GRACIAS!

On top of Monserrate our first day in Bogota

Whew!  Where to begin?  There are so many people to thank, memories to hold on to, pictures to admire, inside jokes to laugh over.

First off, a HUGE thank you needs to go to Cassandra and Kate for being the incredible program organizers that they were and making this trip go as smoothly as it did.  We are so thankful for all of your hard work, flexibility, interpretation (Cassandra, you are amazing) and humor that made this program so memorable.  The hours that they both put in were unbelievable- before and during the trip- and we are so appreciative.

Secondly, an equally huge GRACIAS needs to go to Professor Cecilia Velez for her dedication in making this trip happen.  Thanks to Prof. Velez, we were able to have such meaningful and insightful meetings with the Ministry of Education, various schools around Bogota and Cartagena, and other stakeholders in the Colombia education system.  We know she is extremely busy and can’t thank her enough the time she put in to help us with this trip.

Another thank you needs to be dedicated to our own very own Professor Reimers and Lola for their help with the grant and all the various details that needed to get taken care of with this trip.  We are very grateful for your support, not only on this trip but year round!

I would also like to personally thank the group for making this trip so memorable.  I loved having the opportunity to get to know all of you better and am excited for our last few weeks at school together.  Let’s never forget this trip my fellow cuchillos and bunk shackin’ gringos! 

Sophia Burton

Follow up: Indigenous/Multicultural Education

 Books on indigenous populations in a library in Bogota

At the Ministry with Prof. Velez

After reflecting upon indigenous education in a blog post earlier this week, I was given multiple opportunities continue reflecting on this topic. First, I presented my impressions to the Harvard-MIT Club in Bogota, and then asked related questions at the Ministry of Education on Wednesday. Additionally, I spoke to several Colombian university students who accompanied us to meetings. 

I approached the topic of indigenous education from two angles: how indigenous populations were being taught, and how other populations in Colombia were educated on indigenous populations.  This latter question is of particular interest to me because I believe that education should not only provide disadvantaged students with an opportunity to learn and use their own cultural capital, histories, perspectives etc., but also provide a space for more dominant groups in society to learn from these populations and gain a multicultural and global outlook that will help foster intercultural understanding and improved relations.  If dominant groups in society do not learn about marginalized groups, within or outside their borders, I fear that stereotypes and prejudices remain pervasive. This is harmful for both groups. 

At the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, I asked a group of approximately 50 educators from the Schools of Education about their perspectives on how teachers do or should incorporate these perspectives, address diversity, and promote intercultural and inclusive environments in their classrooms.  To my surprise, a large amount of the guests wanted to answer and showcase how their schools were addressing these issues.  They provided examples that addressed indigenous populations, citing field trips/pen pal exchanges, issues concerning disabled children, such as education for blind and deaf students, and training programs for teachers that taught them how to deal with diversity and different types of learners.  Their answers made me hopeful at first, but I soon became disheartened when after 7 or 8 responses, not one educator in the room stated that a change in the curriculum had to be made that included different perspectives and represented marginalized groups equally.  This was reinforced by discussions with university students from Bogota, who stated that they had learned nothing about indigenous populations in school, and all they knew they had learned at their university, which some indigenous students attended. 

I find it difficult to articulate an ideal multicultural model for any society because every classroom and teacher is unique, every situation and environment is different, and no matter how good a curriculum or policy may be, there are many levels and steps along the way that could alter, misguide or misinform the purpose or group it is addressing.  At the same time, I do not think it is impossible.  In the case of Colombia, I think it is absolutely imperative that students in urban settings learn about the indigenous peoples of their country.  In the same vein, I think Americans could do better in teaching students about Native Americans, and immigrant and racial/ethnic minority groups in a way that does not reduce them to food, holidays, or stereotypes.  A multicultural education model should be inclusive in a way that puts all cultures on an equal footing.  At the very least, each classroom should provide an environment that gives all students a chance to share and learn from one another.  

