Recently, three members of the Mobility Labs team went to the CTA (center of science and technology of Antioquia) to meet with the director and find out more about the major programs administered by the CTA. Our team was especially interested in the educational activities of CTA, including the ALIANZA program. We met with Mr. Francisco Lopera Maya (director of education in CTA) and Ms. Marlen Monsalve (Coordinator of the ALIANZA program in southwestern Antioquia).

 

The ALIANZA program works to strengthen the efficiency and quality of education offered by the local municipalities. The goal is to improve the learning processes of children and young people through the implementation of the ALIANZA model which involves children, teachers, school managers, and the municipal secretaries of education. The model creates a dynamic change that improves and enhances the skills of the students and builds a foundation for further learning. This model has been implemented in various areas of the department since 2012.

 

The ALIANZA program works in three main areas:

Classroom Management:

In the classroom they provide a workshop that approaches mathematics and language in a fresh way. These areas are taught through the implementation of activities where knowledge is acquired by discovery and assimilation. In other words, students learn by playing.

Classroom management also requires an innovative space equipped with special furniture that meets the requirements of comfort and functionality required to enable students and teachers to collaborate and construct their own knowledge.

Classroom management is accompanied by several techniques:

1. Workshops for students, led by math instructors, workshop language specialists, and methodological research advisors.

2. Educational seminars directed at teachers.

3. Complementary activities for both audiences.

Institutional Management:

This area focuses on training teachers in leadership and school management; transferring knowledge to the local teachers so that thety can develop skills in these areas. It is also intended to address the institutional constraints to enhance student learning of cognitive and social skills.

The “Ser + maestro” program offers school principals and teachers, a number of online learning tools developed by experts in pedagogy and instructional design.

The objective of this program is to transfer tools and methodologies to develop skills related to being and doing.

They look to identify, organize and publish these practices so that they can be replicated by other educational institutions in other contexts.

Context Management:

This area provides advice to local secretaries of education as they are engaged in their planning processes. The approach incorporates the school dynamics, incorporating technology tools and applications that track, control, and evaluate the education process.

The strategy include meetings with school directors and secretaries of education, implementing information systems, and training on strategic management subjects for the education ministries. They also include support in the areas of municipal decision on subjects concerning to the application of the model in educational institutions.

 

The ALIANZA program gives advice to the local Ministries of Education in how to implement planning processes of the local government for specific conditions of each school. At the same time ALIANZA seeks to strengthen the role of parents in their children’s learning.

 

The innovative techniques used in the classroom allow students to learn by doing, giving them ownership of the subjects studied.

 

We were very impressed by the existing record and the programs being implemented by Alianza under the wing of the CTA.