Educational conferences and conferences around the world often repeat the logic they claim to question. There is talk of innovation, but it is conveyed in a rigid and predictable format. That is, one person speaks and the other person sits passively in front of the speaker. The words “participation,” “collaboration,” and “innovation” appear in the title, but they rarely appear in the dynamics and do not get to the heart of the issue.
There is no real-time exchange time where ideas can be shared and transformed. This dialogue allows us to suppress our own perspectives and reevaluate those of others. At such meetings, conversations do not replace speeches, and at the end of the day, solemn but unrealistic declarations are signed, usually with little interference on the ground.
Lack of honesty, lack of time to listen. It is also necessary to assume that educational change is not something that is ordered, but something that is built by practice. That’s where Comunidad Araucaria, a community of Latin American ministers of education, came into play, held on November 3 and 4 this year. Fifth meeting focused on community. they met 14 Ministers and the Secretary of Educationpeople from Latin American countries and regions continue their training, learn from those working there, and interact with their peers.
Comunidad Araucaria was founded by the Varkey Foundation and has already been active for nearly three years and has over 50 participants. The network is coming together in its fifth focal experience, following other implementations in Mendoza (Argentina), Espirito Santo (Brazil) and Santiago de Chile. This time’s program is Educational policy linked to character education.
The agenda for the November 3 and 4 meetings included meetings with local authorities, including the Governor of Jalisco, and visits to schools, universities and spaces for collaboration with different sectors of civil society, in order to deepen the experience of the Mexican education system, exchange good practices, analyze common challenges and continue to strengthen networks. One of our special guests was James Arthur Obe, an international leader in character education, Professor at the Universities of Birmingham and Glasgow, Associate Fellow at Harvard University, Senior Fellow at Boston College, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford.
This new edition was coordinated by the Varkey Foundation and the Guadalajara Education Secretariat and was made possible thanks to the support of CAF, the Coppell Foundation, UNIR University, the Lehmann Foundation and the Dandelion Center for Character and Leadership.
Local Secretary of Education Juan Carlos Flores Miramontes added: “This conference is an excellent opportunity to reflect on education challenges common to Latin America, such as improving the enabling conditions of the educational process and the sustainable financing of public policies. I call on the authorities to take this opportunity to learn about the work that FINDUC is promoting in terms of educational infrastructure, updating school curricula, ensuring the quality of education, strengthening public education, the coverage of healthy nutrition in educational centers, etc.”
Agustín Porres, Regional Director of the Varkey Foundation and Araucaria Community Coordination Leader, said: “The challenges of the Minister of Education in this region are wide-ranging. The role is both technical and political, requiring great ability to implement priorities and develop processes of educational transformation in complex times. Ultimately people are at the center, and we see that here in this community, which works by bringing together the people who support education with America, which is beginning to work with its students on character education.” role”.
Minister of education of each country:
of UruguayPablo Cajani Gomez
of HondurasDaniel Enrique Esponda Velazquez
of MexicoJuan Carlos Flores Miramontes, Minister of State of Jalisco;
Minister of local education:
of ArgentinaGuillermo Araujo of San Luis. Miriam Serrano from Jujuy. Praxedes Itati López de Corrientes. Horacio Ademar Ferreira Born in Cordoba.
of BrazilLoni Miranda Vieira from Paraná.
of Columbia Dora Ligia Agudelo Martinez from Risaralda state. Eddie Reyes from Boyaca state. Yesido González Perdomo from Magdalena state.
of MexicoHomero Meneses Hernández from Tlaxcala. Marta Elena Soto Obregon from Queretaro. and Jose Guillermo Adame Calderon of Durango.
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