Teacher Education Policies and Programs in Chile: The Case of Y School of Education

• In Event: Principles That Can Travel? Building Blocks for Teacher Education Programs in Different Contexts

Abstract

Objective
This study analyzes how teacher policies in Chile have reshaped initial teacher education programs in the country (Cox, 2014). Specifically, this paper looks at how the policy has influenced the quality of the connections between theory and practice in teacher education programs, the relationships between universities and the schools where future teachers do their practicum, the level of programmatic coherence of the program curriculum. This paper will draw examples of this policy implementation at Y University in Santiago, Chile.

Theoretical Perspectives
Following the national debate on teacher education in the country, as well as changes in incentives for transformation of programs, teacher education programs at Y University, Santiago have undergone major curriculum changes. Those changes drew upon research on the knowledge base for teaching (Shulman, 1987) and effective practices in teacher preparation (Darling-Hammond & Liebermann, 2012), establishing a strong practice-based approach (Forzani, 2014) to prepare future teachers. Overcoming the traditional theoretical way to train teachers in the country was a major challenge that has slowly being overcame.

Methods
Firstly, this paper review the impact of the following national policies related to the new Teaching Career Law (2016) regarding pre-service training which includes: (a) a minimum threshold on end of high school exam to enter a teacher education program; (b) compulsory standards for teaching training programs; (c) compulsory exam for all teacher education program students on content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; (d) rigorous accreditation process compulsory for all Schools of Education through a public National Accreditation Agency (CNA).
Secondly, it looks at national data on teacher education programs (Y University included) that reports on graduation rates, persistence in the field, quality of the graduates, and achievement of students prepared by the program.

Results
Initial results suggest that after the implementation of the Teacher Career Law the number of programs in Chile that are following the national standards have increased, as well as the quality of the programs measured by years of accreditation. Also, the quality of candidates entering the teacher education programs as well as completion rates have increased, measured by end of high school exams and standards/accreditation policies.
In the case of Y University not only the number of candidates entering teacher education programs have increased by 30% in the last 5 years, but also completion rates are higher (from 71 to 89% in the same period). 90 % of our graduates are working as teachers. Compulsory exams for graduates have shown that 76% of the students reach the national standards on content knowledge and 72% in the case of pedagogical content knowledge.

Significance
This paper shows how national policies, program redesign efforts, new curricula and teacher partners together play a key role for advancing the quality of teacher education. However, it also points out to the novelty and complexity of these new partnerships and especially how to combine accountability requirements (e.g. national standards and accreditation system) with standards based on professionalism and responsibility from within (new curricula, program redesign- and monitoring, high quality teacher partners).

Authors

• Paula Louzano, Universidad Diego Portales

• Cristian Cox, Diego Portales University, Chile