Key Competencies in Preschool Text B ooks. Utopia or Reality?

1. Key Competencies in Preschool Text Books. Utopia or Reality? Rodríguez, J., Molina, M.D., Collado, J.A. y Pérez, E. University of Jaén (SPAIN)

2. Introduction Based on the current established Preschool Curriculum (LOE, 2006-Education Act, 2006), the study analyze and asses the pedagogical repercussions key competences have had on Preschool and Primary Education text books.

3. Theoretical Framework: Preschool text books and competences. The use of text books in Preschool Education has been linked to learning in the classroom since the fifteenth century (Valera, 2010) with the invention of the printing press and, even if it is considered or not decisive in the teaching-learning process. Its full potential in this process has not been determined. Furthermore, many are of the opinion that they don’t really facilitate constructive learning at all, but a totally behaviorist learning at best.

4. Theoretical Framework: Preschool text books and competences. The aspiration of Preschool Education is to offer all children the best possible preparation for tomorrow’s world (Official Bulletin of the European Union, 2011). Its development should contribute to the comprehensive development of the student and help towards better adaptation of the student to life in society. Preschool Education, after the family home, will be the best Educational agent for children of this age, given its high level of development as a training institution, and also as one of the main instruments for childhood protection (Sánchez, 2008).

5. Theoretical Framework: Preschool text books and competences. • The competence-based educational process has generated a new way of structuring and developing teaching-learning processes as well as their evaluation, given that new settings are considered where students have the ability to identify, interpret, discuss and solve problems which arise in the context. • For this reason we believe it is necessary to use the socio-constructivist planning models so tightly bound to Preschool Education and closely related to the development of key competences.

6. Methodological Design This research is descriptive and is based on the survey technique. An evaluation instrument of four dimensions was designed in order to the research main object, using a Likert scale whose response ratings go from 1 to 4 (1 meaning less and 4 meaning more). The first dimension was ‘Self Understanding and Personal Autonomy’; the second ‘Knowledge of the Environment’; the third ‘Language, Communication and Creative Development’; and, finally, the fourth dimension ‘Methodology’.

7. Results • The survey shows that the text books do not develop the strategies necessary to solve real vital problems because the publishers’ proposals in no way mean trying to solve them. • Furthermore, they clearly state that the books do not develop strategies for the day to day life of our students, nor to favor collaborative learning because the proposals they offer require each student to work individually.

8. Conclusions • The text books offer no contextualized learning situations and, as has been demonstrated on other occasions (Pro and Rodríguez, 2010), contextualization processes allow improvement in the quality of learning and orientate teaching towards qualification in scientific competence. • Schools which insist on being transmitters of information are schools of the past and do not meet the demands of education necessary for today’s society. In a competence model in which ‘Knowing how to do’ is a priority, we cannot continue using only the text book to develop students’ learning in our classrooms.

9. References • CEJA (2007). Ley 17/2007, de 10 de diciembre, de Educación de Andalucía. LEA. (BOJA, 26 de diciembre de 2007). • Gimeno Sacristán, J. (2008.): Educar por competencias ¿qué hay de nuevo? Madrid: Morata. • MEC (2006). Ley Orgánica 2/2006 de 3 de mayo de Educación. LOE (BOE, 4 de mayo de 2006). • MEC (2013). Ley Orgánica 8/2013, de 9 de diciembre, para la mejora de la calidad educativa LOMCE. (BOE, 10 de diciembre de 2013). • Muñoz Sandoval, A. (2009). El desarrollo de las competencias básicas en educación Infantil. Alcalá de Guadaira. Sevilla: MAD-Eduforma.

10. References • Pro Bueno, A. & Rodríguez Moreno, J. (2010). Aprender competencias en una propuesta para la enseñanza de los circuitos eléctricos en Educación Primaria. Revista Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 28 (3), 385-404. • Rodríguez Moreno, J. (2011). Diseño, aplicación y evaluación de una propuesta didáctica para trabajar la temática de la Energía en Educación Primaria. Tesis Doctoral. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia. • Sánchez Sánchez, A. (2008). Enfoque, estabilidad y continuidad de la escolarización en Educación Infantil (0-6 años). Evolución histórica en la Comunidad de Madrid, Revista de educación, 347, 75-99.

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