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UNESCO Encourages Turning Teachers into Leaders to Transform Education in Latin American
Santo Domingo, March 4, 2009
The Dominican Republic is hoping to transform the quality of education by turning school directors and teachers into leaders, through a project developed by the Regional Educational Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
 Alfredo Rojas, program director of the Regional Bureau which has its headquarters in Chile, came to the DR to introduce the distance learning project called “Latin American School Leadership Network.” He explained that the program’s low cost will allow poor countries to develop and generate important changes in their educational systems.
Mr. Rojas offered details about the project at the inauguration of the IV Edition of the Virtual Educa Caribe Summit which took place on Wednesday March 4 in the auditorium of the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE). The theme of the summit is: “Free Technology Platforms and E-Learning: Possibilities, Limitations and Risks.” Lessons learned in the Leadership Network of the OREALC/UNESCO.
Ligia Amada Melo, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (SEESCYT), introduced Rojas at the inaugural event.
The education and technology forum is taking place on Thursday and Friday (March 5-6) in the Pedro Mir Library of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and includes the participation of representatives from the public and private sector and NGOs from Latin America.
The Latin American School Leadership Network, which began in 2007, is supported by Google platforms to develop distance learning courses with the objective of turning school principals and teachers into school and community leaders with the vision of making the radical transformations necessary and required by the educational system
The project grew out of a common reality: Despite the vast amounts of money Latin American countries have invested in educational reforms, education in our countries continues to be poor quality and riddled with social and economic inequalities. Reforms are not apparent in the schools and classrooms. They never make it past the announcement and good intentions stage. In daily life, traditionalism persists and educational activities for children and young people in the 21st century are exactly as they were in the 19th century.
 Teachers Transformed into Leaders
The program, which began in classrooms ten years ago, is based on the belief that teachers as leaders capable of generating a change of vision, confidence and a spirit of success among the population, can institute educational reforms capable of changing the direction of society.
“Leaders have the capacity to transform the mood of the people, to elevate them from pessimism, frustration and resignation despite the difficulties and to help them become proactive people,” explained Rojas.
Courses are offered to groups of five teachers, as experience shows that people learn better and quicker when working together. Members of the group must belong to the same school community or geographic area.
He added that during the course, they work to have teachers become observers of their own reality so that from the knowledge they gather on their own surroundings they can identify the obstacles people confront and the possibilities of better channeling and overcoming them.
Throughout the year they will add another dimension to the training program, relative to the “building of moral authority of teachers in the classroom.” The idea is to make teachers aware that in order to become a group leader, one has to be invested with the moral authority to do so and that this condition requires the development of certain conditions and attitudes.
In the third phase, for the coming year, they will also focus on pedagogical leadership with the specific goal of improving learning mechanisms.
More than 3,000 Latin American teachers have graduated from the classroom training program. The distance learning program has graduated 25 certified leaders.
Reasonable Price for All Teachers
Rojas said that teachers who participate in the courses don’t even need to have computers at home or in their offices; with just a visit to an Internet center they can access their teaching material including textbooks and videos and continue studying at home.
The cost is an element that has been taken into consideration in order to make this a self-sustaining project and to keep it within the reach of teachers from poor areas. For teachers belonging to low income communities and public schools, the course costs $20 dollars. For those in private schools, the price is $300 dollars.
“The advantage is that this course can be done in one month or in six months,” explained Rojas, adding that completion depends on how much time the participant has to dedicate.
He stressed that the use of the Google platform has helped keep the cost of the course limited to that which is paid to the tutors.
For that reason, countries like the Dominican Republic can take advantage of this resource so that teachers from marginal areas are able to invest in their own training if they choose to.
Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile are among the countries where teachers of different schools have taken and completed the distance learning courses on leadership.
Details about the Latin American School Leadership Network can be obtained by visiting: www.liderazgoeneducación.org
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