Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: University launches the third volume of “Ideas in Education”

The new book edited by the rector Ignacio Sánchez, published by Ediciones UC and CEPPE UC, seeks to update the contents and analyze the evolution and implementation of the laws that have been recently approved in the educational area.

First came the debate on educational reforms, then their implementation and today we can already see the impact of the recent changes that they have brought to our educational system. And -in each of these phases- the book “Ideas on Education” has become part of the debate, delving into the academic analysis for this era of transformation. Thus, the most recent contribution to this national discussion was presented this Tuesday, November 9, with the launch of “Ideas in Education III. Evolution of a Reform” , edited by the rector Ignacio Sánchez.

“Education is one of the issues that most concerns families and citizens. In our university this area and the pedagogical vocation interest us in a great way. We participate through kindergarten education, initial, school and secondary education. This book reflects the diligent work of our academics and that interest in contributing to the improvement of our education system. More than 70 collaborators, teachers from more than 10 UC faculties , and researchers from other professional and technical training centers participated in this third volume , which undoubtedly enriched the proposal of this book ”, described the rector Ignacio Sánchez at the beginning of the presentation of this text published by Ediciones UC and CEPPE UC.

The Aula Magna de Casa Central was the venue for this launch, which also had a telematic transmission . During the day the presentations of Elisa Araya, rector of the Metropolitan University of Education Sciences (UMCE) ; Emilio Rodríguez, rector of the University of Tarapacá ; and Carolina Flores, dean of the Faculty of Education at the Alberto Hurtado University .

“This book, which is the third in the series, is clearly a product developed in the pandemic, because the authors and authors address in this text some issues that were very key during these times. The book is organized in four parts, the first dedicated to Autonomy and Quality; the second part to Initial School Education; then to Higher Education, and finally to the Future and development of Education ” , said Elisa Araya, rector of the UMCE.

At 708 pages, this book reflects the need for an interdisciplinary and pluralistic discussion on the impact of recent educational reforms.

“In a collective work it is always difficult for the chapters and the authors to dialogue with each other, and this book is very well coordinated on that.This is a collective work, with a major study that provides the country with a mandatory frame of reference for the coming years . It is a relevant book, because it records the changes experienced in Chilean education. We had volume I where the ideas that were shaping the reform debate were analyzed; then there was a volume II on the implementation of these reforms; and now this third text was needed focused on the impact of those reforms ”, commented Emilio Rodríguez, rector of the University of Tarapacá.

“This book reflects the diligent work of our academics and that interest in contributing to the improvement of our education system” -Ignacio Sánchez, UC rector

From UC –in this search for an increasingly better education system–, there are different areas of the university that participate in the country debate in the educational field. Such is the case of the Center for Public Policy , Center for Educational Justice , Center for Transforming Education , Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Studies , MIDE UC , CEPPE , CLAPES and others whose researchers and researchers collaborated on this publication.

“In the prologue I emphasize that this book does not seek to be ‘an official voice’ of the university on different issues, but rather seeks to show the difference, diversity and pluralism of opinions of our teachers. Those opinions are founded, they are the result of reflection, research. Thus, funding issues, selection, accreditation, this book may have positions that are different, because in college have different centers and academic views , “said the rector UC Ignacio Sánchez.

that pluralism Voices is one of the main features of Ideas in Education III Evolution of a Reform , which also focuses on the most challenging areas of the current educational review.

“It was difficult to find a common thread, because the book gathers diverse interdisciplinary and ideological perspectives. We must rethink how to evaluate quality education, what that means for us today and for the challenges we will have in the future in inclusive education, education and climate change, among other issues . One of the transversal and constant points in this book continues to be the issue of equity and the challenge of articulating our public policies, ”said Carolina Flores, dean of the Faculty of Education at the Alberto Hurtado University.

Thinking the new Chile
In the final part of the launch, the presenters joined a panel discussion inspired by the topics covered in Ideas in Education III. Evolution of a Reform .

With the participation of Elisa Araya, Emilio Rodríguez, Carolina Flores; Alejandro Carrasco, dean of the UC School of Education ; the rector Ignacio Sánchez and with Francisca Alessandri from the UC Public Policy Center as moderator, they discussed the various aspects that this book covers in its 30 chapters.

At 708 pages, this book reflects the need for an interdisciplinary and pluralistic discussion on the impact of recent educational reforms.

“The wealth that this university has of having more than seventy professors who investigate Education, has to be shared with the country, and it can also be an invitation for other institutions to share their proposals with us from their own points of view. This series of books -rector Rodríguez already said- is not only important for the present but also for 20 or 30 more years, in order to understand what was sought with the changes made in this era, what these reforms achieved and what things are still pending ”, said the rector Ignacio Sánchez at the closing of the launch.

With this vision set in the future and in the events of a country agenda marked by the current constituent process, the idea is that in the coming years the series of books Ideas in Education will serve as a historical document, where the evolution of the educational debate and the multiple views on the reforms to this system.


“We started 2015 with this book, second edition in 2018, now the third in 2021 and therefore I believe that it will continue to be very necessary to revisit these issues in 2024 when another three years of implementation, of knots, of success have already passed , of problems, new proposals and new topics that are on the agenda. The consensus with which I remain after this presentation is that the book is necessary, it is highly valued, it is a contribution to the debate and opens discussions, comments and ways of working together. That is what it seeks: to be an opening rather than a closing, a new reflection on topics, rather than saying that the topic is exhausted, because in Education that does not happen ”, the rector Ignacio Sánchez concluded after the conference.