FAQs on Escalae
1. How does Escalae affect heads’ freedom?
2. How is ISO related to Escalae?
3. What is Escalae based on?
4. How is the validity of teachers’ replies to the self-diagnosis tool ensured? From a practical perspective, heads of department enjoy a freedom that extends as far as the organisation’s responsibility for its learning outcomes, i.e. its promise as to what students will know and be able to do when they complete their education. A key part of competence-based teaching is for teachers to coordinate amongst themselves in order to teach all metadisciplinary and interdisciplinary contents. Heads of department have limited freedom and it is framed by “what to teach” (contents) and teaching style, i.e. the way of communicating, personal experiences and other intangible factors of each teacher. However, there should be a common teaching methodology of “how to teach and assess” in accordance with the educational organisation’s learning outcomes, as set out in the Escalae Teaching for Education Quality System. back to start If we carefully study different quality models widely used in educational and training organisations (including ISO 9001:2008, and the directives for application in the educational sphere, IWA2), we can see they need to integrate aspects to complete the quality system, i.e. technical quality protocols for key teaching-learning processes and the methodology for continuous improvement of educational practice. Escalae integrates perfectly with the process of implementing ISO-IWA2, especially when defining quality objectives, which should take account of the learning outcomes and the suitable teaching methodology to achieve them. Furthermore, in the section for creating the educational product or service, which defines the characteristics of how to teach (design, delivery and assessment), Escalae sets out indicators of educational practice which integrate with the directives set out by ISO-IWA2. Whether they are just starting an educational quality process or already hold ISO 9001:2008 certification, educational organisations can integrate Escalae perfectly with their quality management system and thus make further progress with key processes in their educational service to close the gap between what the organisation sets out to do for its students and what actually happens in class. In addition, teachers get the feeling that the system is connected to their professional practice. back to start Escalae does not belong to any pedagogical school of thought or paradigm. It takes its ideological, socio-anthropological and epistemological references (why and what to teach) from each educational organisation’s philosophy, rules or educational project. From this point, Escalae has developed technical teaching and learning quality protocols, drawing on learning psychology and didactics, with characteristics on how to teach and assess in accordance with each organisation’s references. These characteristics are based on existing scientific knowledge of how people learn.
back to start It is understandable that some members of the management team might raise this question. There is no way to know with complete certainty whether teachers answer the questionnaire sincerely, since, amongst other things, replies are anonymous. However, this analysis tool is designed in such a way that there isn’t always a single suitable answer (i.e. it is not easy to identify ‘good’ and ‘bad’ replies), but stresses rather that educational practice can be carried out in different ways. It is easier for teachers to focus on replying in accordance with what they do in their class that trying to spot the ‘best’ answer. In addition, teachers should understand that the Teaching Self-diagnosis is designed to examine their own educational practice in order to improve, and never seeks to penalise (which is why it is anonymous). Teachers should therefore see it as an opportunity to think deeply about what they really do. What makes an organisation great is its ability to continuously improve what it does. This questionnaire is also an opportunity for teachers to express their frank and sincere opinion on the situation at the school and point out possible improvements in terms of both their own personal involvement and any obstacles arising from the group to which they belong. back to start
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