The presentation took place within the framework of the closing of the first Diploma in Educational Leadership for School Improvement at the state campus.

At the University of La Serena, the presentation of the book “Improvement and Leadership in Schools” was held, the second text published by the Educational Leadership Development Center (Cedle) and edited by José Weinstein, Director of said center, and Gonzalo Muñoz , Director of the Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Management at the UDP and Cedle researcher.

The presentation took place within the framework of the closing of the first Diploma in Educational Leadership for School Improvement, taught by the state campus.

This publication has 11 chapters written by David Hopkins, Antonio Bolívar, Javier Murillo, Penny Bender Sebring, Karen Seashore - Louis, Michael Fullan, Amanda Datnow, Kim Schildkamp, ​​Alma Harris, David Ng, Michelle Jones, Dong Thanh Nguyen, Denise Vaillant , Rick Mintrop, Miguel Órdenes, Stephen Anderson and Christopher Chapman.

At the beginning of the activity, José Weinstein pointed out that “research has persistently shown that directive leadership is the second most important factor - from the point of view of school factors - to influence improvement, therefore there is no “improvement without leadership.”

“The main function of the book is to bring to the country what is in the discussion, usually in English, regarding the topic of educational leadership,” added the Director of the Educational Leadership Development Center.

Joel Debia, administrator of the Salesianos La Serena School and student of the diploma course, participated as a commentator on the book. "We have the mission as a school, and all schools, to contribute to young people not only having cognitive abilities but also having analytical abilities, having self-criticism, being researchers and being participants in a society and in that sense the “The book shows experiences from other countries on this,” he stated.

"Regarding the chapters of the book, we must not forget that our steps as a country are much slower than other more advanced societies, but I believe that we are not wrong with what we are doing in our management, we must persevere because the changes will not occur." From one day to the next, changes - and especially in education - are tremendously slow,” said Rodolfo Quintana, director of the Alejandro Chelen Rojas School, in Chañaral Alto, commune of Monte Patria.

The diploma course had the participation of 29 teachers and professionals working in the school system and was aimed at training educational leaders who were capable of understanding the dynamic relationships between the new requirements that society places on education and school.

Projecting loyalty with students who are graduating and maintaining active contact networks were the main objectives of this activity.

With the purpose of strengthening ties between the active students of the educational community, with a graduation profile, the Graduate Monitoring Office of the University of La Serena organized and carried out what they called “Hiking ULS 2018”, an activity which brought together students under the premise of interpersonal relationship skills, teamwork and social responsibility and environmental sustainability.

The day, which was carried out with the support of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, through the Schools of Auditing and Commercial Engineering and the Department of Corporate Communications, brought together over 60 students who worked as a team to achieve the top, as well as getting to know each other in a natural environment, respecting differences and respecting the environment.

At the beginning of the activity, stretching exercises were carried out to prepare for the ascent, and during the walk the students stopped at different stations where they had to perform challenges, with the purpose of establishing teamwork and interpersonal relationships between the different groups.

The Ineergias Group also participated in the opportunity, demonstrating commitment to activities in outdoor places and maintaining a relationship of support for the activity, through social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Lycal, their mascot, was the one who accompanied the students to accept the challenge, and kept at a steady pace to reach the finish line.

The ascent to Cerro Grande was one activity among many carried out by the Graduate Monitoring Office. These seek to build loyalty and integrate the community of graduated and titled students with their Alma Mater, through recreational and leisure activities; However, it also develops coaching workshops for job placement and redirects early contact networks.

Once the participants reached the top, they were able to interact with each other through a team builder day led by the OSE labor psychologist, Mg. Rodrigo Davanzo, who prepared various competition and teamwork activities, highlighting the importance of these when entering a company to work, or when searching for work.

The students were very grateful for this opportunity and considered it a good way to begin building new contact networks. This was emphasized by Daphne Valenzuela, a Business Engineering student, who said that “this allows us to realize that networks are the facilitators when entering the world of work and that an activity like the one carried out is quite novel since it mixes many variables that help our training.”

