Chile: Comparative Education and Social Change

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Examine the powerful relationship between education and social change. Consider the ways in which educational politics, strategy, and pedagogy influence society in Chile and Argentina.

Students engage in rigorous academic coursework and research on the educational systems in urban and rural areas in Chile and Argentina, and observe first-hand the application of popular education as a tool for social change.

The program offers students the opportunity to interact with prominent academics, policy makers, activists, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to gain a panoramic understanding of the forces affecting Chile and Argentina's educational policies. Students also observe the intercultural dynamics between the Chilean government and the Mapuche, the country's largest indigenous group, and participate in homestays with families in Santiago, the Mapuche region, and Buenos Aires. Intensive Spanish language study and educational excursions throughout the semester improve students' communication and field study skills while also immersing them in the rich cultures of Chile and Argentina.

Mobilization and innovation.

The program's base in Santiago, Chile, provides students with a dynamic social and political environment in which to study education and social change. Chile's capital, Santiago was the focal point of protests involving high school students seeking education reform in 2006. These protests, which mobilized nearly a million people, underscore the importance of education for the Chilean populace as well as the controversies surrounding education funding, content, and distribution. Chile has a long history of sustained governmental engagement in educational policymaking and implementation as well as innovation in educational approach and delivery, and these protests reflected the difficult transition from the educational mandates of a dictatorship to the progressive ideas available in a democracy.

Within this socially active atmosphere, students interact with local schools, community organizations, and their homestay families to gain multiple perspectives on education and its impact on society. As part of their field study, students participate in observation activities in a selection of schools around Santiago, thereby gaining first-hand insight on the workings of public, private, voucher, underprivileged, coed, and single sex schools. Students will also explore Chile's complex political history by conducting educational excursions to places such as the Parque por la Paz, which served as a secret detention center during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which began in 1973 and lasted for almost 17 years. Students travel outside of Santiago and conduct field studies in Valparaiso and Temuco, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina to compare regional and national differences in educational systems and community involvement with, and influence on, educational reform.

In country resources and program partners generally include:

• Universidad Alberto Hurtado
• Chilean Teachers' Federation
• Ministry of Education of Argentina