International Projects Involving Chile

• In Event: 14.037 - Building International Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

Besides participating in many of the international surveys of educational achievement (IEA TIMMS, OECD PISA) Chile has participated also in international research or development projects. The focus in this presentation is on two of these projects, and on the learning gained from them. The first one was the IEA TEDS-M international investigation of teacher education programmes with a focus on mathematics teaching. The second project was organized by UNESCO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC) and also centred on the state of teachers and teacher education in the Region. Both these studies aimed to provide research-based information for institutional improvement of teacher education as well as influence policy.
The IEA TEDS-M study had the participation of 17 countries around the world. It involved a long process of preparation directed by a central coordination and researchers from the participating countries. They contributed to the formulation of the conceptual framework and design of the study as well as to the preparation of research instruments (surveys, tests, and document analysis). The participation of Chile involved analysis of background information about its teacher education system, translating and piloting the instruments, selecting the sample and doing the fieldwork involved. The data was analysed centrally by the IEA but involved communication and discussion on its forms with all international coordinators. Results were discussed collectively and besides the international reports (i.e. Tatto et al., 2013; Ingvarson et al., 2014) each country chose to produce their own report (Avalos & Matus, 2010). The Chilean study produced the most detailed account of teacher education in Chile covering 34 institutions with 65 programmes that existed to that date. It examined the general preparation curriculum and the curriculum for mathematics learning, it surveyed teacher educators on their views about conditions of teacher education, including their own beliefs. It examined the mathematics and pedagogical knowledge of the future teachers in these programmes as well as their pedagogical and mathematics beliefs. Results in the case of Chile, which were poor as compared to other participating countries, fed into important policy decisions at the time and recently into the passing of the new law on “teacher professional development” (2016).
The second study led by the UNESCO/OREALC gathered a team of researchers from several Latin American countries to design and engage in data collection to assess conditions of teachers and teacher education in the Region and provide orientations for improvement. A research centre at one of the Chilean universities coordinated the study and the participant regional researchers prepared critical reviews on: initial teacher education, continuing professional development, teacher career and working conditions, and teacher policy. The draft resulting documents were discussed at regional meetings in Perú and México. The work resulted in four reports: (a) Background and criteria for the formulation of teacher policies in Latin America; (b) The teaching career structures in Latin America, (c) Analysis of successful and relevant teacher policies in Latin America; and d) A review of international research and studies related to critical teacher policy areas (See: http://www.politicasdocentesalc.cl/).

Author

• Beatrice Avalos, Universidad de Chile