Professors Carlos Urrutia and Richard Bravo participated in a work day with the North American researcher, Dr. Michael W. Apple.

Within the framework of the permanent seminar “Teaching Professional Development and Initial Teacher Training in Standardization Contexts”, held at the Center for Advanced Studies of the University of Playa Ancha, the professors of the Department of Education of the University of La Serena, Carlos Urrutia and Richard Bravo, had the opportunity to participate at the beginning of April in a work day with the North American academic and researcher, Dr. Michael W. Apple, professor of curriculum and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

This meeting was framed in the publication in Chile of Dr. Apple's book “Can education change society?”, where the author discusses the transformative nature of education in pursuit of a truly democratic society. The event made it possible for academics to make inquiries about Dr. Apple's work, allowing them to delve into aspects related to the role that teacher training plays within the framework of standardization policies and the challenges that teaching in contexts of labor adversity entails. .

For Professor Urrutia, the meeting implied an important step in the consolidation of interuniversity spaces aimed at discussing topics related to teacher training. “The meeting with Dr. Apple complemented work that we began a few months ago related to the challenges that the teaching profession faces at a national level, particularly considering the implementation of policies such as the inclusion law and the professional development law. teacher,” stated the academic belonging to the ULS Department of Education.

In this sense, he added that "Dr. Apple's work is highly illuminating, since it allows us to measure the challenges that public education currently faces and the value of the school as a space for democratic construction."

Likewise, for Professor Richard Bravo, the dialogue with Dr. Apple “offered the possibility of discussing profound issues associated with the formulation of educational projects in times of globalization; in particular, about the way in which policies of homogenization of practice would be modifying the training and work of teachers. In this way, the discussion became a contribution to review in greater detail the 'professionalization' processes associated with new teaching careers, the standardization of initial training and accountability. All of them phenomena that deserve, at least, a second reading, typical of intellectual and academic work, an instance that the meeting with this outstanding professor and sociologist of education widely promoted."

Also participating in the meeting were Dr. Rima Apple, professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and prominent researcher in women's and gender studies; Dr. Eduardo Cavieres Fernández, director of the seminar and Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of the University of Playa Ancha, Dr. Ramón Uzcategui, from the School of Education of the Central University of Venezuela; and Dr. María Elena Michels, from the Department of Specialized Studies in Education at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil).

Among other works, Michael W. Apple has published Ideology and Curriculum (1986); Democratic Schools (1995); Politics, culture and education (1996); Education and Power (1991); Official knowledge: democratic education in a conservative era (1996); Educate "as God commands": markets, levels, religion and inequality (2002); and Global Crises, Social Justice, and Education (2010).