Chile: Comparative Education and Social Change

• Programs
  • Find a Program
  • How to Choose a Program
  • Program Availability
  • Program Dates
  • Program Schedule
  • About SIT/World Learning
• Academics
  • Coursework and Program Components
  • Donald B. Watt Library
  • Virtual Library Guides
  • Credit Transfer
  • Accreditation
  • Language Study
  • Benefits of Study Abroad
• SIT Faculty and Staff
  • SIT Study Abroad Faculty and Staff Overview
  • Academic Leadership Teams
  • Senior Administrative Staff
• Admissions
  • Apply Now
  • Admissions Steps
  • Videos Answering Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • Application Forms
  • Tracking Your Application
  • Program Availability
  • Contact Admissions
  • Contact a Former Student
• SIT Scholarships
  and Financial Aid
  • SIT Scholarships
  • Financial Aid
  • Other Funding Sources
  • Program Costs
• Admitted Students
  • Web Advisor
  • Admitted Students
  • Confirmation Materials
  • Medical Review Process
  • Student Accounts and Billing
  • Contact a Former Student
  • Withdrawal and Cancellation Policies
• Services for Colleges and Universities
  • Overview
  • Resources
  • Custom Programs
  • Advisor Login
  • SIT Staff
  • Visit
• Alumni
  • Request a Transcript
  • SIT Study Abroad/IHP Trustee Fellowships
  • Connect to World Learning's Global Network
  • Next Steps for Alumni
  • Global Reciprocity Fund
  • Events and Announcements
  • SIT Student Ambassador Program
• Student Affairs
  • Health, Safety, and Security
  • Contact and Communications
  • Program Visit Policy
  • Re-Entry Information for Parents
  • Disability Services
  • Diversity
  • Student Support
  • IHP Program Updates

“…I couldn't have asked for a better program staff, program location, language teacher, host family, or group of other American students to share this important semester of my life with.”

-- Program alum

Study educational policies, experiences, strategies, and pedagogy in Chile and Argentina.

View Complete Photo Gallery

This program offers students the opportunity to engage in rigorous academic coursework and research on educational systems in urban and rural areas of Chile and Argentina. Students spend time in a variety of schools, gaining insight on the workings of public, private, voucher, underprivileged, coed, and single sex institutions. Students consider the application of popular education as a tool for social change.

Live in a country known for sustained government engagement in educational policymaking and implementation.
With a long history of innovation in educational approach and delivery, Chile provides students a dynamic social and political environment in which to study education and social change. The program is based in Chile's capital, Santiago, the focal point of protests involving high school students seeking education reform in 2006, and the student protests of 2011. The protests mobilized nearly a million people and underscored the importance of education for the Chilean populace as well as the controversies surrounding education funding, content, and distribution. 

Students examine the social contradictions and tensions manifested in the recent election of a right-wing president twenty years after the end of Pinochet's dictatorship and a period of progressive center-left governments. The 2006 and 2011 protests reflected the difficult transition from the educational mandates of a dictatorship to the progressive ideas available in a democracy.

Meet academics, policymakers, teachers, students, and social activists.
By learning from a cross section of experts and spending time in both countries, students gain a panoramic understanding of the forces affecting Chile and Argentina's educational policies.

Lecturers are drawn from institutions such as:

• Universidad Alberto Hurtado
• The Chilean Teachers' Federation (Colegio de Profesores de Chile)
• National Research Center for Alternative Development (Centro de Estudios Nacionales de Desarrollo Alternastivo)
• The University of Arts and Social Sciences (Universidad Arcis)
• Argentina’s Ministry of Education
• The University of Buenos Aires

Conduct field studies and excursions to discover regional and national differences in educational systems.
During field studies in Valparaiso and Temuco, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina students compare regional and national differences in educational systems and different communities’ involvement with educational reform. Students also observe the intercultural dynamics between the Chilean government and the Mapuche, the country's largest indigenous group.  
Learn more about the program's excursions in Chile and Argentina.

Study Spanish. Share daily life with local families.
Intensive Spanish language study and homestays with different families immerse students more deeply in the rich cultures of Chile and Argentina.

View Student Evaluations for this program:

About the Evaluations (PDF)

Fall 2012 Evaluations (PDF)
Spring 2012 Evaluations (PDF)
Fall 2011 Evaluations (PDF)

Contact Us
SIT, 1 Kipling Road, PO Box 676, Brattleboro, VT 05302-0676
802.257.7751, 800.257.7751 (Toll-free in the US)

SIT was founded as the School for International Training and has been known as  SIT Study Abroad and SIT Graduate Institute since 2007.
SIT is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC) through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education