Enfoque Educación

Una de las razones por las que muchos niños y niñas no asisten a la escuela, puede ser sorprendente pero desafortunadamente es cierta.

¿Quiénes son los líderes en educación? Uno pensaría tradicionalmente que ser líder educativo implica tener una profesión o cargo ligada directamente con los aprendizajes de nuestros jóvenes: profesores, maestros, directores de escuela, Ministros, etc son los que lideran la educación.

En la entrada anterior, refrescamos el debate de las competencias necesarias para prosperar y cerrar la brecha de habilidades. Vimos que la filosofía de aprendizaje en una de las escuelas más privilegiadas en Silicon Valley paradójicamente permite el fracaso, la casualidad y el aburrimiento y no necesariamente el uso de tablets, laptops y otros dispositivos digitales.  Esto invita a la reflexión.

The day we visited the San Juan School in the Chiriqui province of Panama, the preschool students were laughing, dancing and singing. But their play was not unstructured; it followed a well-researched pedagogical sequence. These students are part of a new bilingual and intercultural preschool program called Ari Taen JADENKÄ (Let’s Count and Play, in Ngäbere) that helps children develop essential early mathematics skills.

Written in February 2016 to express the potential of the Pacific Alliance to improve effective learning in Latin America. When reading this article imagine it is the year 2030.

A recurrent theme in conversations about education is that millennials are demanding more technology inside the classroom, and that teachers are resistant to educational innovations. I dare to disagree. In the six years that we have been running Geekie—a company that brings together cutting-edge technology with innovative pedagogical methodologies to boost learning—we have seen with over 10 million students and 5 thousand schools an enthusiasm for technology that is shared by students and teachers alike.

All around the world, leaders from government and industry debate the “future of work.” We have all seen predictions of a massive shift in the workforce needs of the future. The latest prediction from McKinsey Global Institute is that approximately 50% of existing work activities can be displaced, replaced or changed by automation of some form, whether caused by traditional software, robotics, or new artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Despite near unanimous agreement about the wave of change, the world is not reacting fast enough to update our system of education.

Imagine that our son or daughter is about to decide which profession to study in a country in Latin America or the Caribbean. Would you recommend that they become a teacher? What factors would we consider? Of course, we would like our son or daughter to study a career related to their preferences and interests (and in addition, their abilities), we would like a profession that provides a good income, that rewards their effort and that, in some way, is valued by the society. Now let's think about the teaching profession in the region. Which of these characteristics does it meet?

En América Latina y el Caribe hay 117 millones de niños, niñas y adolescentes en edad de estar en la escuela. El drama es que no todos van y muchos de los que sí asisten: no están aprendiendo. Estamos ante una emergencia educativa que nos afecta a todos. El tiempo se agota para que la sociedad se organice y exija educación de calidad, educación que por diseño contribuya en la solución de los problemas de nuestros países. Tenemos una ventana de oportunidad única para dar el salto adelante y no repetir los errores de otros países.