Within the framework of the Ministry of Education's Educational Reactivation Plan, we signed the renewal of an agreement to promote assistance and continuity in the educational trajectories of girls and boys.

This alliance seeks to foster a collaborative culture of attendance and permanence of infants in the nursery and kindergarten. To this end, it accompanies and supports the technical and pedagogical teams of the educational centers to motivate families and children to be present and not to be absent, so as not to lose key learning that are part of the educational process.

"We want to contribute to the integral development and well-being of early childhood and highlight the importance of the learning that takes place in kindergarten, through the implementation of strategies that address the particularities of all children," explained Denise Arriagada, Director of the Department of Educational Quality, Denise Arriagada.explained the Director of the Department of Educational Quality, Denise Arriagada.

Meanwhile, the executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Marcela Marzolo, said that "we are very excited with the renewal of this important agreement that has allowed us to share successful strategies and methodologies, and to co-construct a proposal relevant to the reality of JUNJI. We are confident that this collaboration will result in the generation of a culture of assistance that will have an impact on learning"..

During 2022, a pilot project was implemented between both institutions and trained directors and managers of JUNJI's classic and alternative kindergartens in the regions of Antofagasta, Coquimbo, Maule, Biobío and Magallanes, covering 103 educational units. During the year, a total of 218 educational leaders were trained in the remaining 11 regions. In addition, accompaniment sessions were held where committees were formed and those cases with less than 80% attendance were followed up.

This year, more than 1,000 kindergarten directors and managers will be trained, which will strengthen the collaborative culture of attendance and permanence in the educational units.

Researchers used data provided by the Mineduc of more than 60 thousand girls and boys - between the years 2011 to 2017 - and compared the differences in the evolution of non-attendance and chronic absenteeism between schools that participated in the program A Good Start in the O'Higgins region and that prioritized attendance, UBC schools that did not prioritize it, and establishments that did not participate in this program.

The study "Reducing Chronic Absenteeism in Preschools in Chile: Evidence from a comparative study using 2011-2017 Ministry of Education data", showed that it is possible to reduce school days lost due to absenteeism and the percentage of girls and boys with chronic absenteeism (missing more than 10% of the days) with the systematic application of strategies - together with the use of continuous improvement methodology - that, on the one hand, promote regular attendance of all students and, on the other, allow addressing the specific causes associated with the absences of children at risk or with chronic absenteeism.

This study was conducted by Mary Catherine Arbour, assistant professor and associate physician at Harvard Medical School, together with Carolina Soto, Yanira Aleé, Marcela Marzolo and Pablo Muñoz, professionals from Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

In 2018, the Ministry of Education made publicly available databases with daily attendance at the individual level for all girls and boys enrolled in all public schools from 2011 to 2017.

The researchers used this administrative data to analyze the rate of absenteeism and chronic absenteeism of prekindergarten and kindergarten children in public schools in the O'Higgins region (a total of 1,218 children per year), comparing rates between schools that were part of the professional development program for educational teams and school leaders Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) and schools that did not receive the program.

U Buen Comienzo is a program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad that promotes the professional development of teachers and directors and seeks to contribute to the improvement of the quality of early education, supporting schools in the improvement of pedagogical and leadership practices so that children can achieve comprehensive development. UBC addresses socioemotional and language development through a good use of time, the quality of interactions and the reduction of children's absenteeism through evidence-based strategies.

To conduct the study, differences in the evolution of chronic non-attendance and absenteeism were compared between UBC schools that prioritized attendance, UBC schools that did not, and schools that did not participate in UBC.Thus, during the 2011-2017 period, overall absence rates varied little among the three subgroups: girls and boys were absent, on average, between 14.0 % and 14.4 % of school days.

UBC schools that prioritized attendance - that is, that decided to work using the set of strategies proposed by the program - showed greater variation: children were absent between 10.4% and 17.3% of school days.

Similarly, chronic absenteeism rates varied little among the three groups (50.9% - 54.2%). However, when examining the evolution of absences and chronic absenteeism among the three groups of schools, differences were observed. UBC schools that prioritized attendance showed favorable evolutions in the percentage of absent days per child each month and in the percentage of children with chronic absenteeism.

