Certification Policy: Reflections based on the Chilean Case of the INICIA Test for Beginner Teachers
Keywords:
policy, certification, INICIA test, teacher's performance
Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to analyse a specific educational policy in a national context: INICIA (In Spanish: Start) in Chile. Enacted in 2008, this policy evaluates beginning teachers at the national level before they start their professional careers in schools. The INICIA has been categorised as a certification policy to measure what teachers know in relation to a certain disciplinary area. At present, INICIA is voluntary for beginning teachers. However, due to policy changes, a passing score on it will soon be necessary to become a nationally qualified teacher in Chile. Through a holistic analysis of the policy, we develop a complex picture of the problem INICIA generates as a requirement for certification. According to our analysis, INICIA has been misunderstood as a policy that provides quantitative and qualitative information about a teacher's performance. In actuality, INICIA merely provides information about a specific moment in a teacher's professional development and cannot be used as a predictor of future performance.
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References
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Azevedo, J. (2008). Challenges for performance improvement in education. Portuguese Journal of Management Studies, 13(1), 7–17.
Ball, S. (2012). Global education Inc. New policy networks and the neo-liberal imaginary. London, UK: Routledge.
Ball, S. (1998). Big policies/small world: An introduction to international perspectives in education policy. Comparative Education, 34(2), 119–130.
Ball, S. J. (1993). What is policy? Texts, trajectories and tool boxes. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 13(2), 10–17. doi:10.1080/0159630930130203.
Braun et al, A. (2011). Taking context seriously: Towards explaining policy enactments in the secondary school. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(4), 585–596.
Brun, M., & Hinostroza, J. (2014). The international handbook of cultures of professional development for teachers: Comparative international issues in collaboration, reflection, management and policy. In B. Boufoy-Bastick (Ed.), Developing a quality culture in initial teacher education in Chile: Curricular and pedagogical aspects related to ICT integration (pp. 681–707). Strasbourg: Analytrics.
Bowe, R., S. J. Ball, & Gold, A. (1992). Reforming education and changing schools: Case Studies in policy sociology. London, UK: Routledge.
Clarke, H. (2013). Context, communication and commiseration, Psychological and practical considerations in change management. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 17(1), 30–39.
Carnoy, M. (1999). Globalization and educational reform: What planners need to know. Fundamentals of educational planning. Paris: UNESCO.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Sykes, G. (2003). Wanted: A national teacher supply policy for education: The right way to meet the “Highly Qualified Teacher†challenge. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(33), 1–55. Retrieved from https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/viewFile/261/387
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. New York, NY: DC Heath and Company.
Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change. New York, NY: Routledge.
Goleman, D. (1998). Emotional intelligence. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Goméz, S (2013). Repensando la Formación de los Formadores en Chile [Rethinking the professional development of trainers in Chile]. Estudios Hemisféricos y Polares, 4(2), 124–133.
Henry, M. (1999). Working with/against globalisation in education. Journal of Educational Policy, 14(1), 85–97.
Jager, S., & Maier, F. (2009). Theoretical and methodological aspects of Foucauldian critical discourse analysis and dispositive analysis. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.) (pp. 34–61). London, UK: Sage.
Klenowskl, V. (2012). Raising the stakes: The challenges for teacher assessment. The Australian Educational Researcher, 39(2), 173–192.
Larrivee, B. (2000). Transforming teaching practice: Becoming the critically reflective teacher. Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 1(3), 293–307.
Levin, B. (2010). Governments and education reform: Some lessons from the last 50 years. Journal of Education Policy, 25(6), 739–747.
Marginson, S. (1999). After globalisation: Emerging politics education. Journal of Educational Policy, 14(1), 19–31.
Marshall, C. (2000). Policy discourse analysis: Negotiating gender equity. Journal of Education Policy, 15(2), 125–156.
Meckes, L., & Bascopé, M. (2012). Uneven distribution of novice teachers in the Chilean primary school system. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 20(30), 1–27. Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1017
Mercer, J., Barker, B., & Bird, R. (2010). Human resources management in education. Contexts, themes & impact. Oxon, UK: Routledge.
Mizala, A., & Romanguera, P. (1998). School performance and choice: The Chilean experience. Journal of Human Resources, 35(2), 394–417.
Mizala, A., & Torche, F. (2012). Bringing the schools back in: the stratification of educational achievement in the Chilean voucher system. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(1), 132–144.
Morais, A., Neves, I., & Afonso, M. (2005). Teacher training processes and teachers’ competence: A sociological study in the primary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(4), 415–437.
Ministry of Education of Chile (2012). Formación docente inicial [Preparing teachers]. Retrieved from http://www.mineduc.cl/index2.php?id_seccion=4243&id_portal=79&id_contenido=19887
Ministry of Education of Chile, (2015). Antecedentes de la evaluación inicia [Antecedents of Start test]. Retrieved from http://www.mineduc.cl/index2.php?id_seccion=4243&id_portal=79&id_contenido=20558
OECD (2005). Education at a glance. Paris: OECD World-Bank.
Ozga, J. (2000). Policy research in educational settings. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Tikly, L. (2001). Globalisation and education in the postcolonial world: Towards a conceptual framework. Comparative Education 37(2), 151–171.
Vidovich, L. (2015). Globalisation and the knowledge economy/society (Topic 2). Lecture notes. Perth: The University of Western Australia.
Vidovich, L. (2015). Devolution and accountability policies (Topic 4). Lecture notes. Perth: The University of Western Australia.
Wilson, S. M., Floden, R. E., & Ferrini-Mundy, J. (2001). Teacher preparation research: Current knowledge, gaps, and recommendations. Seattle, WA: Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy.
Published
2018-12-27
How to Cite
Aravena, F., & Quiroga, M. (2018). Certification Policy: Reflections based on the Chilean Case of the INICIA Test for Beginner Teachers. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 8(4), 29–46. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.558
Section
VARIA
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