High school students from the Carlos Mondaca (Vicuña) and Bicentenario Mistraliano (Paihuano) technical high schools benefited during the first semester from an English scholarship created jointly by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de La Serena, which was renewed for the second semester.

The pandemic, and all the difficulties associated with it, were not an impediment for students of the tourism speciality of the Carlos Mondaca (Vicuña) and Bicentenario Mistraliano (Paihuano) technical high schools to participate in a course that allowed them to enhance their English speaking skills and thus generate new opportunities related to the speciality they study.

This opportunity arose thanks to a scholarship promoted by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de La Serena. Thus, the young people participated in beginner and intermediate level courses that lasted 36 teaching hours each.

May Ling Janis, a student from Liceo Mistraliano, was grateful for the possibility of accessing this course and noted that "it helped me to improve my English, meet new people, learn new words and as a tourism student it will help me a lot to interact with foreign clients".

Rony Rojas, a student at Liceo Carlos Mondaca, added that "English will help me a lot in the future, in my work, studies or if I go abroad. Now I also feel able to meet new people.

"This initiative allowed us to continue to strengthen the teaching of contextualised English, connected to local needs. The students mentioned feeling more confident and secure to communicate in the language, as well as having enjoyed the methodology of the classes and meeting new people. We are very happy to have contributed a grain of sand to their learning process", said Paz Collao, head of the We Learn Programme at Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

The director of the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano La Serena, Ruth McBride, explained that "the purpose of the project was to stimulate the students' oral production and that is difficult, it is a skill, the oral capacity is a capacity that is difficult to stimulate in the classroom. So this project was much more than stimulating oral English among the students, it was to create a community where the students felt happy and calm and to establish bonds between them so that they felt confident enough to dare to speak".

Fundación Educacional Oportunidad has been collaborating with schools in Vicuña and Paihuano since 2006, developing its We Learn programme, which aims to promote the learning of English by students in pre-school and primary education in the public sector.

In addition, in 2018, thanks to an agreement with the US Embassy, the We Learn Access course for secondary school students began to be developed and will continue in 2022, after being interrupted in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

To track the participation of more than 5,900 students from 143 schools and kindergartens in the public system in the Metropolitan, O'Higgins, Coquimbo and Magallanes regions, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad created a registration system that alerts those who have not participated or had contact with the establishment.

The pandemic presented a great challenge for the school system: not to lose any students. Given this scenario, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad detected in 2020 that around 20% of children in early education (pre-kindergarten and kindergarten) did not participate in either virtual learning experiences or in those that schools sent them home - virtually or in print - and this could lead to subsequent school exclusion, which is understood as a progressive distancing of the student from the school for different reasons.

Thus, the proposal was born to change the view of attendance for the concept of "participation", which takes into account the different ways in which children are involved. It is no longer just a matter of recording attendance in person, but also of recording participation in learning experiences, whether they are synchronous (done at the same time with the kindergarten educator) or asynchronous (done independently and sent later for review and feedback).

Yanira Aleé, head of the Assistance programme at Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, explains that "according to the reality of our schools, the year 2020 was 100% remote education, mainly through asynchronous activities, i.e. activities that were sent home via WhatsApp for example, which were carried out by the children at different times, and only in the first semester of 2021, around 70% of the schools incorporated virtual classes and with the change to phases 3 and 4, in the second semester, only some schools started with face-to-face classes".

To facilitate this process, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad created a registration system to measure the participation of each of the children, not only in person, but also through their involvement in learning experiences, whether synchronous or asynchronous.

"This registration system works both on-site and in a hybrid or remote education system, which is what we are experiencing this second semester. It allows us to record whether the child was present and also whether he or she participated from home in a virtual class or by carrying out an activity sent from the school or kindergarten during the week," says Yanira Aleé.

The result of the registration is an interactive report containing a graph that is automatically updated weekly with information on how many children meet the participation target and the percentage of children according to the type of participation: face-to-face, remote synchronous or remote asynchronous.

Javiera Sotomayor, coordinator of the Continuous Improvement and Evaluation area of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, says that "this system allows schools to efficiently analyse data. In this case on the participation of their students, through the exploitation of information by means of different technologies that currently constitute the basic standards to improve practices and help organisations in decision-making".

The challenge for the remainder of the year will be for schools to activate the linkage committee, to identify the causes of non-participation, to propose a particular intervention for each child who is not participating, and to follow up to see if this intervention progressively increases their participation.

Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, in a collaboration agreement with the Red Futuro Técnico of the Ministry of Education and the consulting firm Grupo Educativo, has arranged courses for teachers of technical high schools in the Metropolitan Region in the specialty of kindergarten care, in order to improve the quality and relevance of the training provided by the schools.

The Red Futuro Técnico is part of the national program for the articulation of territorial networks of the Ministry of Education, which is implemented in the metropolitan area by the consulting firm Grupo Educativo. This initiative promotes a culture of collaboration and joint work among regional actors and institutions related to the Technical Professional (TP) sector, to improve the quality and relevance of the training provided by the technical-professional high schools present in the territory.

Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, within the framework of these lines of work, and the generation of training opportunities for teachers of the Red Futuro Técnico, articulated a selection of courses aimed at teachers of the 50 schools in the region that teach the specialty of Early Childhood Care.

Trinidad Castro Amenábar, head of the Foundation's Learning Transfer Area, pointed out that "all the contents for early childhood education teachers have also been tested and designed to work with kindergarten education technicians, and are also oriented to the development of their functions. In this sense, this agreement reinforces our commitment to the essential role that classroom assistants play in early education, which is often overlooked".

Andrés Roncagliolo Cortínez, Project Manager of the Red Futuro Técnico Región Metropolitana and partner of Grupo Educativo, indicated that "we recognize the importance of early childhood education and the relevance of offering quality education at these levels is to have quality nursery school technicians and educators. In this context, and considering that with the pandemic, this educational level has been extremely affected by the lack of attendance, quarantines, and this has had an impact on educators, technicians, children and their families".

She also expressed her joy at working with the foundation, "we are very happy to sign this agreement with Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which will allow teachers of kindergarten care to improve their skills in this area and offer better training to their students".

The training, called Ruta Formativa, consists of three short courses: Oral Comprehension Strategies, Mathematical Thinking Strategies, and Principles and Guidelines for Curricular Prioritization in Kindergarten Education. It lasts three weeks, the modality is online-asynchronous, it has no cost for technical-professional teachers of the Metropolitan Region and each course has a certificate delivered by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

If you are a teacher of the specialty and belong to the Red Futuro Técnico of the Metropolitan Region, you can register for these courses at: https://oportunidadenlinea.cl/rft/

For one month, the schools of the UBC Improvement Network will share experiences on topics related to early education, such as promoting the participation of children in learning experiences, pedagogical strategies for distance learning, and the organization of linkage committees to follow up on students who have lost their link with the school and thus avoid a possible school dropout.

Despite the opening of on-site activities and the fact that the pandemic has given some respite in these weeks, we still have not been able to return to the normal life we had before Covid-19. That is why more than 140 public schools and kindergartens in the region of O'Higgins, together with establishments in the commune of Renca, which are part of the Improvement Network A Good Start, decided to share what they have learned during this time and to know virtually the innovative pedagogical and leadership practices they have developed to enhance the learning of girls and boys in kindergarten and kindergarten.

The Improvement Network Un Buen Comienzo, was born in 2018, with the support of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and is the only network in Chile that has as its main focus the improvement of early childhood education.

These virtual visits began on August 23 and will last until September 23 and will share about 20 different experiences. Some of them are related to the use of new technological tools, the emotional support given to students during the pandemic, the ways in which the participation of children in learning experiences has been encouraged during this period, pedagogical strategies for teaching at a distance, and the organization of committees to follow up on students who have lost the link with school and thus avoid a possible school dropout.

Perla Chávez, director of implementation of the Good Start program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, points out that this instance has been a great contribution for the teams because "visits between schools are a great opportunity to share, reflect and learn among peers. In addition, they have allowed us to generate bonds and ties among the participants, creating a network of support and support. In addition, the shared experiences have generated new ideas, methodologies and strategies that enhance children's learning. In such complex times, learning among peers allows us to better overcome challenges and generate the necessary confidence to dare to try new ways".

To date, 150 people have participated in these inter-school visits. For Carolina Quintanilla, Head of UTP of the San Francisco de Asis school in the commune of Mostazal, "the visit between schools is an opportunity to share successful experiences that have given us favorable results and that have allowed us to appreciate that we are working with the methodology proposed by the UBC program. Sharing experiences also gives us the possibility of improving processes, receiving feedback from outside, being able to make adjustments within the practices and it is also a time to share and meet other teams that are part of the network".

Teresa Caroca, a kindergarten educator at the Carmen Gallegos school in San Vicente, who belongs to a classroom that presented a successful experience, also has a very positive view of this activity. "The visits were useful to us because the feedback we received helped us to create new things. Our objective was to publicize our experience and those practices that have served us and we have obtained good results, where we have also involved other members of the educational community and families. As an educational team we consider that it was a very good experience to share what we do, since it allowed us to improve and also gives us the opportunity to always self-criticize ourselves in the pursuit of improvement. We also liked very much to see the recognition of our colleagues, it was important for us. It was an instance of interactive learning that allowed us to build more knowledge together.

Finally, Pamela Bello, an early childhood educator at the Monserrat Robert de García school in the municipality of Renca, commented that "we participated in a visit where the school presented actions to increase participation, so it was an enriching experience for our work, as we need ideas to increase participation and for families to have more confidence".

181 students from such distant communities as Vicuña, Paihuano, Coinco, Maule and Puerto Natales, are part of the new season of The Word Of The Day, an educational project that premieres on NTV, TVN's cultural channel, which also debuts this Sunday, August 8.