The study replicated previous research findings that indicated that absenteeism rates are sufficiently high among girls and boys enrolled in kindergarten education, diminishing the potential benefits of early childhood education.

We invite applications to be part of the bidding process to systematize and gather evidence about the first year of the pilot project we have carried out with JUNJI. 

☑️ Reception of proposals: Until January 25, 2023.
✅ Delivery of results: January 30, 2023.

In the following link you will find the terms of reference with all the details and ways to apply:

https://fundacionoportunidad.cl/wp-content/uploads/terminos-de-referencia.pdf

The global organization HundrED highlighted the work led by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, which brings together schools that seek to enhance the learning of children in kindergarten education through collaborative work.

Every year since 2016, HundrED - a global organization based in Finland - chooses the 100 most outstanding and scalable educational innovations in the world in order to make it available for education professionals from different parts of the planet to learn about these experiences.

This year, the Un Buen Comienzo Improvement Network -which seeks to impact the learning of children in kindergarten education- was selected in HundrED's Annual Global Collection and received worldwide recognition.

The executive director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Marcela Marzolo, said that "being part of the 2023 HundrED collection fills us with pride and confirms that the focus we have placed on our program Un Buen Comienzo and its Improvement Network is on the right track: learning of children in early education, professional development of teachers and managers, continuous improvement and networking".

He added that "this way of doing things has demonstrated impact and, what is even more important, the possibility of scaling up. We hope to be a source of inspiration for others who also seek to contribute to the transformation of the education system so that every day more children and young people can develop integrally thanks to the possibility they have had to receive a quality education.

About HundrED

HundrED is a global non-profit organization based in Finland that improves education through the detection and visibility of scalable innovations that have proven impact.

What is the selection process like? 

All selected innovations have gone through a research process. For each Spotlight and Global Collection, HundrED's research team creates a shortlist of innovations based on impact and scalability criteria. Once an innovation is shortlisted as a potential candidate for selection, they are sent to the HundrED Academy, a group of education experts from around the world who evaluate each one based on information provided on the innovation page and external sources. 

Once the review process is complete, the HundrED research team reviews all HundrED Academy feedback to inform the final selection. All selected innovations are considered highly impactful and scalable.

What does it mean to be a selected innovator?

HundrED supports the selected innovations in several ways:

• Global recognition: HundrED delivers recognition as one of the world's most impactful and scalable innovations. Innovations are featured on its globally recognized website.

• Visibility: HundrED promotes and disseminates innovations through its channels. It is invited to participate in various associated events.

What is the Good Start Improvement Network?

The Un Buen Comienzo Improvement Network was created in 2018 by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad as a space for exchange and articulation of collaborative work between schools and communes in the O'Higgins region - and the commune of Renca in the Metropolitan region - that had participated in the Un Buen Comienzo program.

Its purpose is to enhance the continuous development of teaching and management skills in order to sustain school improvement and effectiveness and thus have an impact on the learning of children in kindergarten education.

Each commune and SLEP has an "Improvement Team" composed of kindergarten educators, kindergarten education technicians, technical heads and directors, as well as a communal leader representing the holder.

The objective of these teams is to lead the operation of the Network (in each territory), coordinate the monthly meetings, define the agenda and develop the necessary dynamics to guarantee the effectiveness of the Local Network.

Who are part of the Un Buen Comienzo Improvement Network?

Currently, in 2022, the UBC Improvement Network is made up of 10 communes in the O'Higgins Region, the Local Public Education Service of Colchagua (with 4 communes) and the commune of Renca in the Metropolitan Region.

Through an online course and the incorporation of a platform to visualize individual attendance, the aim is to intervene in cases of repeated absenteeism of children in kindergartens.

Covid-19 has left after-effects in health and also in the school context, becoming one of the most relevant factors when evaluating the current high levels of non-attendance in kindergarten education. For this reason, the kindergartens of the Fundación Protectora de la Infancia have sought to reverse the situation and reintegrate children who are repeatedly absent.

