Seguimos hablando de educación. Está bien. Es un tema importante. Tal vez el más importante de todos en este momento. Pero lo que no comparto es que sigamos hablando de educación casi únicamente en torno a montos de dinero.
Fuente: El Post
8 September
Unos dicen que mil millones de dólares no alcanzan. Que hay estudios que dicen que se requieren mil 800. Otros cuatro mil. Y algunos exigen hasta ocho mil.
Hago la siguiente pregunta.
Supongamos por un momento que se diera el hecho que el parlamento aprobara –de alguna forma– un aumento de presupuesto de 4.000 millones de dólares para educación durante el 2013.
¿Significaría eso que en diciembre del próximo año estaríamos celebrando un mejoramiento notable de los índices de educación?
¿Los maestros de escuela serían mucho mejores?
¿Los alumnos aprenderían muchos más?
¿El SIMCE subiría por lo menos unos 100 puntos si no más?
¿Alguien cree realmente eso? Vamos por parte:
¿Qué se puede hacer con más presupuesto?
-Subir sueldos
-Construir más colegios
-Comprar equipamiento
-Otorgar becas
-Etc.
¿Aumentar los sueldos de docentes y profesores mejoraría por sí solo la calidad de la educación?
¿Es ése el problema?
¿O será asunto de construir más colegios (cuando muchos de ellos tienen dificultades para llenar las vacantes)?
¿O más computadores, pupitres, pizarrones…?
Si se otorgaran más becas eso posiblemente sería algo muy bueno, pero ¿el solo hecho de otorgar becas mejoraría la calidad de la educación?
Lo que falta son otras cosas:
- Mejor formación de los profesores
- Mejor gestión
- Hábitos
- Cultura general
- Mayor disciplina
- Cohesión social
- Valoración social del conocimiento
- Espíritu de trabajo
- Formación del carácter
- Formación en la libertad y responsabilidad
Pero esas cosas no dependen de mayores presupuestos.
Dependen de otras cosas.
Entonces, ¿por qué queremos solucionar los problemas actuales de la educación con los medios e instrumentos equivocados?
Como he postulado en otras columnas y lo vuelvo a repetir en esta. No es que no reconozca que hacen falta más recursos para la educación.
Sin duda. Para algunas cosas. Por ejemplo, para aumentar la cobertura en jardines infantiles. Pero la plata es un solo aspecto. Y ni siquiera el más importante.
Si solo aumentamos los presupuestos y no hacemos nada más, en unos años más tendríamos una educación el doble de cara, pero igual de mala que la actual.
¿Cuándo vamos a empezar a aceptar que el problema que tenemos en educación es mucho más complejo que aumentar fuertemente el presupuesto?
¿Cuándo vamos a empezar hacer la pega?
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My Dear Friend: Welcome to Chile (Essays from a Teacher in Chile) [Kindle Edition]
Book Description
Publication Date: February 19, 2012
My Dear Friend, Welcome to Chile.
This book shares the personal sentiment of its author, an expat, after having lived the past ten years in Chile. He says:
“I live in Chile, the most beautiful country in the world.”
He continues: “As I say these words, I want you to know that I come from the United States of America, a country that stretches from sea to shining sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The USA is indeed a magnificent country, but it isn’t Chile…”
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EdCamp Santiago: The First Seven Days [Kindle Edition]
Book Description
Publication Date: March 4, 2012
Dedicated to all the educators, world-wide, who have participated in an EdCamp. Go forth, spread the word to the far corners of the Earth, something is happening. There’s something going on, a R(E)volution in teacher professional development. It’s called EdCamp….
A conference, that’s not a conference. An “unconference” is a better term. A new paradigm in teacher professional development, a new, creative, innovative way of staying up to date on what matters most to teachers. As I said, it’s a paradigm shift in teacher professional development. Let me repeat: Paradigm Shift.
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Being A Teacher in Chile [Kindle Edition]
Book Description
Publication Date: May 3, 2012
“How do you become a good teacher?” Those of you who know me from reading my writing already know my answer. The short answer, the simple answer, the easy to understand answer. It has two parts.