This Sunday, August 8, is celebrated in our country the Children's Day, occasion in which NTV, TVN's cultural channel, debuts, which within its programming will include a new season of The Word Of The Day, a project in which 181 students from municipal schools in the municipalities of Vicuña, Paihuano, Coinco, Maule and Puerto Natales participate, who will teach English through 20 fun capsules.

This educational project is an initiative of the company Live Language Theater that will once again feature students whose schools work with Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's We Learn program, which aims to promote English learning among children from an early age.

Exposing children to English in a context of fun and relaxation is the objective of The Word Of The Day, which will be aired at different times of the day to show the meaning of a total of 20 words.

The head of the We Learn program at Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Paz Collao, explained that "giving students the opportunity to practice the language in a real project like this one, which goes beyond the classroom, has a great effect on their motivation for English and their understanding of the language as a communication tool. It also gives them a chance to learn more deeply.

She also added the impact of being the ones who teach other children. "It's different learning a word for a class than learning it because I'm going to teach it to my peers on broadcast television. It gives them a responsibility to practice their pronunciation well, to use creativity to represent it and to share their learning with others. And without a doubt, they assumed that responsibility very well because the capsules turned out great", concluded Paz. 

For her part, Live Language Theater's executive director, Valérie Fauvage, added that "this new season of The Word Of The Day follows the line for which the company has become known nationally: that of learning English in an entertaining and participatory way. And these capsules represent that spirit. We believe that the audiovisual format is the best alternative to face the educational insufficiency resulting from the pandemic.

For more details on the project, please visit www.Livelanguagetheater.com and the Instagram account @livelanguagetheaterchile.

Teachers of this language, as well as early childhood educators who teach this language to children from early childhood onwards, will be able to access at www.oportunidadenlinea.cl to a series of contents with different strategies, audiovisual resources and downloadable material that will allow them to enhance learning.

With the aim of continuing to support the professional development of professional development of teachers, and within the framework of the celebration of its 15 years of of its existence, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad incorporated in its learning platform learning platform www.oportunidadenlinea.cl an area of English as a foreign language language, which in its first stage contemplates 6 courses that seek to strengthen the pedagogical pedagogical practices and student learning.

These are available free of charge and will be a tool to enhance learning from the Transition level of Kindergarten to the sixth year of Basic Education. level to the sixth year of Basic Education.

The area of English as a foreign language is organised into 3 main categories: Innovations in Teaching Practice, Guidelines for Teaching Practice and Teaching Resources. for Pedagogical Practice and Pedagogical Resources. In these categories you will find will find courses that address innovations at the school and classroom level, a detailed curriculum from Pre-Kindergarten to from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade and guidelines on how to assess language, among language assessment, among others. All of these courses can be taken entirely online and can be online and can be done according to the time availability of each participant.

It should be noted that all courses in the area of English as a foreign language courses have been highlighted and recommended by the Centro de Perfeccionamiento de Perfeccionamiento, Experimentación e Investigaciones Pedagógicas (CPEIP) of the Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education.

The head of the Transfer of Learning Learning Transfer area of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Trinidad Castro, explained that "we have accompanied schools for several years in the teaching of English. "We have accompanied schools for several years in the teaching of English as a foreign language from an early age. as a foreign language from an early age, and in this process we have learnt a lot from the a lot from the management and educational teams we work with". He added that "those learnings, together with the pedagogical practices that we have observed, implemented and observed, implemented and adjusted in the field, and which we know bring good results, are the essence of these courses. are the essence of these courses. It is content that has been tried and tested by many teachers in a variety of contexts. tested by many teachers in different contexts, and which we now bring to a digital format that is more digital format more accessible to all English teachers in the country.

Details of the courses available are as follows:

Opportunities outside the classroom: This course will identify the multiple benefits of educational opportunities outsidethe classroom. of educational opportunities outside the classroom. It will different types of educational opportunities with their characteristics and objectives. objectives. 

Cultural events: This course explores in depth the development of events that involve the whole educational community. involving the whole educational community, which allow to practice the language in a playful and innovative way. language in a playful and innovative way.

Maximising time in effective communication effective communication in English classes: This course reviews the importance of importance of increasing effective communication time in English classrooms and the multiple benefits this has for both and the multiple benefits this has for both teaching practice and student learning. for both teaching practice and student learning.

Curricular prioritisation in English: Presents the basic concepts and general guidelines used by the Ministry of Education to prioritise and make more flexible the objectives of the curriculum. used by the Ministry of Education to prioritise and make more flexible the English learning objectives, in accordance learning objectives in English, in accordance with the current National Curriculum.

Own plans and programmes from Transition Level to Year 6: In this course you will find the complete curriculum for English as a foreign language for these levels. foreign language for these levels. It includes proposals that seek to to strengthen children's skills, attitudes and knowledge that will enable them to develop their thinking and develop their thinking, understand the environment they live in and communicate with other people. communicate, interacting with other people.

Assessing for Learning: This course is aimed at all teachers of English who teach and assess English language learning from early childhood. who teach and assess English language learning from early childhood onwards. Its purpose is to share guidelines, suggestions and instruments for the assessment process for children learning English from an early age. early learners.