Sophia Burton

At the Cartagena Secretariat of Education

Visit with the Secretary of Education in Cartagena

After spending a few days in Bogota, including visits and meetings at the national Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educacion Nacional or MEN), we arrived in Cartagena on Thursday night. First thing Friday morning, we met with the Secretary of Education of Cartagena, Julio Alandete. We also were joined at this meeting and later in the day by the Advisor for Higher Education in Cartagena, Nereyda Correa Rosales. We did not have professional translators or university students with us, so Cassandra translated the entire meeting; normally she only had to do some of the translation, but today she was the only one! We were all impressed.

Julio spoke about the education model in Cartagena, which is part of a new plan for education development (The School is the Center) as a way to build social change. Although it is not visible, Julio told us, actually 60% - 70% of the population is extremely poor. They are working towards “Just One Cartagena."

We learned about the District Education Plan and the different areas they are working on. These include many areas, such as a project to prevent dropout by providing children with food and other supports, a program for adult literacy (which includes literacy, basic education and adult secondary education), and programs focused on technology, etc. Cartagena has also made sure that there are no school fees in any school. The city puts in a lot of funding and support, both from the MEN and additional funding from the mayor and the city.

During the talk we heard about “megaschools” that the city is building – schools that are large, serve many children, and offer support services such as food and activities. Later in the morning we visited the Flor del Campo Megaschool. Cartagena is currently building 20 new schools, and some will be open seven days a week as community centers. Weekend activities will include training on capacity building of families and communities, sports, arts, culture, community development projects, etc.

Cartagena has done a lot of work around adult literacy. The Secretary told us that in the past few years they have had many ceremonies celebrating thousands of adults who have gained literacy skills. They believe that basic literacy is a step towards secondary education. The adult education teachers are paid and contracted by the Secretariat and classes are free to students.

It was great for me to learn more about adult education programs and I was happy to see that Cartagena seems to value the importance of adult education from basic literacy through adult secondary and even post-secondary (which we would learn about later in the day)!

Karen McCabe

Big Beautiful Schools

After a visit to two concession schools on Tuesday, I was looking forward to seeing a public school in Bogota that could present another point of comparison.   Thursday afternoon, after visiting an Escuela Nueva site, we headed off to visit a public school that is supported by a private company – Fundación Crem Helado.  The directions we were given included getting off the bus at a certain point and asking, “Donde está la escuela grande y bonita?” (Where is the big beautiful school?) This proved to be less successful than expected, and so we had a lovely tour of the rural parts of Bogota as the bus spent two hours taking wrong turns and searching for our destination.

When we finally did arrive, the school was in fact big and beautiful.  Located high up in the hills with canals built to channel the water running down the mountain into gardens for students to farm, the school consisted of several large buildings: one for the pre-school and kindergarten, and the others for the elementary and secondary school.  There were large places for gathering and recreation.  During the presentation by the administration and representatives from Fundación Crem Helado, however, we learned the school did not always look like this or run as well. 

This visit provided a look at a different kind of partnership.  At the concession schools we saw examples of schools that were privately managed.  At this school, Colegio Rural Jose Celestrinos Mutis, the school is publicly managed and supported by a private institution. Fundación Crem Helado is just one private company that supports public schools throughout Colombia.  More and more it seems that private companies are making social responsibility a priority and recognizing that education of the community is a great investment for the entire society. 

For Fundación Crem Helado, the process begins with schools contacting the foundation and applying for the partnership.  The partnership then includes 4 – 5 years of organizational and managerial training and support.   There are several steps in the support process including:

1.    Awareness.  A one-year process where the foundation helps the school to identify its areas for improvement, make the physical improvements necessary and develop a strong sense of collaboration between the school and the foundation.
2.    Strategic Plan.  Here the school develops its mission and vision and creates a long-term plan of 5-6 years.
3.    Implementation.  Here the school develops a process map and begins working to reach its established goals.

Throughout all of these steps, the foundation also provides training manuals and monthly classes that include deliverables or homework assignments that the schools must complete and bring to the next class.  For example, one session might be on writing a mission statement and the homework is for the school to bring their mission statement.  The foundation then helps the school to revise and strengthen the mission statement that all the goals and the long-term plan will build upon. 