First, love what you do. Love being a teacher so much that if you had the power to be anything on Earth, pilot, astronaut, doctor, dentist, taxi-driver, singer, dancer, artist, musician, anything at all, you would still choose to be a teacher. Love being a teacher, that’s number one.
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Soy Un Maestro: I Am A Teacher [Paperback]
I am a teacher, and I teach in Chile. This year a new Teacher Career Law, defining the teaching profession in terms of increased prestige, attracting more applicants from higher performing students, an obligatory enabling exam, higher salaries, fewer hours teaching in the classroom, and higher responsibilities wil be passed, hopefully. This book totally supports the idea that a good law is needed, and now is the time to pass one, even if that law is not yet perfect. We Teachers have such a long way to go, and this is clearly a tremendous step in the right direction. To celebrate, all of the funds received for the sale of this book will go to support the EdCamp Santiago free conference for teachers in Chile. Thank you, in advance, for buying this book. May God Bless You…
Soy el más afortunado de todos quienes trabajan. A un médico se le permite traer una vida en un momento mágico. A mí se me permite que esa vida renazca día a a día con nuevas preguntas, ideas y amistades. Un arquitecto sabe que si construye con cuidado, su estructura puede permanecer por siglos. Un maestro sabe que si construye con amor y verdad, lo que construya durará para siempre.
Book Details
Paperback: 170 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (July 3, 2012)
Language: English/Spanish
ISBN-10: 1478176520
ISBN-13: 978-1478176527
Soy Un Maestro: I Am A Teacher [Kindle Edition]
Soy Un Maestro: I Am A Teacher [Kindle Edition]
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La Desconferencia: EdCamp Santiago (Spanish Edition) [Kindle Edition]
Book Description
Publication Date: May 12, 2012
Soy un maestro. Soy el más afortunado de todos quienes trabajan. A un médico se le permite traer una vida en un momento mágico. A mí se me permite que esa vida renazca día a a día con nuevas preguntas, ideas y amistades.
EdCamp Santiago es la desconferencia. Entrada gratuita, desarrollo profesional, por profesores, para profesores. Compartir en vez de competir, aprendizaje entre pares. Participantes comparten y intercambian sus mejores prácticas pedagógicas: “Best Practices”.
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The Chilean National English Test [Kindle Edition]
Publication Date: March 25, 2012
SIMCE Ingles 2010: The development of the national English test in Chile coincides with my story, which is woven autobiographically into the larger story, a test which apparently resulted in only 11% of students able to achieve a passing score.
This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will reveal secrets to you that you thought you already knew about tests, test-making, and test-reporting.
More importantly, if you are a teacher, you leave the reading of this book with a renewed sense of confidence in who you are, and what you do…
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Statue of Queen Boudicca on the Thames River in London
What is deemed as “history” is often determined by those who survived to write it. In other words, history is written by the victors. The Roman historian, Tacitus, left us an account of the Roman victory over Queen Boudicca in the year A.D. 60-61.
Prasutagus, the wealthy King of the Iceni tribe, had died. Upon his death, his wife, Queen Boudicca, became the new ruler of the Iceni tribe. She headed a rebellion against the occupying Romans in Britain in A.D. 60 in which more than seventy thousand Romans were killed. The rebellion was eventually crushed and Boudicca committed suicide. So, this is a neat, sweet his-story with a happy ending, if you were on the Roman side, that is.
Yet undeniably, every community has a memory of itself. Not a history, nor an archive, nor an authoritative record, but a living memory, an awareness of a collective identity woven of a thousand stories.
Now, with the help of the Roman historian Tacitus, I shall tell you Queen Boudicca’s story, her-story……
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Boudicca: Her Story
[Kindle Edition]
What is deemed as “his-story” is often determined by those who survived to write it. In other words, history is written by the victors. The Roman historian, Tacitus, left us an account of the Roman victory over Queen Boudicca in the year A.D. 60-61.
Yet undeniably, every community has a memory of itself. Not a history, nor an archive, nor an authoritative record, but a living memory, an awareness of a collective identity woven of a thousand stories.