Thus was born the link with Fundación Educacional Oportunidad which, through its Assistance program, began a process to transfer strategies and learning, both to the professionals of La Protectora, as well as to the teaching and management staff of seven of its educational centers.

As part of the process, the need arose to establish an individual attendance indicator that reports the percentage of attendance of each child from March to date. In addition, in order to monitor this process, the attendance platform of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad was made available to visualize this indicator and define a goal to evaluate the work being done.

Paula Herrera, coordinator of the Attendance program, who is leading this collaboration, explained that "this joint work allows educational teams to be trained in different strategies to promote attendance, which can also be adapted to the reality of each of the kindergartens".

Another relevant aspect in the search to strengthen school attendance is the online course that was conducted, which addressed topics such as: Theory of chronic absenteeism, strategies to encourage attendance and the importance of focusing on children.

Claudia Fuentes, director of the Buen Pastor Kindergarten in La Pintana, of the Fundación Protectora de la Infancia, values this collaboration and pointed out that "not only do they provide the technical tools, but also the materials, and that makes the work much easier". He added that "having the opportunity to identify critical cases of assistance and being able to take measures to deal with them is really valuable".

It will be held online on October 26 and 27 and will feature keynote presentations by Monica Rodriguez (Argentina) and Yasna Yilorm (Chile). In addition, outstanding national teachers will share their successful experiences. Registration at webinarsconbranding.cl/expanding/

On October 26 and 27, English teachers will have the opportunity to learn about new strategies for teaching English at the seventh version of the international seminar "Expanding Opportunities", which will be held virtually on both days.

The event organized by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad will feature Mónica Rodríguez (Argentina) who will address the role of the emotional function in effective learning experiences in her presentation "Emotional Regulation in the English Classroom: Inspiring Our Students (and Ourselves!) to Achieve Better Academic and Life Results in Our Classes".

In addition, Yasna Yilorm (Chile) will present "Inclusive Education for Social Justice in the EFL Classroom: Development of Socio-Affective and Communicative Skills in Socially Vulnerable Children", where she will address the contribution of games, theatrical techniques and cultural experiences to provide communicative resources at the cognitive, affective and social levels of children.

Paz Collao, head of the We Learn program at Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, said about the event that "in our current scenario, teaching English can make a great contribution to important issues such as inclusion and emotional regulation of students. The presentations at this seminar will provide teachers from all over the country with tools to address these issues in their classrooms, in addition to generating interesting conversations about pedagogical experiences throughout Chile".

BEST PRACTICES

In addition to the main presentations, "Expanding Opportunities" will once again include an important space for four English teachers to share their successful experiences through posters and a discussion on each day:

- Raúl Rodríguez: "Just Keep Talking! Promoting Self-Efficacy through Community Language Learning in Online English Classes".

- Jessica Urra: "Let's Have Fun at Home! The Use of Gamification Elements When Learning English".

- Juan Guevara: "Surviving Chilean Slang. A Project-Based Learning Activity to Promote Students' Motivation and Oracy by Creating a Chilean - English Pocket Dictionary.

- Natalia Salas: "Recyplay". Learn and Play!

REGISTRATION

If you want to participate in the 7th version of the seminar "Expanding Opportunities", register in this webinar at webinarsconbranding.cl/expanding/

Principals of schools that are part of the Un Buen Comienzo Improvement Network shared experiences, strengthened ties and deepened pedagogical management for the benefit of the quality of early education.

A few days ago, the first meeting of directors of the Un Buen Comienzo Improvement Network was held, bringing together leaders from the 14 municipalities that make up this network in the O'Higgins and Metropolitan regions. 

The objective of this activity was tostrengthen pedagogical leadership and collaboration through inspiring and exemplary experiences that improve the quality of early education, the first stage of the educational trajectory.

The day allowed participants to reflect on the importance of early education, strengthening ties and deepening aspects of pedagogical management, as well as their role as active participants in the UBC Network. In this line, the presentation of successful methodologies to highlight kindergarten education was a central part of this discussion.