Source: DEIP Press

Professors Carlos Urrutia and Richard Bravo participated in a work day with the North American researcher, Dr. Michael W. Apple.

Within the framework of the permanent seminar “Teaching Professional Development and Initial Teacher Training in Standardization Contexts”, held at the Center for Advanced Studies of the University of Playa Ancha, the professors of the Department of Education of the University of La Serena, Carlos Urrutia and Richard Bravo, had the opportunity to participate at the beginning of April in a work day with the North American academic and researcher, Dr. Michael W. Apple, professor of curriculum and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

This meeting was framed in the publication in Chile of Dr. Apple's book “Can education change society?”, where the author discusses the transformative nature of education in pursuit of a truly democratic society. The event made it possible for academics to make inquiries about Dr. Apple's work, allowing them to delve into aspects related to the role that teacher training plays within the framework of standardization policies and the challenges that teaching in contexts of labor adversity entails. .

For Professor Urrutia, the meeting implied an important step in the consolidation of interuniversity spaces aimed at discussing topics related to teacher training. “The meeting with Dr. Apple complemented work that we began a few months ago related to the challenges that the teaching profession faces at a national level, particularly considering the implementation of policies such as the inclusion law and the professional development law. teacher,” stated the academic belonging to the ULS Department of Education.

In this sense, he added that "Dr. Apple's work is highly illuminating, since it allows us to measure the challenges that public education currently faces and the value of the school as a space for democratic construction."

Likewise, for Professor Richard Bravo, the dialogue with Dr. Apple “offered the possibility of discussing profound issues associated with the formulation of educational projects in times of globalization; in particular, about the way in which policies of homogenization of practice would be modifying the training and work of teachers. In this way, the discussion became a contribution to review in greater detail the 'professionalization' processes associated with new teaching careers, the standardization of initial training and accountability. All of them phenomena that deserve, at least, a second reading, typical of intellectual and academic work, an instance that the meeting with this outstanding professor and sociologist of education widely promoted."

Also participating in the meeting were Dr. Rima Apple, professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and prominent researcher in women's and gender studies; Dr. Eduardo Cavieres Fernández, director of the seminar and Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of the University of Playa Ancha, Dr. Ramón Uzcategui, from the School of Education of the Central University of Venezuela; and Dr. María Elena Michels, from the Department of Specialized Studies in Education at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil).

Among other works, Michael W. Apple has published Ideology and Curriculum (1986); Democratic Schools (1995); Politics, culture and education (1996); Education and Power (1991); Official knowledge: democratic education in a conservative era (1996); Educate "as God commands": markets, levels, religion and inequality (2002); and Global Crises, Social Justice, and Education (2010).

This is the second version of this meeting, an activity that included the participation of different universities in the country.

During the day on Friday, April 13, in the Multipurpose Room of the Isabel Bongard Campus of the University of La Serena, the second national meeting of gender secretariats and committees was held, an activity organized by the Secretariat of Gender and Sexualities of the University. house of higher education, SEGEX ULS.

At the meeting, representatives from the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University, the Catholic University of the North - Coquimbo Campus, the Alberto Hurtado University, the Catholic University of Valparaíso, the University of Valparaíso, the University of Concepción Campus Chillán and the University of La Serena.

The SEGEX ULS Secretariat has been in existence for a little over a semester since its creation and has been gradually articulating its work, generating in a short time, instances to talk with University authorities on issues related to avoiding harassment within the institution and promoting equality. of genre.

The person in charge of SEGEX ULS, Claudia Pilar Palacios, referred to the importance for the Secretariat of being able to organize this second national meeting of universities, indicating that in spaces like this it is possible to generate better conditions to achieve the expected objectives. “For us it is super important to hold this meeting, it is quite hard work, since we had to plan from very basic things such as who will be in charge of food to the issue of creating documents and permits for the use of spaces, so it has It has been a rewarding job and one that leaves us happy with the call we received,” he explained.