The school really did seem to be well-managed and nicely kept, and the students and teachers all seemed invested. However, we did not get the opportunity to see any learning taking place, and there was no information presented on student achievement (perhaps because presentations were cut short due to our late arrival).

Questions

•    What is the union’s position on schools with these public-private partnerships?  The union is adamantly against the concession schools because they are privately managed, but does this model provide a compromise that the union can support?

•    While there does not seem to be any financial obligations on the part of the school, the food that was served to us was all from the CremHelado company; therefore, some members of the group were wondering if there are strings attached in this relationship.  Are schools required to promote their partner’s brand, and if so, does this have any negative implications?

•    The foundation explained that some of these partnerships have been more successful than others.  Has the foundation identified characteristics of schools that might indicate that it would benefit from a public-private partnership?  Has the foundation identified characteristics of a school that might suggest it will not benefit from the model?

•    Other than a desire to demonstrate corporate social responsibility – what are the incentives for private organizations to assist public schools?

Kate Cottrell

Federation of Colombian Educators

We had the pleasure of meeting (sadly, very quickly) with Senen Niño, the President of the Federation of Colombian Educators, a union with a membership of 300,000 public educators.  After introducing himself, Senen opened the conversation to questions from the group.

The first half of our conversation focused on the union’s belief that concession schools are one mechanism in the privatization of public education.  His argument against concessions included three issues:  1. Funding inequities – concession schools have higher publicly provided per pupil expenditures; 2. Corruption and manipulation of attendance records – concession schools inflate their attendance records to receive extra public funds; 3. Exploitation of teachers – teachers are constantly worried that their contracts will not be renewed.  Two of these points directly conflicted with our preparatory reading for the trip as well as our meetings with others in Bogota.  We read about the equal per pupil expenditures at concession schools and regular public schools, as equal spending but higher test results were actually highlighted as one of the greatest benefits of the concession model.  When we met with the Alliance on Monday, they explained that they have a problem retaining teachers after spending extensive resources training them, namely because public school teachers are paid higher salaries.  Throughout the conversation, Senen emphasized the importance of universal free public education, and argued that concession schools distracted Colombia from this larger goal.

The second half of the conversation was focused on the tension between the interests of teachers and the interests of students.  Senen described the role of the union as fighting for the improvement of working conditions of teachers.  Although this is generally the role of a labor union, I often have trouble accepting teachers’ unions as typical institutions; I want students to be the center of all educational debates.  Senen reinforced that his role was to protect the interest of teachers, but he provided the example of reducing class size as an issue beneficial to students as well.  He also explained that the Federation organizes student committees at schools and regional meetings for students to share concerns.  He did not, however, speak about some of the fundamental issues that can make unions seem contrary to student interests.

The group left with a few key questions and thoughts:

1.       What are the data sources used by different institutions involved in education reform (i.e., the Ministry, the union, individual schools)?  What are the biases of these different resources?

2.       The analogies between concession schools in Colombia and charter schools in the U.S. were apparent again during this meeting.  Senen mentioned collaborating with unions in the US and Canada.  What issues are these collaborations focused on?

3.       Are there teachers’ unions in other countries that are more clearly focused on representing student interests as well as those of teachers?  Are there other organizations that allow teachers and other stakeholders to take on the role of student advocate?

Jessica

Teacher Education in Colombia 3.16.11

            Monica Lopez, the Director of Quality for Pre-school, Basic and Middle School Education, spent the morning explaining the extent of decentralization of the Colombian education system.  Essentially, the Ministry of Education provides quality guidelines but no curriculum to schools.  Some of the major goals of the Ministry to increase quality are: (i) reduce the drop-out rate, (ii) decrease the gap between rural and urban schools, and (iii) decrease the gap between urban and rural schools.  Furthermore, each institution develops its own improvement plan depending on their internal evaluation.  The Ministry currently faces a grand challenge on how to create an incentive system for improvement in a decentralized system.  Perhaps, something akin to the ‘Race to the Top’ scheme in the U.S. might be an effective means of getting schools at the local level to comply with national goals.

