Amidst breathtaking landscapes by the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Chile's education system has undergone remarkable transformations in recent decades, shaping a nation on the western edge of South America. Major cities like Santiago, Concepción, and Valparaíso host universities with diverse graduate programs in education, preparing graduates for careers in teaching, educational administration, policy analysis, and research. In early April 2024, Dean Stanton Wortham and Professor Deoksoon Kim from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development got to experience some of these exciting shifts up close when they embarked on a transformative trip to Chile.
Centering their trip at a fellow Jesuit school of education, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Dean Wortham and Professor Kim established new connections and looked forward to future collaboration. They engaged in productive discussions with faculty and administrators to explore potential areas of collaboration and had the unique opportunity to visit partner K-12 schools in the area.
An exciting highlight of the trip was when Dean Wortham delivered the inaugural lecture at the academic year’s commencement for the School of Education at Universidad Alberto Hurtado. The event drew an impressive audience, including representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, the university president, deans, faculty, and students.
Professor Kim presented two engaging lectures on language and literacy programs at the university. Her topics, "A New Systematic Multimodal Framework for Analyzing Classroom Digital Stories" and "Digital Composition: The Power of Storytelling for Reflection and Self-Expression," added to the ongoing conversation around digital literacy among faculty and students.
In addition to their activities at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, the Lynch School team also took time to reconnect with fellow university partners from the School of Education at La Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Building upon existing partnerships, Dean Wortham led conversations about avenues for further collaboration opportunities, aiming to enhance educational initiatives and foster mutual growth between the two institutions.
Returning to the Heights, Dean Wortham found that the trip to Chile was marked by valuable exchanges, insightful presentations, and strengthened relationships that will pave the way for innovative educational collaborations in the field. Dean Wortham's visit put into practice the Lynch School's commitment to global engagement and knowledge-sharing on an international scale.
