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Innovation in Chilean kindergarten education recognised worldwide

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

The Carnegie Foundation, one of the leading institutions in educational improvement in the United States, recognises Fundación Educacional Oportunidad by selecting it to be part of the Spotlight on Quality in Continuous Improvement programme, thanks to the Foundation's experience in the use of the continuous improvement methodology in the Chilean educational context and the positive impact of this innovation in school improvement, specifically in the initial level.

Due to the work that Fundación Educacional Oportunidad has been doing for 7 years using the continuous improvement methodology in its early education programme Un Buen Comienzo, the Carnegie Foundation awarded it this year 2018 the outstanding Spotlight category, which will allow it to share its successful strategy with school community leaders, principals, teachers, policy makers, researchers and funders around the world.

The Foundation's Continuous Improvement methodology is based on collaborative work, where each school community tries out ideas for improvement in its own context. After applying them, analysing them and studying the results, they make the necessary adjustments and, if the idea is successful, they share it with their peers through the Foundation's Improvement Network.

Since 2011, the Foundation has been adapting this methodology to the Chilean educational context, working with classroom teams (educators and kindergarten technicians), management teams (principals and heads of UTP) and managers of municipal schools in the Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions in order to turn it into a relevant tool for school improvement. This, together with training and on-site support, has led to improved teaching practices in terms of the quality of interactions and the use of time for pedagogical purposes, specifically in activities that promote language, which has translated into positive results in children's learning. All of this earned Fundación Educacional Oportunidad to be recognised as a 2018 Spotlight by the Carnegie Foundation.

Spotlight on Quality in Continuous Improvement is a Carnegie Foundation programme that seeks to provide clear and powerful examples of the application of improvement principles, methods and tools to solve educational problems worldwide.

"We are proud of this international recognition for these 7 years of systematic work and innovation in Chilean kindergarten education, as it highlights us at a global level alongside five other high-level organisations such as the University of Illinois and the Kipp Foundation. In addition, this recognition implies sharing our strategies, so that they can be replicated by schools and teachers around the world, which fills us with pride, as the spirit of our Foundation is collaborative networking," said Marcela Marzolo, executive director of the Foundation.

Carnegie Foundation and the Spotlight programme

Since 2008, the Carnegie Foundation has been promoting the use of scientific methods of improvement in education and fostering the formation and growth of networked communities. Over the past ten years, thousands of leaders, principals, teachers, policymakers, researchers and administrators around the world have begun to use this methodology.

Methodical, continuous improvement and networking among teachers and schools around the world have generated new strategies that the Carnegie Foundation has wanted to highlight since 2017 through the Spotlight on Quality in Continuous Improvement programme, and to share with the rest of the world. The programme seeks to provide clear and powerful examples of the application of improvement principles, methods and tools to solve educational problems.

The programme provides educational organisations and improvement networks with the opportunity to learn about quality in continuous improvement, assess their own progress, access resources and education to support improvement, and be recognised for their proven quality practices in the field of education.

Launch of the book "A Good Start for the children of Chile".

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

The Centre-UC and the Centro de Políticas Comparadas en Educación (CPCE) of the Universidad Diego Portales have carried out 10 years of registration and rigorous evaluations of pre-school and kindergarten teachers and children in 153 municipal schools in the O'Higgins region that have participated in the professional development programme Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

The strategies applied by the early education programme Un Buen Comienzo of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad have had a positive impact on the classroom teams and thus on the pre-school and kindergarten children in Chilean municipal schools. This is the main conclusion reached by the research in the book "A Good Start for the children of Chile".

The document was presented this month by the Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, together with the Faculty of Education of the Universidad Diego Portales and CENTRE-UC of the Universidad Católica and describes the history, results, lessons and perspectives of the Foundation's Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) programme. It is a unique record in Chile, as there are few early education programmes that demonstrate positive impacts in key areas of development for vulnerable children.

"What the Foundation and the Good Start programme are doing is in line with what the government wants to achieve, quality programmes based on studies that support them. These results provide the basis for implementing this programme in public education," said María Angélica Balmaceda, Head of the Education Policy Division of the Undersecretariat for Pre-school Education, at the launch.

