Santillana presented the book Transforming secondary school. An action plan for Argentina and the regiona work of Agustina Blancowith contributions from Sonia Williams Foxwhich proposes a comprehensive roadmap to renew secondary school from a systemic, realistic and action-oriented perspective. The event, held at MALBA, brought together specialists, educational authorities, directors and teachers to debate the urgent challenges of the secondary level and the possible transformations to improve the trajectories of millions of students in the country and the region.
«Today there is a great consensus about the need to transform secondary education. This is a very complex challenge that requires brave decisions, strategic planning and sustained commitment. In this sense, today we present a fundamentally hopeful book that shows that with vision and commitment we can build schools where students learn more and better. At Santillana we believe that this book is a very valuable contribution for those who work for a better education, because it offers ideas, evidence and possible paths to transform secondary education,» stated Graciela Valle, Manager Santillana Publishing House.
The book will be available starting December 15 at:
Main bookstores.
Online store (paper book):https://www.tiendasantillana.com.ar
And in digital version at:https://www.digital.santillana.com.ar/library
What lessons have we learned from the journey so far?
The first panel agreed that Argentina has significant advances, regulatory frameworks and experiences that can serve as the basis for a renewed agenda.
For its part, Victor Volmandirector of the Argentinos Observatory for Education, highlighted that, although inclusion has improved, the quality of learning continues to be the great challenge: «Today more than 90% of adolescents are enrolled in school, something that took decades to achieve. But only 10 out of every 100 students reach the end of secondary school in the expected time and with the necessary knowledge. The problem is no longer one of inclusion: it is one of trajectories and learning.»
Then, Guillermina LaguzziOEI specialist, stressed the importance of thinking about the relationship between education and work as a strategic pedagogical decision: «The school should not be a job training center, but rather a space that strengthens capabilities to move towards adult life. Talking about education and work is talking about rights, meaning and schools that accompany life projects.»
In a similar vein, Mariana Albarracindirector of the Roberto Rocca Campana Technical School, stressed that change requires intervention on all dimensions of school grammar, saying: «For a genuine transformation, all variables must be reviewed, such as curriculum, methodologies, spaces, methods of evaluation and teaching roles. True innovation is not in breaking down walls, but in what students do and in the opportunities we give them to learn authentically.»
Current challenges to move forward with sustained policies
Among the main challenges, Walter Grahovacformer Minister of Education of Córdoba, highlighted the difficulty of sustaining policies over time and the need to assume long, iterative and complex processes: «Transforming an educational system is walking a labyrinth: there are no recipes, and each advance involves reviewing, correcting and trying again. It is not enough to design a plan; you have to be willing to go through it and learn from the path.»
Grahovac shared the experience of PROA schools in Córdoba, where the reform included curricular reorganization, new forms of evaluation, schools with emphasis on software development and teacher selection through competition: “We touched many structures that seemed untouchable, and we discovered that you can change without collapsing everything, recovering what is useful and innovating where it is necessary.”
Experiences that light the way
In his central intervention, Agustina Blanco He explained that the book draws on years of work with schools and educational systems throughout the country: «My biggest concern has always been the scale. It is not enough for some schools to transform their proposal, but we need policies that reach the entire system and are sustained beyond the time of government.»
The author presented international and local cases that demonstrate that it is possible to transform secondary school when there is vision, consistency and continuity: «It took Finland 40 years to transform its system, and it achieved it because it had clear stages and evidence of results in each one. In Latin America, states like Ceará or Pernambuco show sustained and very rigorous reforms. And in Argentina we have models like the PROA schools or institutions like the Rocca School and the ORT School, which mark possible paths.»
The possible paths: a proposal by phases
The book proposes a strategy divided into three stages to carry out profound and sustainable changes:
Fundamentals stage. Create conditions of possibility so that schools «believe that it is possible to change. You cannot come up with curricular reforms without first generating trust. This stage is what allows you to break with the idea that «it can’t be done in our school.» stated Blanco.
Deep pilot stage. Implement structural changes in a pilot set of schools to test, adjust and generate evidence.
Expansion and universalization stage. Scale the tested models to the entire system, whether systems in provinces or at the national level. «It is the most complex and no one has yet completed it in our country. But we cannot stop planning and starting it, or we will never get there.»
The role of the school in the face of the emotional and cognitive impact of screens
In his contribution, Sonia Williams Fox emphasized the challenge of educating in a context where digital life crosses all dimensions of adolescent life: «Intensive screen use affects attention, sleep, bonds and identity. Schools and families have the responsibility to balance digital life and real life, and to strengthen socio-emotional capabilities.»
He recalled a simple but revealing experience: «In a recess without cell phones, the laughter, the emotional connection, the games returned. When the screens go away, humanity reappears. And without emotional well-being, there is no deep learning.»
A book for those who decide, teach and care for the future
When closing the panel, Alfredo Votemoderator and Undersecretary of Policies and Innovation of the Nation, celebrated that the book combines diagnosis and proposal: «In education we usually have very large diagnoses and very small legs to walk. This book has balance: thought and action. It not only analyzes, it makes it possible to imagine paths.»
In a country where educational challenges often occupy the center of public debate, the presentation of the book left a shared feeling: It is not just about pointing out what is missing, but about recognizing what already exists, taking advantage of it and encouraging yourself to go further.. The transformation of secondary school is urgent, but it is also achievable.
Agustina Blanco’s book not only offers a plan: it offers an invitation to believe that a better school for all the young people of Argentina and the region is within reach, if the change is built with evidence, with continuity and with the deep conviction that the future can be different.
Biography of Agustina Blanco
Agustina Blanco, author of the book «Transforming secondary school. An action plan for Argentina and the region», from the series Santillana in the classroom, published by Santillana.
She is co-founder and general director of Somos Red, an organization dedicated to promoting pedagogical and technological innovation in educational systems in Argentina and Latin America.
She has a degree in Business Administration (UCA) and a master’s degree in Education (Manhattanville College) and in International Relations (NYU).
She was director of Educational Evaluation and Planning in the Province of Buenos Aires (2017-2019) and led the Network of Learning Schools, with more than 2,000 institutions.
He is a specialist in change management, educational leadership and learning and systems evaluation. He has dedicated his career to accompanying schools and educational systems on their path towards improvement and transformation. He has extensive experience in research and actively participates in leading social sector organizations in education.
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