Students of the Specialty of Values, Spirituality and Religions in the defense of their IEPC-PEC
Papers presented by the students in defense of their IEPC-PEC
This year, for the first time, I had the opportunity to participate in the defense of the degree projects of fifth-year ESFM “Juan Misael Saracho” students; these are spaces in which students present to a jury of teachers the work done in their IEPC-PEC educational practice in order to graduate as teachers.
Being there as an observer for the Alma Foundation, I was pleasantly surprised to see the products worked on by the ESFM students in the classrooms of different educational units in Tarija. I saw how those who attended our workshops managed to understand the meaning of having a dynamic classroom where critical thinking is encouraged; I saw how in their practices the students applied not only Alma’s critical thinking strategies, but also emotional education strategies, thus showing that we should not only seek content learning but also life-long learning for our students.
Participating in these spaces gave me the certainty that our work with ESFM students definitely improves their skills and knowledge. I was able to see that what we teach is aligned with the Community-Based Socio-Productive Educational Model of our country’s norm and that our pedagogical strategies are useful tools for teachers and also for the students themselves. In one of the defenses, the students indicated that the strategies applied not only helped teach the students the content they had to develop but also helped solve the educational problems they had identified in that classroom last year. This result that was presented in the defense was really revealing for me because I believe that with small changes in the classrooms and in the teachers we help solve many gaps in our education. Those students who were previously in ESFM classrooms when we gave the Alma workshops, those students who later worked with us making materials for their educational practices and to apply Alma strategies were now there explaining what we had previously explained to them, showing positive learning results in children and, although not their objective, also demonstrating that Alma’s pedagogical proposal has positive impacts in classrooms and learning.
By:
Leydi Osorio Ramos
Tarija Departmental Coordinator