Search

In 1997, a cross-national assessment of educational achievement in Latin America and the Caribbean found that rural schools in Colombia outperformed urban schools in tests of reading and mathematics, except in very large cities. Given a long history of urban/rural inequality in the region, Colombia's rural school advantage attracted substantial attention. Yet by 2006, a follow-up to the 1997 assessment found that Colombia's rural school advantage had vanished. This study's objective is to determine whether, after adjusting for relevant background factors, Colombia's rural school advantage persisted in 2006. We find that rural schools in Colombia retained their advantage in a limited way: all else equal, rural schools in Colombia outperformed marginally urban schools in mathematics, when comparing each type of school to urban schools. Analysis of the 2006 data finds that rural schools in several countries outperformed urban schools in tests of math and reading, after adjusting for student background.

In this essay, the author introduces the concept of "convivencia" (peaceful coexistence) as a framework for re-centring education as a moral enterprise. He discusses "convivencia" within the context of education and society in Colombia, paying special attention to the Colombian rural school model "Escuela Nueva" (New School). This discussion draws on both previous evidence and the author's own research on the implementation of the "Escuela Nueva" model in urban areas of Colombia. He discusses several facets of "convivencia" and parallels with the ideas and ideals of "ubuntu." Using "convivencia" as an organising principle, he presents insights for educational practitioners and researchers related to re-centring education as a moral enterprise.

The United States has long struggled with the challenge of educating children experiencing extreme disadvantage, including the poor, ethnic and racial minorities, English language learners, and foster children. In this article, we argue that solutions to this problem lie not to the east or west, but to the south. Specifically, we offer the Colombian Escuela Nueva model as a successful example of addressing the educational needs of marginalized children. We focus on an Escuela Nueva program known as Learning Circles, which was designed to educate and support children displaced by civil conflict as they transition to the formal education system. After describing Escuela Nueva and Learning Circles, we offer suggestions for incorporating and adapting these successes to schools in the United States.