The contents of www.oportunidadenlinea.cl are being disseminated by the Ministry of Education, making them available to educators and teachers throughout Chile.

An important endorsement was given to our resource platform www.oportunidadenlinea.cl, whose courses have begun to be disseminated by the Centro de Perfeccionamiento, Experimentación of Perfectioning, Experimentation and Pedagogical Research (CPEIP) of the Ministry of Education, which Ministry of Education, whose objective is to support teachers' work in order to improve learning. improve learning.

These are resources associated with the areas of early education and English as a foreign language that received the "seal of approval". and English as a foreign language, which have received the "seal of seal of approval" from this important organization, which has shared them on its website www.cpeip.cl in order to make good practices visible, as well as to guide educators, teachers and English teachers about educators and English teachers about methodologies to carry them out, as well as to guide methodologies to carry them out, as well as making available digital materials for their implementation. digital materials for their implementation.

The executive director of Fundación Marcela Marzolo, executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, pointed out that "the contents of our courses are the result of our experience in the field with hundreds of schools for more than 10 years. hundreds of schools for more than 10 years, so they respond to the real needs of our country's the real needs of public education in our country and have proven to be effective in the in the achievement of student learning".

He also added that "we are very pleased CPEIP's recognition by making the different courses offered by the foundation available on its resource site. the different courses offered by the foundation on its resource site. We are convinced we are convinced that they will be a great contribution to the professional development of early childhood educators and English teachers, who will be able to access them free of charge. free of charge".

During the event, which will be broadcast on the YouTube channels of educarchile and Fundación Minera Escondida and Facebook Live of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, the public will be able to acquire practical tools to face the closing of the semester and the opening of the next one in the context of the health crisis, from renowned professionals, such as Rebeca Anijovich, academic at the University of Buenos Aires and postgraduate professor at the University of FLACSO. Likewise, attendees will have access to recommendations for curriculum development, authentic assessment and pedagogical differentiation. 

The First Cycle of Talks on Evaluation and Planning of the Network of is an open activity aimed at management teams, teachers and professionals of school communities throughout the country, teachers and professionals of school communities throughout the country, whose purpose is to help them to to help to face the closing of the semester and the opening of the next one and to next semester and contribute to the educational reflection on the pandemic.

This event, which will be held over three days -Tuesday, June 29, Wednesday, June 30 and Thursday, July 1 at 5:00 p.m.- is open to the public, Wednesday, June 30 and Thursday, July 1 at 5:00 p.m. - is open and free of charge. free of charge and will be broadcasted through the YouTube channels of educarchile and Minera Escondida Foundation and Facebook Live of Fundación Educacional Opportunity. It is worth mentioning that each talk has been contextualized to the reality that schools and schools reality that schools and high schools are living, to provide attendees with practical recommendations and relevant practical recommendations and downloadable material relevant to the educational challenges. educational challenges. 

"The Network of Leading Schools has been from its origins an inspirational project in terms of the commitment inspiring project with respect to the commitment of teachers and principals to creatively advance educational creativity, in educational experiences that expand opportunities for all. and all. In the complex scenario in which the health crisis has put us, it is key to adopt new tools and generate is key to adopt new tools and generate spaces for reflection, such as this cycle of talks cycle of talks, which allow the creation and dissemination of relevant solutions to the challenges of our school communities. for the challenges of our school communities," says Andrea Osorio, Director of Learning for the Future at Fundación Chile.

The cycle

On Tuesday, June 29 June 29, the first lecture, entitled "Curriculum Development in Crisis Contexts in Contexts of Crisis". It will be given by Luis Osandón, professor of History and Geography and academic of the Department of Pedagogical Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Chile. Department of Pedagogical Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Chile. Chile. In his presentation he will provide guidelines for curricular mediation with a focus on the reading of the curriculum. on the reading of the curriculum and the planning, organization and sequencing of learning for the second grade. and the planning, organization and sequencing of learning for the second semester.

On Wednesday June 30, the talk "Formative Evaluation at the Service of Teaching Differentiation" will be given by Kira Ausin Service of Teaching Differentiation" will be given by Kira Ausin, teacher of General Basic and Kindergarten Education and Master in Management and School Management at the School Management and Administration at the Universidad del Desarrollo. Here, she will propose strategies and tools for the effective use of formative assessment data in the adequacy of the the adequacy of the learning planning process and will provide recommendations for strengthening the to strengthen teaching differentiation.

Finally, on Thursday, July 1st, the talk "How to Promote and Evaluate Authentic Learning in the Context of Distancing? How to Promote and Evaluate Authentic Learning in the Context of Distancing? will be given by Rebeca Anijovich, academic at the University of Buenos Aires and postgraduate professor at the University of FLACSO. Buenos Aires and postgraduate professor at FLACSO University and at the School of Education of the Universidad de San Andrés. School of Education at the University of San Andrés. This distinguished researcher will will address theoretical and practical aspects of authentic assessment, in its formative and cognitive skills mobilizing aspects. and mobilizing cognitive and transversal skills, within the framework of real and challenging activities. of real and challenging activities.