            The Ministry emphasized that their new system aims to get rid of nepotism and the system, and thus teachers are appointed by merit (based on their tests/resume).  Teachers are then assigned to vacant posts.  Initially, there is a probation period (3 years), and even afterwards teachers undergo annual evaluations.  There is a clear track for promotion, and teachers are evaluated based on their (i) skills, (ii) time of service, and (iii) competencies needed for further training.

The President of the Education and School Association then explained the teacher training system in Colombia in more depth.  The organization was founded in 1994, the same year that marks the beginning of major education reforms in the country.  Today, 83 out of 92 institutions are members.  The intent of the teacher training universities is to bring an academic perspective to the field—not just the voice of the teacher union.  Teacher curriculum is developed by a representative committee of faculty and students.  Each teacher must also complete a practicum (student teaching) for at least 2-3 semesters. 

High-school ends at 11^th grade in Colombia, after which you could attend higher education for an additional 2 years and be eligible to teach primary schools, while an additional 4 years translated to eligibility to teach secondary school.  The Ministry explained that there are extensive quality assurance processes in place to ensure that university programs are up to par.  More interestingly, there is now increasing emphasis on teaching diversity in terms of appreciation of indigenous languages and attention to students with disabilities.  In fact, one of the main teacher competencies is being able to communicate effectively in a foreign language.  It’s unclear, however, from our brief exposure to the public school system how much these policies are actually enacted and followed through.    

            One of the deans of a prestigious teacher university brought to our attention a study that found a decrease in applications for acceptance to the mostly private education institutions.  This was explained by socio-economic obstacles, as most students cannot afford the cost of a private university.  Furthermore, there is an over-supply of teachers in big cities, as urban teachers are averse to being placed outside.  Thus, the Ministry is trying to recruit local teachers and train them.  The deans also pointed out that teaching in the public sector has become an attractive option now, and the occupation boasts (gradually) higher rates of retention.

            Just like the U.S., however, the million dollar question is how to attract Colombia’s finest to commit to teaching in the public sector.  The deans posed an interesting question to us regarding how we attract great teachers in the U.S.  We mentioned the Boston Teacher Residency program, which significantly reduces the cost and barriers to entry, as well as the various teaching fellows programs.  It was interesting that they posed the question, since Colombia is in the process of potentially launching a ‘Teach for’ venture.  It was also unclear how difficult the barriers to entry are for a working professional who wants to transition into education.    

            I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of teacher education in the U.S. given the rise of alternative certification programs.  I don’t think Colombia is at that stage yet, but it will be interesting to see if education reforms ignite the creation of more alternative certification programs and whether these programs will be of higher quality than the traditional route of certification.

Ay-Nur 

Aulas en Paz – Tuesday, March 16, 2011

What an incredible day.   Traveling through Bogota with Cecilia Maria is a surreal experience.  Not only has her legacy transformed the climate of the ministry, but it has also created a belief in progress and emphasis on citizenship education that has transformed the schools.  During her tenure as Minister, Professor Velez brought citizenship education to the high priority level of math and reading, and hired Enrique Chaux to create the standards for this program, which has been critical in addressing the violence that has constrained conflict-torn communities.  Dr. Chaux made a compelling case for his pilot program “Aulas en Paz,” or Classrooms in Peace, which aims to address the cycle of childhood aggression by developing empathy. 

Patricia, Director of Associacíon Alianza Educativa, welcomed us to Argelia, one of five concession schools managed by this alliance of private “collegios,” while the sounds of the “cumbia” exercise class echoed through the back wall of our cozy amphitheater.  Emphasizing the importance of the extensive professional development program implemented by the Alianza, Patricia introduced us to two seniors who spoke of the school’s impact despite the comparably low salaries they offer their teachers. 

A highlight of the day was certainly the opportunity we had to enter two of Argelia’s classrooms and observe the citizenship education program of Aulas en Paz in action.  The third graders completed anger management worksheets on the embodiment of the feelings of anger, and learned to identify with specially designed animal characters, while the fifth graders spoke of the impact the program has had on their interpersonal relationships.

