Why are we different?: Principals and teachers at the center of the Spanish educational reform

Abstract

Despite the latest reforms and efforts undertaken, the Spanish educational system continues showing data that denotes its high ineffectiveness: within the European context it has one of the lowest levels of public spending on education, it is at the bottom of the PISA ranking, it shows alarming figures of school failure and it heads dropout rate lists. Based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data from TALIS, this article aims to examine and specify the conditions of teaching staff that make the difference between the Spanish system and European system heading school success rankings. The findings reveal a surprising similarity in terms of difficulties and challenges; however, there is great divergence in three key aspects related to entry into the profession, professional development and mobility until the end of the teaching career. The conclusions obtained are useful for tracing the lines of action on which the improvement of the Spanish educational system could be based, with their consequent impact on the levels of competitiveness and social well-being of teaching staff.