Initial Teacher Training, curriculum and school system: What is the place of non-Spanish-Speaking immigrant children and adolescents in the Chilean education system?

Authors

Abstract

This piece discusses the school situation of non-Spanish-speaking Haitian immigrants in the Chilean education system. Four dimensions associated with the school trajectories of Haitian immigrants in Chilean schools are explored: (a) the general situation of the Haitian community in Chile; (b) the primary and secondary school Spanish Language and Literature curriculum and the teaching of Spanish as an additional language; (c) Initial Teacher Training (FID) and the inclusion of Spanish as a foreign language in curricular matrixes; (d) the systems of evaluation of the performance and organization of schools and their considerations with respect to non-Spanishspeaking immigrant students. We conclude with the need to develop and implement policies for the inclusion of Haitian immigrants that consider the school curriculum, initial teacher training, and quality evaluation systems of the Chilean school system, in order to make Chilean schools spaces of support and inclusion for all the inhabitants of Chile.

Keywords:

Spanish as additional language, immigration, initial teacher training

Author Biographies

Gloria Toledo Vega, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Para correspondencia, dirigirse a: Gloria Toledo Vega, gtoledo@uc.cl, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Facultad de Letras, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Región Metropolitana, Chile.

Karina Cerda-Oñate, Universidad de Talca

Para correspondencia, dirigirse a: Karina Cerda Oñate, karina.cerda@utalca.cl, Universidad de Talca, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, María Auxiliadora 380, Linares, Región del Maule.

Andrea Lizasoain, Universidad Austral de Chile

Para correspondencia, dirigirse a: Andrea Lizasoain Conejeros, andrea.lizasoain@uach.cl, Universidad Austral de Chile, Instituto de Lingüística y Literatura, Independencia 631, Valdivia, Región de Los Ríos, Chile.