Ernesto Treviño, director of CENTRE-UC at the Catholic University and leader of the research that resulted in the book "A Good Start for the Children of Chile", described this study as "a unique record in Chile, as there are few early education programmes that demonstrate positive impacts in essential areas of development of children in vulnerable situations",

The positive results of the Good Start programme enabled children to achieve higher levels of language development by increasing their vocabulary, letter and word recognition, emergent writing and text comprehension. These improvements are reflected in the fact that by the end of kindergarten, children who received UBC strategies achieved language development one year ahead of their peers who did not participate in the initiative.

In addition, the children achieved higher levels of concentration and organisation in carrying out activities. They developed better skills in socialising with their peers, working cooperatively, supporting those with problems and building friendships.

"Ten years ago we began testing a model of professional development for teachers and principals in the search for improvements in pedagogical and leadership practices and, therefore, in children's learning. Today, after much learning and adjustments to the proposal, we have a solid model that has shown impact and goes beyond the classroom, involving all actors in the system," said Marcela Marzolo, executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

The Good Start programme was designed jointly by representatives of civil society and academics from Harvard University in 2006 to contribute to Chilean municipal early education and has been evaluated since its inception by the Centro de Políticas Comparadas de Educación of the Universidad Diego Portales, later joined by the CIAE of the Universidad de Chile and the Centro UC para la Transformación Educativa of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Measuring system

This study used CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System), an international observation instrument developed by the University of Virginia in the United States to measure the effectiveness of teacher-student interactions - which, according to studies, is primarily responsible for children's learning. CLASS measures three main areas: emotional support, classroom organisation and pedagogical support.

Successful results of "Un Buen Comienzo" presented at international education meeting

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

At the "Annual ProLEER Meeting at Harvard", representatives of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad presented the good results of 10 years of work with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children in Chilean municipal schools, which are reflected in a book that will be launched next week in our country: "A Good Start for the children of Chile".

Marcela Marzolo, Executive Director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, together with Andrea Rolla, Advisor to the Foundation for Harvard University, presented the history, the good results and the lessons learned from the early education programme "Buen Comienzo" at the annual meeting of Proleer at Harvard, which took place this week in Boston.

ProLEER (Professional Learning Network to Advance Early Education Reform) is an international network of researchers, academics, policy makers and programme implementers committed to improving educational practice and policy to raise the quality of early childhood learning. It was founded in 2009 by Harvard University students in collaboration with Professor Catherine Snow of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

At this meeting, representatives from the United States, the Netherlands, India, Pakistan and Latin America visited a public school in Boston, participated in conferences and shared knowledge and experiences related to education and the situation of education in the different countries represented. Andrea Rolla, Harvard advisor for Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and co-organiser of the event, said that "this is a very important initiative, because it allows us to share experiences, research, and public policies within the region, with Harvard, and internationally".

Within the framework of the presentations, Marcela Marzolo, Executive Director of the foundation together with Andrea Rolla, presented the book "A Good Start for the children of Chile", a document that describes the history, results, lessons and perspectives of the early education programme A Good Start (UBC), a unique record in Chile, as there are very few rigorous and systematic studies of early education programmes that demonstrate a positive impact on children's learning.

The Good Start programme was designed in 2007 to contribute to Chilean municipal early education and has been evaluated since its inception by the CPCE of the Diego Portales University and the CIAE of the University of Chile, demonstrating its impact on the learning of vulnerable children in early education.

Marcela Marzolo valued the opportunity to present the book and the excellent results of the programme at an international education meeting; "We are happy about the interest in our presentation on the Good Start programme, which only ratifies the international recognition that our work is receiving".

The book, presented at the Boston conference, will be launched in Chile next Tuesday, October 9th at 16:30 hrs. in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Diego Portales and will also be attended by the Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education, María José Castro, as well as a talk by Pedro Delgado, an expert in continuous improvement from the Institute from Healthcare Improvement, who will tell how the continuous improvement model was adapted in a unique and innovative way to this early childhood education programme in Chile.

Effective strategies for teaching English presented at international seminar

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

The fifth version of the event will be held in La Serena and will feature exhibitors from England and Uruguay and workshops by leading national professionals. In addition, teachers will share their experiences teaching English to children with hearing impairment and tell details of how networks have become a space for collaboration.