Paulina Aravena Cornejo, director of the Escuela Unión de Mujeres Americanas de Bucalemu and speaker at the conference, emphasized that "what we wanted to convey was how important it is to work with the UBC Network, through the learning that one can have, from a professional point of view, for the leadership of teams in schools and kindergartens. We showed the learning and the need to be able to convince the teams to achieve the goals that one proposes in leadership".

For his part, Víctor González, director of the Patagua Cerro School in Pichidegua, stressed the importance of this activity, noting that "this discussion allowed us to learn about new experiences and also to share our experiences. This perhaps helps others to shed light on how to improve their daily work, which is fundamental for the good of the children", he said.

Carolina Zúñiga, Coordinator of Networks and Supporters of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, explained that "this is one of the sectors that we need to be even more present in the local networks, because we know that in order to generate significant change in early education it is important that everyone is working collaboratively, not only the educational teams. We believe that these instances will be of great help in attracting the directors to lead the improvement that our public early education requires from networking, from the sense of collaborating with others, having common objectives".

Finally, the director of the La Tuna de Placilla School and kindergarten educator, Gladys Gatica, highlighted the importance of this initiative for early education: "I found it very significant. I really enjoyed Paulina's presentation based on her experience and I realized how she was able to commit her team to move forward with the entire educational community. Somehow this is the task we do every day as leaders".

The UBC Improvement Network of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad is made up of educational establishments in the municipalities of Renca in the Metropolitan Region and Doñihue, Coltauco, Machalí, Malloa, Mostazal, Paredones, Pichidegua, Rengo, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, San Fernando, Chimbarongo, Nancagua and Placilla in the O'Higgins Region, supporting the improvement of the quality of early education in more than 160 schools and kindergartens in these territories, Nancagua and Placilla in the O'Higgins Region, supporting the improvement of the quality of early education in more than 160 schools and kindergartens in these territories, with common objectives for the improvement of language, school attendance, pedagogical interactions and the socioemotional wellbeing of children.

The event entitled "Workshop 2 in 1! Network Dynamics and Follow-up of a Local Network Plan", brought together representatives of the schools in the Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions, which are part of this early education network of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

Important practical contents for the development of an adequate functioning of the Improvement Network Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), as well as relevant aspects in the process of monitoring and follow-up of the Improvement Plan at the local level, were the main objectives of the "Workshop 2 in 1! Network Dynamics and Follow-up of a Local Network Plan", held at the Ansco Club in Rancagua.

The workshop brought together directors, principals, heads of UTP, educators and kindergarten technicians who make up the improvement teams of the UBC Network in the O'Higgins and Metropolitan regions.

In the first instance, the activity presented 11 dynamics for an adequate functioning as an education network, deepening in concrete tools to strengthen four fundamental pillars such as: collaboration, leadership, training and innovation. This was done through group work and board games, with maps of actors and capacity trees, where the participants showed great interest and participation in the proposed activities.

Carolina Zúñiga, coordinator of Networks and Supporters of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, highlighted the importance of this activity, explaining that "this workshop is a great contribution for the improvement teams, since, when leading local networks, various needs and challenges arise in the facilitation and development of network dynamics for the effectiveness of the same".

The workshop also addressed relevant content about the process of monitoring and follow-up of the Improvement Plan at the local level, with the delivery of guidelines and the main keys to improve the work of the territorial network. "For follow-up and monitoring, we work with automated spreadsheets to facilitate decision-making by the teams in order to achieve the objectives," said Zúñiga.

Regarding the contents learned in this workshop, Marcela González, director (s) of the Olegario Lazo School in San Fernando said that "the foundation provides us with concrete strategies to develop our work in the network. The possibility of generating trust, transversality, commitment, involving all the teams and reaching the classroom teams requires systematic work. The tools they have given us have been fantastic".

Ramón Guerra, director of the Gustavo Le Paige School in Renca, expressed his interest in this workshop, stating that "it was very interesting, especially when focusing on the four pillars presented to us, especially those related to generating collaborative work and the sense of belonging of all members of the schools in relation to early education" .   