How to participate? Interested persons should fill in their data in the following registration form: https://forms.office.com/r/W2GNUcT43n

Those who register will receive reminders of the event and, and, later, the presentations of the exhibitors.

"Participating is Learning" is an initiative that offers parents and caregivers of children between 3 and 8 years old, actions to keep in mind when carrying out the learning experiences sent to them from the school or kindergarten. Promoting autonomy, generating adequate environments, celebrating achievements and avoiding frustration are some of the tips that can be seen on TV Educa Chile.

The health context has kept most of Chile's most of Chile's schools without classes and, in this scenario, mothers, fathers and caregivers have and, faced with this scenario, mothers, fathers and caregivers have had to take on a stronger role as co-educators of their children, supporting them in their the role of co-educators of their children, supporting them in their education process, especially in the especially in developing the learning experiences they send from their schools. from their educational establishments.

For many people, this can be one of the most can be one of the most difficult times of the day, either because of the limited time available or because they can't time available or for not being able to understand the activities sent to them from school or kindergarten. from the school or kindergarten. To help in this regard, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad's Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which collaborates with the educational teams of 156 municipal schools, has educational teams of 156 municipal schools, designed a campaign called "At Home or at School: Participate at home or at school: To Participate is to Learn", which provides -through short videos- 8 videos - 8 practical tips to consider when facing this situation. this situation.

These capsules, broadcasted on TV Educa Chile in the 10:00 p.m. block, deal with topics such as the importance of empowering importance of empowering children's autonomy, how to generate an appropriate environment, celebrate the right environment, celebrating achievements, avoiding frustration, explaining the steps of the the steps of the activities and anticipate what they are about, create a weekly calendar and ask for help from the and ask for help from the school when there are difficulties that adults cannot solve. adults cannot solve.   

The head of the Assistance program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Yanira Aleé, said that with this campaign "we campaign "we set out to provide concrete tools to support to support families in this new role as mediators in the development of pedagogical development of pedagogical activities, since we know that this is a complex time in many complex in many areas and not having clear guidelines can generate a new stress factor in the group. a new stress factor in the family group".

For her part, educator Mary Muñoz Verdugo Mary Muñoz Verdugo from the San Pedro de Alcántara school in Paredones, O'Higgins region, O'Higgins region, who used these videos to send them to the families via Whatsapp, explained that "the children have been through Whatsapp, explained that "the children have been very motivated to participate in the activities. to participate in the activities. It has been explained to them that whether at home or in school they participate in order to learn. This way of learning is new for them for them, and also for us, but thanks to this campaign we have been motivated and it has been very and it has been very useful".

Campaign videos are also available for families to are also available for families to review in detail at www.oportunidadenlinea.cl/participar-es-aprender/. They have also been disseminated by the international platform AprendoEnCasa.org. Those educational teams interested in having these capsules to share with their parents and guardians can send an e-mail to can send an email to contacto@fundacionoportunidad.cl to request them in light format.

Conversation "How to support children to do activities at home". children to carry out activities at home".

To close the campaign "Participate is Learn" campaign, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad invites all families interested in learning more about the families of children between 3 and 8 years old interested in learning more about how to support their children's school how to support their children in school activities in these times of pandemic, to participate in a to participate in an entertaining online discussion, which will be hosted by journalist Soledad Onetto. by journalist Soledad Onetto.

In this instance, the journalist will journalist will talk with a kindergarten educator, a psychologist and a parent about the main psychologist and a parent about the main problems that families face when helping their children with their homework. families face when helping their children to do their homework.

The discussion will be held on Wednesday, June 23, at 3:30 p.m., and those who wish to participate can register at the following link: https://bit.ly/3puTKlb

"How to teach how to teach language? Essential practices for the initial training of kindergarten educators" is a book that seeks to strengthen and support teacher training and literacy in kindergarten education. The text launched by the faculties of Education of the UC and UDP, together with Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, and edited by Ediciones UC, can be read free of charge in digital format for the next 6 months.

The COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a number of gaps in education, especially in the education of the very young, such as deficiencies in classroom interactions. of the youngest children, such as deficiencies in classroom interactions. This is that motivated the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC), the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile (UC), the Universidad Diego Portales Portales (UDP) and the Fundación Educacional Oportunidada to develop the book "¿Cómo enseñar a enseñar lenguaje? Essential practices for the initial training of kindergarten educators".

This disparate scenario comes from before. In 2017, the results of the Simce de Lectura for second basics were not encouraging as only 38.3% of the students reached the students reached the adequate level. In this context, the book comes to to address a gap that became even more acute during the pandemic, according to the dean of the Faculty of Education. the dean of the UC Faculty of Education, Alejandro Carrasco: "Strengthening the initial training of future early childhood educators is fundamental and this book is a contribution that is going to be a great contribution in this specialty".

The executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Marcela Marzolo, said she was "pleased that as a foundation we have been able to collaborate in the publication of this book, which we believe will be a tremendous edition of this book which, we believe, will be a tremendous contribution to the initial and continuous training of educators in our country and region. and continuing education of educators in our country and the region".

