COURSE INFORMATION:

Students will be enrolled in two classes for a total of 6 credits:

SPAN 201: Beginning Spanish III
-OR-
SPAN 202: Intermediate Spanish

-AND-

EDFS 300: Education Policy and Reform in Chile: A Comparative Perspective Between U.S. and Chilean Educational Systems, Education Policy and Reform


PROGRAM DATES:

This program will have an on-campus portion in Charleston May 31-June 3, where Spanish language instruction will occur 4 hours each day. Students will be responsible for their own room, board, and transportation during the Charleston portion. The students and faculty will then travel to Chile on June 5 and will return to the U.S. June 18.


PROGRAM INFORMATION:

The program will be comprised of two courses, either SPAN 102 or SPAN 201 and EDFS 300. In the Spanish course, students will improve their proficiency of the Spanish language through practice of basic language skills and vocabulary while attending class and interacting with Chileans on a daily basis. In addition, they will gain first-hand knowledge about the Chilean culture through cultural workshops, excursions, and daily interactions. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to converse in past, present, and future tenses and will also be able to talk about travel plans as well as aspects of Chilean culture and education.

The course content for EDFS 300 will include a brief background on the history of American and Chilean education, and a description of the current educational reform movements in Chile in order to compare systems. Students will be able to recognize certain features of the Chilean education system as well as responses to the current privatization reform model. Students will also reflect upon their school experiences in relation to Chile's education system. As part of the travel plans, students will visit, observe and take notes on a private school, a government school in the city, and a rural public or private school. This first-hand observation of the school contexts will enable students to uniquely deepen their understanding of a different country's education system.

Prior to departure, students will meet with faculty to gain background on educational systems as well as to begin language courses. The tentative plan is to have students meet during the week prior to departure, May 31-June 3, 2016. We expect that students will have four hours of instruction over the course of those four days.

Students participating in this program must be able to walk and/or be on their feet three to four hours a day.


PROGRAM DIRECTORS:

Dr. Sophia Rodriguez
Department of Teacher Education
rodriguezs1@cofc.edu
843-953-0830

Dr. Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations and Sociology at the College of Charleston. She teaches undergraduate courses in the history of education and graduate level courses in educational policy studies and comparative/international education. She has traveled to Cuba to train teachers and community organizers in English as a foreign language instruction. Her research interests include how education policy impacts the lived experiences of people across cultural contexts, immigrants and education, and community-school partnerships.

Professor Mary Ann Blitt
Department of Hispanic Studies
blittma@cofc.edu
843-953-0248

Prof. Blitt has been a Spanish language teacher for 25 years and has taught at the middle school, high school, and college levels, in addition to training teachers at an English language institute in Paraguay. She has 15 years of experience leading a study program in Mexico and Spain. She is actively involved in professional development workshops and has authored two Spanish language textbooks for college-level Spanish language instruction.