Catalina Cabello, an early childhood educator at the Enrique Serrano School in Pichidegua, said that the activity was "a very enriching experience, where we were shown different strategies that will help us to systematize everything we are doing as a network and as a school. It is something transversal, an opportunity for a lot of knowledge and learning, which helps us to see the communal plan and to follow up on it". 

At the end of the workshop, the UBC Network of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad provided support material so that the Improvement Teams can apply the strategies learned in their community networks.    

The conference held in Rancagua provided different theoretical and practical strategies aimed at promoting school attendance in early education.

Nearly one hundred educators and kindergarten technicians from the Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions participated in the Attendance Workshop: "Strategies to promote attendance in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten", aimed at educational teams that join the Improvement Network Un Buen Comienzo (UBC).

The main objective of the activity was to provide theoretical and practical tools aimed at preventing absenteeism in transitional levels 1 and 2 of the schools that are part of this early education network.

The first part of the workshop was focused on theory, where aspects such as the Theory of Chronic Absenteeism, its definition and how to avoid it were addressed. Likewise, contents regarding the attendance platform of the UBC Network and how to increase class attendance, from a set of successful strategies, as well as explaining the work with families and the attendance committee.

Subsequently, the second segment focused on the practical, providing strategies to strengthen attendance, through work plans that the educators and nursery technicians developed in this activity. In this way, they deepened relevant aspects, using the cause and effect diagram, where the participants presented the causes of absenteeism, its categories, strategies and the intervention plan to be developed.

After the generation of the intervention plans, some ideas were presented to innovate in the promotion of attendance in early education, where topics such as the need to look at the individual data of each child were reinforced; to make sure of the attendance indicators during the 2022 school year and to put into practice the work plan of this workshop, with a follow-up of goals and interventions to be tested. 

At the end of the workshop, we gave each participant a set of materials that allow them to implement in the classroom the strategies learned in this course focused on early childhood education, ending the day with the delivery of the certificate of attendance course that the educators developed through the Moodle platform.

Perla Chávez, head of the UBC program and Network of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, pointed out that "these strategies allow motivating children to attend classes in person, as well as informing parents about the importance of their children attending school. It was a very relevant activity, because the educational teams were able to resolve their doubts, those things that were not so clear with the asynchronous course, share experiences and generate a work plan, as well as receive the material to implement the strategies taught in the classroom".

TESTIMONIALS FROM PARTICIPANTS

About this important workshop, Jacqueline Urrutia from the General Manuel Bulnes Prieto School in Renca, said that "I wanted to come to this closing. We have shared with educators from different communities and the realities are very similar, some much more acute than others. Our work has been validated by the children being in the classroom, because it is the place where they learn".

Paula Ferreira, early childhood educator at the Washington Vengas School in San Fernando, remarked that "the attendance workshop gives us many tools that will help us to work in the schools, mainly on chronic non-attendance, which is a latent problem we educators have. I consider this to be very important, because we can generate networks, it invites us to listen to the problems we have, and through the experiences offered by the foundation we can move forward". 

Finally, Marcia Maggi from the Guido Assis School in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua said that "the tools that they give us can be applied in each institution, because they all have different realities, but they all have in common that they are deficient. So these tools teach you and tell you things that maybe you know, but they are not ordered, and that is what is important".  

We invite the schools and kindergartens of the UBC Improvement Network, We Learn and Fundación Protectora de la Infancia to join this initiative that seeks to encourage and motivate attendance from the initial level.

For details of the rules click on this link CONTEST RULES and remember that the videos must be sent to concurso@fundacionoportunidad.cl until September 7.

Along with increasing class attendance, one of the great challenges of the second semester is to improve the quality of interactions that occur in the classroom, both with educational teams and among themselves. To contribute to this challenge, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Innovation in Education UC, has provided a video library and free resources.

Ask appropriate questions encouraging the participation of the whole class, use verbal reinforcement and physical gestures to foster a positive climate, establish clear behavioral expectations. These are some of the concrete actions that kindergarten education teams should take on a daily basis to generate quality learning opportunities for girls and boys.

