Salesian Provincial Department for Education offers workshops and diploma-based courses for ongoing teacher training in 2020

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries with the Provincial Department for Education in Santiago, Chile, have been strengthening the skills of teachers throughout 2020 with more than a dozen new workshops and diploma-based courses. These workshops and courses have been made available to administration leaders and teaching teams from Salesian schools in the country.

Juan Pablo Vásquez, director of the Network of Salesian Schools, reported that this professional development initiative is the result of the strategic planning established in 2019. The workshops and courses were developed thanks to a relationship with the Silva Henríquez Catholic University and with other local institutions.

One of the most important diploma-based courses launched was in transversal management. The course was taught by educators from the Silva Henríquez Catholic University School of Philosophy and attended by 64 primary and junior high school teachers from Copiapó, Talca, Linares, Punta Arenas and Santiago. The first course, which started in August, ends in January 2021.

A meeting was held in early December for directors and principals to discuss the outcome of the transversal management course. The training went so well that participants expressed their intention to recommend the same course to other colleagues. One participant said, “Teachers must continually improve, and even more so the principals, whose role is fundamental in training people.”

The online meeting concluded with the presentation of the course project for 2021, which is expected to be extended to new schools in the network.

Teachers play an important role in the lives of poor youth in Salesian schools. Their work is vital to their students’ success both in and out of the classroom. Salesian missionaries educate more than 1 million youth in over 5,500 schools and youth centers and nearly 1,000 vocational, technical and agricultural schools in more than 130 countries around the globe.

“Teachers are the backbone of the Salesian educational system, and ongoing education is necessary to help them improve their skills and keep up to date with new information in the field,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian teachers face many challenges educating poor youth, and the pandemic has only exacerbated these challenges. Salesian teachers meet these challenges head-on, providing education and hope for a brighter future.”

According to the World Bank, Chile has a fairly low poverty rate of 14.4 percent. However, Chile struggles with high rates of income and education inequality. Salesian missionaries working in Chile focus their efforts on providing education and social services to poor and at-risk youth. At Salesian schools, universities and youth centers throughout the country, youth can access an education as well as the skills and resources necessary to break the cycle of poverty.

As a result of the vocational and technical education provided by Salesian programs, Chilean youth are more likely to find stable employment and improve their standard of living.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Chile – Teacher training: transversal-management diploma for Salesian school leaders

Salesian Missions – Chile

World Bank – Chile