The 14 authors of the text are Paula Louzano, Claudia Lagos, Susana Mendive, Malva Villalón, Marcela Bertoglio, Silvia Romero, Soledad Concha, María Soledad Manrique, Celia Marcela Bertoglio, Silvia Romero, Soledad Concha, María Soledad Manrique, Celia Rosemberg, Andrea Rolla and Pelusa Orellana. Rosemberg, Andrea Rolla and Pelusa Orellana, and it is an inter-institutional research project between UC, UDP and Fundación Educacional Oportunidad. The The book, developed by Ediciones UC, will be free for six months and aims to empower the and aims to enhance the learning of kindergarten educators of the educational communities in educators in educational communities throughout the country.

For the director of Ediciones UC, María Angélica Zegers, "in these difficult times that we are living, with so many children with so many children who have seen their normal access to quality face-to-face education affected. quality face-to-face education, this book embodies the mission of an academic publishing house: to contribute in a concrete of an academic publishing house: to contribute in a concrete way to the better development of the country. country.

The dean of the Faculty of Education, Paula Louzano, explained that "the book systematizes the systematizes high-level international knowledge on how to teach language and literacy and brings teaching language and literacy and brings practical knowledge from different faculties of education in Chile and Latin America. from different faculties of education in Chile and Latin America".

The presentation of the was held in a webinar with more than a thousand simultaneous viewers on the different online simultaneous viewers on the different online platforms of the three institutions that the three convening institutions. In it, Soledad Concha research associate at the Institute of Education Sciences of the Universidad de O'Higgins - and co-editor of the of O'Higgins - and co-editor of the text - was in charge of presenting its content, explaining that it consists of three explained that it consists of three central elements: essential practices based on evidence of their evidence-based practices on their effectiveness, contributions in knowledge and methodologies for teacher and methodologies for teacher training that promote their learning and, finally, integrates guidelines on reflective teaching, integrates guidelines on reflective teaching from different contexts.

Claudia Lagos, coordinator of CPEIP's Continuing Education area and co-author of one of the book's chapters and co-author of one of the book's chapters, said that the text is closely linked to the implementation of Law 20.903, which the text is closely linked to the implementation of Law 20.903, which creates the Professional creates the Teacher Professional Development System: "This book shows with great clarity some essential aspects such as professionalization of the curriculum, as well as innovation, the skills of the 21st century, the recovery of learning century skills, the recovery of learning after the health crisis, and the framework for good teaching. framework for good teaching".

To read the book, you can access the following link: https://bit.ly/33UD3pa

If you missed the book launch and want to check out the video, you can watch it here:

The book seeks to provide answers to achieve significant advances in the quality of education. To this end, it addresses the key issues that decision-makers and leaders in education need to consider.

"Learning to Improve. How America's Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better," is a book that shows, through simple examples and real-world and real-life situations, how educational teams can effectively improve their students' learning. effectively improve their students' learning. Ranked for 10 years as as one of the best-selling education books in the United States, the Spanish version, entitled Spanish version, titled "Aprendiendo a Mejorar: Seis principiospara el mejoramiento continuo en for Continuous Improvement in Education", thanks to an agreement between Harvard Education Publishing Group, Fundación Harvard Education Publishing Group, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and the Carnegie Foundation. Carnegie Foundation. 

Based on their work at the Carnegie Endowment, the authors, Anthony S. Bryk, Louis M. Gomez, Alicia Grunow, and Paul G. LeMahieu, explain in this book how they moved from from reflection to action, and how what began as a casual conversation about ways to improve education, turned conversation on ways to improve education, ended up becoming an articulated and effective system for schools to and effective system for educational centers, be they schools or universities, to improve. universities, can improve.

The The book outlines the 6 basic principles that every facility should follow to achieve significant and sustained should follow to achieve significant and sustained improvements over time. over time. In this way, "Learning to Improve" shows how to make work problem-specific and user-centered specific and user-centered, how to focus attention on certain elements when looking at problems and on certain elements when looking at results, and to observe and understand the system around the problem. the system around the problem. The book also encourages you to measure in order to be able to scaling improvements, to use research as a tool, and to articulate as a network to accelerate learning. as a network to accelerate learning.

The Spanish version of this book is an invitation to get to know and begin to implement this methodology in any type of educational not only in Chile, but also in the entire Spanish-speaking world. Spanish-speaking world. In the authors' note to the Spanish edition, the authors state that "in this book authors state that "in this book we highlight the importance of improvement networks as a scientific enterprise, one that is as a scientific enterprise, one in which common methods are widely used to provide a sound widely used to provide a solid and necessary basis for the knowledge we generate. knowledge we generate. Having a shared language to talk about our improvement efforts is essential in all of this. improvement efforts is essential in all of this".

For her part, the executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Marcela Marzolo, added that "we are very happy to be able to make this book available to the Spanish-speaking world linked to education, which, in a simple and clear way, shows us why it is so difficult to improve, but at the same time proposes ways that can lead us to obtain better results. Our foundation has been working on the basis of these principles for more than a decade and we can say that it has been a process of permanent challenges and great achievements that have had a positive impact on the learning of the children and young people in the schools with which we collaborate".