But what happens when these actions are not carried out or are only done sporadically? The psychologist of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, María Virginia López, explains that "to provide quality education we must focus on what we teach and how we teach it. It is very important that educational teams offer children opportunities for effective interaction, since, according to the evidence, their learning depends largely on the quality of the dialogic exchanges they have with adults and their peers at school".

If the main challenge of the second semester is to boost class attendance, its fundamental complement is to increase the learning opportunities for boys and girls. María Virginia López adds that "improving the way in which all exchanges take place in the classroom can have a significant impact on children's learning achievements".

To contribute to this challenge, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, in collaboration with the UC Laboratory for Innovation in Education, createda space on the platform www.oportunidadenlinea.cl, resources and video library of pedagogical interactions to support all educational teams to generate more effective interactions in the classroom.

"We hope that this space will contribute to the roadmap for kindergarten education set out by the Undersecretariat, which is committed to strengthening the professional competencies of management and educational teams at this level to continue promoting learning in Chile's children," said María Virginia López.

The Center for Advanced Research in Education (CIAE) of the university analyzed the case of the Improvement Network Un Buen Comienzo, a space for exchange and articulation between schools and municipalities that work to enhance the learning of children in the region.

A recent study by the Center for Advanced Research in Education (CIAE) of the University of Chile highlighted the benefits of the Un Buen Comienzo Improvement Network (UBC) for the teams, schools and municipalities that participate in it, a network created in the O'Higgins Region to strengthen the learning of children in kindergarten education.

The CIAE explained that the UBC Improvement Network develops and strengthens the professional capital of the management and educational teams that participate in it. In this sense, it highlights that there is a broad agreement in all the communes that are part of it on the relevance of the Network to strengthen their professional capacities, especially in the context of pandemic.

In addition, in the systematization of the work of this network, led by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, it is stated that the management and educational teams perceive that the network has had an effect in reducing student dropout, increasing attendance, improving language skills and increasing the vocabulary and reading comprehension of boys and girls.

The CIAE researcher and one of the authors of the study, Juan Pablo Valenzuela, also highlighted the use of the continuous improvement methodology that guides the work of the UBC Improvement Network, since it "promotes the acceleration of school improvement through collaborative work based on a systematic evaluation of leadership practices and pedagogical practices, with a focus on innovation and the use of data for decision-making".

Perla Chávez, head of the program and of the UBC Improvement Network, commented that "this study allows us to recognize the systematic work of the communities and to project, in the light of its results, new challenges to continue developing teaching and management practices, thus sustaining the improvement of children's learning".

"The study allowed us, from an external observation, to evaluate from the participants' own voices the functioning of the UBC Improvement Network from 2018 to 2020, being able to corroborate the benefits that this Network brings to its participants, both in collaborative work and in the improvement of leadership and pedagogical practices," said the head of the Continuous Improvement and Evaluation Area of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Pablo Muñoz.

ABOUT THE UBC NETWORK

The purpose of the UBC Improvement Network is to enhance the continuous development of teaching and management skills, in order to sustain school improvement and effectiveness and thus have an impact on the learning of children in kindergarten education. It was formed in 2018 with the intention of sustaining and supporting the strategies installed in the schools of the O'Higgins Region that had previously participated in the program Un Buen Comienzo of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad.

The communes of the O'Higgins Region that are part of this collaborative work network are: Mostazal, Machalí, Doñihue, Rengo, Coltauco, Malloa, Pichidegua, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Paredones, plus the 4 communes that are part of the Local Public Education Service of Colchagua: Chimbarongo, San Fernando, Nancagua and Placilla, to which the commune of Renca in the Metropolitan Region is also added.

These schools are characterized by having students from different grades in the same class, a situation that presents a great challenge for teachers of this language when teaching and evaluating.

As part of their work in collaboration with the We Learn program of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, the teachers in charge and the English teacher of Paihuano participated in meetings for the co-construction of a project to make curricular and methodological adaptations for English classes according to their needs and context.