One of the main economic activities in the IV Region is tourism, which generates the arrival of around 2 million tourists every year, 15% of whom are English-speaking foreigners. That is why mastering English is so necessary and its teaching from an early age is fundamental to promote the value of intercultural exchange.

In this context, the 4th International Seminar on English Language Teaching Expanding Opportunities was held for the first time in La Serena. The activity was a meeting point for teachers, school principals, heads of UTP, sponsors, academics and students of English language teaching, who learned about innovative and successful teaching experiences to apply both in the classroom and at school level. The meeting also presented experiences of both teachers and principals, involving different establishments such as cultural or musical events, which even involve the parents themselves.

The event featured two prominent international speakers who led plenary sessions and four experts who gave educational talks and entertaining workshops. The talk "Effective use of songs in the English class" by Luciana Fernández, learning and reading consultant at National Geographic Learning, kept all attendees attentive and engaged. "I hope that there will be more opportunities for teachers to get together, learn from others and not feel so alone. I am very happy to have been part of this event," said the presenter.

David Crabtree, Professor at the University of Westminster in London, was another keynote speaker and shared with the audience some models of inclusive learning and how they relate to good practice in the classroom.

María Escobar, English teacher at the Cardenal Caro school in Coquimbo, highlighted the level of both talks: "They were a very playful way of delivering the knowledge to us," she said, highlighting the Foundation's concern for early English language teaching.

In addition, there were poster presentations on successful experiences of teaching and learning processes of this language by teachers from different regions of the country. Martina Garay, a teacher from the commune of Coinco, O'Higgins Region, was one of these panelists and she showed the theatre plays that have been performed with her students in the commune. For her, this event "is incredible and showing what we do in such small communities to other teachers is very motivating".

In addition to the main presentations, participants were able to take part in one of four workshops: "Storytelling", "English through art", "Cultural events in English" and "Guidelines for effective English language management at institutional level", all of which were related to the main themes of the seminar.

Fernando Castro is a graduate in English Pedagogy from the University of La Serena and participated in the workshop "Guidelines for the effective management of English at the institutional level", one of the most requested of the day and considered it very good, "because in general it is always shown what to do in the classroom and this workshop sought to motivate management teams to work on English in a global way".

Meanwhile, English teacher Katherine Galleguillos from the Abel Inostroza Gutiérrez school in Monte Águila, in the VIII Region, participated in the workshop "English through art" and said that "I really liked this workshop, a very interesting idea that aims to teach from the youngest children. The speakers were incredible and really give a boost to pedagogy".

The seminar is organised for the fourth consecutive year by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which for the past 12 years has been promoting the early teaching of English through its We Learn programme in the Elqui Valley. Marcela Marzolo, Executive Director of the Foundation explains that "this year we wanted to invite the participants to broaden their view of English teaching, showing that it is not only the responsibility of the English teacher, but of the entire educational community, who can get involved in the teaching of this language with very simple strategies. It is not enough to have successful teachers, good practices must be installed, for which leaders play a fundamental role".

The Fundación Educacional Oportunidad activity was carried out in conjunction with the Universidad de La Serena, with the collaboration of the British Council and National Geographic Learning and with the participation of Bukku Education, Grupo Educativo Inglesa, Colegio Cervantes and English Arts.

Column: English language teaching does not depend only on a good teacher

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

Quality classes and committed leaders are no longer enough. English language learning can be achieved when we also have an educational community that actively participates in the teaching of English, from the principals, to the management team, to the parents.

Much is said about how bad we are as a country at teaching English, but little is said about the successful strategies that are being implemented in various parts of Chile and that are enabling students, especially in municipal schools, to learn English from an early age.

When we invite parents to use simple words or ask their children questions and they answer in English, when we send them a whatsapp audio or a simple song communication for them and their children to practice at home, we are involving the family in the teaching process and in this way reinforcing day by day what they learn in the classroom. This is one of the successful strategies of teacher Claudia Gonzalez in Paihuano.

At the Edmundo Vidal Cárdenas school in Vicuña, headmaster Ruperto Pizarro - nominated as one of the 5 best teachers in Chile - is adding other subjects to language teaching. At his school, all teachers reinforce English by asking them to use the language to say hello, ask permission to go to the bathroom, ask for the floor, among other simple expressions. In this way, English is not just one more subject in the curriculum, but extends across the whole school.