In addition to a comprehensive conflict management program, Aulas en Paz works with heterogeneous groups of second through fifth graders to address bullying in schools.  Working with teachers, students, and parents, Aulas en Paz achieved extraordinary success in their first small–scale evaluation.  Expanding to 27 schools in 4 conflict zones throughout the country, Aulas en Paz met with a variety of implementation challenges.  Still, the impact the program made on classroom dynamics was tangible and encouraging.

J.D. Gladden

Ministry of Education: Public-Private Partnerships

Meeting with the staff of the Office of International Cooperation

After spending yesterday morning learning about the abundance of activities and reforms being undertaken at the Ministry of Education, our group broke into smaller working clusters and met with officials from the specific areas in which we had personal interests. I chose to visit with the office responsible for cultivating and managing public-private partnerships. I have always been interested in how governments work with NGOs in developing country contexts, given the well known challenges with coordination between diverse agencies and organizations. Recently, however, I have added partnerships with businesses and private sector engagement to my list of interests. Today turned out to be my lucky day, because the session my group attended with Natalia Jaramillo and her colleagues in the Office for International Cooperation was a highly informative and inspiring discussion.

We began by learning about some of the partnerships and cooperative programs that are taking place throughout Colombia. The team spoke passionately about how willing the business community is to contribute to the educational development of Colombia; what is needed is more cooperation and alignment with the government's priorities to ensure that programs, once implemented, are sustainable and justly distributed. One way in which the business sector attempts to meet this objective is through the organization Entrepreneurs in Education, which has been a strong and reliable partner to the Ministry. Through this collaboration, as well as various other partnerships, the Ministry seeks to channel resources and energy into the projects that are most pressing. Due to the floods that have destroyed many schools over the past year, resources now need to be channeled into the schools and communities that were hard hit by the rains and flooding. There are 330 schools that need to be reconstructed, and the private sector is assisting greatly with repairing and improving those schools.

Additionally, this office has been working diligently on securing private funding in support of the Ministry's goal of improving Colombia's standing in several international assessments. First, they are working to procure funding for a consulting plan to determine strategic areas in which the Ministry should focus in order to improve the quality of education nationally. Additionally, they have partnered with HP to obtain computers for classrooms, with the national universities to improve the quality of secondary education, with water and oil companies to direct their philanthropic endeavors toward priority areas in education, and with NGOs to improve the quality and provision of service in early childhood schools and centers.

In sum, the Office of International Cooperation is at the forefront of forging mutually beneficial partnerships with local and international entities to benefit the youth of Colombia. In this day of global emphasis on accountability and reform, it would be difficult to find too many people who would wholly discount the role of the private sector in improving education. In Colombia, it would appear that the Ministry has not only accepted this partnership as inevitable, but has also made great strides to ensure that the partnership between both entities is collaborative, focused and sustainable.

Samantha Williams

Concession Schools and Tocar y Luchar Colombia

Tuesday afternoon we visited the Bellavista Concession School, run by a private for-profit group, CAFAM. It was the second concession school of the day. At this particular concession school, we were greeted with great fanfare, given a student-led tour of the school in English and heard presentations from the organization leaders and school directors. After, we were given a concert by the school children participating in an after-school music program.

General overview of concession schools. Concession schools around Bogota were built in poor and generally insecure peri-urban neighborhoods where demand for basic education was greater than supply. The Secretariat of Education of Bogota, under Cecilia Maria Velez’s term, undertook a campaign to build new, clean and modern facilities in these neighborhoods and, instead of establishing traditional public schools, issued a tender to private entities to manage these schools with public funding allocated per pupil  (akin to the charter school system in the USA).  A World Bank study of a sample of concession schools found that students in concession schools performed better on average than their peers of similar socioeconomic status living in similar neighborhoods. Furthermore, they found positive spillover effects (i.e. improved educational outcomes) for students in public schools in the neighborhoods around concession schools. In addition to these improved learning outcomes, the presence of these schools - housed in beautiful facilities - is also thought to infuse new pride in the neighborhoods and potentially contribute to community improvements and empowerment. This logic follows from the broken windows theory. Indeed, the Harvard group did notice that the area around this particular concession school seemed cleaner than some of the other neighborhoods through which we traveled. 