The book can be downloaded free of charge in e-book format at https://aprendiendoamejorar.fundacionoportunidad.cl/

The initiative, called Together We Learn, will be developed during one year and will train English teachers, educators and assistants in early childhood education, directors and PIE professionals of the commune. 867 students, from kindergarten to 2nd grade, will have better opportunities to develop their English skills. 

In spite of the educational context marked by Covid-19, VTF kindergartens, schools and public microcenters in the Maule district VTF kindergartens, schools and public microcenters in the commune of Maule continue to continue to seek opportunities for children to enhance their teaching-learning process. their teaching-learning process.

In this quest, 21 educational establishments will begin their participation this participation, this April 26, in a course called Together We Learn, initiative of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which has more than 15 years of experience in the experience in teaching English from an early age.

There will be 157 participants, including English teachers, educators and assistants in early childhood educators and assistants in early childhood education, managers, and PIE professionals- who will have will have 8 virtual learning modules for one year. In them, they will address topics such as continuous improvement and evaluation, strategies to maximize effective communication time in the effective communication time in the classroom, as well as initiatives to generate opportunities for exposure to English outside the classroom. generate opportunities for exposure to English outside the classroom, among others. 

The head of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Paz Collao, pointed out that "we are happy to share with Maule the learning that we have been able to achieve. Collao, said that "we are happy to share with Maule the lessons learned that the program has been the program has been obtaining in its 15 years of implementation. The commune already MPM, a language teaching program from an early age, and we hope to contribute to the We hope to contribute to strengthen a work network that will allow us to continue improving English improve the English language learning of more than 800 students.

For her part, the coordinator of MPM Maule, María Irene Vallejos, as a commune we are very pleased with the collaboration that will be carried out and we feel that it will be a time to learn from what the Foundation is doing. and we feel that it will be a time to learn from what the Foundation has been doing in other localities. what the Foundation has been doing in other localities. It is with great enthusiasm that we want to begin our year of learning with the Together We Learn program".

The model, presented by our Assistance team, allows for timely monitoring of the participation of children and young people who are in on-site or remote classes, in order to avoid a distancing from the educational system that could lead to a definitive dropout.

The pandemic The pandemic brought with it a form of distance learning that, as several studies have pointed out, has an impact on the quality of learning. studies have pointed out, has an impact on the quality of learning. In addition, as a result of the complications associated with connectivity and the availability of technological resources, many students, especially those living in and availability of technological resources, many students, especially those who live in socially vulnerable social vulnerability, have progressively distanced themselves from the educational system.

Given this complex scenario, we propose the need to change the view of school attendance under the concept of "participation". This concept would allow us to approach school attendance both from the perspective of remote or hybrid education.

The head of the Yanira Aleé, head of the foundation's Assistance program, explains that "we approach participation as the students' frequent contact with the school. participation as the students' frequent contact with the school, either in person or virtually, to get involved in the development of learning experiences, i.e., a contact with a pedagogical focus. learning experiences, that is, a contact with a pedagogical focus".

In addition, he added that "addressing participation under a shared definition would allow us to He added that "addressing participation under a shared definition would allow us to timely follow-up with students to avoid their exclusion or distancing from the system, which could lead to process of distancing themselves from the system, which could lead to a definitive definitive desertion".

"The participation modality - face-to-face or virtual - does not have the same expected results in learning and socioemotional development. expected results in learning and social-emotional development, however, the important thing is to expose children to learning experiences that can be important is to expose children to learning experiences that can be provided through an online class, the activities sent to them by through an online class, activities sent to them via Whatsapp or printed guides. Whatsapp or printed guides that are handed out in homes. The important thing is that students have a feedback and link with the educational teams," he added. educational teams," he added.

In order to arrive at this new approach, we worked with representatives of other foundations, the Ministry of Education and schools. representatives of other foundations, the Ministry of Education and municipal schools in the Metropolitan, Coquimbo and Magallanes regions. and with municipal schools in the Metropolitan, Coquimbo and Magallanes regions. In these the causes of low student participation were analyzed and ideas were designed that will be tested. and ideas were designed that will be tested in different school contexts.

Juan Pablo Valenzuela, economist and researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Education (CIAE) of the University of Chile, who participated in this work. Education (CIAE) of the University of Chile, who participated in this conceptual work on the conceptual work, said that "in a context of a pandemic, it is critical that each school community is context of a pandemic, it is critical that each school community be linked regularly with each child and youth. with every child and young person on a regular basis. This connectivity is an enormous challenge, because in a context of closed schools or classes with hybrid methodologies, it is urgent to ensure this connectivity. methodologies, it becomes urgent to ensure this individualized socio-affective link. individualized. Thus, this proposal of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, with the active participation of teachers and school principals, offers us a valuable and school principals, proposes a valuable tool for monitoring and learning from this linkage, but also for and learn from this linkage, but also to monitor each student's own teaching-learning process. and learning process of each student, and it is a simple but very valuable design that should be replicated in many kindergartens. should be replicated in many kindergartens, schools and high schools throughout the country. the country.

