. (1995). "La educación
intercultural en una sociedad pluriétnica". In Alfieri, F., et. al. Volver
a pensar la educación (Vol.1): Política, educación y sociedad . Madrid:
Ediciones Morata, pp. 254-267.
--------- (1990). ¿España racista? Voces
payas sobre los gitanos.
Dirección General de Centros Educativos
(1996). "Programa de Lengua y Cultura Portuguesa." Resolution No. 45, 4-11-1996, (Marginal
1996/2952; Disposición: Instrucciones
21-10-1996).
El País (1998). "¿Qué saben los chicos
de la ESO? Primer informe oficial del Ministerio de Educación sobre la calidad
de la secundaria obligatoria." No. 669, martes, 3 de marzo, Sociedad.
El País Digital: http://www.elpais.es/p/d/19980303/sociedad/eso.htm .
Fernández Enguita, M. (1995). "Escuela y
etnicidad: El caso de los gitanos." In Alfieri, F., et. al. Volver a
pensar la educación (Vol.1): Política, educación y sociedad . Madrid:
Ediciones Morata, pp. 281-293.
García Castaño, F. & Pulido Moyano, R.. (1997).
"Educación multicultural e intercultural: Reflexiones sobre el Caso
Español." Paper presented at the Multicultural
Education Workshop of the 1997 Congreso de Psicopedagogía,
Juliano, D. (1993). Educación
intercultural: Escuela y minorías étnicas.
MEC (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia)
(1990). Ley Orgánica de Ordenación General del sistema Educativo.
1. Full-text
versions of both the LOGSE and the LODE are available at the URL:
http://www.lander.es/~fecoanda/legislacion.html
The LOGSE can also be found in Appendix One of the
full-paper version of this summary. The stages of implementation of the new
code are also stipulated in the LOGSE.
2. Despite
the fact that the LOGSE's approach to the ninth and
tenth grade levels are not scheduled to be implemented until the 1998-99 and
1999-2000 school years, the National Institute of Quality and Assessment has
already conducted a major survey to assess the effects of the new Mandatory Secondary
Education, which includes grades seven through ten. Some of the results of this
1997 study have been published very recently in the popular press (El País,
1998). The Ministry's forthcoming, 100-page report will reflect more thoroughly
the conclusions derived from the responses of the 56,555 students, 3,287
teachers, and 11,508 families surveyed throughout
3. The
co-official languages include Galizan-Portuguese in Galiza, Catalán in
4. The
term "minority" is used in the sense that the ethnic or linguistic
group it refers to is relatively smaller in proportion to the largest, and most
dominant of ethnic or linguistic groups within the Spanish State, even when the
minority group in question represents the majority of students in a given
school community.
5. For a
full-text version of the LOGSE, visit the website:
http://www.lander.es/~fecoanda/legislacion.html
6. Both
this and the following sections are much reduced in this summary version.
7. Not
all instances have been included here for lack of space; translations mine.