When the objective of promoting the teaching of English becomes a communal goal, activities that involve students, teachers, parents and principals are achieved, as is the case in the communes of Vicuña and Paihuano in the Elqui Valley, where during the year they organise poetry contests, English spelling bees and song festivals, in order to include the entire school community and the commune in the teaching of this language.

When we have the will and the ideas, but above all when we dare to try them, and even more, when after trying them we reflexively analyse the results and when we share these learnings with others who seek the same objective, we end up generating networking and learning communities.

Marcela Marzolo
Executive Director
Fundación Educacional Oportunidad

We Learn Net trains teachers and management teams in Coinco

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

Several trainings with the participation of English teachers and management teams from the four municipal schools of the Coinco commune, O'Higgins region, which are part of We Learn Net, as well as the communal Head of UTP, provided teachers with new strategies to increase exposure to the language outside the classroom, while together with the management teams they analysed the progress of their schools around the goals of the first semester.

These trainings took place in the framework of the first year of operation of the network of communes that promotes the teaching of English at an early age, where Coinco is the founding commune of the We Learn NET network, also composed of teachers and schools of the Elqui Valley.

On 7 June a training session was held for the English teaching teams, focusing on strategies to increase exposure to the language outside the classroom. In this instance, the organisation of a cultural event for the end of August at the Chillehue School was agreed upon. The teachers will work together with the school's management team and head teachers to organise a talent show. The students will have the opportunity to showcase their language skills within the school community.

Regarding this activity, teacher Martina Garay, values the work carried out together with the management teams, because "in this way the We Learn programme is taken more seriously and English is considered a relevant subject within the curriculum. These meetings allow us to have a guide to know what to focus on".

On 28 June, a training session was held for the commune's management teams to analyse the schools' progress towards their goals and to review how the actions proposed by We Learn Net are in line with the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education for the subject. In addition, the first steps were taken together with the Head of the local UTP, Marlene González, to organise an English cultural event in which all the schools will participate, as part of the celebration of the anniversary of the commune in November.

This networking of the We Learn NET programme was appreciated by Marta Palacios, principal of the Chillehue School, who said: "the network works very well. The communication is good, and I also like the fact that they involve all members of the educational community in the work, so we get closer to the work of the teachers".

"Best practice comes from learning communities".

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

The Undersecretary for Pre-school Education, María José Castro, said after participating in the Learning Session that brought together kindergarten educators and technicians, management teams and Daem heads of the Improvement Network of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's Un Buen Comienzo programme.

The activity brought together 13 communes, 60 schools and nearly 250 people around this Improvement Network that promotes actions aimed at the sustainability of good educational and leadership practices, as well as collaborative work between educational communities with a focus on the learning of children at the early childhood level.

"Children come first" is the government's motto for expressing its concern for early education, which was recalled by María José Castro, Undersecretary for Pre-school Education, who also recognised the Foundation's work in this area, "it is a great programme that works with communities, sponsors, directors, educators and assistants, so that the quality of learning comes directly to the classroom, through quality interactions, one of the programme's focuses".

With regard to this Improvement Network of the Good Start Programme and the results presented at the conference, the undersecretary pointed out that "we are certain that in education the best practices come from the learning communities, especially when there is accurate data that allows us to identify the difficulties and successful proposals and thus make the right decisions".

In this second Learning Session, successful experiences were shared between communes and schools, the results obtained in the first half of the year, in order to plan the second semester, all with a focus on sustaining the programme's strategies to generate quality learning.

The educator Mabel Leyton from the Amparo Rayo school in Quinta de Tilcoco, considers that these learning sessions "are important to interact with other educators by learning about the strengths and weaknesses of the network". Patricia Pérez, an educator who only learned about the programme this year at the Chimbarongo kindergarten, has a similar opinion: "It was a very intense but motivating day. The programme is incredible, it has very good results that are reflected in the children's learning".

The Fundación Educacional Oportunidad programme has been working for 7 years with schools in the VI region and 11 years in the metropolitan region, contributing to the improvement of the quality of early education, supporting school teams in the improvement of pedagogical and leadership practices so that children can achieve better socio-emotional and language development.

Since 2011, the Foundation has been working with the Continuous Improvement Methodology, which is based on "collaborative" work and the exchange of experiences between the schools that are part of the programme and the implementation of improvement cycles to test ideas (Plan, Do, Study and Adjust).

