Miquel Oliver: "If there are teachers who have a poor level of Catalan, it's because of society."

PalmMiquel Oliver (Palma, 1958) took over as dean of the Faculty of Education in 2020, just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that put all educational institutions to the test. During his nearly six years at the helm, Oliver has spearheaded pioneering initiatives that have shaped the Faculty's trajectory, such as the implementation of specific entrance exams for teaching studies and the reinforcement of the centrality of student internships in schools. The needs of the education system have evolved rapidly, and the Faculty has had to adapt to them in order to respond to the changes and ensure that future teachers arrive in the classrooms well-trained. Now, after this period of leadership, he will leave the deanship at the end of November to fully dedicate himself to teaching and research, while the position will presumably be assumed by Dr. Carme Pinya, currently vice-dean.

He has been at the helm of the Faculty of Education for almost six years. What is your assessment?

— The assessment will be carried out by the Faculty, students, professors, administrative and service staff, and the public. I would highlight the line of collaboration we have established between initial teacher training, educational centers, and the university, which has been consolidated to date. Students spend a quarter of their time in educational centers, making the support work provided by active teachers essential. Student participation has also been strengthened with delegates and tutors, decentralizing management so that faculty, students, and staff participate in committees. Furthermore, we have collaborated on the definition of the Ministry's white papers on teacher training, with the proposal to extend the duration of degrees to five years to include new subjects and reinforce the importance of internships.

What goals are you most proud of and what challenges remain?

— There are three key factors: the entrance exams, which make us a benchmark across the country; the dual degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education, which has stabilized training in Ibiza and Menorca, which until now had been very precarious; and the launch of the degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences. This year, we will assume management of the Master's Degree for Teacher Training. A pending challenge is to have dedicated teachers working both in schools and at the university, to improve initial training. Talks are underway with the Ministry of Education, and I believe they will go well.

What obstacles or difficulties have you encountered when implementing your project?

— There hasn't been any major friction. It's been a constant learning experience and a pleasure to work with a solid dean's team. As for the rest of the faculty and students, the key has been collaboration and shared decision-making. When we've made mistakes, we've rectified them.

But has it been easy to convey the dean's will to the rest of the faculty and students?

— Yes, because everything has been discussed and negotiated in committees and academic councils. When we've made mistakes, we've been transparently accounted for. But university management is more complex than it was fifteen years ago, when I was head of studies. Now there's more bureaucracy, more need for coordination with the rector's office and attending meetings, which requires a lot of prior work.

Are the faculty members well connected to the reality of the classroom?

— It's complicated because we're the largest faculty at the UIB, and there's a wide variety of professors from all the faculties. The departments do a lot of work to ensure that faculty are familiar with the reality of the centers and learn the language when they come from outside. It's essential to maintain that connection, especially with the generational change and the arrival of new people. When there are disconnects, such as with internship tutors who work only in Spanish, it's quickly corrected because the centers let us know. We work to ensure that connection with reality is intense.

Regarding the degrees, do you think they have been able to adapt to the current needs of the education system?

— The change we now want to implement is necessary. The current curricula were designed in 2008, and the world has changed a lot. Now we must think about the next twenty years. Although we haven't modified the old curricula, because we couldn't, we have been adapting and patching them up, just as teachers do in schools. We have improved external internships, which are now the backbone of the training students receive. We already implement many of the things proposed in the new white paper we are currently working on with Madrid. Internships are no longer a "must": the faculty tutor and the school teacher do very intensive work to connect theory and practice. We have had to play with the current curricula, but we have gone far enough outside the box.

One of the major changes under your leadership has been the specific entrance exam for teaching. Has it helped filter out those who signed up "for the holidays" or because they thought it was an easy course?

— We've had four classes now, and yes, it's served to discourage those who applied without a vocation. Now, demand is tighter. Before, there were many people who applied and then dropped out; now, those people no longer get in. We've gone from 1,200 applications to about 600 or 700, and the student profile is much more suitable. The tests have been very useful, and I couldn't imagine what would happen and who would get in if we didn't have them. However, it's not enough. We need to attract people who aren't aware that, given their characteristics, they could be very happy teaching. We have a plan designed for this.

Over the years, how has the student profile changed? Do some schools complain that new teachers are arriving with a poor level of Catalan, which practically prevents them from teaching?

— If there are teachers who have a poor level of Catalan, it's because of society. No one should blame anyone. We must identify the problem and work together. It makes no sense to enter into a war between educational levels: to say that students arrive poorly prepared from secondary school or that teachers leave poorly trained. The problem is widespread and affects all levels.

How do you deal with it?

— At the university, we have created teaching teams—an unusual structure—to better coordinate the faculty. We have 47 coordinators who meet in committees. We agreed with the Preschool and Primary education departments that, if the entrance exams have minimum spelling requirements, these should be maintained or even increased in the individual subjects. The committee decided to be more demanding. The world has changed: students read less, and the emergence of artificial intelligence has greatly complicated their work, to the point that the Ministry is considering eliminating or making the Final Degree Project voluntary.

Is it possible for a student with poor Catalan proficiency to graduate?

— With a lack of knowledge, probably not; with attitude problems, perhaps yes, but I'm not sure either. It's not that they graduate with a poor level of Catalan, but rather that they already arrive with that deficiency. Their involvement and desire to improve is another matter. The Linguistic Model Commission is conducting a study on linguistic usage at the Faculty with a large sample. This will allow us to understand what they think and how they use the language. We are also committed to toughening the spelling requirements we place on students. What happens at the Faculty also happens in schools. No one is to blame: all educators, at any level, do a job.

Now that you're leaving the Faculty's leadership, what projects do you plan to participate in?

— I will dedicate myself to teaching and research, which is what I'm most passionate about. I'm part of a powerful research group in education and citizenship, which has recently been subdivided into three teams. I lead one, the Educational Innovation and Teaching Profession team, together with Professor Carme Pinya. My main task from now on will be to continue researching and training teachers. Furthermore, I have an excellent former student who completed a master's degree in Barcelona. He has returned and obtained a grant from the Ministry for the training of university professors and researchers. He has asked me to tutor him, and I will also do this work, with great enthusiasm and a desire to be useful.