In addition, he referred to how the work has been to publicize the work carried out by SEGEX ULS among the students of the university, in addition to the support they have received from the authorities since the creation of this Secretariat. “It has not been difficult to make the Secretariat known, we have called for open meetings with students of the University, for us it is important not only to address issues of harassment and arbitrary discrimination, but also the issue of sexually transmitted diseases, since that we seek to promote care among young people who are part of the university community. Here at the University of La Serena, our work has been very well received by the Rector's Office, it is a topic that they are interested in promoting within the community and it has helped us with financing, as well as with work spaces."

For Cristina Luna Jara, a student at the Catholic University of Valparaíso and spokesperson for the Gender and Sexuality Coordinator of the PUCV, who was part of this meeting, she maintained that “the fact of holding these national meetings indicates that there is a need to to make collective demands against harassment and discrimination, since these issues have been little addressed if we compare them with areas such as the quality of education or the end to profit, so we consider that it is important to raise a feminist front of all these organizations and raise common ideas.”

Through legal clinics, students in the final year of their degree will be able to guide, advise and represent small companies integrated into the “La Brújula” Cowork.

As in 2017, the students of the last year of the Law degree at the University of La Serena will provide a complete legal advisory service to entrepreneurs who are subscribed to the “La Brújula” Cowork, with the purpose of advising, representing and guide small business owners in the Coquimbo Region.

Through this advice, students will maintain direct contact with those who require real help, and from this perspective, they will put into practice everything they have learned during their years of study.

It should be noted that the students will be permanently accompanied by the professors of each established topic, so the advice will be comprehensive.

The students had their first progress meeting with the small business owners who appreciated this type of work, as well as with the manager(s) in charge of the Cowork “La Brújula”, Valentina Cortés, who explained the work dynamics and the importance of this alliance, which has already borne fruit and is renewed in 2018.

Faced with the possibility of working with real clients, one of the students present, Héctor Urra, was emphatic in declaring that it is “quite novel and important to do this type of interventions and advice, since it is normal that one in the exercise of "Profession begins with family issues or Civil Law, which are subjects from another area and totally different from the commercial area, specifically in the entrepreneurship part, where the approaches are different but very enriching for training."

On the occasion, the students were able to establish the way of working with their potential clients and also recorded their requirements, all with the support and supervision of the lawyer, Mg. Elizabeth Escobar, who is the teacher in charge of the Legal Clinic subject, which is taught to students from the fifth year of their degree.

The “Weneraki” Cultural Group asked the higher education institution for advice on applying for funds to create a pre-university college in the commune.

The Support and Access to Higher Education Program (PACE) of the University of La Serena, representing the higher education institution, held a meeting with the “Weneraki” Cultural Group, which requested support in applying for the project to the implementation of a pre-university in the commune of Andacollo “Weche Newen Rakidwan”.

The objective of this pre-university program is to provide an alternative preparation for the taking of the University Selection Test (PSU) by the students of the commune of Andacollo, as a complement to their formal education, as well as through talks and discussions so that they can learn about the alternatives they have after leaving high school.

For the president of the group, Fabiola Ávalos, this is an effort by the parents for their children, since “despite the fact that Andacollo is so close to the city of La Serena, we feel that our children are very far from reality. from the largest urban centers, therefore the opportunities for our children to receive information are limited. In the city there is no pre-university and there is no instance where they can see all the offers that exist in the university, technical or other field such as the Armed Forces, etc. That is why in this project application we see a light of hope to give these opportunities to our Andacollo students.”

For Viviana Romero, Executive Coordinator of the PACE ULS Program, this is an opportunity to support more students in the process of entering higher education. “Basically, our mission is to support the management of a community project and the idea is to present this proposal in May, before a community table and jointly, and support this initiative through presentations, an executive summary, with the aim that it is a consistent proposal. We as PACE and representing our University will provide all possible support, since this project would benefit the establishments that currently have secondary education in the commune, such as, for example, our Pedro Regalado Videla High School,” she stated.

This is the first of a series of meetings that the “Weneraki” group will hold with part of the PACE team to achieve this long-awaited pre-university program for Andacollo.

Source: Press PACE ULS