Telesecundaria: Students and the Meanings They Attribute to Elements of the Pedagogical Model

Published in the Mexican Journal of Educational Research (Vol. 8, No. 17 - Jan.- Apr. 2003, pp. 221-243), this 17-page report details a research study of the paedagogical model implemented in Mexico called telesecundaria. Author Rafael Quiroz Estrada begins by noting that this type of secondary education, which was introduced in 1968, has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. For instance, between the years from 1990 to 1999, telesecundarias more than doubled their enrollment, whereas the 3 other types of secondary education in Mexico (general, technical, and school for workers) together grew from 5.7% to 31.1%. In 1999, there were more telesecundarias than general and technical secondary schools combined.

In this context, Rafael Quiroz Estrada sought to understand this educational strategy from the perspective of students themselves. He describes the conceptual referents for his study, which involve efforts to understand social action through subjective identification and interpretation of the meaning that an actor attributes to his or her action. The idea is that students' value judgments about different elements of the scholastic process of telesecundaria can provide "data" with regard to learning and survival in the world of school. Within this framework, he used ethnographic research to study two semi-urban telesecundarias in Estado de Mexico. This methodology draws on "nonparticipative observation, in which the researcher acts only as an observer of situations of interest for constructing the object of study. The process is complemented by collective interviews with students from the three years of secondary school." In total, Rafael Quiroz Estrada conducted 13 classroom observations and 12 50-minute collective interview sessions, with 4 students in each session.

After describing the model of telesecundaria in detail, Rafael Quiroz Estrada shares impressions and direct quotations from his research to illuminate the meaning that students attribute to the meaning of "mediator complementarity", as well as the meaning of the teacher and group of students - which are components of telesecundaria. He learned that:

• Students found that televised classes present the topic of the class, and provide a clear explanation and source of information of that topic. When the televised programme is shown at the beginning of the class session, the students value it highly; when it is shown at the end, the programme is more often seen as "unnecessary". Students see the book of basic concepts as a permanent reference - one that is often used at home.
• The evaluator stresses the significance of the complementary nature of the set of mediators, as illustrated by this comment from a student: "The television illustrates it for us, and normally gives us examples that we can take into account when we do our exercises. And the teacher is like a complement of the television; or the other way around..." Another student said, "I think at school that the television explains it to you and you understand it. But at home, you do not have the television to explain it to you and you can use the [book of] basic comments." The evaluator concludes that "the advantages the students attribute to the complementarity of the mediators for their learning, and the comparisons they make with other types of secondary schools, imply that they value telesecundaria highly, have a feeling of belonging, and identify with telesecundaria."
• Rafael Quiroz Estrada notes that the students he interviewed consider having only one teacher an advantage in telesecundaria. Drawing on quotations from students, he notes that this one-on-one interaction suggests the possibility of having a more personal relationship with the telesecundaria teacher. "According to the students, the small groups and sole group teacher in telesecundaria allow a more personal and trustful relationship with the teacher, in addition to permitting greater interaction among students."
• The evaluator stresses that the schools he examined have "regular pedagogical functioning", in contrast to some earlier studies of telesecundaria in marginalised rural zones. That said, "the application of the model's elements and the regular pedagogical functioning of these schools are the bases of student perspectives of their school. They value their school highly and expect to be able to learn more easily in telesecundarias than at other types of secondary school. The students believe that the school makes elements available to them to permit their learning - which generates student confidence in the possibility of learning..."

The author concludes that "although the pedagogical model of telesecundaria schools can still be improved, when it functions consistently it permits scholastic achievement equivalent to that of other types of secondary schools, in addition to generating student confidence about learning and a feeling of identity with the school....[I]t would be worthwhile to suggest the usefulness of introducing, in other types of secondary schools, mechanisms similar to those evaluated positively by the telesecundaria students. One possibility, for example, would be a person to play the role of the single group teacher, such as a group adviser, with class time dedicated to that function....Another possibility would be more frequent television support as a teaching resource."