It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Juan Carlos Tedesco, on 8 May 2017. He was a beloved colleague and friend, and will be greatly missed by the entire the IBE-UNESCO community.
Former
Minister for Education in Argentina, (2007–2009), he was also the Director of the International Bureau of Education (IBE) in Geneva, Switzerland from 1992 - 98. A thinker and committed educationalist in the field of educational policies, Tedesco devoted his entire life to the study of education in Argentina, Latin America and worldwide. Known for his innovative and critical spirit, he advocated for education as a common good and an equalizer of life opportunities. He strongly believed that quality education for all was the indispensable condition for a just, democratic, inclusive and equal society.
Tedesco joined UNESCO in 1976 as head researcher on education and employment for the project “Development and Education in Latin America and the Caribbean” (UNESCO/CEPAL/UNDP). From 1982 to 1986, he was the Director of
UNESCO’s Regional Centre for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRESALC) in Caracas, Venezuela. Until 1992, he was the Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (
OREALC) in Santiago, Chile. Tedesco was the first head of office at
IIEP-UNESCO Buenos Aires, from 1998 to 2005.
Devoted to the design and planning of educational policy, he was also appointed Secretary of Education of Argentina, Minister of Education of Argentina and Executive Director of the Unit of Strategic Planning and Evaluation of the Argentine Educational System.
Tedesco performed several roles throughout his prestigious career. Namely, as a researcher, scholar, professor, policy-maker and an beloved member of the UNESCO family. He was convinced of UNESCO role as an intellectual global leader.
Throughout his career, Tedesco made important contributions to research on the relationship between education and society, a subject to which he dedicated more than 15 publications. Some of his well-known books and articles include:
Educación, sociedad en Argentina 1800-1945 (Buenos Aires, 1972);
El Proyecto Educativo Autoritario: Argentina 1976-82 (Buenos Aires, 1983);
‘The paradigms of socio-educational research in Latin America’;
Comparative education review, 1987; "
The role of the State in education" Prospects, 1989;
La Juventud Universitaria en América Latina (Caracas, 1986.);
El Desafío Educativo: Calidad y Democracia (Buenos Aires. 1987).
El rol de la educación en el desarrollo de América Latina (Santillana, 1995); and
Education, Competitiveness and Citizenship in Modern Society (Geneve, 1997).
His profound input to the education sector resulted in him receiving the Argentinian Konex Award in 2016.
His most recent work with the IBE-UNESCO was
10 notes on learning assessment systems, as part of the
In-Progress Reflection Series.