The work under the new approach will be applied by the foundation to follow up on more than 6,000 children in kindergarten and elementary school in 15 Chilean and elementary school children in 15 districts of Chile.

After a year marked by distance learning, confinement and less social activity with family and friends, the "Let's Play in Summer" initiative aims to promote the socioemotional well-being of children.

As we have seen, this summer is different from previous ones, where it was common to see children spending more time with their families and friends in natural environments. Today, and almost a year after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, health conditions force families to remain alert and take all precautions to avoid contagion, which means, probably for many, not going on vacation or being in physical contact with people outside the home.

In this context, the "Let's Play in Summer" campaign, promoted by the Undersecretary of Kindergarten Education, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and the Chilean Association of Neurolearning, invites parents and adults responsible for the care of children to take advantage of this summer as an opportune moment to enhance positive experiences and promote an environment that strengthens the development of the youngest.

"Let's Play in Summer", which includes a powerful campaign on social networks, with content and recommendations for families, as well as videos and other resources, is inspired by the "5 Principles", an initiative promoted by the Undersecretary of Kindergarten Education that seeks to promote the socioemotional well-being of children, with simple and powerful actions.

"We continue to face a complex stage, which has forced families and educational teams to make great efforts to promote the welfare of children. In this line is framed this campaign that seeks to promote, especially, the first principle, that is, give all the love and control stress. This principle is the starting point for everything else, since children develop better in loving, safe and comfortable environments", said the Undersecretary of Nursery Education, María Jesús Honorato.

Meanwhile, María Virginia López, psychologist at Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, said that "the socioemotional well-being of children is crucial for their growth and integral development. This is why it is necessary that we commit ourselves to simple and concrete actions that allow us to create environments of trust and security, containment and positive experiences, through hugs, conversations, laughter, games and dances, among other activities that are very easy to carry out at any time and place".

For his part, Joaquín Triandafilide, neuroeducator and promoter of the ancestral concept "educate better from the tribe", indicates: "scientific evidence indicates that all the efforts made by the family of the little ones so that they grow up in environments of mutual respect and good humor in spite of the problems, where time is set aside to play or share, will have great repercussions in what they think and feel about themselves in 5, 10 or 20 years". That's how important the quality of the emotions we manage to build with them today is.

The "Let's Play in Summer" campaign will include messages on social networks, promoting actions and games with children. The closing event will be a webinar for families, which will be broadcast live on Wednesday, February 24, from 11:00 a.m., through Zoom and from the YouTube channel of the Undersecretariat of Early Childhood Education.

Check out the webinar "Generating a positive environment for children in the context of pandemic".

On Tuesday, December 15, the annual work of the schools that are part of the We Learn Improvement Network, which seeks to promote the learning of this language from an early age in children living in tourist areas of Chile, came to an end.

Technological tools have made it possible to shorten the distance forced by the pandemic and have become the best alternative, especially in the educational field. Thus, on Tuesday, December 15, English teachers, kindergarten teachers, assistants, PIE professionals and management teams from public schools in the municipalities of Vicuña, Paihuano and Puerto Natales, met to share the lessons learned during this particular year where they have had to innovate to continue supporting their students in the learning of this foreign language.

About 90 people connected to the first online Learning Session of the We Learn Improvement Network, whose main objective is to generate a space to share and work collaboratively around innovative strategies and initiatives so that children have better opportunities to learn English.

"Thanks to virtuality, for the first time we had so many people from the schools collaborating, extracting lessons learned from this challenging year and projecting the future of education and our Improvement Network, according to the learning we achieved," explained the head of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Paz Collao.

The Online Learning Session generated several moments that allowed visualizing the work done during the year, with relevant elements such as support to families, prioritization of the educational curriculum and generating innovations to overcome issues such as, for example, the lack of internet connection at home. 

Paz Collao explained that "it was a very exciting day, this year in general has been very exciting, and with the closing we were able to recapitulate what each of the members of the network experienced during the process and the lessons learned from these experiences".

From the Elqui Valley, in the Coquimbo region, the teacher in charge of the María Isabel Peralta school, Víctor Fuenzalida, explained that "the good thing is to be able to learn about the experiences and work done by teachers from different places and regions. This is good and sharing in small groups, as was done in the session, allowed for a very participative process".

For her part, Ida Muñoz, head of UTP at the Capitán Juan Ladrilleros school in Puerto Natales, added that "this year we had to change the way we teach, learn to connect and get to know our students' families in greater depth. In addition, we not only worked on cognitive development, but it was much more important to support our community in the socio-emotional area".

After this session, the 8 schools in Paihuano, the 6 in Vicuña and the 4 in Puerto Natales that are part of the Improvement Network will take a break from collaborative work to concentrate on the closing of the year and in March resume their activities with the team of the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and plan the way of working to face the challenges that the year 2021 will propose.