Bringing Effective Pedagogy to Scale in Mexico and Colombia

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Global Considerations of Educational Change

Abstract

This paper explores how a student-centered, inquiry and dialogue based pedagogy can be brought to scale in public education systems by comparatively examining the Learning Community Project (LCP) in Mexico and Escuela Nueva (EN) in Colombia. Initiated as small-scale pedagogical change projects in remote rural communities, these two initiatives evolved into national policies that spread their new pedagogies to thousands of schools. LCP and EN schools improved student achievement as measured by national standardized tests, reaching or surpassing regular schools. Detailed case studies drawing from hundreds of documents, interviews with multiple actors, and classroom observations were created and analyzed. Five key strategies are identified in common between LCP and EN to successfully bring their new pedagogies to scale.

Author

• Santiago Rincon-Gallardo, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education