Educación y diversidad cultural: lecciones desde la práctica innovadora en América Latina

The past decades have been marked by a special dynamism in the transformation of the educational systems of Latin America and the Caribbean. Studies in connection with educational innovation have made it possible to establish that strong activity exists on the subject that is scantly disseminated and shared between the countries. An absence of systematization, evaluation and research of experiences also has been noted, which makes it difficult to optimize the processes of change and learning.

On the basis of this reality, UNESCO's Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago) decided to generate a regional forum for reflection and exchange in order to encourage collective knowledge-building on the theme of educational innovation. This is the Regional Educational Innovations Network for Latin America and the Caribbean (INNOVEMOS – Let’s Innovate), which also promotes the improvement of the quality of education in its different levels, forms and programmes.

This publication, the second volume of the Innovemos Collection, is the result of analyses and reflections on a series of innovative experiences in several countries of Latin America that provide pedagogical responses relevant to students’ cultural contexts and offer an education oriented toward knowledge, understanding and dialogue between different cultures. The contribution of these experiences lies in the recognition and valuation of the ethnical and cultural diversity of their students and communities, as a starting point for the development of new learning experiences and the affirmation of their identity.

The experiences stem from the National Educational Innovation Contest organized by OREALC/UNESCO-Santiago within the framework of the project “Discrimination and pluralism: Facing cultural diversity at school”, and a variety of innovations assembled in www.redinnovemos.org