A number of common themes came up at both concession schools:

1) the pro-social mobility orientation of the concession school model, an innovation and rarity in a developing context. Students are taught to have greater life expectations and work towards particular post-scholastic professional goals. These goals surpass generally what would have been possible given the extremely under-privileged environments in which they have been raised.

2) the quality of teacher training, but also the high attrition rate as teachers move to the public sector. Teacher receive rigorous teacher training and are held to high pedagogical standards. However, teachers left concession schools at high rates to enter the public system where there is greater job security and higher salaries. When asked about the problem of high teacher attrition rates, one concession school director answered that it represented yet another important public service that the schools provided.

3) a community orientation. Schools are meant to address the overall needs of parents and families, though the exact form of parent engagement was not always clear. 

In addition to the regular curricular programming, the Bellavista school has instituted an intensive after school program teaching children to play musical instruments. Modeled after Tocar y Luchar, a Venezuelan program, the musical program is conceived to expose children to classical and orchestra musical and contribute to “mending the social fabric” of very poor and violent communities. Children spend 3 hours per day, 5 days a week taking group music lessons. While Bellavista students have only been participating in the program for 6 months, their concert performance already attested to their passion for and dedication to the art. 

The day provided plenty of food for thought, and left us with a number of lingering questions:

• whereas there seemed to be an emphasis on holistic approach to children’s education, including working with parents, it was not clear what type of engagement there really was with parents. How effective has parent engagement been and what are the different models of parent engagement in middle-income countries like Colombia that may be of interest?  
• how can the teacher training models from concession schools be adopted to train teachers in the public sector?
• how effective are such music after-school programs in achieving the goals of social cohesion that they purport?

  Cassandra

Visit to the Ministry of Education

We all had a great day today. It was a wonderful experience to visit the Ministry of Education – for many reasons. First, we were impressed by the warmth and enthusiasm of all the people we met with. Not only were they gracious and welcoming to all of us, but it was clear how dedicated they are to the challenging work that they do.

After a greeting and welcome by our Harvard professor and former Minister of Education, Cecilia Maria Velez, three staff members gave us presentations. First, Jacqueline Triana Roa, spoke about the strategic planning process in place at the MOE. She explained the MOE’s Institutional Integration Model and the six strategic objectives: education quality, early childhood education, coverage, pertinence and innovation, management model (transparent, efficient) and emergency intervention. Next Juan Carlos Bolivar from the Planning Office presented the National Development Plan for 2011-2014. This plan is focused on prosperity for all and it has three major goals: more employment, less poverty, greater security. With goals focused on growth and competitiveness, equality of opportunity, and consolidation of peace, the MOE has five specific educational goals. These are 1) to provide quality education, with special attention being paid to early childhood education, 2) improve quality at all levels, preschool through higher education, 3) close access and permanence gaps, 4) educate with pertinence and incorporate innovation, and 5) strengthen the management of the education sector, with specific reference to efficiency and transparency.

Next we heard from the Vice Minister of Pre-school, Basic and High-school education, Mauricio Perfetti del Corral. He gave us an introduction to new policies in education that the Ministry wants to emphasize. Their focus is on continuing to improve the quality of education. The MOE is continuing to try to close the achievement gaps on standardized tests; the gaps exist between private and public schools and between higher and lower income, and urban and rural areas. One thing they are doing is evaluating the indicators of the schools and regional education secretariats. For those in need of improvement, the MOE will work with them to improve performance, either at the secretary level or the school level.

An afternoon tour gave us more of a feeling of the MOE. We saw the interesting workspaces at the Ministry – open spaces that foster communication among colleagues and offices that are open to welcome the public. We met a few different employees who spoke to us about their work and we all were impressed by the values of the Ministry including their focus on valuing people and culture; this includes the work they do to support people in their country and the work the MOE does to support its staff.