This project seeks to take into account the particularity of having girls and boys from 1st to 6th grade in the same classroom, as is the case of the schools belonging to the Gabriela Mistral Microcenter and also the Mario Aquiles Rodriguez School, where the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th and 5th and 6th grades are combined, respectively.

In order to address these particularities and achieve effective English teaching, didactic and methodological strategies, together with the teacher's own competencies, are key to achieving appropriate student learning.

Karla Raipán, coordinator of the We Learn program, explained that "in order to ensure that the needs of each school are represented in this project, a survey of information was carried out with the teachers of the Paihuano Microcenter. This consisted of holding a face-to-face meeting in each establishment, in order to know the reality of each of the schools".

"In addition, a joint meeting was held in which criteria were pooled and the first action to be taken was defined, which will be the construction of an evaluation instrument that will allow the English teacher to evaluate all the students in his or her classroom without having to separate them by level," he added.

After this first step, the final idea is that all the work that comes from the Gabriela Mistral Microcenter through these adaptations for multigrade schools can be available to all schools in Chile with similar characteristics.

The school will receive support in language assessment, making an initial diagnosis to mobilize the students' communicative skills from the ground up, and will have 3 evaluations during the year.

From kindergarten through 8th grade, children and young people from the Isla Tenglo School -located on the island in front of the city of Puerto Montt- will have the opportunity to improve their English language skills thanks to an alliance between Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, through its We Learn program, and Fundación Isla Tenglo.

During the year 2021, the school received advice and support that in 2022 was formalized in an alliance that will allow the school to have a plan that will consider the internal processes of the school in order to make a meaningful accompaniment and according to the goals they are seeking for their students. To this end, the educational teams and directors will be provided with the necessary tools to support them in improving their English and to work in a network with the rest of the schools belonging to the program.

For the implementation in the first year of We Learn on Tenglo Island, support will be provided in the evaluation of the English language, making an initial diagnosis, to mobilize from the base the communicative skills of the students, following up on the application of improvement agreements with 3 evaluations during the year.

Cristina Ramos, coordinator of the We Learn program, explained that "during this first year, the school will be accompanied in various instances, planned exclusively for its reality". She added that "the classroom visit will measure the time of interactions and use of the language in the English class, an input that will be used to reflect with the teacher to find areas for improvement in their practice, as well as to lay the groundwork for future comparisons".

He also pointed out that "the entire school improvement team will be accompanied in workshops with experts from the foundation's Continuous Improvement area and the Assistance program, on fundamental topics for the improvement of English".

For her part, the school's principal, Karen Oria, added that "for our community it means that, in the first place, we can have an innovative, high-impact methodology. This initiative is in line with our work that seeks to provide tools that allow students to have the skills required to perform successfully in the 21st century".

"In conclusion, it is a tremendous learning opportunity for our students, in the first instance, and also for the community in general," concluded the director.

If you are an English teacher, we invite you to publish your experience through an academic poster in this event that will be held virtually during the last week of October. Posters selected to present will receive a one-time payment of 4 UF after the seminar for the work done.  

The seventh version of the international English seminar Expanding Opportunities will be held during the last week of October. This year it will address relevant and contextualized topics for the teaching of English to children and youth. 

In addition to the international speakers, this online event organised by Fundación Educacional Oportunidad will once again provide an important space for English teachers to share their successful experiences.  

This year, the call is focused on 4 themes: 

STUDENTS 

- Development of students' autonomy in the process of learning English. 

- Incorporating students' personal and local identity in English language learning. 

FAMILY 

- Family involvement in the process of learning English. 

- Maximising the use of English at home. 

COLLABORATION 

- Articulation of projects to promote English at school level. 

- Networking projects to promote English. 

LEADERSHIP 

- Importance of leadership in the process of improving English in school communities. 

- Leadership strategies to enhance the processes in the English classroom. 

Those wishing to apply should include the name of the initiative, the general description and the main achievements in the form available at expanding.fundacionoportunidad.cl. The posters selected to exhibit will receive a one-off payment of 4 UF after the seminar for the work carried out. 

Applications will be open until 21 June at 18:00 hours. If you have any questions or need more information, please write to seminario@fundacionoportunidad.cl