"I think it is a contribution, hopefully it will become state policy and all municipalities will be obliged to participate in this network, because at the moment it is voluntary. If we want to improve education in Chile, we must start with early education using the strategies of the Good Start programme," says Teresa Rojas, head of Daem in the commune of Codegua.

This year the programme is focused on providing tools for the sustainability of successful practices, as well as on strengthening this improvement network with a focus on early education, explains Marcela Marzolo, executive director of the Foundation, who also points out that "we are happy with this Learning Session that strengthens the work of the Improvement Network around early education. The communes that are part of this Network are tremendously committed to early education and generously share their achievements and challenges with their peers because they are convinced that the best way to advance quality in early education is to do it collaboratively".

This is the second and last session of the year for the continuous improvement work of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's Un Buen Comienzo programme. During the rest of the year the schools will continue to meet by commune and peer-to-peer visits will take place to continue advancing quality.

English teachers and managers meet to exchange knowledge and experiences

Posted on 20182020 by Herrera

At the 2nd Learning Session of the We Learn early years English teaching programme, teachers, English-speaking professionals, management teams and community directors met to analyse what had been achieved and to plan for the second semester.

Some of the objectives of the 2nd Learning Session of the Improvement Network of the We Learn programme carried out by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad were to share experiences between communes, teachers and directors of 14 basic schools in Paihuano and Vicuña in the Elqui Valley, as well as to analyse the results obtained in the first semester.

There were more than 30 attendees, including teachers, management teams, community teams and English-speaking professionals who shared a day of work on the teaching of English from the early years, exchanging experiences and learning, analysing achievements and planning for the second half of the year.

Cynthia Aránguiz, from the Juan Torres Martínez school in the Diaguitas district of Vicuña, valued the initiative because "each time I leave with a backpack full of ideas that I can apply in different classes. The best result is that the children have grown fond of the subject and now see it as an important tool for their future.

The activity was attended by the Provincial Head of Education Ianina Erazo, who highlighted the Learning Session stating that "I think that this meeting and the network is an excellent opportunity for continuous improvement in the teaching of this language. For us as a government, the teaching of English is of paramount importance and the work of the Foundation through this programme is in line with our educational objectives".

Since 2011, the Foundation has been working with the Continuous Improvement Methodology in the Metropolitan and VI regions, which involves collaborative work between the schools that are part of the programme and the implementation of improvement cycles to test ideas (Plan, Do, Study and Adjust). In 2017, this methodology was incorporated into the We Learn programme.

In this line of work of continuous improvement, collaboration and the exchange of experiences and learning between teachers and principals is fundamental, with the Learning Sessions being the ideal instance for this to happen. "It is very valuable for the management teams and for the teachers, as the collaborative work allows them to analyse and look for strategies to improve the teaching of English in the valley," said teacher Miguel Ángel Domínguez, from the Jerónimo Godoy Villanueva school in the town of Pisco Elqui in Paihuano.

The We Learn programme of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad focuses on the professional development of teachers and principals with a view to improving the quality of English teaching from an early age and has been accompanying the educational communities of the Elqui Valley for more than 12 years. Peter Morse, member of the board of the Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, highlighted the motivation of the teachers and management teams in the programme. "I see that they have a very positive attitude, how they create their own ideas and use the tools provided by the Foundation to improve their work day by day. It has been a very useful and enjoyable day," said the director.

This is the second of three annual sessions of the continuous improvement work of the We Learn programme in the Elqui Valley, which this year also added the teaching of this language to the 1st and 2nd year students of the Mistraliano secondary school in Paihuano and the Edmundo Vidal Cárdenas school in Vicuña, through Access, a programme that is carried out in conjunction with the US Embassy and with the support of English-speaking professionals from Beyond English.

Innovation in Chilean kindergarten education recognised worldwide

Launch of the book "A Good Start for the children of Chile".

Successful results of "Un Buen Comienzo" presented at international education meeting

Effective strategies for teaching English presented at international seminar

Column: English language teaching does not depend only on a good teacher

We Learn Net trains teachers and management teams in Coinco

"Best practice comes from learning communities".

English teachers and managers meet to exchange knowledge and experiences

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