Remaining questions that I personally have at the end of the day are about the situation for education for children with disabilities. We did some reading before the trip about this and it seems that Colombia, like many other countries, has not yet reached a point where they are providing education for all children with disabilities. Although a couple of us asked about this today, there wasn’t time to get information. I did learn that there is someone at the Ministry who works on special education and I plan to explore their website further and maybe be able to get some information later this week, too.

It is great being with 12 students who all have somewhat different interests, yet share the same goal of supporting education internationally. Everyone has been able to share a little more of their experiences and goals. Also, this afternoon we were able to break into groups to meet with MOE representatives about early childhood education, higher education, education for indigenous people, and public private partnerships.

All in all it was a very good day!

Karen McCabe

Ministry of Education: Indigenous Populations

Inside the Ministry with the Deputy Minister of Basic Education and Former Minister of Education Cecilia Maria Velez

Did you know that there are 84 indigenous languages in Colombia?  Neither did I.  Today, after three incredibly interesting meetings about the Ministry and its myriad of reforms over the past decade, we split up into smaller meetings to explore individual interests.  While some of my classmates opted for higher education, international cooperation, or information systems, I chose to learn about the education of indigenous populations due to my particular interests in intercultural relations, migration, and marginalized groups.

As is the case in many countries, indigenous populations in Colombia live in very rural areas and have fewer educational opportunities, less access to basic social services, and are politically underrepresented.  One response to this has been a World Bank program that provides funding and supplies to indigenous territories for ethno-educational programs that preserve and reflect ethnic values, traditions, and culture.  There are currently such programs in 20 out of the 32 Colombian departamentos, with 12 ethnic languages represented.  At the local level, territories create and submit their own program proposals that follow the “flexible” rather than “traditional” curriculum model within the country.  This means that these programs are not required to follow any particular curriculum guidelines; instead they are more reflective of the local culture, allowing students to gain more practical experience in areas such as agriculture that are more pertinent to their environment.

These ethno-educational programs are devised as “co-funds” that enhance local accountability by requiring a small investment from the territory in conjunction with the World Bank funding.  In addition, after the first phase of the program, training and implementation are conducted at the territory level to promote sustainability and local “empowerment”.  All of the programs are bilingual (indigenous language & Spanish) and teachers hail from local communities.  Some challenges that have arisen include finding qualified bilingual teachers of indigenous backgrounds, and the process of decentralizing management of the programs.  To address problems associated with decentralization, the World Bank most recently decided to start sending supplies directly to local schools rather than through each territory's Secretary of Education which is more costly but allows schools to access their supplies more efficiently. 

As my personal interests lie in multicultural education, I asked our speaker Astrid about indigenous education from the other end: Do students in urban areas receive any education about indigenous populations within their country?  The answer was no, that very little effort was made in this area and the only ethnic group that students learn about in schools are the Afro-Colombians.  Additionally, when asked about rural-urban migration, Astrid explained that although the rates of this migration were quite high, no specific program was in place to integrate indigenous students that make it to the city (either through displacement or work-related causes), and the only policies in place were aimed at helping those people return to rural areas.  

Sophia Burton 

Bienvenidos a Colombia!

We arrived in Colombia last night without a hitch.

Today was dedicated to getting acquainted with the city and preparing for this week’s meetings.  After spending some time meeting, discussing readings and working on presentations we took a 4-hour tour of the city – and what a beautiful city!

The tour began with a trip to Cerro de Monserrate.  This is one of the highest points over looking Bogota and so we got a chance to see the city and get our bearings.  Following this overlook we visited The Museum de Botero which was quite fun – it was also wonderful to learn that the museums in Bogotá are free on Sundays.   What a nice idea!  Families were out enjoying their Sunday and the beautiful weather accompanying it.  The next part of the tour was a walk through the old part of the city.  Here we got to see the government buildings and learn a bit of the history of the country – we even caught the changing of the guards outside of the President’s house.

To end the day we all enjoyed a meal together in Úsaquen – a beautiful neighborhood in Bogotá. 

Overall, this was a wonderful introduction to the city and we are all looking forward to diving into our explorations of the education system.