Now, with the help of the Roman historian Tacitus, I shall tell you Queen Boudicca’s story, her-story……
Boudicca: Her Story [Kindle Edition]
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I saw my first Pecha Kucha over three years ago. It was when I was working at Universidad Andrés Bello at Campus Casona in Santiago with the students in the English Pedagogy program. I admit I’ve been fascinated by “Pecha Kucha” ever since that first time. I remember being very impressed by the performance I watched. There were a number of reasons for this. For now, let me share with you why I find Pecha Kucha to be so impressive and fascinating as a presentation technique.
Firstly, when we speak of our first time doing something enjoyable, it’s always a good feeling. We like what we like, we know what we like, and because of that, we return often, to what we like.
As you can tell by now, I like Pecha Kucha.
Secondly, its principles are easy to understand and apply. It’s fast, it’s efficient, it’s effective, it’s collaborative, it’s visual, it’s easy to prepare, it’s fun. However, it does require practice, lots of it, to do this really well. Practice, oh what a sweet word in the ears of any EFL teacher. Students practicing what they are going to say, again and again, going over their own words, to speak about images they themselves have selected. Volumes of practice, huge quantities of practice, helping the students to achieve the eventual automaticity that is the hallmark of mastery.
Having said that, of all the principles of the Pecha Kucha, the most important principle is this: images are powerful.
Images convey meaning and emotions. In fact, the whole range of the human experience can be conveyed by images. For example, think of the images left on the walls of caves by cave men. No one needs a cave man to verbalize what you are seeing. You feel it – through your eyes – to your brain – to your emotions. It’s visual storytelling. That’s what the Pecha Kucha is, visual literacy in its purest form…
The International Baccalaureate [Kindle Edition]
The International Baccalaureate [Paperback]
The global search for high-quality education, embedded in high-performing education systems, has taken on mythical proportions, almost resembling the alchemists’ quest to turn common metals into gold.
It is my hope that the present day search for global education, equitable and providing equality of opportunity for all, shall not cease until the “gold” we seek, has been found.
I therefore dedicate this book to all the educators, researchers, parents and students the world over, who strive to achieve this elusive goal,high-quality education for all the citizens of the world.
In this endeavour, it is my belief that the International Baccalaureate merits a closer look, based on their more than 40 year history of delivering consistently excellent results.
I add that all of the reflections and views in this book are mine alone, unless otherwise noted, and can not be attributed to my employer or any other organization I am affiliated with, past or present. For any errors or oversights, I bear the complete responsibility.
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Thomas Baker is the Past-President of TESOL Chile (2010-2011). He is the Head of the English Department at Colegio Internacional SEK in Santiago, Chile.
He is the Co-Founder and Co-Organiser of EdCamp Santiago, free, participant-driven, democratic, conversation based professional development for teachers, by teachers. EdCamp Santiago 2012 was held at Universidad Mayor in Santiago.
Edcamp Santiago 2013 is currently looking for volunteers to help organize the annual event. If you are interested, contact Edcamp Santiago! Your help will make all the difference!
Email: edcampstgo@gmail.com
Facebook: Edcamp Santiago
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Read our Blog!
Edcamp Santiago on LinkedIn
Edcamp Santiago on Slideshare
Twitter: @EdcampSantiago
Es una red que reúne a Profesionales de la Educación preocupados por desarrollar y fortalecer las capacidades de sus comunidades educativas, a través de la creatividad, la innovación y el emprendimiento.
Thomas is also a past member (2011-2012) of the Advisory Board for the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL), where he also serves as a reviewer and as the HETL Ambassador for Chile.
Thomas enjoys writing about a wide variety of topics. Thus far, he has written the following genres: romance, historical fiction, autobiographical, sports history/biography, and English Language Teaching. He has published a total of forty four (44) books overall.
The source and inspiration for his writing comes from his family, his wife Gabriela, and his son, Thomas Jerome Baker, Jr.
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jerome-Baker/e/B007G9HJFM
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