Tampere University of Applied Sciences takes Finnish pedagogical approaches to Chile

Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) has started a two-year development project in northern Chile in the summer of 2023. The AntofaEDUCA program has a direct impact on the three provinces of the Antofagasta region, Antofagasta, El Loa, and Tocopilla. The program benefits educational communities in all nine municipalities in the region.

– This is an interesting new model for TAMK's education export and professional teacher training, which also increases and enriches the skills of our own experts, says customer relationship manager Virpi Heinonen.

– The Chilean and Finnish educational systems have more in common than differences. The motivation of local educational leaders and teachers is very high and inspiring at the same time. These types of projects give TAMK a competitive advantage as an international developer because education export and internationalization are our strategic priorities, state Jiri Vilppola and Ville Palkinen from TAMK's professional teacher training who were responsible for training during the intensive weeks in Chile during the month of October.

The training is facilitated entirely in Spanish, and TAMK's Latin America specialist Marta Gil-Carcedo plays a key role here. The governor of the Antofagasta region, Ricardo Díaz Cortés, and the Finnish ambassador to Chile, Johanna Kotkajärvi, have been supporting the success of the project from the beginning and actively participated in the start of the training in June 2023 and the start of the intensive weeks locally in Antofagasta, Chile, at the beginning of October.

A unique combination of public and private financing

Funding for the project comes from the Antofagasta Regional Government (GORE) and a private mining company (SQM). The project is planned for ten years, but due to the local funding model and impact reporting, it will be implemented in two-year cycles. The development project is implemented together with a Chilean consortium, where the local educational foundation Fundación para el Emprendimiento Entrepreneur manages the project and its overall budget locally.

Consortium members and roles

• Regional Government of Antofagasta (GORE). The body responsible for managing the regional planning process.
• In the project, Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) is responsible for the training of 30 school principals (face-to-face teaching in Chile, online and an intensive period in Finland) and the online training of 200 teachers, where they are prepared to implement a change agency in 20 different educational institutions through a mentoring program. What has been learned through the development tasks can be anchored in the practices of educational institutions thru mentoring from Finland.
• Universidad Catolica del Norte (UCN), a local university with which TAMK has the region's first international Diploma Program, Innovación y Liderazco en Educación ILE (2017-2020). In the project, UCN is responsible for forming a public and private regional cooperation network and participates together with TAMK in conducting research on the project's effectiveness.
• FabLab Atacama, an educational collaboration and innovation laboratory specialized in designing and manufacturing ideas and projects for future education.
• Alianza Antofagasta, a public-private sector initiative that strengthens social capital and promotes trust building, that facilitate cooperation towards the sustainable development of Antofagasta.

 

Video about the launch of the AntofaEDUCA program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZK-6FYrtZ0 (subtitled in English)

More information: Virpi Heinonen, Customer Relationship Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean, Tampere University of Applied Sciences
virpi.heinonen [at] tuni.fi, phone +358 40 020 9907