Kate Cottrell

Bogota or bust!

Over the course of the past 6 and ½ months at HGSE, I have learned about dozens of educational programs, enterprises and governance structures. Many of the examples I have studied are based in contexts about which I know very little—namely, Latin America and India. As a firm Africanist whose career will most likely evolve somewhere on the African continent, I have fairly consistently only sought out opportunities to learn more about the education systems and interventions in different African countries. However, my exposure to the innovative and diverse interventions occurring all over the world have inspired me to think about what is possible in education in completely new ways.

As such, I jumped at the opportunity to learn about the innovative and progressive ways that Colombia has improved its education system under the previous minister of education, our professor Cecilia Maria Velez. First of all, I knew that I would not likely get another chance to travel to a foreign country to study education with a former education minister. Second, it’s likely that my future opportunities to visit countries outside of the African context could possibly be limited to quick tourist visits and vacations. As much as I love a vacation, this trip provides a wonderful opportunity to dive into a deeper experience than simply seeing the beautiful highlights and enjoying the food (both of which are fantastic uses of time, by the way!) We will be meeting with government officials, school leaders, students, union bosses and more—the insights we will gain from them and the deep exposure to so many different facets of the educational system will certainly prove to be invaluable.

For those reasons and more, I feel excited and privileged to be on such a powerful and dynamic tour.

Samantha Williams

Away we go!

The group is sitting at JFK airport in New York having lunch after a bumpy ride from Logan.  We got off to an exciting start, celebrating Chung’s birthday with an airport cupcake.  Most people are talking to each other and trying to finish reading about different aspects of the Educational Revolution in Colombia.  I am reflecting on what I hope to get out of our trip.

I decided to go on this trip for two reasons: to broaden my comparative frame and to take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage with current and up-and-coming leaders in international education reform.

My comparative frame is limited to the US and South and Southeast Asia.  My experiences in the education sector have been in the US, India, and Cambodia; I have never even traveled to Latin America.  This experience for me, then, provided an opportunity to read about the education system of Colombia in some depth and to now see in action the consequences of the reforms instituted in the last two decades.  One of my key goals for the trip is to expand my comparative frame to include a glimpse into the education system of another country and another region.  This will inform future work I do in international education, whether for an organization based in the US or based in Asia. 

The second reason I decided to participate in this trip is to interact with Ministry of Education officials as well as students from the International Education Policy program.  We have been provided a rare opportunity to spend time talking to officials in different roles at the Ministry, and to bring our questions and comparative experiences to the table to speak about education reform more broadly.  Most of my work has been with grassroots organizations, and I am excited to speak to those working on large-scale policy interventions.  It is rare to have an opportunity to have decision makers and future decision makers all in the same room talking about ideas for reform, and I am looking forward to our difficult but exciting conversations.  Additionally, this trip will naturally spark conversations with classmates about their work, something that we often do not have the opportunity to do when feeling the pressure and time constraints of school.  Simply put, I am looking forward to learning more about my classmates.

And finally, I am looking forward to taking in the sites, people, and food on this adventure.

Away we go!

Jessica

Welcome to the IEP Colombia 2011 Study Trip Blog!

From March 12-20, 2011, twelve students from the International Education Policy program of Harvard University's Graduate School of Education will be participating in an academic study trip to Colombia. Planned in coordination with HGSE Professor Cecilia Maria Velez, former Minister of Education of Colombia, the study trip is designed to help participants gain insight into both the educational policy-making process and the different and innovative policy initiatives implemented in the
Colombian education system over the last twenty years.

The program of the trip includes visits and discussions with:

• the Ministry of Education to discuss general policy planning as well as program development for special groups;
• concession schools in the peri-urban areas of Bogota (Colombian charter schools);
• teacher training institutes;
• the Colombian teachers' union;
• the national testing authorities;
• schools implementing public-private partnerships to improve internal management;
• schools using innovative curricula for displaced children; and
• the administration of the Secretary of Education of Cartagena.

Stay tuned for more updates about the trip preparations and visits!